Top Medical Studies that Gained Significant Attention in 2017
As the sun dips below the horizon in 2017, we take a moment to reflect on the groundbreaking discoveries and fascinating research that shaped the world of medicine this year. In this rundown, we'll revisit some of the most thought-provoking studies covered on Medical News Today and discuss how these findings have shaped conversations and debates in the medical community.
This year has been far from short on major events. In politics, we witnessed the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, while the United Kingdom triggered Article 50 to initiate the process of leaving the European Union.
Natural disasters have also left their mark, with hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria causing widespread destruction in the Caribbean islands, Florida Keys, and Texas. earthquakes and landslides have claimed hundreds of lives in Mexico and Colombia.
2017 has also seen the meteoric rise of the fidget spinner—a craze that swept the globe in just three weeks. With at least 19 million sold during the first half of 2017, it's safe to say that this humble toy has left an indelible mark on pop culture.
But let's take a closer look at the breakthroughs in clinical research. Throughout the year, we've seen some surprising discoveries that have turned traditional wisdom on its head.
One such discovery has been the identification of the molecular mechanisms responsible for hair loss and the appearance of gray hairs. Another fascinating finding is that type 2 diabetes may be transmissible in a manner similar to diseases like mad cow disease.
Without further ado, let's delve deeper into the most popular studies covered by MNT in 2017.
Busting Diet Myths
In line with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a healthful, balanced diet is recommended. Consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy, protein foods, and oils, while limiting saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and sodium, is the key to good health.
Many diets claim to offer the best solution, but research has consistently pointed towards consuming a balanced diet and engaging in physical activity as the most effective ways to maintain good health.
One of the most popular articles of the year provides further evidence to support the importance of including fruits and vegetables in a balanced diet. This research concluded that increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables can improve psychological well-being in just two weeks. Participants who increased their consumption to 3.7 servings per day saw significant enhancements in motivation, flourishing, and vitality.
MNT also covered several studies that debunked popular diet beliefs and examined the potential side effects of gluten-free diets.
Counterintuitive Findings
A great deal of our understanding about diet has been turned on its head or challenged by science in 2017. As a nation, we've been led to believe that saturated fat clogs the arteries and leads to coronary heart disease. An editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, however, deemed this "pipe-clogging" notion as "just plain wrong."
Other research led by the University of Connecticut in Mansfield found that clogged arteries might, in fact, be down to bacteria rather than diet. Researchers revealed that fat molecules located in the plaques that build up in the arteries may not only come from the foods we eat, but also from bacteria that reside in our mouths and guts.
For the most part, the medical community will paint "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, as desirable because it may protect against stroke and heart disease. Research published in August, however, found that HDL cholesterol could heighten the risk of premature death.
The link between salt intake and high blood pressure has also been called into question. One study presented at the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting demonstrated that there is no evidence to suggest that a diet lower in sodium is beneficial for blood pressure.
Gluten-Free Diets
People with celiac disease or gluten intolerance often benefit from consuming a gluten-free diet. However, many people without these conditions often adopt a gluten-free diet in the hope that it will benefit their health in some way. New research in 2017 has suggested that diets unnecessarily low in gluten may have undesirable consequences. Gluten-free diets may raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and deprive people of heart-healthy whole grains, which are thought to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Furthermore, gluten-free diets may increase exposure to toxic metals. Rice flour, typically used as a gluten substitute, can bioaccumulate arsenic and mercury from water, soil, and fertilizers. And researchers found that among people following a gluten-free diet, their blood levels of mercury were 70 percent higher, and arsenic levels in urine were nearly twice as high.
Exercise Benefits, Regardless of Amount
Regardless of how much time you can dedicate to exercise, even a little can offer some benefits. Regular exercise that meets or exceeds the guidelines can provide even more.
Despite the fact that more than half of U.S. adults are obese, over half of the country's adults are now meeting the physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that the majority of the health benefits of exercise occur with at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week. A study covered by MNT in September found that achieving the recommended minutes of exercise over 5 days of the week, in segments of 30 minutes for each session, could prevent 1 in 12 deaths and 1 in 20 cases of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.
In an ideal world, everyone would aim to meet or exceed the recommended amount of physical activity to stay fit and healthy. For those of us who are too busy or have too many commitments to fit in all 150 minutes, research brings news that even a small amount of activity can benefit our health.
Research has also shown that compared with being inactive, walking for just 2 hours per week is linked to a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Just 1 hour of exercise per week can help to prevent depression, and only 20 minutes of exercise reduces the body's inflammatory response. In December, a review of existing studies provided evidence that a single bout of physical activity can protect the heart from cardiovascular disease through a mechanism called "cardiovascular preconditioning."
Regardless of how much time you can dedicate to exercise, even a little can offer some benefits. Regular exercise that meets or exceeds the guidelines can provide even more.
Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss
In addition to diet and exercise, weight loss strategies have proven to be a popular topic in 2017 to fuel the battle against obesity. Intermittent fasting has topped the charts among the most read weight loss articles.
Intermittent fasting involves switching between periods of fasting and non-fasting. This diet type has been shown to impart many benefits, such as reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, protecting nerve cells from certain types of damage, slowing aging, and reducing the risk of age-related diseases.
In October, a research team led by the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, published a paper that set out to examine the molecular changes that underpin the effects of intermittent fasting. Mice were divided into two groups: one was an intermittent fasting group, and the other one was a control group. The intermittent fasting mice were given no food for a day and then fed for 2 days, while the control group was fed daily. These feeding patterns were continued over 4 months, and, overall, the mice consumed the same amount of calories.
At the end of the study, the intermittent fasting mice weighed significantly less than the control group. Furthermore, among the intermittent fasting group, glucose metabolism was more stable, their livers were healthier, and they had a lower percentage of white fat as it had been converted into brown fat. Brown fat burns energy and could be a potential candidate for treating obesity and other metabolic diseases.
On the less extreme end of the scale, research by the University of Tasmania in Australia found that taking a 2-weeks-on and 2-weeks-off approach to dieting may help boost weight loss and keep weight stable.
Advances in Cancer Research
Every year, thousands of cancer research projects release groundbreaking papers, and 2017 was no exception. A staggering 1.8 million cases of cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, and nearly 600,000 people die from the disease.
Although chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy are typically used to fight cancer, these therapies do not work for everyone. Scientists are continually studying the most effective ways to kill off cancer cells. Two of these methods trigger a response from the body's immune system to fight off cancer.
The journal Science Translational Medicine published research demonstrating that poliovirus kills cancer cells and inhibits tumor regrowth. Another cancer-killing technique, heralded as more effective than conventional cancer therapies, is a process called caspase-independent cell death (CICD). When cancer cells die from CICD, the immune system will swoop in to destroy any remaining ones that managed to evade CICD. When this method was tested in the laboratory on colorectal cancer tumors, almost all cancer cells were killed.
One surprising finding this year was the news that vitamin C is up to 10 times more effective than experimental drugs at preventing the formation of cancer stem cells.
Cancer's ability to metastasize—or break away from one body part and spread to other areas—is a major hindrance in the treatment of cancer. Researchers have gained new insight in 2017 on how metastasis might be stopped. A metabolite called 20-HETE provides cancer with everything it needs to up sticks and move to a new site. One study published in PLOS ONE of mice with cancer cells in their mammary fat pad found that injecting a molecule known as HET0016 inhibited the actions of 20-HETE and prevented cancer cells from moving freely within just 48 hours.
Other research uncovered the number of mutations required for cancer to emerge and 27 new genes that could stop cancer in its tracks.
Reversing Aging
Scientists have pursued the elixir of life this year, by analyzing ways to reverse aging. In fact, a study published in BMC Cell Biology showed that chemicals similar to resveratrol—which is a substance found in dark chocolate and red wine—could rejuvenate old cells. The substance not only made the old cells appear younger, but it also caused them to divide again like young cells.
"When I saw some of the cells in the culture dish rejuvenating, I couldn't believe it. These old cells were looking like young cells. It was like magic."
Lead study author Dr. Eva Latorre, University of Exeter, U.K.
In July, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City led a study alongside a team of specialists that investigated how stem cells found in a brain region called the hypothalamus might play a part in how swiftly humans age. Brain stem cells steadily decline with time, which affects the speed of the aging process. A team of researchers found that by adding a fresh supply of stem cells to the hypothalamus of mice, the aging process was reversed.
A Step Closer to Reversing Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling autoimmune disease that affects around 2.3 million people globally. In MS, the immune system attacks the coating that protects the nerves, causing communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body.
Treatments currently focus on preventing the immune system from wreaking further havoc, but, right now, no drugs are available to aid in the repair of myelin. Locating therapies that could rebuild damaged myelin would be a giant leap in MS research. And, according to studies published in 2017, these may be just around the corner.
MNT covered a study published in The Lancet in October that examined the effect of the allergy drug clemastine fumarate in people with long-standing MS. In short, clemastine fumarate improved the functioning of the nervous system by increasing the speed of the neural signals between the eye and the back of the brain. There is also substantial evidence that re-myelination may have occurred.
A clinical trial led by the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute and the Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, Colorado revealed that long-term remission in MS might be achieved by "resetting" the immune system. Individuals with relapsing-remitting MS were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The group was assessed 5 years after treatment, and the scientists found that 69% of them had remained in remission with no relapses, disability progression, or new brain lesions.
Decreasing the Risk of Diabetes
Worthy of a brief mention is the news that the risk of diabetes could be reduced with something as simple as getting enough vitamin D and consuming an Omega-6 rich diet.
Can Alzheimer's Disease be Prevented?
Although it is apparent that there is unlikely to be one single method to prevent Alzheimer's disease, unraveling the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease allows researchers to determine ways that people can reduce their risk of the condition.
Researchers from universities in both the U.K. and Switzerland devised a vaccine that may prevent Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, the vaccine raised the level of antibodies that are thought to safeguard against neurological diseases.
A set of studies this year considered green tea, strawberries, and extra-virgin olive oil in the fight against Alzheimer's. A green tea polyphenol called epigallocatechin gallate was found to stop the formation of beta-amyloid plaques that are present in Alzheimer's disease by interfering with the function of beta-amyloid oligomers.
A compound in strawberries – called fisetin – could prevent age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, by stopping stress, inflammation, and cognitive decline.
Extra-virgin olive oil has also been examined under the microscope in the fight against Alzheimer's prevention strategies. A study published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology demonstrated that extra-virgin olive oil might protect the brain from symptoms of Alzheimer's by preserving areas of the brain involved in communication among neurons and increasing the autophagy activation of nerve cells in brain tissue.
The Rise of Gene Editing
Gene editing has proven to be an area of considerable interest in 2017. Teams have experimented with gene editing in recent years as a means to eliminate gene mutations that cause diseases.
Research published by international researchers in August unveiled a significant breakthrough in the gene editing arena. For the first time, scientists used gene editing to repair a disease-causing mutation in a human embryo—an experiment that was successful and hailed as a significant step forward in the prevention of inherited diseases.
"Every generation on would carry this repair because we've removed the disease-causing gene variant from that family's lineage. By using this technique, it's possible to reduce the burden of this heritable disease on the family and eventually the human population."
Senior study author Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University in Portland
This year, using the powerful tool of gene editing in mouse models of disease, scientists have reversed Huntington's and eliminated HIV-1 infection.
Potential Treatments for Depression
Current lines of treatment for depression concentrate on using talking therapies such as cognitive therapy, and medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). A study that was published in Psychotherapy and Psychiatry looked into how well the current depression therapies work and came to the conclusion that although treatments benefit the condition in the short-term, in the long-term, they might exacerbate depression. If the present treatment lines are not the answer for depression, then what is? Researchers have examined a number of potential treatment strategies for depression over the past 12 months.
Individuals that do not respond to conventional therapies may find the psychoactive compound in mushrooms helpful, according to research by Imperial College London in the U.K. Choosing low-fat over full-fat dairy products could also keep the symptoms of depression at bay, suggested a team from Tohoku University in Japan. Other research has indicated that 1 hour of exercise each week may protect against depression, regardless of intensity, and that yoga can significantly lower symptoms of the condition.
Effects of Marijuana Investigated
As with most years in medical research, marijuana has sparked debate and discussion in 2017, with researchers studying its positive and negative effects. While cannabinoids—the active compounds in marijuana—have been acknowledged as possible treatments for preventing migraines, reversing cognitive decline, improving schizophrenia-specific cognitive impairment, and reducing seizures in epilepsy, scientists have also unearthed an equal amount of adverse side effects.
In contrast to other research, the University of Tsukuba in Japan found that cannabinoids might, in fact, trigger seizures. Furthermore, studies have discovered that marijuana use may be worse than smoking cigarettes for heart health and lead to greater psychosis risk among teenagers, as well as raise the risk of heart failure and stroke.
That concludes our brief jaunt through the year of 2017 in medical research. With the dawn of a new year, we look forward to the endless possibilities and discoveries that await us in the world of science.
MNT wishes you all a Happy New Year!
- A nutritionist may recommend consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy, protein foods, and oils, while limiting saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and sodium, for good health.
- In a balanced diet, increasing fruit and vegetable intake can improve psychological well-being in just two weeks, with participants seeing significant enhancements in motivation, flourishing, and vitality.
- Many diets claim to offer the best solution, but research has consistently pointed towards consuming a balanced diet and engaging in physical activity as the most effective ways to maintain good health.
- In 2017, science challenged or turned traditional wisdom on its head about diet, such as saturated fat not clogging arteries and clogged arteries being down to bacteria rather than diet.
- Clogged arteries might be down to bacteria rather than diet, as revealed by research led by the University of Connecticut.
- Fat molecules located in the plaques that build up in the arteries may not only come from the foods we eat, but also from bacteria that reside in our mouths and guts.
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol may heighten the risk of premature death, according to research published in August.
- The link between salt intake and high blood pressure has been called into question, with one study presented at the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting demonstrating no evidence to suggest that a diet lower in sodium is beneficial for blood pressure.
- Gluten-free diets may raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and deprive people of heart-healthy whole grains, creating undesirable consequences.
- Gluten-free diets may increase exposure to toxic metals, such as arsenic and mercury, as rice flour can bioaccumulate these from water, soil, and fertilizers.
- Exercise, regardless of the amount, can offer benefits, with regular exercise that meets or exceeds the guidelines providing even more.
- Even a small amount of exercise, such as walking for just 2 hours per week, can lower the risk of all-cause mortality.
- Achieving the recommended minutes of exercise over 5 days of the week, in segments of 30 minutes for each session, could prevent 1 in 12 deaths and 1 in 20 cases of cardiovascular disease.
- Intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, protect nerve cells from certain types of damage, slow aging, and reduce the risk of age-related diseases.
- In October, research revealed that taking a 2-weeks-on and 2-weeks-off approach to dieting may help boost weight loss and keep weight stable.
- Scientists are continually studying the most effective ways to kill off cancer cells, with a process called caspase-independent cell death (CICD) proving more effective than conventional cancer therapies.
- Researchers have gained new insight in 2017 on how metastasis might be stopped, with a metabolite called 20-HETE providing cancer with everything it needs to upstick and move to a new site.
- Scientists have pursued the elixir of life in 2017, by analyzing ways to reverse aging, with chemicals similar to resveratrol showing the potential to rejuvenate old cells.
- In July, a study led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City found that brain stem cells steadily decline with time, which affects the speed of the aging process, and a team of researchers discovered that by adding a fresh supply of stem cells to the hypothalamus of mice, the aging process was reversed.
