The best health news over the last decade

1. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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The best health news over the last
decade
16 PHOTOS
8:47 a.m. EST Dec. 18, 2019
The 2010s will go down in history as a decade of many newsworthy health-
related stories, many of which were not good news -- Ebola, measles,
antibiotic resistance. But in the years since 2010 there were also many
promising discoveries in medicine, life-saving drugs approved, and great
strides taken addressing national health crises. 24/7 Tempo reviewed multiple
news archives and dozens of articles published since 2010 to select 15 of the
most positive health news stories that made headlines.
CHINNAPONG / GETTY IMAGES
CT scans in high risk patients can reduce overall lung cancer mortality
• Year: 2011
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2. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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• Category: Diseases
The 2011 National Lung Screening Trial showed a reduction in lung cancer
mortality of 20% in high risk patients receiving low-dose CT (LDCT) compared
to chest X-ray. The CDC recommends that people at high risk of developing
lung cancer – heavy smokers, people who have smoked as recently as 15
years, and people who are 55 years or older – undergo annual LDCT scans
because of potential risks.
EGOR KULINICH / GETTY IMAGES
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Melanoma drug approved
• Year: 2011
• Category: Treatment
After more than a decade of no new potential drugs for melanoma, the
deadliest form of skin cancer, the FDA approved vemurafenib, sold under the
brand name Zelboraf, in 2011 for patients with metastatic melanoma with the
BRAF(V600E) mutation or for those who have tumors that cannot be surgically
removed.
THODONAL / GETTY IMAGES
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3. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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Gene editing is now possible
• Year: 2012
• Category: Technology
Gene editing is the process of changing an organism’s DNA. After decades of
research around the world, scientists made a major breakthrough with the
discovery of clustered repeats of DNA sequences, known as CRISPR. First
described in 2012, CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
Palindromic Repeats, is the basis for potentially world-changing gene editing
technology, or, as some might say, DNA hacking.
PHONLAMAIPHOTO / GETTY IMAGES
FDA says trans fat should not be considered 'safe'
• Year: 2013
• Category: Eating
In 2013, the FDA ofdcially announced trans fats should not be considered safe
in human food. In 2015, the agency gave food manufacturers three years to
phase out the use of trans fats in their products. The deadline was June 18,
2018, although the FDA granted a one-year extension in the use of artidcial
trans fats in some cases. The ban will be fully implemented in Jan. 1, 2020.
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4. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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HIV prevention pill
• Year: 2014
• Category: Diseases
About 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with HIV every year, according to the
CDC. Despite advancements in treatment and years of research into the
infection, HIV does not have a cure. In 2014, the CDC issued new guidelines
that recommend a pill to people at high risk of HIV as a prevention method.
High risk people include gay or bisexual men, injection drug users, and women
with an HIV+ partner.
NITO100 / GETTY IMAGES
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A new way to treat cavities
• Year: 2015
• Category: Treatment
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5. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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In 2015, the FDA approved a painless new way to treat tooth decay called
silver diamine fluoride (SDF). It's a liquid that is applied directly to cavities to
stop the decay. The FDA gave it a "breakthrough therapy designation" two
years later.
HERRY / FLICKR
3D printing of human organs
• Year: 2015
• Category: Technology
3D printing technology has improved considerably over the past few years.
The technology has advanced so much that producing fully functional
replacement organs from a person's own cells seems like a not-so-distant
possibility. Scientists at Harvard's Wyss Institute have grown a heart tissue
that beats just like a normal human heart.
SCHARFSINN86 / GETTY IMAGES
Immunotherapy and cancer
• Year: 2016
• Category: Treatment
Cancer immunotherapy was named the 2016 Advance of the Year by the
American Society of Clinical Oncology. The therapy is designed to support
and boost the immune system’s response to cancer cells, rather than
targeting the cancer itself. One of the most successful immunotherapies so
far is the checkpoint inhibition. It makes the immune response stronger by
keeping immune cells activated, which does not normally happen when a
person has cancer.
WILDPIXEL / GETTY IMAGES
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6. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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Opioid crisis recognized as national public health emergency
• Year: 2017
• Category: Public health
Every day over 130 people in the United States die from opioid overdose,
including pain medication, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl,
according to the National Institutes of Health. In 2017, President Donald
Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency, giving
hope that the federal government's involvement could help dght the worst
drug crisis in U.S. history.
WHITEHOUSE / FLICKR
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Early-stage Alzheimer's treatment
• Year: 2019
• Category: Diseases
Biogen, a biotechnology company, announced in October 2019 it would ask
the FDA to approve its Aducanumab drug as drst treatment for early
Alzheimer's disease. The company said that patients in the early stages of the
disease who were treated with a high dose of the drug experienced
signidcant improvements in memory, orientation, and language. If
Aducanumab is approved, it will be one of a handful of drugs approved to
treat the disease.
LIGHTFIELDSTUDIOS / GETTY IMAGES
Smoking rates at all-time low
• Year: 2018
• Category: Habits
The short and long-term health problems smoking causes have been well-
documented for decades. Today cigarette smoking among U.S. adults is at an
all-time low -- 13.7% in 2018, according to the CDC. While smoking regular
cigarettes is down, smoking e-cigarettes is on the rise.
RATTANKUN THONGBUN / GETTY IMAGES
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7. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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Cystic _brosis treatment approved by FDA
• Year: 2019
• Category: Treatment
The FDA approved in 2019 what it called a "new breakthrough" therapy to
treat cystic dbrosis. The medication, sold under the name Trikafta, is available
to patients who are 12 years or older and have the F508del mutation, the
most common cystic dbrosis mutation. It is found in 90% of the people living
with the disease. The treatment can increase the life expectancy of patients,
which is now around 44 years.
SDI PRODUCTIONS / GETTY IMAGES
Second HIV patient goes into remission
• Year: 2019
• Category: Diseases
A second person since HIV was identided in the 1980s has been said to be in
sustained remission. The patient, who was treated in London, has not been
given antiretroviral therapy for 18 months, and the virus has remained
undetectable. The good news comes more than a decade after the “Berlin
patient,” known as the drst person to have been “cured” from the infection.
Both patients received a stem cell transplant.
ARTEM_EGOROV / GETTY IMAGES
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Blood test detects breast cancer 5 years early
• Year: 2019
• Category: Diagnoses
Improved rates of early detection have helped drive up survival rates. A
recent British study offers hope that the condition could now be detected dve
years before there are any clinical signs of it. The new method is a blood test
that identides the body's immune response to antigens produced by tumor
cells. The test may be available in clinics in about dve years.
RAWPIXEL / GETTY IMAGES
Finding a cure for arthritis
• Year: 2019
• Category: Treatment
A recent study published in the Science Advances journal has found that
"cartilage in human joints can repair itself [...] to regenerate limbs." The body
was previously believed to be unable to do so. People have a molecule that
helps with joint tissue repair, and that molecule is more active in ankles and
less active in knees and hips. The dndings can help develop treatments that
may prevent, slow, or even reverse arthritis.
MICHELLEGIBSON / GETTY IMAGES
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8. 12/20/19, 10:32 AMThe best health news over the last decade
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