One year of medical research in ten stages

The secrets of Ozempic. Improvement in patient bed rest. The origins of alcohol abuse and inflammatory diseases. Quebec researchers publish hundreds of studies that advance our knowledge of the human body. Here, in order, are some of the most notable ones published in 2024.

Eradicate HIV

One of the first vulnerabilities of the reservoirs where HIV hides in the human body was identified by researchers from the Montreal Clinical Research Institute and McGill and Montreal Universities. HIV takes refuge in reservoirs when triple therapy prevents it from reproducing and causing AIDS. Patients are then asymptomatic, but as soon as they stop treatment, HIV returns in force. Until now, it has not been possible to eliminate the HIV hidden in the reservoirs with drugs. In the magazine iScienceMontreal researchers show that these reservoirs have a loophole that could be used to send drugs there and finally eradicate HIV.

Viagra for babies

A first step has been taken in the use of sildenafil, marketed as Viagra, to help newborns who have lacked oxygen at or before birth. In the Journal of Pediatrics in January, researchers from the MUHC Research Institute and Sainte-Justine showed that this drug is safe for small patients. This phase 1 clinical study also showed encouraging preliminary results.

The benefits of lying down exercise

It is possible to counter the harmful effects of prolonged bed rest with one hour of exercise in a supine position per day, show researchers from UQAM and the Universities of Laval, Montreal, Sherbrooke and McGill. They studied 22 50-year-olds who spent 14 days lying down, half of whom exercised an hour a day. Members of the active group had no impact while those who did not exercise had atrophies of muscles and cardiovascular and metabolic capacity. These problems, described in June in the journal Physiologypersisted after resuming active life.

The mystery of Ozempic

Drugs like Ozempic, which help with weight loss by reducing appetite, have made headlines this year. But until now, their action was not well understood. Researchers from Laval University described in April in the journal Neuroendocrinology a family of neurons that is involved in the action of Ozempic and similar molecules. It joins two other types of neurons whose role in controlling appetite was known.

Protecting babies’ intestines

Second-hand smoke and the early introduction of solid food slightly increase the risk of chronic inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn’s disease, have discovered researchers from the National Institute for Scientific Research, the Universities of Montreal and McGill, and Sainte-Marie. Justine. Exposure to second-hand smoke before age 3 and introduction of solid food before age 6 months each increased the risk by 23%. Breastfeeding appeared to have positive, but not statistically significant, effects, and the presence of pets did not change the risk of these inflammatory disorders, measured 40 years after birth. The study was published in October in the journal Digestive and Liver Disease.

Alcohol between generations

Parents who drink alcohol frequently have children who start drinking it earlier in adolescence, according to a study by researchers at Laval and Montreal Universities. This is a large study that followed 1,632 Quebec families for more than 20 years. It was published in January in the journal Addictive Behaviors. Parents’ alcohol consumption was measured on numerous occasions before their children’s adolescence, and that of the latter between the ages of 13 and 21.

Predicting long COVID

It might be possible to predict long COVID by measuring the death rate of soldiers of the human immune system called T4 lymphocytes, a Laval University researcher with French colleagues has discovered. At the beginning of January, in the magazine Frontiers in Immunologythey showed that the mortality of T4 lymphocytes, at the beginning of the disease, was 50% higher in patients who still had symptoms one year later.

The harms of nanopollution

Canadian pollution standards do not regulate ultrafine particles, the diameter of which is 10 times smaller than the fine particles covered by the standards. But their presence in large quantities increases the risk of dying by 7.3%, according to researchers at McGill University, who worked with Ontario and American colleagues. This represents 1,000 deaths per year for the cities of Montreal and Toronto, they estimated in August in theAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The follow-up period was 15 years.

DDT and sperm

Exposure to the pesticide DDT, banned in Canada since 1990, still affects Inuit sperm. They are still exposed to it because DDT accumulates in marine mammals and fish. This could cause health problems in their children, according to researchers from CHUM and Laval and McGill Universities. In the magazine Environmental Health Perspectiveswith colleagues from several countries, they show these effects in 47 Greenland Inuit and 247 South Africans of Vhavenda ethnicity. The latter are exposed to DDT because it is still used in mosquito control in Africa.

Perfectionism and eating disorders

Perfectionism caused by a desire to respect social norms increases the risk of eating disorders, according to researchers at UQAM. They studied questionnaires filled out by 229 American gymnasts and swimmers, and classified their perfectionism according to whether it was self-directed or imposed by others. In the first case, perfectionism sometimes led to a “harmonious” passion and sometimes to an obsessive passion, linked to a greater risk of eating disorders. Perfectionism imposed by others only led to obsessive passion. The study was published in July in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise.