Why is the ‘wonder-drug’ so wonderful?

In 2013, the UK Medical Research Council hit the headlines when they discovered a drug that was able to stop brain cells from dying. This was the first breakthrough in this field. However, the drug was found to lead to organ damage, which of course meant that it was not suitable for use in humans. Now in 2017 scientists have had another breakthrough by producing a drug that has the same effect as the drug from 2013 – just without the almost fatal side effects; this could potentially be a big step forwards on the journey to curing many neurodegenerative diseases.

Counteracting Cataracts: the Advancing Technology

 With cataracts affecting most people over the age of 65 to some degree in the UK, most of us will probably be affected at some stage. However, advancing technology is aiding the traditional cataract surgery to become a more accurate and simple procedure.

Medical Ethics: the Four Approaches

Medical ethics considers the moral issues that arise when caring for a patient. The four approaches help us understand the dilemmas within medical ethics which face the NHS – teleological, utilitarianism, deontological and virtue ethics.

Freezing out infertility in young cancer patients

John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford does vital work on researching ovarian cryopreservation. A while back, we attended a medicine insight day at the hospital’s academic centre, where we heard talks from Dr. Sheila Lane, the programme leader of ovarian cryopreservation in England and Wales.  She explained the scientific background of the research, the ethical implications of a young, female, cancer sufferer and how ovarian cryopreservation can improve their lives.

TB or not TB?

Tuberculosis is an antiquity (very old) disease and is thought to have affected many people across history, from Tutankhamen to Srinivasa Ramanujan. It is still an issue today and caused 1.8 million deaths worldwide in 2015. Using genome sequencing, scientists in the UK have made a breakthrough in its treatment.