Health. Emotional and mental health. CHINESE PLANT COMPOUND WIPES OUT CANCER IN 40 DAYS, SAYS NEW RESEARCH. A little-known plant with a truly bizarre name is now making headlines as a cancer killer, with the compound of the plant vanishing tumors in mice with pancreatic cancer.
Known as the ‘thunder god vine’ or lei gong teng, the Chinese plant is actually integrated into Chinese medicine and has been used for ages in remedying a number of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. According to the new research out of the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center, the thunder god plant compound led to no signs of tumors after a 40 day period — even after discontinuing the treatment. Mechanism found for destruction of key allergy-inducing complexes, researchers say. Researchers have learned how a synthetic molecule destroys complexes that induce allergic responses -- a discovery that could lead to the development of highly potent, rapidly acting interventions for a host of acute allergic reactions.
The study, published online Oct. 28 in Nature, was led by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Bern, Switzerland. The new inhibitor disarms IgE antibodies, pivotal players in acute allergies, by detaching the antibody from its partner in crime, a molecule called FcR. (Other mechanisms lead to slower-developing allergic reactions.)
"It would be an incredible intervention if you could rapidly disconnect IgE antibodies in the midst of an acute allergic response," said Ted Jardetzky, PhD, professor of structural biology and senior investigator for the study. New drug could cure nearly any viral infection. Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin, discovered decades ago.
However, such drugs are useless against viral infections, including influenza, the common cold, and deadly hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola. Now, in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection. The microscope images above show that DRACO successfully treats viral infections.