"Even changes that seem small and slow add up over time: 1 percent growth each year seems slow but it adds up to a doubling in 70 years; 2 percent growth each year means doubling in 35 years; 3 percent growth each year means doubling in 24 years." — Slow Change is Not No Change, Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Medicine and health have had a great start to the year.

The beginning of the year has seen headline after headline of incremental health and medical progress; from new ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs to AI-designed bacteria-killing proteins, here are seven progress headlines making waves at the beginning of 2023.

"A Stroke Paralyzed Her Arm. This Implant Let Her Use It Again"

"Electrical stimulation applied to the spinal cord temporarily restored arm and hand movement in two patients." — A Stroke Paralyzed Her Arm. This Implant Let Her Use It Again, Wired Magazine & Nature 🧠

"Thanks to a small study at the University of Pittsburgh investigating a type of electrical stimulation to the spinal cord, Rendulic was able to regain some of the hand and arm movement she’d lost. During a four-week trial period, she and a second patient were able to do things like lift their arm above their head, open and close their fist, use a fork and knife to eat food, and pick up small objects for the first time in years. The results were published today in the Journal Nature Medicine.^[1]"

"Girl with deadly inherited condition is cured with gene therapy on NHS"

"A girl born with a rare and deadly genetic condition is expected to live a long and normal life after becoming the first person to be cured on the NHS with the help of a revolutionary gene therapy." — Girl with deadly inherited condition is cured with gene therapy on NHS^[2]

“This is a huge moment of hope for parents and their babies who are born with this devastating inherited disorder, that can now be treated with a single round of revolutionary treatment at a specialist centre on the NHS,” Pritchard said."

"Third patient free of HIV after receiving virus-resistant cells"

"A 53-year-old man in Germany has become at least the third person with HIV to be declared cleared of the virus after a procedure that replaced his bone marrow cells with HIV-resistant stem cells from a donor." — Third patient free of HIV after receiving virus-resistant cells, Nature^[3]

"A true cure would eliminate this reservoir, and this is what seems to have happened for the latest patient, whose name has not been released. The man, who is being referred to as the ‘Düsseldorf patient’, stopped taking ART in 2018 and has remained HIV-free since."

"How a pioneering diabetes drug offers hope for preventing autoimmune disorders"
 

"The approval of an antibody therapy that pauses the progression of type 1 diabetes is a first in the field, and some say a model for other drug developers." — How a pioneering diabetes drug offers hope for preventing autoimmune disorders^[4]

"Mikayla has remained diabetes-free for 6.5 years so far; others in the study have gone a decade or longer without needing to begin insulin therapy,"

"Teplizumab is a type of antibody therapy. It blocks T cells, the ’attack dogs’ of the immune system, stopping them destroying insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas. Mikayla received a two-week course of treatment in July 2016, as part of a clinical trial to test whether the therapy could help to keep T1D at bay."

"A single dose of an old drug could save 2 million mothers from sepsis every year"

"A four-pill course of azithromycin, an antibiotic discovered over 40 years ago, cut the risk of maternal sepsis by 35% for mothers in low- and middle-income countries." — A single dose of an old drug could save 2 million mothers from sepsis every year^[5]

“It’s a huge effect." "the potential is enormous," "An intervention that prevents sepsis in mothers could have a knock-on benefit for babies, too. Maternal sepsis increases the risk of infant sepsis, which accounts for 16% of neonatal deaths"

Secondary Story Reference: In large study, a single antibiotic dose slashed rate of sepsis in childbirth^[6]
"One funder of the study, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), estimates that if the approach is adopted widely in low- and middle-income countries, as many as 2 million cases of maternal sepsis could be averted annually."

AI has designed bacteria-killing proteins from scratch – and they work

"An AI was tasked with creating proteins with anti-microbial properties. Researchers then created a subset of the proteins and found some did the job" — AI has designed bacteria-killing proteins from scratch – and they work New Scientist^[7]

"Of the 100 molecules they physically created, 66 participated in chemical reactions similar to those of natural proteins that destroy bacteria in egg whites and saliva. This suggested that these new proteins could also kill bacteria."

"The AI, called ProGen, works in a similar way to AIs that can generate text. ProGen learned how to generate new proteins by learning the grammar of how amino acids combine to form 280 million existing proteins."

The ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

"A class of drugs that quash hunger have shown striking results in trials and in practice. But can they help all people with obesity — and conquer weight stigma?" — The ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers^[8]

"After decades of work, researchers are finally seeing signs of success: a new generation of anti-obesity medications that drastically diminish weight without the serious side effects that have plagued previous efforts."

"The results astonished researchers: a weekly injection for almost 16 months, along with some lifestyle changes, reduced body weight by at least 20% in more than one-third of the participants¹. Previous studies^2,3 had shown that the drug, semaglutide, was just as impressive in adults."
 

1. ^{^}

   Epidural stimulation of the cervical spinal cord for post-stroke upper-limb paresis, Published: 20 February 2023, Journal Nature Medicine, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02202-6 

2. ^{^}

   Girl with deadly inherited condition is cured with gene therapy on NHS, Andrew Gregory Health editor for The Guardian, February 15th, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/15/girl-with-deadly-inherited-condition-mld-cured-gene-therapy-libmeldy-nhs 

3. ^{^}

   Third patient free of HIV after receiving virus-resistant cells, Sara Reardon for Nature, February 21st, 2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00479-2 

4. ^{^}

   How a pioneering diabetes drug offers hope for preventing autoimmune disorders, Elie Dolgin for Nature, February 15th, 2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00400-x

5. ^{^}

   A single dose of an old drug could save 2 million mothers from sepsis every year, David Zarley for Freethink, February 16, 2023. https://www.freethink.com/health/maternal-sepsis Root Source: Azithromycin to Prevent Sepsis or Death in Women Planning a Vaginal Birth, The New England Journal of Medicine, February 9, 2023 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2212111

6. ^{^}

   Secondary Source: In large study, a single antibiotic dose slashed rate of sepsis in childbirth, Helen Branswell for STAT, Feb. 9, 2023. https://www.statnews.com/2023/02/09/single-antibiotic-pill-slashed-sepsis-in-childbirth/ 

7. ^{^}

   AI has designed bacteria-killing proteins from scratch – and they work, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan for New Scientist, January 26th, 2023  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2356597-ai-has-designed-bacteria-killing-proteins-from-scratch-and-they-work 

8. ^{^}

   The ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers, McKenzie Prillaman for Nature, January 4th, 2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04505-7