All posts tagged: treat

Researchers use AI to help repurpose drugs to treat rare diseases

Researchers use AI to help repurpose drugs to treat rare diseases

Published by skeptic

Rare and undiagnosed diseases affect over 300 million people globally, posing an immense human and economic burden. These conditions, while individually rare, collectively represent a massive health challenge. Despite the urgency, only 5 to 7 percent of these diseases have an FDA-approved drug, leaving many patients without effective treatment options. A groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) tool offers a new pathway to address this gap. Developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School and published in the journal, Nature Medicine, the AI model, called TxGNN, has demonstrated unprecedented potential to discover therapies for rare and neglected diseases. By repurposing existing drugs, TxGNN identified treatment candidates for over 17,000 diseases, including those with no current treatments. This achievement marks a significant leap forward in drug discovery. The AI Revolution in Drug Repurposing TxGNN is a graph-based AI model specifically designed for drug repurposing. Unlike traditional approaches that focus narrowly on diseases with existing therapies, this tool analyzes shared features across diseases to identify novel drug candidates. It uses a vast dataset, including genomic information, cell signaling data, and …

Humanists UK calls on BBC to treat the non-religious equally

Humanists UK calls on BBC to treat the non-religious equally

Published by skeptic

Richard Cooke / BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place / CC BY-SA 2.0 Humanists UK has responded to the BBC consultation on its draft Editorial Guidelines, calling for the BBC to provide programming and coverage for and about non-religious people and about their beliefs. Such coverage has remained disproportionately low in the face of an increasingly non-religious population. Humanists UK highlighted the exclusion of non-religious beliefs and communities in the Editorial Guidelines, which has allowed for an unbalanced production of programmes that are explicitly religious or about religion with almost no content on humanism. Humanists UK made the point that since the last consultation on the BBC Editorial Guidelines in 2018, the UK population has grown more non-religious. The 2021 Census was the first time that more people aged 66 and under ticked ‘No religion’ than ‘Christian’. Humanists UK reiterated its call for specific and equal inclusion of non-religious beliefs in the guidelines to ensure BBC programming serves all the communities of the UK, as required in the BBC Royal Charter. Humanists UK welcomed a change …

Pennsylvania House Passes Bill Restricting How Social Media Companies Treat Minors

Pennsylvania House Passes Bill Restricting How Social Media Companies Treat Minors

Published by skeptic

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation aimed at regulating how online social media platforms interact with children, although its provisions are similar to those in state laws being blocked in federal courts or in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill passed nearly along party lines, 105-95, with 10 Republicans voting with most Democrats for it and seven Democrats voting with most Republicans against it. It faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled state Senate, and the nation’s highest court may soon decide whether state-level provisions like the ones in the bill can be enforced. The bill would require social media platforms to allow users to report “hateful conduct,” such as threats or bullying, and publicize a policy for how they will respond to such reports. It also would require users under 18 to get parental consent and bar the platforms from “data mining” users under 18, or sifting through their user data to find specific information or develop insight into patterns or habits. The sponsor, …

Psychedelic toxins from toads could treat depression and anxiety

Psychedelic toxins from toads could treat depression and anxiety

Published by skeptic

This desert-roaming toad releases a compound with potential benefits similar to those from LSD and psilocybin Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock A psychedelic compound secreted by a poisonous toad could help treat depression and anxiety, according to a study in mice. When frightened, Colorado river toads (Incilius alvarius) release a hallucinogenic compound related to the drug DMT from glands in their skin. DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, is similar in structure and effects to psilocybin, a hallucinogen found in “magic mushrooms”. Colorado river toads live in and around the Sonoran desert spanning parts of Arizona, California and Mexico, and people seeking out the groovy effects of the substance may either lick the toads directly, or extract the venom, dry it and smoke it. Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York investigated the potential health benefits of the toad secretions. We know that psychedelics like psilocybin can treat depression in some people, but it isn’t fully clear why this compound helps. However, it appears to interact with serotonin receptors and reset the activity of neural circuits in the brain. Most …

A lesson from Germany on how Britain should treat asylum seekers | Immigration and asylum

A lesson from Germany on how Britain should treat asylum seekers | Immigration and asylum

Published by skeptic

Re the treatment of refugees in the UK (Report, 2 May), I work in Germany in a government-run institution for newly arrived asylum seekers. The initial processing involves an interview establishing the person’s name, nationality and languages spoken, and explaining what will happen in the centre (with help from translators). They also get health checks and vaccinations, and receive necessary clothing and hygiene articles, before being allocated a bed in a shared room (families are housed together; women and men in separate accommodation). Three meals a day are provided, as well as a ticket for free travel on public transport within the city, access to free German lessons, talks with social workers and activities to make the residents feel more integrated and safe, and the opportunity to work around the centre for pocket money. They get an interview for their asylum application with the government department for migration and refugees, for which support is provided in advance from social workers. If people have families already living in Germany, this will be taken into consideration in their …

Children given trigger foods to treat serious milk and peanut allergies in ‘miracle’ NHS trial | UK News

Children given trigger foods to treat serious milk and peanut allergies in ‘miracle’ NHS trial | UK News

Published by skeptic

Children taking part in a “life-transforming” clinical trial have been enjoying foods which would have previously triggered severe allergic reactions, doctors have said. Some of the results have been described as “nothing less than a miracle” and could mean children with milk and peanut allergies could eat larger varieties of food as there will be less concern over accidental exposure. Five NHS hospitals have so far joined the £2.5m trial, thanks to funding from the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died in 2016 after suffering a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into a Pret baguette. Her parents, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, campaigned for a change in food laws and set up the foundation with the hope of curing allergies through research. The new clinical oral immunotherapy trial uses everyday items and is giving patients small doses of food they find allergic to build up their tolerance levels. Sibel Sonmez-Ajtai, paediatric allergy consultant and principal investigator at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This treatment is not a cure for a food allergy, but …

Woman reveals ‘skinny privilege’ after losing 11 stone – ‘strangers treat me differently’ | UK | News

Woman reveals ‘skinny privilege’ after losing 11 stone – ‘strangers treat me differently’ | UK | News

Published by skeptic

Now Issy has lost 11st 10lbs and is a slender 13st 1lbs and can slip into a size 14 but has realised how differently she is being treated. She said people now hold the door open for her and smile at her and they hadn’t before – so she believes she now has ‘skinny privilege’. Issy, an e-commerce and social media manager, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, said: “It’s basic things – someone holding the door open. People smiling at you. “I feel I get treated differently. When you’ve been big you realise you don’t have the same experience. “I was quite shocked that people before wouldn’t have entertained me before have popped up. I’m the exact same person. I still treat people the same. “I want someone to like me for me not for what I look like. People say you’re thinner now – must get more attention. “It’s a bit sad. Why wasn’t she worthy of the same? But everyone has a preference and everyone is entitled to that. “It’s crazy how different people treat …

Inflammation drug could be repurposed to treat toxic snake bites

Inflammation drug could be repurposed to treat toxic snake bites

Published by skeptic

A drug used to treat inflammation could be repurposed to treat toxic snake bites from African spitting cobras, a team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have discovered.  Indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, spitting cobras release a potent venom in their bites, resulting in rapid destruction of skin, muscle, and bone – a condition clinically known as dermo-necrosis.  The researchers found that, when applied to the site of a spitting cobra bite, the small molecule drug – clinically known as varespladib – was highly effective in blocking one of the most damaging toxins released by the snakes’ venom, almost completely stopping the onset of symptoms.  Current antivenom treatments are designed to prevent death but do little to address the local effects of snakebites, which often result in permanent disability, said Dr Steven Hall, a lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Lancaster and a co-author of the study.  “The bite of an African spitting cobra is incredibly toxic, causing a huge amount of tissue damage, a lot of pain, and very rapidly that damage creeps …

Orangutan seen using medicinal plant to treat wound in first for wild animals | World News

Orangutan seen using medicinal plant to treat wound in first for wild animals | World News

Published by skeptic

An orangutan has been observed using a plant with healing properties to treat a wound on its face, in what scientists say is a first for wild animals. Biologists witnessed the male Sumatran orangutan – named Rakus – chewing the leaves of a climbing plant known as Akar Kuning. He applied the juicy mixture that was produced on to a wound on his right cheek for more than 30 minutes, until the injury was completely covered. Scientists said he selectively ripped off leaves and chewed on them, before applying the resulting mixture precisely on to the injured area, just below his right eye. Image: Two months after his self-treatment, the wound is barely visible anymore. Pic: Reuters There was no sign of infection in the following days, and in less than five days the wound was closed before healing completely inside a month, the researchers added. The Akar Kuning plant, which is found in tropical forests of South East Asia, is known for its pain relieving and anti-inflammatory effects and is often used in traditional …

Orangutan observed using a plant to treat an open wound

Orangutan observed using a plant to treat an open wound

Published by skeptic

Observers have documented multiple animal species using plants for self-medicinal purposes, such as great apes eating plants that treat parasitic infections or rubbing vegetation on sore muscles. But a wild orangutan recently displayed something never observed before—he treated his own open wound by activating a plant’s medical properties using his own spit. As detailed in a study published May 2 in Scientific Reports, evolutionary biologists believe the behavior could point toward a common ancestor shared with humans. The discovery occurred within a protected Indonesian rainforest at the Suaq Balimbing research site. This region, currently home to roughly 150 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, is utilized by an international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to monitor the apes’ behavior and wellbeing. During their daily observations, cognitive and evolutionary biologists noticed a sizable injury on the face of one of the local males named Rakus. Such wounds are unsurprising among the primates, since they frequently spar with one another—but then Rakus did something three days later that the team didn’t expect. After …