The Guadian's Denis Campbell reports that trial results suggest people with newly diagnosed glioblastoma could potentially be given extra years of life. A senior NHS doctor, Prof Keyoumars Ashkanwho, was one of the trial’s chief investigators said the evidence showed DCVax had resulted in “astonishing” enhanced survival for patients.Overall 13% of people who received it lived for at least five years after diagnosis.  The vaccine is a form of immunotherapy, in which the body’s immune system is programmed to track down and attack the tumour. It is the first developed to tackle brain tumours. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/17/vaccine-shown-to-prolong-life-pat

The recipe for mammalian life is simple: take an egg, add sperm and wait. But two new papers demonstrate that there’s another way. Under the right conditions, stem cells can divide and self-organize into an embryo. In studies published in Cell and Nature recently, two groups report that they have grown synthetic mouse embryos for 8.5 days, longer than ever before. The embryos developed distinct organs — a beating heart, a gut tube and even neural folds.Research is being conducted at University of Cambridge, UK, and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02334-2

Ryan's Rule is a 3-step process to support patients of any age, their families and carers, to raise concerns if a patient’s heal

Marc Hamilton, Professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston, has discovered such an approach for optimal

Scientists at CSIRO (Australia's Government Science & Industrial Research Organisation) are developing a machine learning tool which provides an early warning to medical professionals of a patient’s deteriorating condition.   The study, published in Nature: Scientific Reports, showed the early warning deterioration alerts can be set to monitor patients two to eight hours before they are triggered by current clinical criteria.  CSIRO's Dr Dr Sankalp Khanna says, 'Until now there hasn’t been a way to harness all the data to predict patient health. This new tool has the potential to transform the day-to-day functioning of health systems'.     

For people with a disability or unsteady on their feet, there are new walking aids.  With traditional walkers or rollators, a problem can arise for a number of users if they bend forward and in so doing carry their weight on their arms and hands.  This can result in pain.   Such users are soon walking with a hunched back.  A solution to this issue is a taller, upright walker, which enables walking with an upright posture.  Apart from improving posture there is the potential cardiovascular improvement and it is easier to look forward and see people.