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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,749

Three paralyzed men have walked again after receiving electric jolts to the spine

Three men with severe spinal cord injuries have walked for the first time in years after receiving targeted electrical stimulation of the spinal cord.

Breakthrough: Spinal cord injuries can severely reduce a person’s range of motion or lead to complete leg paralysis. In two new papers published in Nature and Nature Neuroscience, researchers describe implanting electrical stimulators into the damaged spinal cords of three men who all had partial or complete lower-leg paralysis. The stimulators then delivered targeted electric pulses in time with the patients’ walking gait.

The patients wore a series of sensors on their legs and feet that wirelessly communicated to the stimulators as they began to walk. Within a week, the men were able to leave the treadmill and walk on the ground with continued electrical stimulation. After a few months, they regained the ability to walk without any electrical stimulation at all.

Steve Perry presents GDF11 with an Age Reversal update

GDF11 is an endogenous (meaning it’s natural, and you have it in you) signaling molecule whose primary mechanism of action is stem cell DNA repair. Most of the aging is likely caused by the atrophy of your stem cell populations due to declining GDF11 levels, and many believe this is natural selection’s way of programming lifespan. Fortunately, adding exogenous GDF11 can generally repair enough of senescent stem cells to reverse your age 5 to 10 years.

Steve will take some time providing information on the topic and answering questions.

“I’ve always been interested in stopping the aging process, and as a lifelong software guy, coupled with plenty of evidence from parabiosis experiments, I believe lifespan is programmed by natural selection, specifically group selection.

The primary mechanism for determining lifespan is a naturally occurring, blood born peptide called GDF11. Interestingly enough, the molecular structure of GDF11 is maintained across all vertebrate species. You have GDF in you right now, but unless you are 18, you don’t have enough of it.

GDF11’s mechanism of action is repairing stem cell DNA. GDF11 declines with age, so as you age, your stem cell colonies diminish and atrophy, eventually resulting in catastrophic failure, i.e., death. Injecting endogenous GDF11 can stop this process and my goal for the last two years has been to refine the GDF11 dosage and replacement process.” ~ Steve Perry.

Drug companies are teaching old drugs new tricks, and it could upend how we find new treatments for superbugs and a devastating lung disease

  • In an age where innovative technologies like gene and cell therapy are transforming how we think about medical treatments, some CEOs are wondering what’s being left on the table.
  • Business Insider spoke to three companies developing new uses for old drugs, and they told us now might be a good time to rethink what we consider innovation.
  • Simply changing how drugs are dosed or delivered could open up the doors to more uses for existing medications in tough-to-treat conditions like female sexual arousal dysfunction or antibiotic-resistant infections.

The key to tackling hard-to-treat diseases could have less to do with flashy new technologies than with finding new uses for old drugs.

A range of smaller drugmakers are exploring the back catalogs of big pharma companies to discover old drugs that could be used in new ways, they told Business Insider. They’re seeking treatments for conditions including a rare lung disease, antibiotic-resistant infections, and female sexual arousal disorder. Along the way, they’re seeking to redefine what we think of as medical innovation.

NASA: Astronaut immune system cells affected by long-term trips

NK-cell function appears to be impaired during spaceflights over long durations according to a new study published this week. This means that immune systems could be broken down somewhat during the long trips NASA hopes to take with astronauts in the distant future. The research here was done by a team of researchers at the University of Arizona, the University of Houston, Louisiana State University, and NASA-Johnson Space Center.

Machine Learning and Medicine: Is AI the Future of Psychiatry?

Artificial intelligence, or AI is something we hear a lot about today. In this interview with Life.

Extension’s Michael A. Smith, MD, Kristen Willeumier, PhD, provides some insight into AI technology and its relationship with psychiatry which, along with neurology, studies and treats diseases of the brain. Dr. Smith predicts that AI will soon be an important part of how we understand and treat disease. According to Dr. Willeumier, some of that technology is now “ready for prime time.” Download this Live Foreverish podcast episode for FREE on iTunes!

Artificial intelligence is, simply, the intelligence of machines as opposed to human or animal intelligence. According to the New World Encyclopedia™, “Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science and engineering that deals with intelligent behavior, learning, and adaptation in machines. John McCarthy coined the term to mean ‘the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.’”.

3D eye simulation directs noninvasive process to prolong glasses-free vision

Ophthalmology company Kejako (Geneva, Switzerland) has developed what it calls a noninvasive “Phakorestoration” process, whereby a laser patterns the lens of the eye of a presbyopia patient to restore clear vision just at the level needed for the patient to avoid wearing eyeglasses. This Phakorestoration process is repeated at intervals spanning several years over a patient’s lifetime, prolonging glasses-free vision for as long as 20 years.

By modeling the complete optical parameters of the human eye using COMSOL Multiphysics software, a prescription for a series of noninvasive laser procedures for presbyopia patients can provide glasses-free vision for more than 20 years.

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