Great medical achievements have been achieved in 2011. A man named Dallas Wiens in the United States became the first person to receive the full face transplant, the flu vaccine that could ward off any kind of flu has begun to be developed, and researchers find ways to reduce the possibility of people infected with HIV transmit the virus to her partner of 96 percent.
What significant progress could be expected in 2012? Here are five predictions that was launched by MyHealthNewsDaily, Saturday (12/31/2011) from experts in their fields.
1. Medicine will be able to cure cancer with a vaccine
Radiation and chemotherapy is still the main treatment for cancer. But for 20 years, researchers have also been exploring the use of therapeutic vaccines. In 2012, the hard work of these researchers may bring results.
"This is an exciting time for the development of cancer vaccines. What is impressive is the diversity of cancer vaccines. This bodes well for the future," said Dr. Larry Kwak, professor and chair of lymphoma myeloma at the University of Texas Anderson in Houston.
According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 250 vaccines have been tested clinically, including 34 species for breast cancer. As with other vaccines, cancer vaccines using chemical markers of disease to train the patient's immune system fight disease. Some cancer vaccines are being studied can be given to everyone, while others must be adapted to the type of each patient's tumor.
"Unlike the flu or chicken pox vaccine that is prevented, we almost can vaccinate cancer after growing in the body. All of this vaccine activates the immune system to be primed and ready to fight," said Kwak.
Vaccines are made Kwak has passed the third test phase and is heading the final steps of approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has approved the first cancer vaccine, called Provenge in the spring of 2010 for the treatment of prostate cancer. Vaccines for melanoma (skin cancer) gets good results in late stage clinical trials last year.
National Cancer Institute in the United States reported that the current ongoing clinical trials of vaccines to treat bladder cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
2. Malaria vaccine development
Malaria remains the most deadly diseases. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are 216 million cases of malaria and causes 655,000 deaths in 2010, especially in children. Communities can restrict malaria infection through mosquito control, but there is no vaccine that can prevent it.
Researchers at the University of Oxford attracted international attention when it announced that they developed a vaccine that could stop a lot of strains of the most lethal malaria parasite, the parasite P. falciparum. They published their findings in the journal Nature in this month's issue of Communications.
"There is no doubt that malaria has been a tremendous challenge for the manufacture of vaccines," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in Nashville, Tennese.
When a mosquito bites a person or animal, the parasites take blood to flow through the liver, and then infect red blood cells. The parasites multiply and change in two new forms: that attacks red blood cells and other circulating in the bloodstream, ready to be picked up by another mosquito bite.
Oxford Vaccine developed this annoying parasite entry into red blood cells. If the parasite can not enter into the red blood cells, will not be able to cause illness.
3. Millions of people will be able to get cleaner air
In December, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States announced new rules to limit mercury emissions and air pollutants that will prevent 11,000 premature deaths and heart attacks per year 4700. But the coal industry groups criticized the new rules.
"These new rules will destroy jobs, increasing energy costs, and can even make the electricity to be less reliable," said Steve Miller, chief executive of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. But of course health groups support this new rule.
"It will have huge benefits for many people. These new rules to curb carcinogens and pollutants that can aggravate asthma. Mercury settles into the water, transformed into methyl mercury and eaten by the fish eaten by humans. Neurotoxins may injure a person even when in the womb, "said Janice Nolan, vice president of the American Lung Association.
This law will also reduce the more than 60 air toxins, including heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium and nickel, and gases that contribute to fine particle pollution. These fine particles can get into the lungs and heart poison. Reduce fine particle pollution will prevent thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of heart attacks, cases of bronchitis, and asthma.
Nolan estimates that more than 400 power plants in 40 states will be subject to new rules that set air quality standards in order to produce clean air in the United States.
4. Many important drugs that will be cheap
Some famous brand drug manufacturers in the United States will lose its patent in 2012. Thus, generic drug makers will have the opportunity to produce heart drug Plavix, diabetes drug Actos, and autoimmune disease drug Enbrel which proved successful. Other potent drugs that lost patent in 2012 is Viagra, Seroquel and Lexapro.
Pharmaceutical companies might lose billions of dollars of income, but the shift will lower health care costs for millions of heart patients, asthma, diabetes and pain in the U.S..
"For most people, in the form of a generic drug equivalent to the branded drug patents. The advantage of generic drugs to patients is much cheaper, so it would be very desirable," said Dr. Elliott Antman, dean at Harvard Medical School.
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