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