Israel Active

Israeli scientists have studied 1,371 bladder cancer patients receiving treatment at Hebrew University’s Hadassah Medical Center. They found that those who had received the BCG vaccination against tuberculosis were half as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as those who hadn’t.

Israel’s Ministries of Health and Finance have increased the budget for the health basket by NIS 500 million. There is now NIS 54.2 billion available in 2020 for subsidized medicines and medical devices required by Israeli citizens and permanent residents.

Israeli research published in Diabetes Care suggests that the current recommended diet for diabetics, of small frequent meals, worsens their condition. They should eat a big breakfast of bread, fruit and sweets in the early hours of the morning, a substantial lunch and a small dinner.

Researchers from Israel’s Bar-Ilan and US Stanford Universities report the discovery that the brain can integrate artificial vision from retina implants together with natural vision from healthy retina. It implies that AMD patients with advanced prosthetic devices can restore their sight.

As reported previously Israel’s Orthospin is a smart, robotic, self-adjusting, external fixation system for helping heal bones after complex orthopedic operations. Orthospin has now received US FDA approval.

As reported previously Israel-based Augmedics has developed xvision - an augmented reality X-ray-like headset for surgeons to use in spinal and pelvic operations. Xvision has just received US FDA clearance.

Israel’s aMoon fund, has invested $5 million in the new NanoGhost anti-cancer therapy of Technion Professor Marcelle Machluf. . In lab tests NanoGhost reduced small lung carcinoma, prostate, and pancreatic cancer tumors, by as much as 85%.

The Nerivio migraine-zapping wearable device from Israel’s Theranica has already been reported as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Inventions for 2019. Now it has been selected by US research company CB Insights as one of 36 game-changing companies in 2020.

The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) has given $72 million for Israeli cancer research. Much of this is used by scientists to develop treatments that alleviate the damage from chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.  Several examples are given in this link.

Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University and the US NIH have identified a trigger for the autoimmune disease Lupus. They have also developed what the media is calling a “miracle” molecule, that blocks the trigger in Lupus and other diseases, e.g. Alzheimer’s and IBD.