We are deluged with bad news. Funny thing is, believe it or not, bad news is outdone by good news – you never hear. “Postman bit by dog” gets reported while 70,499 postmen not bit by dog go unrecognized. See what I mean? So, here is the good news: Ten major medical breakthroughs.
Despite Biden, the private sector slogs on – in magical, mesmerizing ways. One is pushing the envelope in science and medicine. Sometimes, it is worth stopping to recognize – for the entertaining political histrionics – serious good is happening.
So, here we go.
Number one. Not surprisingly, in the wake of COVID, we are seeing “next generation” vaccines. This is not about one disease of vaccine, but how vaccines are done. In the past year, we saw pioneering in mRNA vaccines. What that really means is, new options to address certain cancers and viruses like Zika, plus faster response.
Number two. A new targeted response to prostate cancer. Half of us are likely to get it, and while cures are there, PSMA is a biomarker – and what they just discovered, with FDA approval, is a way to combine existing technologies to better pinpoint location, which allows faster focused treatment of recurrence.
Number three. Very few escape a nodding acquaintance with high cholesterol. If you have escaped that issue, well done. If not, you are like me and have that to deal with – but there are also new developments every year, and we just got one. In short, the “bad” LDL cholesterol – which contributes to heart disease – is usually easily treated with statins. But some find statins top out or are not as effective over time. The new discovery that may help those who reach a “maximally tolerated dose,” and need another option. Looks like that is, to their benefit, on the horizon.
Number four. With an enormous part of the US population affected by diabetes, including type 2, advances are always welcome. Again, the last year produced one. A new potential therapy may be a once-a-week option for controlling blood sugar, now in phase III trials.
Number five. For women, postpartum depression is a real and often hard-to-manage event, one that can go undiagnosed and affect mental health, and over time family and friends. A novel therapy – a specific injection that treats the depression quickly – appears to modulate brain response to stress. Scientists consider it “ground-breaking.”
Number six. A condition known as “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy” or “HCM” has long evaded an effective response, with many drugs showing “limited effectiveness.” That said, this condition – which involves reducing “abnormal contractions caused by genetic variants that put the heart into overdrive” – may be near. Three effects are reduced symptoms, better quality of life, and slowing disease progress.
Number seven. Apparently, a “new group of non-hormonal drugs, called NK3R antagonists” may offer a reliable option for those suffering effects of menopause. The duration of this transition can be years, and non-hormonal responses are both promising, and moderate effects. Science is fast advancing.
Number eight. Not much spoken about is the advent of paralysis. More than five million people have some form of it, and it tends to affect wider health concerns. Apparently, implanted technology is fast offering options “to recover lost motor control” with “digital devices.” This kind of advance is occurring across medicine but addressing severe paralysis can be lifechanging.
Number nine. Sepsis, an inflammatory response to infection, is global curse and often results in death. Early detection is lifesaving. Since “sepsis shock” is so dangerous, arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict and quickly diagnosis is a gamechanger.
Finally, number ten. The so-called “silent killer” of hypertension or high blood pressure is as serious an issue as ever, and that makes “predictive analysis” doubly important. According to updates, the key is not treatment but timely detection. Again, AI is proving invaluable. And as in so many areas, this advance is likely to have ripple effects.
What else is new? Lots. Days could be filed with reading about medical breakthroughs.
Perhaps the biggest point is not the number of medical breakthroughs occurring, accelerating nature of private sector science, synergy with targeted government research, or individual advances, good news for those they help – and their families. It is this: The modern world delivers a steady diet of discouraging news, triumphant when they bring us low. Do not be brought low. Stay firm in your conviction that good news outpaces bad every day of the week, because it does. This is today’s!
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Sure, more big pharma, drugs, vaccines, etc.. To get rid of illnesses, you need to get rid of doctors who PRACTICE on you and big pharma who is killing you with their synthetic kill potions and food companies who are poisoning us. God gave us the perfect body and it wasn’t meant to be experimented on. If you detox yourself of parasites, you will rid yourself of most diseases.
You write for a living? How sad you wrote “postman bit by dog.” S/B bitten.
Thank you – just parodying modern media -but thank you, a thoughtful point.
While reading the article by Robert Charles, I noticed that the first 7 of the 10 “good news items” are related to new pharmaceutical drugs. Not a single mention of the need for our society to change our eating habits and exercise. Robert Charles is head of a consulting group, The Charles Group. I have to wonder whether The Charles Group has clients in big pharma. Not a single mention of the experimental nature of mRNA vaccines, or the concerns of adverse reactions that are still being uncovered. Not a mention of the billions of dollars spent on big pharma during the COVID pandemic, with the medical community refusing to allow doctors to try early treatment options
I reviewed Robert Charles bio on the Charles Group website. He doesn’t have a medical background and am concerned that AMAC would allow him to “speak for them” on this subject.
Have we not learned that popping a pill is not the answer to many of our health problems in the US. Healthy diets with more “fresh from the farm” ingredients and less processed food would be a better answer.
I agree with his statement that there is plenty of “good news” out there that should be recognized and less focus on the bad, but I’m don’t agree with his ten “advancements”. I reviewed Robert Charles bio on the Charles Group website. He doesn’t have a medical background and am surprised that AMAC would have him “speak on their behalf” on this subject.
Thank you for comments and so a quick reply – from Robert Charles, me. First, no pharma clients, and no interest in every promoting any specific pharma anything. Second, not a doctor, which is why every one of he breakthroughs is sourced to one or articles which offer medical expert back up for the breakthrough. Third, being a critical thinker is part of what we all should be, must be, in this era of misinformation, so while you are reading someone who speaks truth (to the best of our ability to get it), I also respect your own critical thinking or skepticism. That said, the point – and breakthroughs – hold, so far as my research attests. The main point is that America’s private sector – in medicine and beyond – is constantly generating good news, in fact, they are the engine of this nation, pressed into action by creative minds, risk takers, and those with vision. The government is not the engine of innovation. All that said, appreciate, your thoughts and trust – no stealth promoter here of pharma, government, or untruth. What you see is what you get – with many thanks, and for your thoughtful reading and comments – best, RBC
Thank you Sir for your response. I am glad to hear that you do not have any pharma clients and I agree with your assessment that the private sector is the engine of innovation, not the government. There have been many huge advancements in medicine for which we are all grateful. Thankfully there are still good people out there doing honest research for the good of humanity. I will continue to be skeptical of the medical community and big pharma.
I agree, Diane, that the typical American diet makes many of us ill. I swear by the greens (broccoli, collards, kale, spinach, onion, garlic), especially the brassicas. That group (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts) has nutrients not found in any other family of plants–namely glucosinolates, including sulforaphane. Those antioxidants can help prevent cancer, so I eat at least one serving of brassicas every day. So far, so good.
The newer “My Plate” nutrition categories are worthless. Better was the Food Pyramid, but the big problem with that one is the emphasis on grains (whole or otherwise). They take up the most space. Carbohydrates (grains, sugars, soda…) are responsible for type 2 diabetes and inflammation, which leads to heart disease, both of which afflicted my mother. The brochure I ordered from the American Diabetic Assn. had recipes that were loaded with carbohydrates. I hope they’ve revised it.
For me—I’ll take more greens all year from the garden over most other foods. Oils and aromatherapy? No way!
Forgive me for being skeptical about new “drug and vaccine” advances. But then, how many of my family and friends have been killed or permanently damaged by these things? Many. And we’re no exception. I’ve lost 3 to the covid vax alone.
A quick note … We should be skeptics, but innovations occur every day – and if you look hard, you will see trade and anti-trade publications (medical literature and non) working to sift, understand, and then describe them Obviously, skepticism is always warranted, critical thinking, a jaundiced view, but medical advances explain a great deal of our extended living and quality of life, and to ignore them is to buy into the notion that all is bad, lost, or stagnant. Basic medical research suggests that more is moving forward than caught in the modern media’s disinterest or inertia. That said, thank you! Best, RBC
Bravo, AMAC! We need to hear more news like this.
What could go wrong. A lot
Keep critical thinking alive, but remember – that glass is either half full or half empty. If we believe in the genius of average American and the private sector, it is half full and always has been, which is how we got to the various advances with which we live with today, insulin, penicillin, aspirin, x-rays, MRIs, corrective surgeries, anesthetics, statins, and yes, the many inoculations that do work. Again, testing, critical thinking, and suspicions of government agendas are all valid, but to deny the advances in general is to forget that these too have been real, and so long as the free market rewards innovations that work, will continue to be – only when truth is shaded are we disserved. Best, RBC