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13 September 2011 11:51
Experts have developed a safer therapy to treat sleeping sickness
Scottish experts have claimed a major breakthrough in the battle against sleeping sickness.
Scientists based at the University of Glasgow believe they have made a significant step forward in developing a safer cure for the condition, which is also known as Human African Trypanosomiasis.
The infection, transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly, affects thousands of people in African countries every year. It can be fatal if left untreated.
It is highly unsafe for global tourists to travel in the affected countries without a comprehensive medical travel insurance policy.
Doctors often prescribe an intravenous course of the arsenic-based drug melarsoprol if the disease crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the central nervous system.
But the drug involved is highly toxic, which makes the therapy painful. It even kills 5% of patients receiving it and leaves many others permanently brain-damaged.
However, Glasgow scientists combined melarsoprol with another substance - cyclodextrins - which surrounds the drug allowing it to be administered orally. This means the melarsoprol is released in to the intestines where it can be dissolved and absorbed more slowly in the gut.
19 September 2017
Manchester's Girlguides are being urged to help the elderly with a new badge incentivising youngsters to tackle senior loneliness.
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16 September 2017
Holidaymakers are being evacuated as winds up to 200km per hour hit Central Vietnam, with Typhoon Doksuri damaging houses, roads and infrastructure.
15 September 2017
People in parts of East Anglia are eight times more likely to survive liver disease than Blackpool residents, according to new data by Public Health England (PHE).
14 September 2017
A non-invasive alternative to gastric bypass surgery that helps people with Type 2 diabetes lose weight is being recommended for widespread use by NHS experts.
13 September 2017
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12 September 2017
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09 September 2017
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08 September 2017
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07 September 2017
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06 September 2017
Around 1 in 2 GPs do not know that black men have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, research has suggested.
05 September 2017
Many middle-aged men have hearts in a condition that makes the organ seem older than the men's actual age, a new study has revealed.
02 September 2017
Every cancer diagnosis should involve a discussion about stress, according to an expert investigating the biological impact of "fight-or-flight" responses.