Is Metformin An Anti-Ageing Wonder Drug? – The Medical Futurist Newsletter

AI in drug discovery, the Chinese CRISPR scientist is back and the medical bag of the 21st century. I started testing a [glucose monitor]( which will measure my blood glucose every five minutes for 2 weeks. I'll describe the results, as usual. I also managed to initiate a [huge debate]( about how much paperwork it requires for a patient to get registered at a hospital. We will need AI to fill that gap. And the most interesting [study]( for me was about a common food dye that can make the skin transparent in animals so it's possible to observe their organs through their skin. I hope you will find the newsletter useful! Best regards, Berci Bertalan Meskó, PhD The Medical Futurist [THE BRAIN AGED MORE SLOWLY IN MONKEYS GIVEN A CHEAP DIABETES DRUG]( --------------------------------------------------------------- "𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑒-𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑔. 𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦𝑠𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 (𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝟣𝟪 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑔 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑔, 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛’𝑠𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎 𝑘𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔." Now the authors plan to raise US$50 million to study the drug in a trial of 3,000 people. [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? Will Metformin, that has been used for more than 60 years to lower blood-sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, soon become a sort of vitamin to take? [DRUG DISCOVERY IN THE AGE OF AI]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Drug discovery is the crucial initial stage of drug development but it is typically resource intensive. Artificial intelligence technologies can aid drug discovery in multiple ways in order to make the process more efficient and precise. [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? Despite the potentials of the technology, there are still pertinent challenges and the need for ample data to train algorithms for efficient results. [A SHORT GUIDE TO GENERATIVE AI IN HEALTHCARE]( --------------------------------------------------------------- This 2024 fast-track course aims to provide a hands-on introduction to the world of generative AI - in just a few hours. If you want to learn about generative AI in an easygoing way, without committing substantial amounts of time, this is for you. Give it a try, and let us know, what you think! [ENROLL HERE]( [AI TECHNOLOGY CAN DETECT EARLY SIGNS OF OVER 1,000 DISEASES, SAY RESEARCHERS]( --------------------------------------------------------------- AstraZeneca has developed MILTON, an AI that analyses patient test results collected by GPs to predict with high confidence a disease diagnosis many years later. "𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐴𝑙𝑧ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑟'𝑠, 𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 (𝐶𝑂𝑃𝐷), 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠." 𝐴𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑍𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑎 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝟧𝟢𝟢,𝟢𝟢𝟢 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝐾 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘, 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛." [READ MORE]( WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? They have invested into it to accelerate the development of more effective and targeted treatments. [THE 7 MUST-HAVES FOR THE DOCTOR OF THE 21ST CENTURY]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Portable diagnostic devices have matured a lot and many are already used in the medical practice. It is possible to put together a package, a modern medical black bag, that could serve healthcare professionals even in underpriviliged regions. [READ MORE]( WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? From smartphone-connected ECGs to portable ultrasound devices, such technologies could revolutionize how primary care physicians can examine their patients. [SCIENTIST WHO GENE-EDITED BABIES IS BACK IN LAB AND ‘PROUD’ OF PAST WORK DESPITE JAILING]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you remember the story of a Chinese scientists who took part in creating the world’s first “gene-edited” children and was sentenced to three years in prison for violating medical regulations? (They did it to make the twins immune to HIV by turning a gene called CCR5 into a mutant form that prevents the virus from invading cells.) [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? He is back and proud of what he did. His argument is that the twins are OK which is still too early to tell and it seems that he still doesn't understand the real issue with his work. [APPLE'S AIRPODS PRO UPDATE TURNS THEM INTO A CLINICAL GRADE HEARING AID]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The recent Apple event introduced several new health features, including a sleep apnea function on the Apple Watch. However, the most significant announcement for me was the transformation of AirPods Pro into clinical hearing aids. This feature will be available this fall, pending FTC approval, through a simple software update. The update includes a Hearing Test, Hearing Aid capability, and Active Hearing Protection. The Hearing Test involves tapping the screen in response to a series of tones at different frequencies. Your personalized hearing profile will then be automatically applied to various audio content, including music, movies, and phone calls. [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? It's a big move from Apple, as existing OTC hearing aids can cost between $1,000 and $1,500. The second-gen AirPods Pro are just $250 by comparison. MORE NEWS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE --------------------------------------------------------------- E-MAIL – [Patient died after GP surgery took three days to respond to email]( TRANSPARENT – [Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules]( REMOTE SURGERY – [Remote surgery performed on a pig 9,000 km away using a game controller]( INFLUENCER – [Will AI kill the health influencer?]( [color-forwardtofriend-48.png](mailto:berci@medicalfuturist.com) [color-facebook-48.png]( [color-youtube-48.png]( [color-linkedin-48.png]( [color-twitter-48.png]( [color-instagram-48.png]( © The Medical Futurist 2024 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Medical Futurist · Budapest · Budapest, Pest 1118 · Hungary