The therapy, called SAINT neuromodulation, was developed by Magnus Medical and has FDA clearance for major depressive disorder. In a previous controlled study, nearly 80% of participants with major depression experienced rapid remission.

According to Dr Kimberly A. Yonkers, Katz Family Chair in Psychiatry and Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at UMass Chan, the study results are promising for women with severe depression and could offer relief to postpartum patients who have not found an effective treatment.

Related: Unseen and unspoken: Mental health among Asian mothers 

Postpartum depression affects roughly one in eight women in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with symptoms appearing during pregnancy or in the months after childbirth. Dr Yonkers noted that current treatments, including antidepressants and therapy, can take weeks to work and may present challenges for women who are breastfeeding.

She also explained that postpartum depression can be devastating and emphasized that a treatment providing relief in days rather than weeks could be life-changing for families.

Maternal health is in crisis—and aid cuts are making it worse

SAINT therapy uses brain imaging to target mood-related areas with focused neurostimulation. Participants receive an MRI to identify the specific brain regions for individualized treatment, followed by magnetic pulses delivered in 10-minute sessions, 10 times a day, over five days at an outpatient clinic. Many patients respond within a week, and ongoing treatments can continue alongside SAINT as long as they remain consistent.

The multisite trial aims to enroll up to 192 women, ages 18 to 45, diagnosed with a major depressive episode with peripartum onset—the technical term for postpartum depression. UMass Chan plans to enroll 85 participants.

EMP-012, now in phase I trials, targets a novel inflammatory pathway and could benefit patients regardless of baseline inflammation type, smoking status or co-morbidities. The treatment is designed for patients with limited options, particularly those who do not qualify for biologics.

GSK said the agreement supports its goal of transforming COPD care through long-acting therapies that address the underlying drivers of disease. The company will take over global development and commercialization after the phase I study, while Empirico will complete the ongoing trial.

Empirico said the collaboration validates its genetics-driven approach to target discovery and siRNA therapeutics and will accelerate the advancement of EMP-012 as a potential precision treatment for COPD and other inflammatory respiratory diseases.

Cancer immunotherapies employ the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors which may include unwanted side effects such as type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterised by insufficient insulin secretion – strategies for preventing or curing type 1 diabetes are still lacking. Researchers from Osaka University in Japan have found using stem cells can modulate the adverse immune-related effects of cancer therapy.

It was found that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), derived from human adipose/fat cells, prevented the influx of immune cells to the pancreas thereby avoiding disruption to insulin production. In experiments, there was only 19% incidence of type 1 diabetes in a small group of mice treated with MSCs, compared to 64% incidence in untreated mice.

Further experiments showed that MSCs secreted factors (such as exosomes) that protected pancreatic cells against immune attack.

Of course, the treatment is still a long way off ever being used in humans – larger studies need to be conducted to investigate the potential for MSCs to help prevent type 1 diabetes induced by immune checkpoint inhibition.

Health Care Asia Home

An international team of scientists have found a novel way of treating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making use of an ingenious combination of naturally-occurring viruses and medical antibiotics. The scientists from Université de Montpellier, France, and University of Pittsburgh, US, have successfully treated infections caused by the antibiotic-resistant bacteria Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) in genetically modified zebrafish using this method, and hope to extend treatment to human clinical trials after further experiments.

M. abscessus, a relative of the bacteria behind tuberculosis and leprosy, is responsible for particularly severe damage to human lungs and can be resistant to many standard antibiotics, making infections extremely challenging to treat. However, the bacteria are vulnerable to one unique bacteriophage – scientists have now identified and named it “Muddy,” a virus that can effectively destroy the M. abscessus bacteria.

Dr. Laurent Kremer, Université de Montpellier, and colleagues decided to test this new therapy in zebrafish, whose biology mimics how our immune system responds to bacterial infections. The zebrafish also carry a key genetic mutation for cystic fibrosis and are vulnerable to M. abscessus infections.

First, they needed to find out how these cystic fibrosis zebrafish reacted to the M. abscessus infection: monitoring the animals for 12 days, the scientists found that the fish developed serious infections with abscesses and suffered a high death rate; only 20% survived. Next the team tested how well the infected fish recovered when injected with Muddy over a period of 5 days. This time, the fish had much less severe infections, increased chances of survival (40%) and had fewer of the abscesses suffered by the fish during a severe infection.

Read: UK scientists id shape-shifting bacteria behind antibiotic resistance

An antibiotic known as rifabutin was later found to be able to pair up with Muddy and could treat the M. abscessus infection as effectively as the bacteriophage alone. After identifying rifabutin, Dr. Kremer and colleagues treated the infected fish for 5 days with the antibiotic and bacteriophage. With this combination treatment, the fishes’ infections were much less severe; the fishes’ survival rate rocketed to 70% and they suffered far fewer abscesses. This is a dramatic improvement compared to fish treated with only the antibiotic, which had a 40% survival rate.

Having shown that it is possible to treat an antibiotic-resistant infection in zebrafish with specially targeted antibacterial bacteriophages, the scientists hope this treatment will eventually be transferred to the clinic to begin saving human lives.

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Aside from flavoring our food, salt is supposed to have 14,000 other uses. My favourite is halotherapy, or the practice of maximizing the beneficial effects that salt can bring to our body. Halotherapy has nothing to do with consuming salt in its everyday form, but concentrates on the inhalation of minute particles of natural salt.

On a recent trip to Prague, this spaholic discovered that salt benefits are not just skin deep. The Namakdan Relaxation Center in the Czech capital is a spaholic’s haven with its stress-busting and rejuvenating treatments.

In addition to yoga and meditation, the centre is home to a manmade salt cave. Visitors who wish to experience this one-of-a-kind treatment are ushered to the salt-filled cavern and are made to relax in cozy seats.

A session in the salt cave allows the noninvasive and entirely natural supplementation of micro-elements such as iron, which reduces susceptibility to infection; copper, which has antifungal properties; selenium, which fights viral infections and, in combination with vitamin E, blocks free radicals to slow down the skin’s aging process; and bromine, which lowers blood pressure and regulates the nervous system.

It has been proven scientifically that a short period in a cave is good for respiratory diseases, asthma, inflammation of the throat, chronic colds, flu, tonsillitis and diseases of the digestive tract. And one need not visit the cave every day. It is believed that the benefits of one salt cave session can last for up to three months.

Salt lamps

But even without the luxury of spending a few minutes inside a natural or manmade salt cave, let alone the resources to find one, the same benefits can also be enjoyed in the comforts of your home. Himalayan Salt Lamps replicate the positive aura you imbibe inside a salt cave.

The heated crystal salt lamp attracts humidity causing the surface of the salt crystal to become moist. It then creates a buildup of ions and removes moisture from your air to reduce allergens and irritants. Now, that’s a soothing way to neutralize the negative ions hanging in the air, while adding a striking decorative piece to your home.

In the spa world, salt-derived treatments are in abundance, such as the centuries-old Thalassotherapy which is often used as a detox to treat various medical complaints including psoriasis and arthritis. A soak in a tub sprinkled with bath salts is highly effective in treating back pains, and the highly popular Salt Glow Treatment, a body scrub with salt as the main exfoliant, rejuvenates the skin and makes it smooth and supple.

Now don’t take this with a grain of salt. Why not try it to believe it?

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network