Medical Bulletin 2/January/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Three or more concussions may negatively affect brain function later in life: Study

Experiencing three or more concussions is linked with worsened brain function in later life, according to major new research.

The study - the largest of its kind - also found having just one moderate-to-severe concussion, or traumatic brain injury (TBI), can have a long-term impact on brain function, including memory.

Led by teams at the University of Oxford and the University of Exeter, the research included data from more than 15,000 participants of the online PROTECT study, who were aged between 50 and 90 and based in the UK. They reported the severity and frequency of concussions they had experienced throughout their lives, and completed annual, computerised tests for brain function.

Reference:

Lifetime TBI and cognitive domain deficits in late life: The PROTECT-TBI cohort study,Journal of Neurotrauma,doi 10.1089/neu.2022.0360

Novel designs of cancer vaccines developed by IIN researchers

A new way to significantly increase the potency of almost any vaccine has been developed by researchers from the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) at Northwestern University. The scientists used chemistry and nanotechnology to change the structural location of adjuvants and antigens on and within a nanoscale vaccine, greatly increasing vaccine performance. The antigen targets the immune system, and the adjuvant is a stimulator that increases the effectiveness of the antigen.

The scientists used chemistry and nanotechnology to change the structural location of adjuvants and antigens on and within a nanoscale vaccine, greatly increasing vaccine performance. The antigen targets the immune system, and the adjuvant is a stimulator that increases the effectiveness of the antigen.

The study will be published Jan. 30 in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Reference:

“Multi-Antigen Spherical Nucleic Acid Cancer Vaccines,Nature Biomedical Engineering

Ultra-processed foods may heighten cancer risk: Study

Ultra-processed foods are often relatively cheap, convenient, and heavily marketed, often as healthy options. But these foods are also generally higher in salt, fat, sugar, and contain artificial additives. It is now well documented that they are linked with a range of poor health outcomes including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods may be linked to an increased risk of developing and dying from cancer, an Imperial College London-led observational study suggests.

Reference:

Ultra-processed food consumption, cancer risk and cancer mortality: a large-scale prospective analysis within the UK Biobank,EClinicalMedicine