Latest news with #TheNewEnglandJournalofMedicine
News18
17-07-2025
- Health
- News18
Renewed Attack On Yoga And Ayurveda Stems From Insecurity, Intolerance
Last Updated: The civilisational knowledge and wisdom of thousands of years that have healed generations cannot be simply mocked away It could have been just another of those millions of daily fights on X that one forgets as the river of the social media timeline brings in new flotsam. But it got bigger and bigger, perhaps because an entire civilisation's knowledge and wisdom were attacked and insulted, and a country's medical system was brought into question. Indian chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi had written an innocuous Doctors' Day post honouring his family of ayurvedic and homoeopathy doctors. A handle called @theliverdr, a practitioner from Kerala named Cyriac Abby Philips, piped up to say none of them were actual doctors. Cheered on by some others, he called AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homoeopathy) 'pseudo-science". It is fine to criticise Indic medical and wellness systems. But when one repeatedly attacks and summarily dismisses it, one needs to delve into the motives. After all, the civilisational knowledge and wisdom of thousands of years that have healed generations cannot be simply mocked away. First, it betrays the deep insecurity of allopathy, which works on the Western paradigm of modern medicine, towards other medical systems. Many allopathic practitioners take the Abrahamic approach of exclusivity, that only it is the last word and the true cure; all other systems are hocus. While Cyriac Abby Philips denigrates Hindu scientists showing any sign of spiritual belief, netizens posted screenshots from the Rajagiri hospital portal, where he is a senior consultant. The hospital has 'chaplaincy and pastoral services" and its motto 'we care, we cure" is a 'proclamation of our firm commitment to invoke the healing power of God upon the whole person, body and soul". Second, ayurveda and homoeopathy are recognised medical courses in India that one gets into after clearing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET. BAMS, or Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, is an integrated medical degree specially designed to teach students the systems of the traditional Indian ayurveda system. BHMS, or Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery, comprehensively covers aspects of that field. After completing this degree, you become eligible to practice as a doctor in homoeopathy. Western medical institutions have increasingly acknowledged and put to use Indian medical systems. For instance, Gerhard J Newerla, MD, from Albany, New York, writes in The New England Journal of Medicine, 'The first knowledge of testicular function was acquired empirically by the ancients when domestic animals were castrated for various reasons. However, the specific effects in men were also familiar in those early civilisations where eunuchs were part of the social order. Furthermore, The Ayurveda, written by Sushruta of India, written about 1400 BC, recommended the administration of testicular tissues for the cure of impotence." Columbia University credits Sushruta for the earliest plastic surgeries and nose jobs. 'During the 6th Century BCE, an Indian physician named Sushruta—widely regarded in India as the 'father of surgery'—wrote one of the world's earliest works on medicine and surgery. The Sushruta Samhita documented the etiology of more than 1,100 diseases, the use of hundreds of medicinal plants, and instructions for performing scores of surgical procedures—including three types of skin grafts and reconstruction of the nose," its journal says. In his acclaimed book, Saving My Neck: A Doctor's East/West Journey through Cancer, Dr Timothy McCall, MD, wonderfully describes his experience at an ayurvedic doctor's place in Kerala. He says this doctor, Chandukutty, loves taking the cases in which the conventional medical doctors have thrown up their hands. In the first week, Dr McCall shadowed him at his clinic in 2007; he witnessed how a 20-something woman with rheumatoid arthritis slowly started recovering. She was bedridden despite high doses of prednisone and methotrexate, heavy Western meds used to calm her autoimmune condition. At Chandukutty's clinic, after a few massages with medicated oils infused with dozens of herbs, she was up walking with a cane. Within three days, she was walking without one. Dr McCall writes: Rather than looking at an entire organism, a reductionist studies the parts that comprise it. In medicine, for example, the heart is viewed as a collection of parts, each of which is studied in detail. Each of these parts is in turn broken down into its own constituent parts. In the case of the heart, reductionists examine the chambers, the valves, the coronary arteries, and every other part that can be identified. This process continues at ever-finer levels of organization, down to nuclei and mitochondria, hormones and neurotransmitters. Reductionist thinking in medicine has saved millions of lives. Consider antibiotics, insulin, and the polio vaccine—even hand-washing. But, unfortunately, some physicians take a good thing too far. They put so much trust in the power of reductionism that they feel no need to consider the full humanity of their patients. When this attitude is taken to its extreme, the patient is seen as the sum of her lab tests and imaging studies. She becomes little more than a machine, some of whose parts can be fixed, others replaced. After a lifetime immersed in the field, I believe that we as a society have accepted a flawed understanding of health care. Mark Hyman, MD, and then director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, says the 'integrative approach is the future of health care". But in the land where that very integrative approach was born, some practitioners ironically want to choke every ounce of ancient knowledge instead of exploring—in true scientific temperament—what they still do not know or are able to prove accurately with current medical understanding. Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
7NEWS
17-07-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
Microsoft claims its AI medical tool can outperform human doctors in diagnosing complex cases
In June, Microsoft unveiled a groundbreaking AI-powered diagnostic tool that could revolutionise how doctors detect and treat complex diseases. Called the Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO), the system mimics a panel of five virtual doctors, each with its own specialty, working together to debate and diagnose. In trials, it solved nearly 86 per cent of difficult medical cases published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which is known for complexity. That is over four times more accurate than experienced human doctors under the same conditions, according to the tech's co-founder Dr Mustafa Suleyman. 'We're talking about models that are not just better, but dramatically better — faster, cheaper, and more accurate than human doctors,' Suleyman said. Experts urge caution — it's early days. The system made the diagnoses using patient data already provided, and clinical use is still a way off, with peer-review and safety testing ahead. University of Sydney biomedical informatics professor Adam Dunn said it is not a real representation of what doctors do. 'These tools can be useful as an assistant, but they're never going to replace doctors,' Dunn told 7NEWS. 'The doctor has to quickly look at you and understand what kinds of questions to ask you to gather the right kinds of information. 'The second important thing to think about for ethics is related to who the AI is intended to support. 'In a lot of cases if the data are from one hospital in Boston, it's not a representative population. 'The decisions that an AI can make may be unfair. They may not be protecting our most marginalised and vulnerable populations.' Artificial intelligence is currently being used across healthcare in many areas, with one standing out in terms of popularity. Known as AI Scribes, the system listens to the conversation between a patient and a doctor or healthcare provider, and then quickly summarises the chat for medical records. Australian Medical Association chair of public health Dr Michael Bonning said it allows the clinician to spend more time with the patient and less on paperwork. 'We know, and many practitioners will say this, that because of the time pressures on their day, they will often write a short series of notes and then rely on their memory of the consultation as well to provide further insight down the track,' Bonning told 7NEWS. 'In a six or eight-hour day, you might spend an hour and a half of that typing. And if in that circumstance you can let the AI do that, that's a huge time saving for a clinician.' Doctors still review the transcription. 'Cannot replace humans' Members of the public told 7NEWS they welcome the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to assist doctors, but would not trust the computer in place of a human doctor. 'I think it can be used as a support b, butot completely replacing humans,' one person said. 'I think we still have to have human reviewing in there.' Another said a 'human doctor is still better, but I guess everything is artificial intelligence'. 'It's scary, but at the same time you don't know what the future holds with AI. It's both good and bad.'
Sydney Morning Herald
01-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
This breast cancer drug used to cost $3700 a month. From today, it will be much cheaper
Had she not been sponsored, at the time the drugs she was given would have cost her about $4000 a month. 'You think, 'I don't know how we can find this money',' McLardy says. Getting a drug that worked with standard hormone therapy to reduce the chances of cancer returning 'felt like hitting the jackpot,' she says, and helped to reduce the nagging sensation 'that the Grim Reaper had his hand resting on the back of my shoulder'. From July 1, one such drug, ribociclib, sold as Kisqali, will be available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for women in the initial stages of the most common types of early breast cancer – hormone receptor positive (HR+) or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) – and who are deemed at high risk of recurrence because their cancer involves lymph nodes. The drug is part of a class that targets proteins, known as CDK4/6 inhibitors, involved with division of cancer cells, effectively slowing them down or stopping them from dividing. The global, multi-centre randomised trial, NATALEE, whose findings are published in The New England Journal of Medicine found adding Kisqali to standard endocrine therapy for early breast cancer patients reduced recurrence risk by 28.5 per cent compared with hormone therapy alone. Loading The NATALEE trial involved 5101 patients with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer – which accounts for 70-80 per cent of patients – who were randomly assigned to receive either Kisqali plus hormone therapy or only hormone therapy for three years. Austin Health and Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute oncologist Dr Belinda Yeo said the decision to make Kisqali available to suitable early breast cancer patients would broaden options for treatment intended to cure them. It could be difficult with early breast cancer to discern 'when and to whom' it would return, Yeo said, 'so in the Goldilocks zone of trying to get the right treatment for the right patients, the more options the better'. She described the types of cancer it helps prevent returning as the 'garden varieties', which about 70 per cent of early breast cancer patients have. Around 21,000 people, the vast majority of them women, were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024. Dr Sally Baron-Hay, an Australian NATALEE phase two study investigator, said it was great to have another treatment option for early breast cancer patients with high-risk cancer involving multiple lymph nodes, but said not all patients at high risk would be eligible. 'My hope is that all my early breast cancer patients at high risk of cancer recurrence, regardless of how many lymph nodes the cancer has involved, will have access to Kisqali in the future,' she said. Kirsten Pilatti, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Network Australia (which accepts no funding from pharmaceutical companies), said the organisation supported the listing of Kisqali on the PBS. Before the listing of Kisqali, women with non-metastatic breast cancer could not access the drug without paying $3700 a month for three years, which some patients do via crowdfunding. Its listing was important because it ensured equity of care, regardless of patients' ability to pay for costly medications privately. 'It is important so we don't have a two-tiered system where only people who can afford it have the benefits,' she said. 'It means more options for precision medicine for oncologists to choose from, for all Australians, regardless of your postcode.' Pilatti, a member of the federal Health Technology Assessment Review Implementation Advisory Group, said access to Kisqali for early breast cancer patients who fit the criteria would help reduce the significant fear of recurrence many experience.
Scottish Sun
27-06-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
New Ozempic alternative only needs to be taken once a month and leads to ‘substantial weight loss'
Patients taking the drug lost 16 per cent of their body fat over the course of a year NO WEIGH New Ozempic alternative only needs to be taken once a month and leads to 'substantial weight loss' A NEW weight loss jab that only needs to be taken once monthly leads to "substantial weight loss", according to early trials. Drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro - or diabetes jab Ozempic - need to be injected once weekly to see results. Advertisement 1 A new weight loss jab currently being trialled only needs to be given once a month Credit: PA But a new drug currently being trialled by pharmaceutical company Amgen can be given once a month and saw users shed up to 16 per cent of their body weight over the course of a year. This is bellow the 20 per cent weight loss than can be achieved through Mounjaro - dubbed the 'King Kong' of weight loss jabs - over 18 months. But scientists behind the new trial said the less frequent dose schedule could encourage people to stick to the treatment. The drug is called maridebart cafraglutide, or MariTide for short. Advertisement Like Wegoy, Mounjaro and Ozempic, it's a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, meaning it targets the GLP-1 receptors in the brain and pancreas to reduce appetite and control blood sugar. But it also targets glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors, which are also involved in managing insulin release, fat storage, metabolism, and appetite. This is part of the reason the drug needs to be administered less often. "In this phase two trial, once-monthly maridebart cafraglutide resulted in substantial weight reduction in participants with obesity with or without type 2 diabetes," they wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine. Advertisement "Once-monthly therapeutics for obesity may offer sustainable treatment for persons with this highly prevalent, chronic disease. "Medication at less frequent intervals may improve adherence and reduce barriers, potentially facilitating improvements in long-term health outcomes." I went on fat jabs but the hair loss was unbelievable so I quit - I'd rather be chubby with hair than skinny and bald There were 592 people aged 18 or older enrolled in the study - 465 of them were obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 or more, or a BMI of 27 with one obesity-related complication. The remaining participants had obesity as well as type 2 diabetes. Advertisement They were randomly given monthly maridebart cafraglutide injections or a placebo for a year, at dose of 140, 280, or 420 mg. Some participants remained on a stable dose throughout, while others gradually worked up to a higher one. Participants were asked to report any side effects they experienced from the drug, such as nausea, vomiting, retching, headaches, diarrhoea and constipation Those with obesity lost 12.3 to 16.2 per cent of their body weight while taking maridebart cafraglutide over 52 weeks, compared to people taking a placebo who only lost 2.5 per cent of their weight. Advertisement As for people with diabetes and obesity, they lost 8.4 to 12.3 per cent of their body weight on the drug, compared to 1.7 per cent weight loss for placebo-takers. Almost all participants taking maridebart cafraglutide experienced at least one side-effect from the drug - mild to moderate nausea, vomiting and retching were the most frequently reported side-effects. These effects were less severe when participants gradually built up to a full dose of maridebart cafraglutide, which may be the best way to get people started on it in the future. Advertisement Everything you need to know about fat jabs Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases. Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK. Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market. Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year. How do they work? The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight. They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists. They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients' sugar levels are too high. Can I get them? NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics. Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure. GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss. Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk. Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health. Are there any risks? Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild. Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea. Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at said: 'One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.' Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia. Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients' mental health. Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines. Two deaths were reported in participants who received maridebart cafraglutide, but both were investigated and deemed unrelated to the drug. A handful of people taking the drug reported gallbladder issues, which can also be an issue with other weight loss jabs. Some also experienced depression and suicidal thoughts while participating in the trial. One person taking maridebart cafraglutide and one person on the placebo drug withdrew as a result. This was a phase two clinical trial, meaning it still needs to be tested on a bigger group of participants over a longer time period. Advertisement Amgen deemed the results promising enough to progress to a phase three trial. "This phase two dose-ranging trial investigating the efficacy and safety of maridebart cafraglutide, a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist and GIP receptor antagonist administered once monthly or less frequently, showed substantial weight reduction and no new or unexpected safety signals, supporting advancement to phase three," researchers wrote. They estimated MariTide could lead to even more weight loss, beyond a year of use. "A weight plateau was not reached at 52 weeks, with weight continuing a downward trajectory," they noted. Advertisement "Therefore, longer-term trials are needed to assess the full weight efficacy of this agent."
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
26-06-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
Stem cell breakthrough: New therapy raises hopes of curing type 1 diabetes
Living with type 1 diabetes is a constant battle where patients need to track blood sugar throughout the day and need insulin injections or pump-based therapies for life. But what if one day you could stop taking insulin for good? Today, it might sound impossible, but US-based scientists are working towards making it a reality. They have developed a new stem cell-derived treatment that has allowed the majority of patients with severe type 1 diabetes, who participated in the trial, to discontinue insulin use. The study titled Stem cell–derived, fully differentiated islets for Type 1 diabetes, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, tested an experimental treatment called zimislecel, developed by US biopharmaceutical company Vertex Pharmaceuticals. According to the research paper, it helped 83 per cent of participants achieve insulin independence and maintain stable blood sugar levels for at least one year, marking a potentially transformative step in diabetes care. What is zimislecel and what did the trial find? Researchers conducted a trial on 14 people with severe type 1 diabetes who suffered from hypoglycemic unawareness, a dangerous condition where blood sugar drops suddenly without warning signs. These patients are at risk of passing out, having seizures, or even dying from low blood sugar. According to the study, the participants received a stem cell-based infusion called zimislecel, which introduced lab-grown islet cells into their bodies. These new cells travelled to the liver and started working like natural insulin-producing cells. The findings show: 10 out of 12 surviving participants were able to completely stop using insulin within a year The remaining two patients needed significantly less insulin Patients spent over 70 per cent of their time within the healthy blood sugar range (70–180 mg/dL) Episodes of low blood sugar stopped within the first 90 days of treatment How zimislecel could change type 1 diabetes treatment According to the researchers, type 1 diabetes happens when the immune system mistakenly destroys insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas. Without insulin, the body cannot regulate blood sugar levels, requiring lifelong insulin injections or pumps. Zimislecel changes this as it uses stem cells engineered to become islet cells, replacing what the immune system destroyed. Once inside the body, these cells settle in the liver and start regulating blood sugar like a healthy pancreas would. However, the participants in the trial also received glucocorticoid-free immunosuppressive therapy to prevent the body from attacking the newly introduced islet cells. This means that the patient might need to take immunosuppressants for life, which reduces immunity and increases the risk of infections. The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association's 85th Scientific Sessions held in Chicago from June 21–23. According to media reports, experts have cautioned that while this immunosuppression may be less risky than what's used for organ transplants, the long-term safety of zimislecel will need more years of follow-up. What's next for zimislecel and when could it be approved? Vertex Pharmaceuticals is now moving forward with phase 3 clinical trials of zimislecel. If larger studies confirm these results, the company may apply for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as early as next year. The cost of the treatment is still unknown, but experts agree that even the possibility of freedom from insulin is a groundbreaking leap forward. Can this stem cell therapy help with type 2 diabetes too? Zimislecel is currently being tested only in people with type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which typically develops later in life and is related to insulin resistance rather than insulin absence, is a different disease that may not respond the same way to this therapy. However, other researchers are experimenting with procedures to cure type 2 diabetes through cell therapy. For example, scientists in China developed an artificial version of the insulin-producing cells found in the pancreas, which were then transplanted into the patient during trials that produced positive results. More research is going on in this regard to confirm the efficacy and safety of this approach before it can be widely used as a treatment. For more health updates, follow #HealthWithBS
