The Value of Life

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/value-life

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5567

My instinctive reaction to Monday’s tragic news was to not write a positive news blog this week.  But why let the terrorists win?  Dry Bones’ cartoon included the line “... we find joy in remembering their lives ...” and Israelis’ love for human life needs to be emphasized even more at this time.

There was positive news recently for three Israeli organizations producing devices to detect early-stage cancer.  First, Israeli biotech Nucleix raised more than $5 million to finance its diagnostic test for early detection of bladder cancer and possibly also colon, lung and prostate cancers.  Secondly, the NaNose cancer detector invented by Israel Technion Institute’s Dr Hossam Haick is now ready to be marketed and has been licensed to Boston’s Alpha Szenszor.  NaNose diagnoses early-stage malignant tumors by analyzing exhaled breath.  Finally, the numbers of tests performed by the MarginProbe breast cancer scanner, developed by Israel’s Dune Medical, have now passed the 1000 mark since the device was launched in 2013.  MarginProbe confirms that the entire malignant tumor has been removed, before the surgeon finishes the operation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALPeKkdtgPg

Haifa’s Technion Institute is also one of Israel’s centers for development of treatments to eradicate cancer altogether.  Technion researchers recently discovered that visible and UV light destroys cancer’s resistance to chemotherapy.  Almost simultaneously, a parallel group of Technion researchers teamed up with others at Germany’s Max Planck Institute to develop minute propellers, with the potential to deliver cancer-killing chemicals directly to tumors without harming healthy cells.

Israel’s cardiologists continue to save lives – and not just Jewish lives. Two Druse brothers from the village of Hurfeish contracted the same genetic disease that weakens the cardiac muscle.  Doctors at Israel’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center transplanted a new heart into Rani in 2011 and have just successfully completed another heart transplant for his brother Dani.  And since the time that Israel’s three teenagers were abducted, Israeli doctors at Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) have saved five Palestinian Arab children at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.  Dr. Lior Sasson, SACH chief surgeon said, “children from both sides, shouldn’t be a part of the conflict.”

Israeli cardiovascular devices are an essential component of today’s life-saving medical technology.  Israel’s Itamar Medical manufactures the EndoPAT diagnostic device that measures how well your arteries are working.  Japan’s Nihon Kohden has just announced that it will market EndoPAT to 100,000 doctors in Japan as its flagship product for monitoring the heart and blood vessels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVADCRihl_0

It is also imperative to have a decent quality of life. Israel’s D-Pharm has obtained fast track status from the China's Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for its DP-VPA epilepsy treatment.  Israeli biotech Intec has announced that its Accordion Levodopa treatment for Parkinson’s disease has met all its safety trial endpoints so that Phase 3 trials on Parkinson’s sufferers can now commence.  Israel’s BrainStorm reported positive interim results of Phase IIa trials of its “NurOwn” stem cell ALS therapy. And two wound clinics at Israeli health organization Maccabi will treat patients with chronic leg ulcers using Vergenix gel developed by Israel’s CollPlant. Vergenix is based on CollPlant’s plant-based collagen.

Financial assistance and expert advice is available to Israeli start-ups if they are saving or improving lives.  Jerusalem NGO Pretense’s A3i (Accelerating Inclusion In Israel) is the world’s first support incubator, exclusively for startups developing products and services for people with special needs. A3i currently supports 13 Israeli companies. Philips and Teva’s new joint support incubator Inspire Healthcare Innovations Ltd will invest in start-ups developing treatments and medical devices.  US pharmaceutical giant Merck will work with Israeli companies on projects researching into life-saving medicines and will match Israel’s financial support to those companies.  Finally, Israel’s Trendlines received the “Best Incubator” award from Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist. One of Trendlines supported companies, MitrAssist, received Best Start-Up of the Year for its device to treat faulty heart valves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_l7B2yMnA0

To conclude, here are two recent news items that should be an inspiration to everyone that loves life.  Two scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have been selected by the prestigious medical journal Cell for their “40 under 40” list of young world-leading scientists in their field. One of them, Jacob Hanna, is an Israeli-Arab.  His breakthroughs will advance the possibility of the future medical use of stem cells as “spare parts” for damaged cells and tissues.  Jacob comes from a family of doctors. His role model is his uncle Dr Nabil Hanna who developed Rituxan, the first monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Finally, it’s not the $25 million donation that Sheldon and Miriam Adelson donated to develop the medical school at Ariel University that attracted my attention.  It is the fact that the Adelsons were inspired to action after the abduction of the three Israeli teenagers.  As Sheldon poignantly stated, “the medical studies at Ariel University underscore humanity, the desire for life and the value of human life wherever they are.”

I wish the families of the three boys Long Life.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Seven Weeks (Part 1) - Israeli Medical Treatments

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/seven-weeks-part-1-israeli-medical-treatments

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5492

I’ve been absent from the blog scene for around seven weeks due to illness – exactly the same amount of time as between the Jewish festival of Passover and the upcoming festival of Shavuot (Pentecost).  During those seven weeks I just about managed to keep track of the recent accomplishments of the Jewish State.  And Israel’s advances with medical treatments during the past seven weeks have been simply amazing.

My jaw dropped when just last week, in clinical trials, a human patient with deficient jawbone received a successful bone transplant using bone grown in the laboratories of Israel’s Bonus BioGroup. The patient’s own fat cells were the original source tissue, which means almost zero chance of rejection by the body’s immune system.  In the laboratories of Israel’s Technion, scientists have engineered muscle tissue containing major blood vessels for repairing damaged abdomens.  A successful transplant was performed in clinical trials, suggesting that full abdominal surgery in humans using laboratory-generated tissue will soon be possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xevd-oJFI44

 

Full heart transplants are still very risky, and many Israeli innovations reduce their necessity.  Israel’s V Wave has developed an implant-able shunt – a device that treats congestive heart failure patients by reducing pressure on the muscle controlling the blood flow between the heart chambers.  The first patient to receive the shunt is already experiencing an improved condition.  Meanwhile, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered that the protein Erbin can help prevent the irreversible damage to the heart when it attempts to enlarge itself in the final stage before heart failure.

Several Israeli companies produce devices to protect patients during heart operations. One - Keystone Heart - has just raised the required finance to trial its TriGuard filter. TriGuard protects the brain from blood clots and dangerous material (emboli) released during heart valve replacements and other cardiovascular procedures.  Gardia’s WIRON devices, on the other hand, place filters such as the TriGuard into the arteries prior to those procedures. Surgeons at Poland’s John Paul II hospital have recently completed successful trials of the WIRON. 

There were at least three Israeli-led advances in the fight against cancer during the past seven weeks.  Firstly, in the Research & Development labs of EventusDx, on the outskirts of Jerusalem they have developed a blood test to detect breast cancer.  Secondly, the US Food and Drugs Administration has just approved Teva’s Synribo therapy for home use in treating adults with chronic or accelerated phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML).  Finally, the US FDA has also approved the Duet scanning system, developed by Israeli biotech BioView, for the detection of mutations in lung cancer.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwlmGH8pTAw

There was positive news in the past seven weeks for sufferers of three types of brain diseases.  Tel Aviv University researchers discovered a protein that reverses some of the damage caused by Alzheimer’s.  Ben-Gurion University scientists have developed a treatment using Losartan (marketed as Cozaar) that reduces seizures significantly in epilepsy sufferers.  And multiple sclerosis sufferers who experience fatigue (common with the illness) may soon benefit from the vitamin D analog synthesized by Dr Anat Achiron of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer.

Two Israeli brain disease treatments are getting more global exposure.  Japan’s Takeda has signed a deal to commercialize Teva’s rasagiline treatment for Parkinson’s, for use in Japan.  And Professor Dimitrios Karussis will this week present the progress of the Jerusalem trials of BrainStorm’s ALS stem cell treatment to the Joint Congress of European Neurology in Istanbul, Turkey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnwNS4aDI34

Seven weeks has seen many breakthroughs in the understanding of the genetic causes of disease.  Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) have demonstrated the molecular basis of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).  Other HUJ geneticists have identified the DNA on/off switch that explains why different species of animals can have so many identical genes.  Tel Aviv University scientists have pinpointed the genetic regulator “switch” that was corrupted by the drug thalidomide and caused so many deaths and deformities in babies 57 years ago.  Scientists at Israel’s Bar Ilan University have identified the gene that controls production of probiotic bacteria in the gut that protects against ulcerative colitis. 

Finally, maybe the research of Weizmann Institute graduate Leemor Joshua-Tor will one day prevent many genetic diseases.  She has discovered a protein that can destroy defective genes in the RNA that are responsible for viruses and diseases such as macular degeneration and cancer.

Just some of the latest incredible medical achievements from the Jewish State.  Be well.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Israel Cannot Lose

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/israel-cannot-lose

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5227

Israelis know that the Jewish State cannot afford to lose a single war or conflict.  In fact prevention of any loss of innocent life is paramount to Israelis.  And a determined “refusal to give up” is almost a national character trait that can be seen in many other aspects of Israeli society.

Israel is one of the top countries working to prevent or reduce loss of life from cancer.  Researchers at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center have just made a major breakthrough by discovering how breast cancer develops resistance to anti-cancer drugs.  The finding should help develop new treatments.  And only Israelis can learn how a killer virus can prevent loss of life.  Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have identified how the HIV virus suppresses the T-cell immune response and can help fight the battle against deadly autoimmune diseases.

Israelis apply the “preventing loss of life” principle right across the world.  Anat from Israel’s il4syrians.org is called “Syria’s Israeli guardian angel”. Her 200 volunteers include former Israeli commandos, doctors, social workers, nurses, and Arabic-speaking trauma specialists who provide relief to thousands of Syrian refugees.  Israel has also not lost track of the hundreds of thousands who lost everything in Typhoon Haiyan.  Agricultural developers from Israel’s Tahal Group are providing technology assistance to help recovery operations in the Philippines province of Davao del Sur.  Americans and Europeans are also currently experiencing extreme weather conditions. Many will therefore appreciate Israel’s ClickSoftware which reduces the huge losses suffered in those countries by helping to schedule employees responsible for repairing damage from storms, fires, earthquakes, gas leaks and burst water mains.

Israeli hi-tech is already the world’s best hope of preventing massive loss of life through drought and global starvation.  At Tel Aviv’s recent WATEC water technology conference, the JNF showcased its innovations for preventing the loss of precious water resources to other drought-ravaged countries and demonstrated how to make non-arable land better suited for agriculture.  Next, take a look at AgriTask from Israel’s ScanTask - the new “Waze” of agriculture – that helps farmers make decisions on irrigating, planting, harvesting and the use of pesticides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-qde5-jjY

Staying in the water, Israel’s Amiad is benefiting from new US Navy regulations designed to stop the loss of water pollutants from its ships.  All new vessels assembled at the Navy’s Virginia shipyards will be fitted with Amiad’s water filters, including the massive new USS John F Kennedy aircraft carrier.  And whilst we’re afloat, I must highlight that Israel’s Ben Gurion University and Canada’s Dalhousie University are to jointly build an Internationally recognized Ocean studies center in Eilat.  Among the many aims of the center is to avert the loss of endangered marine species.

Two Israeli organizations have recently promoted the Jewish value that no child should lose the opportunity for a decent education.  The first is the Haifa Center for Children with Learning Disabilities (Chi.L.D.) - a dynamic learning and therapeutic center providing children and families with vital educational, social and therapeutic services.  The second is the amazing Israel Center for Excellence through Education, which has developed the CIJE Excellence 2000 program now being exported to the US, Australia, Austria, India, Poland and Singapore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nce1w9RyzoQ

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is helping to ensure the Jewish State does not lose connection with its lost tribes by sponsoring the immigration of another wave of members of India’s Bnei Menashe to Israel, reuniting them with their families and ancestral homeland.  And Israeli artist Irene Orleansky has partnered with the Abayudaya Jewish Community of Uganda to create "Shalom, Mirembe!" as part of a music collection from Israelites and Jews of Africa and Asia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQu0j_Yjzrs

Here are two recent examples where Israel strives not to lose the connection between its people and their heritage.  Firstly, the Yad Ezer La’Haver ("helping hand to a friend") association arranged for twelve Holocaust survivors to celebrate a joint bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah ceremony, as they lost the chance to mark their coming of age during their youth.  “At the age of thirteen I was in Auschwitz," said one of them. "There wasn't really anyone to talk to about celebrations."  Secondly, please watch this new 7-minute documentary featuring Jewish families who lived in Jerusalem’s Old City for generations, but lost their homes when the Arab Legion evicted them in 1948 after the State of Israel was declared. They returned 19 years later in 1967 after Israeli forces liberated the Old City during the Six Day War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvKMVOfED1k

Finally, we return to the Israeli determination not to lose a single soul.  On a recent Shabbat morning, two religious students visited our local Netanya Laniado Hospital to distribute sweets and wish everyone a “speedy recovery.”  They sang to a 60-year-old woman who was close to death and by Monday she had revived, amazing the medical staff. “Thanks to them I am alive,” she said.

With Israel’s winning, life-giving team - you cannot lose!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

The Innovation Nation

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/innovation-nation

Israel is a Voyage of Discovery

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/israel-voyage-discovery