CURINGESSENTIALTREMOR
RetiredteacherJuliaCzyz,78,lovedpaintingandothercrafts.
Butin 2006 shedevelopeda tremorinherrighthandthat
wasdiagnosedasessentialtremor.Thismostcommonof
movementdisorderscancauseuncontrollableshaking.
Julia’sconditionsoonprogressedtothepointwhereshe
couldnolongerwritehername.
In June 2018 a newprocedure,focusedultrasound,gaveJuliaherlifeback.
Doctors fitted Julia’s head with a devicethatresembleda rimmedhelmet,
slidherintoanMRImachineand
directedultrasoundwavestotheprecise
neuronscausinghertremors,zapping
themoutofexistencewithoutharming
surroundingbraintissue.
Totestwhethertheyhadeliminated
theproblem,theyslidJuliaoutoftheMRI
severaltimesandaskedhertoholda water
bottle.Eachtimehertremorswere
reducedfurtheruntilfinallytheywere
completelygone.“Thatmomentwhen
I realisedthatmyhandwas steady was
magical,” says Julia.TRUE
STORYCoeliacDiseaseVaccine
Whatifitwerepossibleforthegluten-intolerant
toenjoybread,pastriesandbiscuits– andnotjust
thegluten-freekind?Ifa newvaccine,Nexvax2,
whichbeganPhaseTwoclinicaltrialsinAustralia,
NewZealandandtheUSlastyearproveseffective,
thatcouldsoonbea reality.Thevaccineincludes
a tinyamountoftheglutenproteinthatcausesthe
inf lammatoryreactionofcoeliacdisease.
Asthevaccineamountisslightlyincreasedover
time,it’shopedthatpeoplewithcoeliacdiseasewill
buildupenoughtolerancetosafely eat foods they’ve
had to steer clear of previously.PHOTO COURTESY OF CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION
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Medical Breakthroughs