Medical Bulletin 17/January/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Study finds ChatGPT can write medical research abstracts that can trick scientists

In a recent study, researchers have found that Chat GPT, a large language model based on neural networks, can write such convincing fake abstracts that even scientists could not distinguish them from real ones written by researchers.

Chat GPT was released by California based OpenAI on November 30 and it is currently freely available. The model chatbot learns by processing already-existing human-generated text and gives results based on user prompts.

Researchers have noted that a significant portion of the labour that goes into a significant software-engineering project, such as building a web browser, requires comprehending the demands of the users. With the straightforward, machine-readable specifications that an AI can employ to generate code, these are challenging to define.

Reference:

Li, Y. et al. Science 378, 1092–1097 (2022), doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04383-z

Study finds HRT’s role promising in keeping Alzheimer’s at bay among at-risk women

Female menopause symptoms are treated with hormone replacement treatment (HRT), commonly referred to as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) could help prevent Alzheimer’s Dementia among women at risk of developing the disease - according to University of East Anglia research.

The study shows that HRT use is associated with better memory, cognition and larger brain volumes in later life among women carrying the APOE4 gene - the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer's disease.

Reference:

Hormone Replacement Therapy is associated with improved cognition and larger brain volumes in at risk APOE4 women: results from the European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease (EPAD) cohort,Alzheimer s Research & Therapy

p53 mutation contributes to the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: Study

In the new study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, the CNIC group led by José Javier Fuster demonstrates that p53 mutations also accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of most cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the world and places an enormous burden on health care systems.

Every day, an adult person generates hundreds of thousands of blood cells. Though essential, this process unavoidably promotes the appearance of mutations in the progenitor cells responsible for this production.

The presence of acquired p53 gene mutations in blood cells increases the risk of developing various types of cancer, including blood cancers.

Reference:

TP53-mediated clonal hematopoiesis confers increased risk for incident atherosclerotic disease,CENTRO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES CARDIOVASCULARES CARLOS III (F.S.P.),10.1038/s44161-022-00206-6

Short duration CT scan enables detection and cure of the commonest cause of hypertension: Study

In most people with Hypertension (high blood pressure), the cause is unknown, and the condition requires life-long treatment by drugs. Previous research by a group of researchers at Queen Mary University discovered that in 5-10% of people with Hypertension the cause is a gene mutation in the adrenal glands, which results in excessive amounts of the steroid hormone, aldosterone, being produced. Aldosterone causes salt to be retained in the body, driving up the blood pressure. Patients with excessive aldosterone levels in the blood are resistant to treatment with the commonly used drugs for Hypertension, and at increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Doctors at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Hospital, and Cambridge University Hospital, have led research using a new type of CT scan to light up tiny nodules in a hormone gland and cure high blood pressure by their removal. The nodules are discovered in one-in-twenty people with high blood pressure.

Reference:

Wu et al. [11C]metomidate PET-CT versus adrenal vein sampling for diagnosing surgically curable primary aldosteronism: a prospective, within-patient trial. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02114-5