therapy – KlinikOng.com

This new gene therapy could help ‘turn-off’ asthma!

July 1, 2017June 6, 2017 by ongtim

Sydney: A new gene therapy has been developed by a team of researchers that could help to ‘turn-off’ the immune response which causes allergic reaction such as asthma, or potentially lethal food allergies.

Ray Steptoe, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia said,”When someone has an allergy or asthma flare-up, the symptoms they experience results from immune cells reacting to protein in the allergen.”

The study showed that the single treatment may give life-long protection from asthma as well as those who have severe allergies to peanuts, bee venom, shell fish and other substances by de-sensitising the immune system to tolerate the protein.

Facilitating Children with Emotional Literacy

June 22, 2023September 28, 2012 by ongtim

Many children today need help in emotional literacy. According to the National Health Morbidity Survey III (NHMS, 2006), about 20% of Malaysian children and adolescents have some form of psychological or behavioural problems that are preventing them from fulfilling their full potential. Do you know a child who… is not realising his/her full potential – … Read more

Insomniacs ‘should be given therapy not sleeping pills’

August 18, 2012 by ongtim

Tens of thousands of insomniacs could be helped to sleep better every year if NHS staff were trained to provide safe psychological therapies, according to a leading specialist in the field. One in four Britons suffers from poor sleep and one in 10 has a sleep disorder, but the vast majority suffer in silence or … Read more

New ‘Smart’ Nanotherapeutics Can Deliver Drugs Directly to the Pancreas

January 13, 2012 by ongtim

ScienceDaily (Jan. 12, 2012) — A research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston has developed “smart” injectable nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas. Although this nanotechnology will need significant additional testing and development before being ready for clinical use, it could potentially improve treatment for Type I diabetes by increasing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects.

The approach was found to increase drug efficacy by 200-fold in in vitro studies based on the ability of these nanomaterials to both protect the drug from degradation and concentrate it at key target sites, such as regions of the pancreas that contain the insulin-producing cells. The dramatic increase in efficacy also means that much smaller amounts of drugs would be needed for treatment, opening the possibility of significantly reduced toxic side effects, as well as lower treatment costs.