BREAKING THE SILENCE, 2014 Breaking The Silence | Page 9

CRACKING THE HUMAN
GENETIC BLUE PRINT
Although a first version of
the human genome map
was released in 2001, it
was not until 2003 that it
was completed, and we
learned that humans have
about 30,000 to 35,000
genes. The medical world
hopes that his map will
one day provide the path
to better understanding
how diseases occur in the
body, as well as to finding
more efficient treatment
options. Studying and
mapping our genetic
blueprint is important to
learning how and why the
human body works and
how and why it fails,
causing physical and
mental illness. It is
supposed to become the
biggest hope for preventive
medicine. Today genes for
prostate cancer are being
targeted by scientists in a
bid to lower the risk of
developing prostate cancer.
Scientists hope to apply
this to every other kind of
illness possible.
CANCER PREVENTION
AND DIAGNOSIS
For the first time, a vaccine
to prevent cancer has been
developed, specifically
targeting the strains of
HPV that are linked to the
development of cancer --
and one of the two
available vaccines also
immunizes against the
strains that cause genital
warts. Using Mesothelin, a
17 year old was able to
develop a dipstick for
diagnosing pancreatic
cancer, notorious for its
rapid fatality. This method
detects pancreatic cancer
at its earliest stages when
there is a 100 percent
chance of recovery. It is
cheaper, faster and even
more sensitive than other
methods. The dipstick can
be used to also diagnose
ovarian and lung cancer,
and with a few
modifications his
technique can be used to
develop other similar
diagnostic tools for other
forms of cancer.
HEALTH INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
My personal favourite,
Health Information
Technology! Patients may
not even think of it as they
sign in with a pad and pen,
then sit in the waiting room
while the nurse pulls their
file. Patients have changed
from passive members of
the health team and are
beginning to get more
involved. Today some
patients may arrive at
hospitals armed with more
information about their
conditions than their
doctors.
Information and
Telecommunication
technology has done even
more than keep patients
informed- it has also
bettered patient care at all
levels, disease and epidemic
outbreak tracking using
data from mobile health
applications, diagnostics
and treatment support for
remote health worke rs in
rural communities,
communication and training
for health workers using
e-learning, remote
monitoring of patients and
data collection, using
mobile devices, electronic
health records, telemedicine
and telesurgery and the use
of virtual reality in surgical
training and practice.
ONCE A DAY HIV PILL
Ever since HIV was
discovered, researchers have
been searching for ways to
treat, cure and prevent
infection by the virus. The
year 2010 was particularly
eventful with regards to
AIDS and HIV research: A
once-a-day pill that not
only treats HIV but also
help to prevent the
infection (called pre-
exposure prophylaxis). The
study focused on gay and
bisexual men and found
that those who took the
daily pill along with using
condoms reduced their risk
of HIV infection by 44
percent. And those who
followed the daily dosage
closely had 73 percent
fewer infections at the end
of the study.
ANTI-SMOKING LAWS
Well outside the practice of
medicine into the field of
Law, smoking bans have cut
exposure to secondhand
smoke, which, in turn, has
contributed to a reduction
in heart attacks and death
from heart disease. While
public smoking bans protect
people from secondhand
smoke, doctors say they
also motivate people to
quit.
AMSUL Digest 2014