WHAT’SAHEAD:MOREHELPFORMOREPEOPLE
EasierColonPolypRemoval
Duringa colonoscopya doctorcansnipaway
smallpolyps,butlargeronestypicallyrequire
opensurgery.Nowa devicecalledtheFlexRobotic
Systemmakesremovalofsomelargerpolyps,
includingearlystagecancerousones,a minimally
invasiveprocedure.
“What'sspecialaboutourrobotisit’sf lexible,
likethescopeusedina colonoscopy,”saysKevin
FitzpatrickofMedrobotics,theUScompanythat
makesthesystem.Thedevice,withsurgicalinstrumentstuckedinside,
canfollowthetwistyanatomyofthecolontoremovepolypsinareas
that would otherwise be impossible to reach without surgery.NewLymeDisease
Diagnosis
Earlydiagnosisand
treatmentofLyme
diseasegivessufferersa
muchbetterchanceof
rapid,completerecovery,
andlessriskofsuffering
fromlong-termeffects
suchasLymearthritis.
Butsymptomsofthe
diseasecaneasilybe
mistakenforother
illnessesandtestresults
cantakeuptothree
weeks.Nowa newtest
canrapidlydetectLyme
diseasebyidentifyingits
DNAina bloodsample.
Theadvance,outlinedin
thejournalClinical
InfectiousDiseases, has
the potential to transformoutcomesforthose
infectedbytheLyme tick.OvarianCancer
Detection
Becauseovariancanceris
usuallydiagnosedonly
afterit’sprogressed,just
30 to 50 percentof
womensurviveforfive
years.Nowa substance
presentinthebloodof 90
percentofthosewithearly
stageovariancancerand
100 percentofthosewith
laterstage(butnotatallin
healthywomen)hasbeen
identifiedbyAustralian
researchers.A bloodtest
designedtodetectthis
substancecouldchange
thesurvivaloddsfora
great many women.NewTreatmentfor
PeanutAllergies
ShowsPromise
Peanutallergiesare
thedeadliestoffood
allergies.Soresearchers
tryingtodesensitise
allergicpeopletothe
legumeintroducedthem
toa drugthatcontains
minusculeamountsof
peanutprotein,thedose
ofwhichtheyslightly
increasedovertime.
Theresult:allergic
responsesofthosewho
receivedthedrugwere
lessseverethanofthose
whoreceiveda placebo.
Thatsmallvariationin
reactioncouldmean
thedifferencebetween
ILLUSTRATIONS: SHUTTERSTOCK life and death.
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Medical Breakthroughs