fighting blindness; Ozempic to the rescue (again) and targeting lung cancer: MediCLE

CLEVELAND, Ohio — This week in Cleveland Medical News … a new tool in the fight against blindness. Other Benefits of Weight Loss Drug Ozempic and Banning Toxic Drink Additions Plus OSU scientists target non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer

storing cells; Visual storage.

An associate professor of ophthalmology and vision sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine hopes to offer the first oral therapy for the genetic eye disease retinitis pigmentosa.

RP causes blindness when cells in the retina that respond to light, called photoreceptors, die. It can be caused by a variety of underlying genetic mutations for which there is no cure.

Researchers say the new therapy protects the retina’s sensitive cells by blocking a protein that kills them. This protein is common among genetic mutations that cause RP as well as other neurodegenerative brain diseases, so it could be a potential treatment for genetic blindness as well as other brain diseases such as ALS or Alzheimer’s disease. The main driver of symptoms.

Do it again to save Ozempic?

If you’ve been following the news about Ozempic’s weight loss pill, you know that it not only helps people lose weight with few serious side effects, but also has other side benefits like weight loss. inflammation reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease; Improves kidney function and even helps with infertility.

And now it’s been shown to help people stop drinking. Excuse me, but is there anything this drug can’t do?

Other anti-obesity medications that include Ozempic; The study found a 50% to 56% lower incidence and recurrence risk in patients followed for more than a year compared to semaglutide. .

These findings come from a new study led by Case Western Reserve University and published in the journal Nature Communications.

OSU research targets non-small cell lung cancer.

Ohio State University researchers are harnessing the body’s natural defenses to kill lung cancer cells.

By understanding how cells naturally repair DNA damage, researchers hope to disrupt this process in cancer cells, making them more vulnerable to treatment.

OSU researchers found that by blocking these chemicals, called checkpoint kinase 1, and combining with parts of the body’s antioxidant system, they were more effective at killing non-small cell lung cancer cells.

The fusion of proteins makes cancer cells more resistant to treatment, researchers say. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Say no to BVO!

The US Food and Drug Administration announced its decision last week to ban synthetic brominated vegetable oils used in food products.

Brominated vegetable oil is vegetable oil that has been treated with bromine. Used as an emulsifier in citrus-flavored sodas and beverages to maintain flavor distribution throughout the juice.

As Gretchen reports, the ban, which will go into effect on August 2nd, has been a long time coming. It was first banned in the UK more than 20 years ago, and later in the EU. It has been removed from food products in many other countries, including Japan and India. But despite concerns over its safety, it continued to be used in the United States after the FDA deemed it safe for human consumption.

After recent studies showed that BVO damaged the thyroids of rats that consumed it, the FDA reversed its decision and concluded that BVO is no longer considered safe in food.

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