Israel Active

Paraplegic Claire Lomas completed the UK’s Great North run in an exoskeleton from Israel’s ReWalk.  Claire, who is 16-weeks pregnant, took five days to complete the 13.1-mile race. (The BBC, of course, doesn’t mention that ReWalk is Israeli.)

Israel’s Aspect Imaging has launched a brand new integrated simultaneous PET-MRI that combines PET and MRI modalities. The system is based on Aspect’s compact MRI plus the SimPET system from Seoul National University’s Department of Nuclear Medicine.

Multinational GlaxoSmithKline signed an agreement with Israel’s Nutritional Growth Solutions for GSK to produce and market Horlicks Growth+, developed by Schneider Children’s Medical Center for enhancing height and weight in underdeveloped children.

Researchers at Israel Technion have discovered how the cancer sufferer’s own body fights the treatment, strengthens tumors and causes them to spread (metastasis). Now they are working on various ways to inhibit the body’s response to anti-cancer treatments.

UK Under-Secretary of State for Health David Mowat said that if Israeli produce was boycotted, it would put 100 million National Health Service prescriptions at risk. “Banning these supplies would most likely cause significant shortages of some medicines important for patient health”

Israeli entrepreneur Dror Tamir and his wife Dr Liat Zivan have developed a low-tech idea for reducing levels of obesity. “Plate my Meal” is a set of 5 plates for children, showing which foods to serve at various mealtimes and for snacks. In English, Hebrew, Arabic or Persian.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University say that in laboratory tests they have successfully treated the defective gene ApoE4, responsible for 60% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

New international research, led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has discovered which of the body’s metabolic processes viruses rely on. It should lead to treatments that target the genetic switches (protein receptors in cells) that sense and control those processes.

The charity Ezer Mizion organized a workshop into the subject of selective mutism – where children refuse to speak or only with their immediate family.  Hundreds of parents, teachers and therapists attended, hearing from experts who achieve results using unique or tailored methods.

The US FDA has just approved the Aqueduct 100, from Israel’s Aqueduct Medical. The device alleviates the pain and potential complications that millions of women experience from cervical dilation prior to intrauterine procedures. It avoids anesthesia or an operating room environment.