New cancer immunotherapy shows promise

 

By Admin

A new cancer study is attracting global attention after researchers reported that injecting an experimental immunotherapy into a single tumour appeared to spark an immune response against cancer cells in other parts of the body.

The findings, which emerged from an early-stage clinical trial, have generated considerable excitement among scientists and cancer specialists. The reason is simple: the treatment could help the body's immune system recognise and attack tumours far beyond the site where the injection was administered.

Immunotherapy has already transformed cancer care by helping the immune system identify and destroy cancer cells more effectively. In this latest study, researchers observed signs that targeting one tumour may set off a wider anti-cancer response throughout the body, a phenomenon known as a systemic anti-tumour response.

For many experts, that's one of the most important goals in modern oncology. If successful, the approach could improve treatment outcomes for patients whose cancers have spread to multiple parts of the body.

Still, researchers are urging caution. While the results are encouraging, the trial remains in its early stages and much more work lies ahead. Larger clinical studies will be needed to establish the treatment's safety, determine how effective it is and identify the patients most likely to benefit from it.

Scientists also stressed that promising results in an early trial don't always lead to success in later phases of research, where treatments are tested in larger and more diverse patient populations.

Even so, the findings reflect the rapid progress being made in cancer treatment. Researchers say emerging immunotherapy strategies continue to push the boundaries of what may be possible, opening the door to more targeted and effective therapies while offering fresh hope in the fight against cancer.

Medical experts believe advances such as these underscore the evolving nature of cancer research and the relentless search for better ways to tackle one of the world's deadliest diseases.

What happens to your brain after age 50?

By Admin

It starts innocently. A name refuses to come. You walk into a room and forget why you’re there. Your phone is in your hand, yet you spend several minutes looking for it. An old friend’s face is familiar, but the name just won’t come. “It’s old age,” someone says.

For millions of people, especially as parents and relatives move into their 50s, 60s and 70s, such moments have become almost too ordinary to question. But scientists are beginning to see the ageing brain differently.

New research has found that the human brain undergoes a major biological shift between about 50 and 75. Deep inside the brain, some of the immune cells that have been there since early development begin to decline. They are increasingly replaced by cells with stronger inflammatory characteristics.

At the same time, cells that help maintain the brain’s protective barrier become less abundant, while the highly organized three-dimensional structure of DNA inside several types of brain cells begins to deteriorate. The changes are happening long before most people would think of themselves as elderly, and that is what makes the discovery particularly intriguing.

For Nigerians, 50 is often an age of peak responsibility rather than retreat. There are children in university, ageing parents to support, businesses to run, careers to manage and, increasingly, plans to remain economically active well into the 60s and 70s. Life may be moving faster than ever. Yet, underneath it all, the brain may already be undergoing a profound transformation.

Published in Science, the study could help explain why advancing age is the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. It doesn't mean that turning 50 sets off dementia. Nor does it mean that every forgotten name is a warning sign.

But it does raise a question many families may want answered: when does ordinary forgetfulness stop being “old age”, and what exactly is happening inside the ageing brain?

For quite a number of people approaching middle age, as well as those caring for older relatives, this study offers a reason to pay closer attention to brain health. Growing older isn't just about changes we can see in the body, the brain, too, undergoes profound biological changes, many of which scientists are only beginning to unravel.

The brain has specialized cells that protect nerve cells, clear away cellular debris and respond to injury or infection. These cells known as microglia play a vital role in keeping the brain's internal environment healthy. But researchers have found that this cellular workforce changes considerably during midlife.

Between approximately ages 50 and 75, the population of microglia that originated during embryonic development declined sharply, at the same time, cells with molecular features resembling immune cells found in the bloodstream became more prominent. The replacement microglia-like cells also showed stronger inflammatory characteristics.

That finding challenges the long-standing assumption that the brain's original immune cells remain its dominant defenders throughout a person's life. It also raises questions about whether the changing immune environment contributes to chronic inflammation and makes the ageing brain more vulnerable to damage.

Bing Ren, one of the study's corresponding authors, said microglia are essential for maintaining the brain. When their basic functions fail, toxic materials can accumulate, triggering inflammatory processes that may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.

For the average person, it doesn't mean that everyone over 50 will develop dementia, or that these changing cells automatically cause Alzheimer's disease. 

The discovery, rather, offers scientists a possible explanation for how the ageing brain may become more susceptible to damage.. The study identifies biological changes, it does not establish that those changes directly cause disease in every older person.

In many homes, forgetfulness in older people is readily dismissed as old age. An elderly father asks the same question several times, a mother forgets where she kept her belongings, an older relative struggles to recall a familiar name. Some forgetfulness is a normal part of ageing, but when memory problems persist, worsen or begin to interfere with everyday activities, they deserve medical attention.

The new research does not establish that the cellular changes identified are responsible for any individual's symptoms. What it does is add to the growing scientific effort to understand the biological processes involved in neurodegenerative diseases.

For families, the practical lesson is straightforward: don't automatically write off significant changes in an older person's memory or behavior as “old age.” A medical assessment can help identify possible causes and determine whether further investigation is necessary.

The scientists also observed a substantial decline in cell populations involved in maintaining the blood-brain barrier. This barrier serves as a protective filter between the bloodstream and brain tissue. It regulates the movement of substances into the brain and helps shield delicate neural structures from potentially harmful materials circulating in the blood. As people age, changes in the cells supporting this barrier may affect how well it functions.

The finding is particularly relevant in a country where older adults may also be dealing with hypertension, diabetes and other chronic health conditions. However, the study did not establish how those conditions influence the specific cellular changes observed. Neither did it examine a distinct population. The findings, therefore, point to an important area for further biological research. 

Nathan Zemke, Director of Single-cell Genomics at the Center for Epigenomics at the University of California, San Diego, described the study as an important step towards understanding how ageing reshapes the human genome in brain cells. Still, the research remains focused on identifying biological changes. It does not establish a treatment, nor does it show that lifestyle changes can reverse the genome alterations observed.

 Can you do anything to protect your brain?

While the study did not test specific lifestyle interventions or establish that any particular diet, supplement or exercise program can prevent the cellular changes it identified, the findings offer an opportunity to revisit the established principles of maintaining good health as we age.

For middle-aged and older Nigerians, this includes paying attention to blood pressure, blood sugar, physical activity, sleep and other ongoing health needs. Regular medical check-ups can help identify conditions that require treatment. These measures shouldn't be presented as a proven way to stop the particular brain changes described in the study. Rather, they're part of preventive healthcare, which becomes increasingly important with advancing age.

For now, the study offers a different way of looking at ageing. Brain ageing isn't necessarily a simple, steady decline. Between midlife and older age, several biological systems may change together, including immune cells, vascular support systems and the organization of the genome.

As scientists work to understand what these changes mean, one point deserves emphasis: protecting brain health shouldn't be a conversation that begins only after memory problems appear.

Heartbeat by sound: Scientists develop non-invasive pacemaker

 

By Admin

What if a person who needs a pacemaker no longer had to undergo surgery to have one implanted? Imagine having no wires threaded into the heart, no pulse generator implanted under the skin and, potentially, no repeat procedures to deal with implanted hardware?

Instead, there is a small patch sitting on the chest, using sound waves to help keep the heart beating normally. This possibility, which once sounded more like science fiction than medicine, has moved a little closer to reality.

Researchers have developed an experimental wearable pacemaker that uses focused ultrasound to stimulate the heart without placing a device or electrical leads inside the body. The system, developed by scientists from the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and collaborating institutions, has been tested in engineered human heart cells and animals.

They report that they were able to control cardiac activity and restore normal heart rhythm in rats with abnormal heartbeats. They also carried out experiments using pig tissue to assess whether the technology could work at a scale closer to the human heart.

The findings, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, could open a new direction in the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. But there is an important caveat: this is still experimental technology, not a replacement for the pacemakers used in hospitals today.

The device is described as a non-invasive ultrasound pacemaker, or NUP. It is designed to adhere to the chest and use focused ultrasound to reach the heart. This is a significant departure from conventional cardiac pacing.

Traditional pacemakers work by delivering electrical impulses to the heart, usually through leads positioned in or around the heart and connected to a pulse generator implanted under the skin. The new system uses sound.

More specifically, it relies on a technique called sonogenetics, in which specially engineered cells are made responsive to ultrasound. The researchers modified heart muscle cells, known as cardiomyocytes, so they could express a mechanosensitive ion channel called MscL-G22S.

When focused ultrasound reaches the modified cells, the channels respond to the mechanical force by opening. Calcium ions then enter the cells; calcium is crucial to the way heart muscle contracts.

What the researchers have done is to create a system in which sound waves can activate specially modified heart cells and trigger contraction. The result is something that looks remarkably different from the familiar image of a pacemaker.

No electrical wire has to reach the heart. Instead, ultrasound travels through the chest to stimulate the target cells. But getting sound into the heart isn't enough. It has to get to the right place. The heart is constantly moving. It also sits beneath skin, fat, muscle and other tissues. Any system designed to stimulate it from outside the body therefore has to be capable of accurately locating and targeting cardiac tissue.

The researchers addressed this by combining ultrasound stimulation with imaging. Their wearable system can identify the relevant region of the heart and direct focused ultrasound towards it. According to the study, the system achieved spatial targeting of less than 1 millimeter and was capable of controlling stimulation frequencies of up to 9 Hz.

In rats with abnormal heart rhythms, the researchers were able to use ultrasound stimulation to restore sinus rhythm. That level of control is important because cardiac pacing isn't simply about making the heart beat.

A pacemaker has to deliver stimulation in a controlled and reliable way. An inaccurate or poorly timed stimulus could be ineffective or potentially dangerous. The experimental system is therefore designed not merely to stimulate the heart, but to do so with considerable precision.

However, there is no ultrasound pacemaker available for patients today. The work remains at the experimental stage. Researchers reported safety testing in rats during daily activities over an eight-month period and carried out additional experiments using ex vivo pig models to examine the technology at a larger scale.

But success in laboratory models and animals does not establish that the technology is safe or effective in humans. There is also a fundamental requirement that makes this approach very different from simply sticking an ultrasound patch onto an ordinary heart. The target heart cells have to be made responsive to ultrasound. That involves genetic modification, so the cells express the ultrasound-sensitive ion channel.

The researchers investigated the genetic safety of their approach, but moving from experimental studies to human treatment would require extensive additional research, clinical trials and regulatory approval.

Implanted cardiac devices have transformed the treatment of people with certain rhythm disorders. But implantation is still a medical procedure, and implanted hardware can bring complications, including problems involving leads and the need for procedures associated with device management.

A genuinely non-invasive pacing system could change that equation. Instead of putting hardware inside the body, doctors could eventually have the option of delivering cardiac stimulation from outside it.

The researchers' system combines stimulation with ultrasound imaging. That creates the possibility of a future wearable device capable of doing more than simply delivering a stimulus. It could potentially monitor cardiac activity, identify an abnormal rhythm and respond automatically. 

One wearable device could eventually combine monitoring, diagnosis and treatment. That would represent a major change in the way some cardiac rhythm disorders are managed.

For now, however, patients should not expect their cardiologist to prescribe an ultrasound patch in place of a conventional pacemaker. The technology has not yet made that leap. What the researchers have demonstrated is an early proof of concept that raises a bigger question about the future of cardiac pacing.

The future, however, may sound very different. It may not involve a wire inside the heart. It may involve sound travelling through the body.

Free healthcare in Ibadan as UBOMI targets 5,000 residents

 

From left to right: Pastor Oluwaseun Afolayan, Resident Pastor, The Elevation Church, Ibadan; ⁠Mrs. Isimeme Preye; Dr Iko Ibanga, Founder/ Executive Director, Prohealth International; Sowari Akosionu, Chairperson Partnership & Communications Sub-committee;  Leonard F. Thomas, Executive Director, Pistis Foundation  at the kick-off of Ubomi 2026 Medical Outreach in Ibadan on Tuesday, 22nd September, 2026. 

By Admin

For residents who had put off medical care because they could not afford it, help arrived this week in an unexpected form: free consultations, medicines, diagnostic tests and surgery. Pistis Foundation’s UBOMI healthcare outreach has moved beyond Lagos for the first time in its 10-year history, targeting 5,000 people in Ibadan with treatment for a range of health conditions.

The five-day outreach, which began on Monday at Pistis Hub, Ibadan, has drawn residents of different ages seeking medical attention for various conditions, an expansion marking a new phase for UBOMI, the flagship health intervention of Pistis Foundation, the non-profit social intervention vehicle of The Elevation Church.

Speaking at the official opening, the Executive Director of Pistis Foundation, Leonard F. Thomas, said the decision to take UBOMI to Ibadan was driven by the need to make quality healthcare accessible to people and communities struggling to afford it.

“UBOMI is in its 10th year, and this is the first time we are taking it outside Lagos and the first time in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. We believe healthcare is a necessity for everyone, but we also believe that not everyone can afford quality healthcare. It is not that they do not want it, but accessing it is not affordable for them.

“With UBOMI, we have come to close the gap by providing quality healthcare to people who cannot afford it, at no cost to them,” Thomas remarked. He noted that the response from residents had been encouraging, expressing confidence that more than 5,000 people would benefit from the Ibadan intervention before the programme returns to Lagos in October.

The expansion was made possible through the continued support of the foundation’s partners and supporters in Nigeria and abroad.

“Our supporters and partners have continued to keep faith with us in ensuring that we sustain this outreach, and coming to Ibadan is part of our plan to take it beyond Lagos. We are excited with the turnout in Ibadan, and we believe that we can meet the health needs of over 5,000 people before we hold the Lagos edition next month,” he said.

The intervention is not limited to routine consultations. According to the Founder and Executive Director of Pro Health International, Dr Iko Ibanga, UBOMI has provided a range of surgical procedures over the past six years, including hernia, eye, fibroid and dental surgeries. Pro Health International has served as the technical partner to the programme during that period.

Ibanga said the programme had made a significant difference to individuals and communities by providing treatment that many beneficiaries might otherwise have struggled to access.

“We believe this programme has impacted tremendously on individuals and communities. Coming to Ibadan for the first time is a step forward for UBOMI, and we are glad that we have been able to perform surgeries with a 99 per cent success rate in the last six years,” he said.

The Resident Pastor of The Elevation Church, Ibadan, Pastor Oluwaseun Afolayan, said UBOMI was inspired by the Christian teaching of loving one’s neighbour but stressed that the intervention was open to everyone regardless of faith.

“This programme is for all faiths, regardless of religion, because our watchword as a church is to meet the health needs of all people without focusing on a particular group,” he said.

Afolayan said people of different faiths had already benefited from the programme since its commencement, adding that the church hoped it would become a continuous intervention for residents of Oyo State.

“It is not political, and since we started on Monday, people of various faiths have benefited and are still benefiting from UBOMI. We hope this will become a continuous initiative for the people of Oyo State. It is open to everybody and comes at no cost,” he said.

The Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Adewumi Ajetunmobi, commended the leadership of The Elevation Church and Pistis Foundation for bringing the outreach to Ibadan.

Ajetunmobi reaffirmed the state government’s support for initiatives aimed at improving access to healthcare and urged well-meaning individuals and organisations to support efforts to address the healthcare needs of residents. Since its founding, UBOMI has recorded 48,706 verified medical interventions, with the organisers reporting a 99 per cent surgical success rate.

The programme provides a broad range of free services, including medical consultations, diagnostic investigations, pharmaceutical support, dental and eye care, general and specialist surgical procedures, health education and other healthcare services.

The 2026 UBOMI outreach is being delivered in partnership with The Elevation Church in Ibadan and Lagos, Pro Health International as the technical partner, and Zenithcare Hospital, Oyo State, as the medical institutional partner. Pistis Foundation, the social intervention vehicle of The Elevation Church, was established in 2018 to address critical areas of social vulnerability through interventions in health, education and shelter.

Godman Akinlabi is the Founder and Board Chair of Pistis Foundation. UBOMI, the foundation’s flagship health initiative, was established to improve access to quality healthcare for underserved communities at no cost to beneficiaries.

Since 2019, the programme has expanded its medical reach through partnerships with healthcare institutions, technical partners, government agencies, medical professionals and volunteers.