Doctors give pesin anoda eye, second malaria vaccine show face and oda medical breakthrough for 2023

Ogbonge research don dey for di field of health for 2023. As di year dey come to an end, we go look at some of di most significant developments.

Second Malaria Vaccine

Afta more dan one century of scientific effort, di world don finally get cheap vaccine against malaria.

Na di University of Oxford develop di vaccine and na di only second malaria vaccine wey dem go develop.

Dis na afta two years wey GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) develop di first vaccine wey dem call RTS,S.

Di World Health Organisation (WHO ) say di effectiveness of di two vaccines dey "veri similar" and evidence no dey say one beta pass di oda.

However, di key difference na di ability to manufacture di University of Oxford vaccine at scale. Dem call di vaccine R21.

Di world largest vaccine manufacturer - di Serum Institute of India - dey already line up to make more dan 100 million doses a year and plan to scale up to 200 million doses a year.

So far, na only 18 million doses of RTS,S dey.

Di WHO say di new R21 vaccine go be "vital additional tool". Each dose go cost $2-4 and na four doses one pesin go need. Dat na about di half price of RTS,S.

Di two vaccines use similar technologies and target di same stage of di malaria parasite lifecycle.

However, di newer vaccine dey easier to manufacture as e dem require smaller dose and use simpler adjuvant (one chemical for di vaccine wey dey jolt di immune system into action).

Among mosquito-borne diseases, malaria na di most deadly and 95% of cases dey Africa.

For 2021, na 247 million cases of malaria dey and 619,000 pipo die, most of dem na pikin wey dey under di age of five.

First Eye Transplant

Aaron James, na high-voltage utility line worker for US, im lose most of im face wen im accidentally touch a 7,200-volt live wire for 2021.

For May 2023, im do one rare partial face transplant in addition to di eye transplant, wey involve more dan 140 healthcare professionals.

Surgeons for NYU Langone Health, New York, wey perform di tough operation, give update for November.

Dem say Mr James, 46, dey recover well from di dual transplant, and di eye wey dem donate look remarkably healthy. Im right eye still dey work.

Doctors say James surgery offer scientists unprecedented window into how di human eye dey try heal.

Dem also say e get direct blood flow to di retina - di part of di eye wey dey send images to di brain.

While certainty no dey say Mr James go regain vision for im new eye, doctors no dey rule out di possibility either.

Di donated face and eye come from single male donor wey dey for im 30s.

During di surgery, doctors inject adult stem cells from di donor bone marrow into di optic nerve to encourage di repair.

Afta di accident, Mr James remove im left eye becos of di pain and undergo numerous surgeries, including one for prosthetic arm.

Na im be di 19th pesin for US wey go undergo face transplant.

Heart health assessed by AI

New artificial-intelligence (AI) tool reveal how much drinking, smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise prematurely dey age individual heart.

Di aim na to find ways to reverse heart ageing, to reduce di risks of many age-related conditions such as stroke and heart disease.

Na one team led by Prof Declan O'Regan of di Medical Research Council's (MRC) London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) develop di system.

"Wen we look at pesin face, we fit judge weda dem look young or old for dia age - our organs na just di same," Prof Declan O'Regan, lead scientist tok.

E get ways of measuring heart health, including scans, electrocardiograms (ECGs) and blood pressure - but dis give snapshot of how tins dey now and e fit vary from day to day or month to month.

AI analysis show up di knocks and scrapes wey heart don accumulate ova one lifetime, Prof O'Regan tok.

Di process involve having one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of di heart afta exercise.

Becos di earliest signs of premature ageing fit dey subtle, even expert cardiologists no fit detect dem.

But di AI tool fit do am as dem don feed am wit di images of 40,000 pipo of varying heart health along wit dia health outcomes.

Di system dey analyse hundreds of tiny details for di 3D motion of di MRI scan and compare dem wit dose of 5,000 pipo of varying ages wey don lead to healthy lifestyles.

"We no know weda premature heart ageing dey down to your genes and you dey born and destined to get older heart or e dey more down to your lifestyle," Prof O'Regan tok.

"Di genetics fit help us slow or reverse ageing and dis scans fit also help evaluate new therapies, to see di impact e get on di damage."

3D-printed artificial knee

Scientists don develop 3D-print implant to help patients wey dey suffer from osteoarthritis in dia knee.

Di tailored osteotomy na surgical procedure wia dem dey cut bone or re-align am - dem design am to preserve di pesin existing knee joint.

Na University of Bath scientists develop am - di technique aim to make operations quicker and safer.

Dem dey use di 3D high-tibial osteotomy (HTO) plate to realign patient knee to make dem more stable, comfortable and beta able to bear weight dan existing generic plates.

To plan how much correction one patient need, doctors go take X-ray and CT scan of dia shin bone.

Dem go kon generate one surgical guide stabilisation by using di 3D printer.

Dis go dey temporarily fitted to di patient tibia, one of two bones wey comprise di leg, using pins.

Dem go kon release dose pins and insert two screws, and create a wedge for di bone to correct im alignment.

Dem go kon put di stabilising plate on top and allow di digital creation to become a surgical reality.

After one initial safety trial wit di five patients, 50 odas now dey recruited across English and Wales to take part for one trial comparing traditional knee replacement wit dis technique.

Live worm found in brain

For wetin be di first time, scientists comot 8cm (3in) live worm from di brain of one Australian woman.

Dem pull di "string-like structure" from di patient damaged frontal lobe during surgery for Canberra last year but na dem only publish di report of di surgery report dis year.

"Definitely no be wetin we dey expect. E shock evri one," operating surgeon Dr Hari Priya Bandi tok.

Di woman, 64, for months don suffer symptoms like stomach pain, cough and night sweats, wey dey cause forgetfulness and depression.

Dem bin admit am into hospital for late January 2021, and scan later show "typical lesion within di right frontal lobe of di brain".

But na Dr Bandi knife during biopsy for June 2022 reveal di cause of her condition.

Di red parasite fit don dey alive for her brain for up to two months, doctors tok.

Her case dey believed to be di first instance of larvae invasion and development for di human brain, researchers tok say for di Emerging Infectious Diseases journal wey report di case.

Researchers warn di case highlight di increased danger of diseases and infections wey animals dey pass to pipo.