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Scientists Make History by Breaking Blood-Brain Barrier to Treat Woman’s Tumor

Sunnybrook’s new method could open a new frontier in treating brain disorders.

 Katie Felber
11.12.15

Scientists at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto made history this week when they successfully developed a method to non-invasively breach the blood-brain barrier to more effectively treat the tumor of one patient, Bonnie Hall.

Take a look:

As Dr. Todd Mainprize explains, their technique is to “essentially tear holes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to allow the chemicals they want to successfully circulate around the brain.” In addition to her chemo medicine, Bonnie was given injections of micro-bubbles—or tiny bits of air—and then placed into an MRI. As the doctors hoped, the bubbles shook, ripped holes in the BBB, and then allowed the medication to seep through.

Doctors say that over the next few months, 6-10 additional patients will be treated using the new method to determine its widespread safety and feasibility in treating other brain-related diseases. For now, this breakthrough is incredibly monumental.

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via KTVU / YouTube

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A 92-year-old woman was reunited with the Jewish family she helped hide during the Holocaust

Yad Vashem

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Sarah Yanai and Yossi Mor introduced Melpomeni Dina (nee Gianopoulou) to their almost 40 family members, all decedents of the Mordechai family, the family of seven that Dina and her two sisters hid during WWII. "There are no words to describe this feeling," Dina told the Jeruselum Post. "It is very emotional for us to be together again."

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via Facebook / Autumn Dayss

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