Israel Active

Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital was the venue for a conference of 300 Israeli and international experts in the field of diagnosis and treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). “Challenges in IBD Across Ages” brought together experts from the USA, Canada and Scotland.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered protein S6K1. If this protein mutates it turns into a signal for cells to proliferate and cause breast cancer. The researchers are now working on reversing the mutation as a form of anti-cancer therapy.

Liel Naomi, who died as a result of edema of the brain, donated organs that saved the lives of four people, aged seven to 68. Her family said saving lives was foremost, and that the organ donations would commemorate Liel’s life.

Bar-Ilan University’s School of Medicine in the Galilee opened a “teddy bear hospital” in December designed to reduce anxiety about health care among young children. 150 preschoolers learnt not to fear hospitals and doctors by watching simulated treatment on their teddy bears and dolls.

The latest life expectancy figures from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics show that Israelis have among the highest life expectancies on the globe, with an overall life expectancy of 81.7 years – two years more than the OECD average. Israeli men normally reach 79.9 years, second only to the Swiss.

This personal story illustrates how important the new FitNeS epilepsy treatment from Israel’s BioControl Medical will be to those sufferers for whom medication has no effect on their seizures.

Scientists at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv have isolated the cancer stem cells that fuel the growth of Wilms’ tumors - responsible for kidney cancer in children. They then used antibody medication to target specific molecules in those cells and destroy the tumors without harming any other cells.

Israeli biotech Enlivex has developed a treatment called ApoCell that triggers a response from the immune system to reduce adverse reactions during bone marrow transplants. It prevents Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD), which affects around 70% of transplant patients.

(Thanks to Stuart Palmer and Israel21c.) Israel’s Alpha Omega’s products guide neurosurgeons to the required location in the brain. Alpha Omega is run by Imad and Reem Younis – two Christian Arabs from Nazareth, with their mostly Christian and Muslim staff of Israeli University graduates.

Israel’s BioControl Medical has reduced epileptic episodes by 50% in recent trials of its FitNeS™ implantable vagus nerve stimulation system. And no side effects.