The Health News – 27 April 2017

Overview:

• Sixteen year old Billy Ellsworth, from Pennsylvania, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The teenager has been one of 12 boys in the United States on a six-year trial of Exondys 51, a drug created by two researchers in WA. Exondys 51 was developed by professors Sue Fletcher and Steve Wilton, born from an idea they had when working at the University of Western Australia.

• Whitening is a cultural trend and derives from what’s known as “colourism” — a system that privileges lighter skin. Dermatologists in Australia said they were concerned about the risks of using the products where some ingredients were not clearly disclosed or were in foreign languages.

• eSense-Lab chose the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to make its foray into global markets to take advantage of investor appetite here for new technology stocks. Attracting companies like eSense-Lab to list in Australia is part of a broader ASX push to diversity its stock offering, 40 per cent of which are resource companies.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  26th of April 2017. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/fresh-hope-for-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-treatment/8473102

A US teenager who can walk because of a drug created in WA has joined a campaign for human trials to be run in Australia.

Two researchers from a West Australian university created the drug that has kept 16-year-old Billy Ellsworth, from Pennsylvania, on his feet — but the drug is not yet available to Australian families.

Billy has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare and fatal genetic disease, which eventually wastes every muscle in the body.

It affects one in 3,500 children, mostly boys, and leaves most wheelchair bound by the age of 12. Many people with the condition do not live past 25.

The teenager has been one of 12 boys in the United States on a six-year trial of Exondys 51, a drug created by two researchers in WA.

Exondys 51 was developed by professors Sue Fletcher and Steve Wilton, born from an idea they had when working at the University of Western Australia.

“Steve formulated an idea as to how to trick the cell to skip over the disease, causing mutation in the dystrophin gene that caused muscular dystrophy,” Professor Fletcher said.

Twenty five years later that idea was turned into a reality.

All involved are hopeful trials o…and other forms of the therapy – will be underway in Australia soon.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/skin-whitening-demand-growing-in-australia-industry-reports/8471140

In the heart of Sydney’s Chinatown, 30-year-old retail assistant Amanda is selling face masks and creams in bright packages. But it is the skin-whitening products that have her attention.

“Chinese people like whitening, [they consider it] beautiful — whitening and brightening because it’s good,” she says, smiling.

The smile is genuine, as Amanda is a fan herself.

…this popularity is on the rise with the market for skin lighteners projected to reach $US23 billion ($30.5 billion) by 2020, according to market intelligence firm Global Industry Analysts.

Across Asia, it is normal to walk into a beauty store and see mostly skin-whitening products adorning the shelves.

Whitening is a cultural trend and derives from what’s known as “colourism” — a system that privileges lighter skin.

Dermatologists in Australia said they were concerned about the risks of using the products where some ingredients were not clearly disclosed or were in foreign languages.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said the chemical hydroquinone was the most commonly used ingredient in skin-whitening products.

The chemical is banned in Europe, but can be found in products sold in Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-25/asx-seeks-to-diversify-israeli-medicinal-cannabis-startup-ipo/8443048

An Israeli medicinal cannabis start-up is one of the latest firms to list on the Australian stock exchange, as the ASX seeks to diversify its traditionally resource-dominant stock offering.

Despite its Israeli roots, eSense-Lab chose the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to make its foray into global markets to take advantage of investor appetite here for new technology stocks.

A brainchild of Israeli doctor Yaron Penn, who has spent the past six years refining the technology, the firm produces a product which smells and tastes like cannabis and has many of its medicinal benefits but does not contain a trace of an actual cannabis plant.

It is also produced without cannabinoids, the element of cannabis which is illegal in many countries because it evokes a psychoactive response from users.

Attracting companies like eSense-Lab to list in Australia is part of a broader ASX push to diversity its stock offering, 40 per cent of which are resource companies.

eSence-Lab’s share price hit a high of $0.55 in late March, more than double its initial

Earlier this year, the Australian Federal Government relaxed importation rules of medicinal cannabis until there was an Australian industry up to meeting demand.