Top 20 medical breakthroughs for women

11. Breast cancer: One-stop radiation?
For most breast cancer patients who need radiation, treatments typically last up to six weeks. But a new study raises hopes for a one-day treatment known as intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy, or IOERT. Umberto Veronesi, MD, founder of the European Institute of Oncology, shared the findings of an eight-year randomized trial at the International Society of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy conference this year. The results showed that women who received breast-conserving surgery followed by a single dose of IOERT at the time of surgery had a chance of survival equal to that of women who underwent the surgery followed by six weeks of postoperative radiation therapy. 

12. Skin
Anti-aging techniques really do work
A landmark review by doctors at the University of Michigan Medical School published earlier this year in the prestigious Archives of Dermatology verified that three leading skin-renewal treatments are all, indeed, medically effective. Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing? Check. Topical retinol products? Check (at concentrations between 0.2 and 0.6 percent). Injections of hyaluronic acid? Check. Each of these three anti-aging treatments can improve skin by strengthening what’s called its “dermal collagen matrix.” The biggest surprise that Gary Fisher, PhD, and his colleagues found? The filler — hyaluronic acid — can also boost the creation of collagen when delivered by syringe; docs had previously thought its value was strictly cosmetic, not medical.

13. Immunity
Reduce stress to live longer
Can we relax our very DNA? For years, scientists have studied telomeres — tiny caps at the ends of chromosomes that shrink, shorten, and weaken with stress. Over time shortened telomeres dampen immunity, experts say, giving conditions like osteoporosis, heart disease, HIV, and AIDS a better chance of taking hold. In fact, in animal studies shortened telomeres were linked to a shortened life span.

Now researchers believe emotional stress can take its toll on telomeres, too. This spring, pathology professor Rita Effros, PhD, and her colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, bathed donated immune cells of adults aged 25 to 55 in cortisol, a stress hormone, and found that the activity of an enzyme capable of preventing telomere-shortening was reduced. This suggests that emotional stresses like abuse, marital strife, or anxiety can affect both short-term immune function and long-term aging prospects of individuals. While preliminary, the study may lead to the development of drugs that could help prevent damage to the immune systems of people dealing with prolonged stress.

14. Better sex
Enhancement drug for women
Move over, Viagra. Earlier this year, LibiGel, a testosterone-based gel for women with sexual dysfunction cleared another hurdle: Although it will be in trials for a few more years, it has passed Food and Drug Administration safety and efficacy phases. In tests, participants using LibiGel (from BioSante Pharmaceuticals) reported a 238 percent increase in satisfying sexual experiences.

15. Wonder extract
Resveratrol gets the nod
You may have heard the good-for-your-heart news about resveratrol, the anti-inflammatory compound found in grapes and wine: Studies in mice have shown that it fights diabetes
and can extend life span. In 2008 it got an even bigger endorsement when the federal government decided to invest big bucks in grapes-against-cancer research. Teaming with a leading biotech firm, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, the National Cancer Institute is trying to determine how derivatives of resveratrol can affect cancer-cell development. Human studies started just this year, so it’ll be a while before scientists know the impact it has on larger mammals. In the meantime, get your daily dose of resveratrol from a glass of grape juice or a nice Cabernet.

16. Eating disorders
Brain scans reveal anorexia clues
Docs have long been stumped: Why is it so difficult for patients with eating disorders to learn and to “reprogram” healthy eating behavior? In a surprising study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, researchers used MRI scans to track the brain activity of recovered anorexia patients and found that the reward centers of their brains were damaged — they couldn’t decipher much of a difference between pleasure or reward, at least in the short term. Researchers hope that this knowledge will help them better understand and treat the millions of women with eating disorders in the United States.

17. OB-Gyn
New endometriosis treatment
Add endometriosis to the list of surgeries now being per-formed by surgeons using medical robots. When this technology came on the scene in the 1990s, it was used primarily for prostate surgery and then later in laparoscopic hysterectomies. Now medical robots are reducing the surgery and recovery times for endometriosis treatment. According to Dennis Eisenberg, MD, of Baylor University’s hospital near Plano, Texas, robotic endometriosis-and-fibroid surgery takes an hour or two, and patients can expect to return home one day later; full recovery should take place within one week’s time. Traditional surgeries for endometriosis take four to five hours to complete and weeks of recovery, experts say.

18. Cancer
A gentler way to tackle tumors
It’s not always the medicine that counts, but how it gets delivered. For David Cheresh, PhD, and his cancer-fighting colleagues at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), that led to thinking small — really small. They’ve come up with the first nanoparticle delivery system for pancreatic and kidney cancer chemotherapies. By better targeting the chemo, Cheresh, a professor of pathology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, was able to use far smaller doses to halt tumor growth. If you can starve the tumors by cutting off the blood supply, there’s much more precision and markedly less collateral damage, the researchers say. That’s good news for the future of all cancer treatment.

19. Liposuction
Using fat to fight disease
Fat on your belly or thighs? Rarely considered a valuable thing … until now. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) announced this summer that, compared with fat in other areas of the body, belly and inner-thigh fat contain tissue with higher concentrations of stem cells. Surgeons and researchers hope to use the tissue to build stem cell lines and drugs that might one day treat diabetes, spinal cord injuries, or severe brain diseases. “Adult stem cells, derived from our own tissues, hold strong promise for improved clinical therapies,” says J. Peter Rubin, MD, a member of the ASPS Fat Grafting Task Force and co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

20. Acne
More clear skin ahead
For years oral tetracycline and erythromycin have been the standard for treating acne. Now there’s another option: a prescription topical gel called Aczone, which has antibiotic and anti-inflammatory effects. It was approved in 2005 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but came with all sorts of restrictions for use, including blood monitoring, because of potential side effects. This year, after reviewing the results of trials with 3,000-plus patients, the FDA lifted restrictions. The manufacturer, Allergan, hopes to have the gel on the market in the next few months.

For more helpful medical information, visit www.Health.com.

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