Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 19th 2017
This study is the first to show that downregulation of PAPP-A expression in adult mice can significantly extend life span.
Importantly, this beneficial longevity phenotype is distinct from the dwarfism of long-lived PAPP-A KO, Ames dwarf, Snell dwarf and growth hormone receptor (GHR) KO mice with germ-line mutations. Thus, downregulation of PAPP-A expression joins other treatment regimens, such as resveratrol, rapamycin and dietary restriction, which can extend life span when started in mice as adults. In a recent study, inducible knockdown of the GHR in young adult female mice increased maximal, but not median, lif...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 18, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
How important is Vitamin D?
FACT: A vitamin D deficiency may result in as much as a 50 percent increased potential for diabetes.
FACT: A vitamin D deficiency puts you at a higher risk for cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, and melanoma.
VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY is a widespread phenomenon with significant implications for health. In modern society vitamin D deficiency is the rule, rather than the exception. While we can blame more severe cases of deficiency on grains, it also commonly occurs independent of grain consumption. The restoration of vitamin D levels is second only to grain elimination when considering the most powerful healthy...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 13, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Cancer Depression Diabetes News & Updates Undoctored Vitamin D Weight loss Source Type: blogs
Nanoparticles Feature Two Mechanisms to Boost Effectiveness of Immunotherapy to Fight Cancer
Image via ACS Nano
Immunotherapy techniques for fighting cancer generally fall into two categories: preventing tumor cells from evading the immune system’s T cells and summoning T cells to attack the tumors. Now scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed nanoparticles that perform both tasks at the same time, significantly improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in a study on laboratory mice.
The nanoparticles carry one antibody that blocks an inhibitory signal that helps tumors hide from the immune system, and a second antibody that warns T cells to activate and fight the tumor. T...
Source: Medgadget - June 12, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Nanomedicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 12th 2017
In this study, we focused on two pathways of cardiomyocytes or heart cells: the Hippo pathway, which is involved in stopping renewal of adult cardiomyocytes, and the dystrophin glycoprotein complex (DGC) pathway, essential for cardiomyocyte normal functions."
Previous work had hinted that components of the DGC pathway may somehow interact with members of the Hippo pathway. The researchers genetically engineered mice to lack genes involved in one or both pathways, and then determined the ability of the heart to repair an injury. These studies showed for the first time that dystroglycan 1, a component of the DGC pathw...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 11, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Reviewing What is Known of PTEN and its Longevity Effects
The PTEN gene shows up in a number of places in aging research, and today's paper is a review of what is known of its relevance to the field. To pick a few items, PTEN appears to be involved in some of the processes and pathways that control nutrient sensing, and is thus of interest to researchers attempting to recreate the beneficial effects of calorie restriction via pharmaceuticals. It is also involved in regeneration and cancer as a governor that prevents excessive cell growth. In this context, PTEN suppression has been shown to enhance nerve regrowth in mice, but of course there are other, adverse consequences to turn...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 6, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Deletion of Gene Enhancer DNA Improves Cancer Resistance in Mice with No Apparent Loss of Normal Tissue Function
The path to effective control of cancer involves finding common mechanisms that target many different types of cancer, departing from the present approach of one costly project for every subtype of cancer. Here, researchers undertake a novel approach to the challenge, finding a sizable region of the genome that can be deleted in mice with no apparent loss of normal function. The deletion improves cancer resistance to a degree that makes suppression of the contents of this region of the genome worth pursuing as the basis for therapies that might control many types of cancer.
Our cells each contain close to 20,000 g...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 6, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
An Interview with Orthopaedic Oncologist Dr. Vincent Ng
Dr. Vincent Ng is an orthopaedic oncologist with the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and an Assistant Professor or Orthopaedics with the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Ng specializes in treating bone cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. Below he answers common questions about orthopaedic oncology.
What is an orthopaedic oncologist? How do they differ from surgical oncologists?
“An orthopaedic oncologist specializes in bone and soft tissue tumors. I treat any adult or pediatric patient with any bone or soft tissue tumor/lesion/mass, whether benign or malignant, whether it is...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - June 2, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: UMMC Tags: Cancer Doctors bone cancer oncology orthopedics Source Type: blogs
Top Companies in Genomics
From portable genome sequencers until genetic tests revealing distant relations with Thomas Jefferson, genomics represents a fascinatingly innovative area of healthcare. As the price of genome sequencing has been in free fall for years, the start-up scene is bursting from transformative power. Let’s look at some of the most amazing ventures in genomics!
The amazing journey of genome sequencing
Genome sequencing has been on an amazing scientific as well as economic journey for the last three decades. The Human Genome Project began in 1990 with the aim of mapping the whole structure of the human genome and sequencing it. ...
Source: The Medical Futurist - May 30, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Genomics Personalized Medicine AI artificial intelligence bioinformatics cancer DNA dna testing DTC gc3 genetic disorders genetics genome sequencing personal genomics precision medicine Source Type: blogs
A Health Plan CEO Daydreams
By MICHEL ACCAD, MD
Jim was at his desk, looking weary.
The last few weeks had been brutal. Despite working twelve-hour days, he felt that he had little to show for it. His annual board meeting was to take place the next day, and he expected it to be tense.
With a replacement bill for the ACA about to be voted on, and with Trump in the White House, the situation seemed particularly precarious. The board members had asked him to present a contingency plan, in case things in DC didn’t go well.
As CEO of a major health insurance company, Jim was well aware that business as usual had become unsustainable in his l...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized AHCA health reform MICHEL ACCAD repeal and replace Source Type: blogs
More young people are getting colorectal cancer. What do we do?
After years of declining rates of colorectal cancer (CRC), a study from the American Cancer Society raises the specter that not all is going as well as we would have hoped, especially among younger folks born since 1990. And that raises the question of what the future holds for this frequently preventable form of cancer, including a possible reexamination of when it is appropriate to start CRC screening for people at average risk of developing the disease.
The research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute looked at the rates of colon and rectal cancer diagnoses from 1974 through 2013 in several parts ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 4, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/j-leonard-lichtenfeld" rel="tag" > J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs
Health Reform Must End the Harms of Prior Authorizations
By CRAIG BLINDERMAN, MD
As the White House continues to push for a revised Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one thing is for certain, many of the sickest Americans will continue to suffer as they are denied medications and other treatments under current health insurance strategies to save costs.
Both the ACA, and the recently proposed MacArthur Amendment, do not address a well-established practice of health insurers’ use of restrictive prior authorization requirements to deny or delay coverage of medications and treatments to seriously ill patients. In my own practice caring for cancer patien...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Repeal Replace Uncategorized ACA Cancer Insurers MacArthur Amendment Prior Authorization Source Type: blogs
The best anesthetic I never gave
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
Sometimes our best decisions as physician anesthesiologists are when we decide to call off a surgery or procedure. The “best anesthetic I never gave” was for 18-year-old Hunter Jones and her case really demonstrates the importance of talking with patients before surgery.
Hunter was an active, normal high school student enjoying her senior year when she received a colon cancer diagnosis. Both Hunter and her mother were shocked at the diagnosis and surprised again when I had to call off her surgery to remove the cancer after conducti...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 31, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/mary-herman" rel="tag" > Mary Herman, MD, PhD < /a > Tags: Physician Surgery Source Type: blogs
Unsustainable
This picture shows changes in the cost of treating colon cancer, from 1993-2005. It shows unsustainable growth in these expenditures: By unsustainable, however, I do not mean unjustifiable. Patients with colon cancer have much better prognoses in 2005 than 1993, … Continue reading →
The post Unsustainable appeared first on PeterUbel.com. (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - March 27, 2017 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Peter Ubel Tags: Health Care cancer healthcare costs Peter Ubel syndicated Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
This 2-minute video shows you why you need a colonoscopy
March is colon cancer awareness month.
Created by gastroenterologist Amit Sachdev, this video was selected by the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy as part of their colorectal cancer screening campaign. Enjoy.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 24, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/admin" rel="tag" > Admin < /a > Tags: Video Cancer GI Source Type: blogs
Your First Colonoscopy! What to Expect
Whee! Time for a Tube Up Your Tuchus!image:wikimedia commonsBy Crabby McSlackerSo, some perspective here: for people with serious illnesses who've been through hardcore, painful, debilitating, invasive medical procedures? A colonoscopy is probably child's play. (Although let's be clear, that's just an expression. If your child actually plays this way? We need to talk).But for most people, there's at least a little trepidation. And for many, if statistics are to be believed, that fear is significant enough to skip the procedure entirely! Well sure, it could save your life and all, but really? Do you have to?There are actual...
Source: Cranky Fitness - March 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Crabby McSlacker Source Type: blogs
