Medical Breakthroughs : China

China successfully invented a surgery for curing Alzheimer’s disease.

Known as LVA surgery, it is performned on neck lymphatics. So far, there have been 42 clinical trials, all have been successes.⬇️
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LVA Surgery, otherwise known as deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis surgery was performed on a 76-year-old man with moderate Alzheimer’s disease, his symptoms were significantly improved. The follow-up results two months after the operation showed that the old man not only had a significant recovery in memory, but also could communicate normally with others.
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The theoretical basis of deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis is the abnormal accumulation of Aβ-amyloid protein and abnormal phosphorylation of tau protein in the brain, which are two important causes of Alzheimer’s disease
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The operation uses super microsurgery technology to shunt the lymphatic circulation in the meninges, accelerate the return of intracerebral lymph through the jugular foramen at the skull base, and take away more metabolic products in the brain, thereby achieving the goal of possibly reversing brain degenerative lesions and slowing the progression of the disease.
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It can be simply understood as a mechanical excretion process. The abnormal accumulation of amyloid protein in the elderly’s brain is like a clogged sewer, and the “waste” cannot be transported out in time. The deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis can greatly speed up the removal of “waste” and improve the removal efficiency.
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On the morning of November 11, Professor Tang Juyu, director of the Microsurgery Reconstruction Clinical Research Center of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, had just completed the 42nd deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis in the hospital. Because it was a minimally invasive surgery, the patient could get out of bed and move around the next day.
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Among these 42 patients, in addition to restoring their memories, Tang Juyu also saw that patients who were originally indifferent and taciturn could communicate with him in a cheerful and talkative manner during the follow-up visit after the operation.
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Although many patients have significant symptom improvement after surgery, experts believe that this surgery can only provide a new idea for the current treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and its specific effectiveness still needs more research to confirm.
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Source: “术后第二天，妈妈叫出我的名字” 阿尔茨海默病也可手术治疗 – 中南大海新闻网
https://ncrcgdxy.csu.edu.cn/info/1024/2902.htm

World’s 1st, Chinese scientists reverse type 1 diabetes by reprogramming a person’s own fat cells

The feat adds to the theory that reprogrammed stem cells could 1 day be used to treat/cure diabetes. The patient still doesn’t need any insulin a year out from her procedure.⬇️
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Insulin is the chemical key that allows sugar molecules to exit the bloodstream and enter cells, where they can be used for fuel. In type 1 diabetes, however, the immune system destroys the body’s insulin-producing cells, which are nestled within larger “mini-organs” within the pancreas, called islets.
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Without insulin, cells are starved of fuel while blood sugar levels rise. In extreme cases, people die as the body churns out acidic compounds, known as ketones, in a bid to make enough energy for cells to survive.
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In the new study, which was published Thursday (Oct. 31) in the journal Cell, scientists took fat cells from a patient with type 1 diabetes and used chemicals to revert them back into “pluripotent” stem cells, meaning they could turn into any type of cell.
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After reverting the cells to this state, the scientists chemically coaxed them to become islet cells. These new islet cells were then implanted in the patient’s abdomen.
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Before undergoing this experimental treatment, the patient struggled to control her blood sugar, spending less than half her time in a “target” healthy blood sugar range, said study lead author Hongkui Deng, a researcher at the Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at Peking University in Beijing. After the patient’s cell transplant, her time in the target zone “improved to over 98%,” Deng told Live Science in an email.
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By 75 days after the transplant, the patient no longer needed to inject insulin to control her blood sugar. “The rapidity with which the patient showed reversal of diabetes and achieved insulin independence after transplantation was surprising,” Deng said. “This finding suggested remarkable potential of this therapeutic strategy.”.
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Source: In a 1st, scientists reversed type 1 diabetes by reprogramming a person’s own fat cells – LiveScience