Healthcare and Wellness : In The News

Mercer, the international consulting firm that annually releases one of the world's most comprehensive quality-of-life reports, has published it 2011 findings.

Once again, Canadian cities (including Toronto) dominate the North American rankings. As reported by the Globe & Mail,  four Canadian cities (Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto) were the only North American cities to make the top 25. Vancouver tied for fifth spot, followed by Ottawa in 14th, Toronto in 15th and Montreal in 22nd.

"Canadian cities (Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal) hold the top spots in North America in quality of living and safety."

"Mercer looks annually at several measures, including the political and social climate, the economy, health and sanitation, education, public services, recreation and housing."

Toronto scientists are behind a groundbreaking discovery that links a defective gene in humans to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and lupus. The research, led by Mount Sinai's Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, is an important first step in finding new treatments for a number of often debilitating diseases.

"For a period of five years, the researchers have tried to figure out as to how the mutant gene PTPN22 increases the risk for rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, Graves disease and other autoimmune disorders."

"Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, a Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and a University of Toronto Professor said, "Our findings are particularly exciting because the study sets a new precedent for studying arthritis and other autoimmune disorders".

read full story here
original source Top News USA

Toronto scientists working with the University Health Network are the first in the world to isolate the stem cell for human blood. According to HealthZone.ca, the discovery will allow researchers to study blood cells far more closely, marking a huge breakthrough in the fight to treat blood-related diseases.

"Blood stem cells have been utilized more successfully than any other variety in the treatment of diseases."

"Donated stem cells from matched donors are most often used to replenish the blood-producing bone marrow that is destroyed by chemotherapy in the treatment of leukemia patients."

"But those patients, who have their own defective stem cells destroyed to stop their runaway blood production, are currently being transfused with many other marrow elements in addition to the life-saving stem cells, Dick says."

"We're transplanting a whole (mishmash) of cells and relying on the rare stem cells (in the mix) to actually do the job," Dick says.

"These non-stem cell components, he says, increase the risk of a rejection condition known as graft-versus-host disease, where immune cells lingering in the donated marrow begins to attack the recipient."

"By now going in and fishing out stem cells, we'll be able to transplant pure populations of cells for transplantation," Dick says."

"Even after all these years of study, we don't know what makes a stem cell tick . . . because we never had one in our hands," he says. "Now we have almost pure stem cells in a test tube, we can begin to look at their molecular workings."

"The problem with stem cells in therapeutic use is that there are so few of them and those that are there cannot be made to multiply readily in laboratories."

"By having actual specimens to study, Dick says, research can now focus on creating a recipe of growth factors and other bio-chemicals that will coax the cells to multiply, greatly expanding the supply for patients who need transplants."

read full story here
original source Health Zone

A 16-year-old Richmond Hill high school student has made a potentially game-changing discovery in the treatment of debilitating lung disease, cystic fibrosis. Marshall Zhang, an 11th grade student at Bayview Secondary, used the supercomputer system Canadian SCINET to figure out how certain drugs react with proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. As reported by DailyTech.com, Zang's discovery earned him a first place award at the 2011 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, a national science fair where students conduct research projects with mentors.

"Zhang grew interested in disease-related research after taking Advanced Placement Biology in the 10th grade. He wanted to work in a laboratory with real scientists, so he started getting in touch with local professors to see if he could participate in their research labs."

"While many biochemistry professors at the University of Toronto rejected Zhang's idea due to his lack of experience, Dr. Christine Bear, a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children's Research Institute in Toronto, welcomed him to her lab."

"While working at Bear's lab, Zhang utilized the Canadian SCINET supercomputing network to see how new compounds reacted to the proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. Through a series of computer simulations, he found that a combination of different drugs could be used simultaneously without impacting one another to treat cystic fibrosis. In fact, these findings were tested on living cells proved to be effective."

"I have identified certain chemical structures that are key in the corrective effects of these molecules, as well as identified two molecular targets on the protein for future therapeutics," said Zhang."

read full story here
original source DailyTech.com

In a breakthrough for healthcare innovation in Canada, Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has signed a lucrative licensing deal with global pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. As reported by the Globe and Mail, the deal resulted from Sunnybrook's groundbreaking research into the wound-healing molecule vasculotide, which Sanofi-Aventis hopes to eventually bring to market.

"It's a great example of what we've been missing here in this country and this city," says Mark Lievonen, president of Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., the Toronto-based vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group. The deal will see the drug company develop and commercialize Sunnybrook's research."

"We have great academic research and lots of work being done, but we have very difficult challenges in actually bringing deals to market," Mr. Lievonen said. "It's important to recognize and celebrate the success it really is."

"Historically, Canadian hospitals and other groups have shied away from commercialization, Mr. Lievonen explains. But people are growing excited about innovation and the positive effect it could have on the economy. "Hospitals and universities see the need to do it and more and more people are jumping on this bandwagon of innovation and looking for ways to achieve this kind of success," he says."

"The compound, called vasculotide, is used to treat chronic wounds. It is provided intravenously, and in animal studies it helped accelerate wound healing, in addition to creating better, deeper healing. Diabetic wounds tend to reopen."

read full story here
original source Globe & Mail