The 7 medical miracles that shocked 2024 and offered hope 2024 is leaving in a few twenty-four hours and the year that will now be the past was characterized by many and important achievements, in various fields of medicine and biological science, which offered hope to those suffering from dire conditions ailments and disorders.
The magazine National Geographic and the American television network ABC singled out some of the most important achievements of medicine, which .
Pioneering transplants, innovative tests and new treatments have given hope to thousands of patients.
Here’s who they are:
Placement of expandable heart valves
In the first operation of its kind, doctors from Duke University in North Carolina transplanted into an 18-day-old boy part of the heart of another newborn baby that ended up in Arkansas. The part of the heart transplanted into little Owen Monroe contained the aortic and pulmonary valves.
Heart valve transplants have been performed for six decades. However, the new valves do not grow or have the ability to self-repair.
In the current transplant, however, the valves grow with Owen. A year after the operation, the little one is developing normally and the hope is that he will have a normal life.
Transplantation of organs from pigs
In 2024, several genetically modified pig organs were transplanted into living humans. Until now, these types of transplants involved the heart and were tested on brain-dead people. This year, however, several kidney transplants took place.
Allotransplantation, as transplants between different species are called, is still in its infancy. But if they succeed, they will solve the huge problem of the huge wait for a transplant, which annually costs many lives.
The first transplant of a genetically modified kidney from a pig into a living patient took place in March in a 62-year-old man. The most recent occurred in November in a 53-year-old woman. They facilitated a double kidney and thymus transplant in New York and a modified liver transplant in a brain-dead patient in China.
With the exception of the 53-year-old woman, the rest of the patients did not live long after their transplants, although they ended up from unrelated causes, National Geographic reports.
Blood test that detects Alzheimer’s disease
Among the medical achievements of 2024, the development of a blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly with 90% accuracy stands out.
The diagnosis is currently confirmed by lumbar puncture or brain imaging with positron emission tomography (PET scan). The new test, called PrecivityAD2, is based on measuring certain substances (biomarkers) in the blood.
It is not currently approved for widespread use by the public. However, if approved, it will significantly facilitate the early diagnosis of the disease.
New medical for schizophrenia after decades
Last September, the first new medical for schizophrenia in nearly 35 years was approved in the US. The medical has a different mode of action than the existing ones. It will be available under the trade name Cobenfy and combines two different active substances.
The newmedical “represents the first new approach to treating schizophrenia in decades,” said Dr. Tiffany Farchione, director of the Division of Psychiatry at the FDA’s Center for medical Evaluation & Research (CDER). “Its approval provides a new alternative to antipsychotic medical that patients have previously received.”
Approval of medical that reduces food allergies
Achievements in the field of Pharmacology include the new approval received in 2024 in the US of an old medical so that it can be taken by patients with severe allergy to peanuts or other foods. The medical is omalizumab (or Xolair) and has been available for years for respiratory allergies such as asthma.
A new study published this year showed that the medical can significantly reduce the risk of a severe allergic reaction to peanuts and other foods after nearly 4 months of treatment. Omalizumab is given by injection every 2 to 4 weeks. However, it does not cure allergies, so patients must still watch what they eat.
Paralyzed walked with a “pacemaker” in the brain
There have also been significant developments in the treatment of paralysis after spinal cord injury. As announced earlier this month, two patients were able to take some steps after electrical stimulation of their brains.
Their case was published in the medical journal Nature Medicine. They were treated at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL) and the city’s University Hospital.
The two patients did not have a complete rupture of the spinal cord, but said some nerve fibers remained intact. Their improvement began almost immediately after the start of stimulation. Moreover, it continues even when she stops.
Gene therapy restored deaf children’s hearing
Children with congenital (birth) deafness have regained their hearing with the help of gene therapy, it was announced in January. The children were deaf due to a mutation in the OTOF gene. This gene produces a protein called otoferlin. This protein is necessary for the transmission of messages from the ears to the brain.
Six months after treatment, five children’s hearing was at 50-60% of normal levels, the researchers reported in the Lancet medical journal.
Source: Iatropedia.gr