Toothpaste ingredient could fight malaria, according to ‘robot scientist’

Research carried out in part by an artificially-intelligent (AI)’robot scientist’ has found that a common ingredient of toothpaste could be developed to fight drug-resistant strains of malaria. In a study in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Britain’s Cambridge University who used the AI robot to conduct high-throughput screening said the ingredient, triclosan, showed the potential to interrupt malaria infections at two critical stages – in the liver and the blood. Malaria kills around half a million people every year, the vast majority of them children in the poorest parts…

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What is super malaria or superbug?

What is this “super malaria” or “superbug” that is “spreading fast” in Southeast Asia? The spread of life-threatening super malaria is posing a new challenge in the health sector. The fast spread of the mutated strain of the dangerous disease is an alarming global threat, scientists have warned. Facts about super malaria The strain of super malaria or superbug that is now spreading fast in Southeast Asia is known as PfPailin. The parasite was first detected in Cambodia. It has since spread through parts of Thailand, Laos and has arrived in southern…

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Exercise and Healthy Diet May Reduce Effects of Malaria

Exercising regularly and leading a healthy lifestyle can reduce the damage to the heart and skeletal muscles brought on by malaria. According to a new study, a healthy diet including fresh fruits and vegetables, and a right amount of protein is very important. Malaria afflicts more than 500 million people each year in scores of countries all over the world, killing more than 400,000 according to the World Health Organisation. Marco Brotto, Professor at The University of Texas – Arlington said that moderate or high levels of malaria infection typically…

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Now anaemia can protect your kids from malaria

Good news for parents, if your kids are anaemic! As a new study finds that anaemia may protect your kids against malaria. The study further said that treating kids with anaemia with iron supplementation may remove this protective effect of Iron deficiency. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have proven that these concerns valid after finding iron deficiency anaemia actually protects children against the blood-stage of Plasmodium falciparum malaria and treating anaemia with iron supplementation removes this protective effect. The study was published in journal of…

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GM vaccine for malaria without side effects soon

A potent malaria vaccine with virtually no side-effects has cleared clinical trials. The new “highly protective” malaria vaccine was successful in humans and can pave the way for treatment of other parasitic diseases. Scientists from the US genetically engineered the plasmodium parasite that causes the disease, after being passed on from mosquitos, to remove three genes that lead to infection. Although they can’t multiply , they live in the liver and stimulate the body’s defences to repel a real infection. Plasmodium parasites first infect the liver and then blood, leading…

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Ancient Chinese Malaria Remedy May Help Fight TB

In a study led by Robert Abramovitch, from the Michigan State University in the US, the ancient remedy artemisinin stopped the ability of TB-causing bacteria, known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to become dormant. A centuries-old herbal Chinese medicine, used to effectively treat malaria, may help fight tuberculosis and slow the evolution of drug resistance, scientists have found. This stage of the disease often makes the use of antibiotics ineffective. “When TB bacteria are dormant, they become highly tolerant to antibiotics,” Abramovitch said. “Blocking dormancy makes the TB bacteria more sensitive to…

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