WHAT’S AHEAD: MORE HELP FOR MORE PEOPLE
Easier Colon Polyp Removal
During a colonoscopy a doctor can snip away
small polyps, but larger ones typically require
open surgery. Now a device called the Flex Robotic
System makes removal of some larger polyps,
including early stage cancerous ones, a minimally
invasive procedure.
“What's special about our robot is it’s f lexible,
like the scope used in a colonoscopy,” says Kevin
Fitzpatrick of Medrobotics, the US company that
makes the system. The device, with surgical instruments tucked inside,
can follow the twisty anatomy of the colon to remove polyps in areas
that would otherwise be impossible to reach without surgery.New Lyme Disease
Diagnosis
Early diagnosis and
treatment of Lyme
disease gives sufferers a
much better chance of
rapid, complete recovery,
and less risk of suffering
from long-term effects
such as Lyme arthritis.
But symptoms of the
disease can easily be
mistaken for other
illnesses and test results
can take up to three
weeks. Now a new test
can rapidly detect Lyme
disease by identifying its
DNA in a blood sample.
The advance, outlined in
the journalClinical
Infectious Diseases, has
the potential to transformoutcomes for those
infected by the Lyme tick.Ovarian Cancer
Detection
Because ovarian cancer is
usually diagnosed only
after it’s progressed, just
30 to 50 per cent of
women survive for five
years. Now a substance
present in the blood of 90
per cent of those with early
stage ovarian cancer and
100 per cent of those with
later stage (but not at all in
healthy women) has been
identified by Australian
researchers. A blood test
designed to detect this
substance could change
the survival odds for a
great many women.New Treatment for
Peanut Allergies
Shows Promise
Peanut allergies are
the deadliest of food
allergies. So researchers
trying to desensitise
allergic people to the
legume introduced them
to a drug that contains
minuscule amounts of
peanut protein, the dose
of which they slightly
increased over time.
The result: allergic
responses of those who
received the drug were
less severe than of those
who received a placebo.
That small variation in
reaction could mean
the difference between
ILLUSTRATIONS: SHUTTERSTOCK life and death.
45
Medical Breakthroughs