TWiV 350: Viral gene therapy with Katherine High
On episode #350 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Katherine High about her career and her work on using viral gene therapy to treat inherited disorders.
This episode is drawn from one of twenty-six video interviews with leading scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of virology, part of the new edition of the textbook Principles of Virology.
You can find TWiV #350 at www.twiv.tv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - August 16, 2015 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology aav adeno-associated virus blindness factor IX gene therapy hemophilia Katherine High Leber's congenital amaurosis monogenetic vector viral Source Type: blogs
Dose recommendations for extended half-life hemophilia factor products fall short
We, like many in the hemophilia community, were excited to see extended half-life (EHL) factor VIII and IX products start coming to market over the last few months. These products — and expected future products — promise equivalent or greater prophylactic bleeding control with fewer infusions, and so could greatly enhance patients’ quality of life.
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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 - July 2, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Ellis Neufeld, MD, PhD and Stacy Croteau, MD Tags: Meds Hematology Medications Source Type: blogs
CMS Releases 2013 Medicare Payment Data for Hospitals and Physicians
Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the release of utilization and payment data for both Medicare hospital services (inpatient and outpatient) and for physicians and suppliers. This is the third year the hospital data was released and the second year that the physician and supplier data was released. Indeed, the big troves of healthcare data keep coming. On April 30, CMS published information on 2013 Medicare Part D payments. At the end of this month, on June 30, CMS is scheduled to release the first full year of pharmaceutical and medical device trans...
Source: Policy and Medicine - June 2, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
5 things to know about what’s new in hemophilia
From new longer-acting drugs to promising gene therapy trials, much is changing in the treatment of hemophilia, the inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot. I will mark Hemophilia Awareness Month by discussing research and treatment progress, as well as remaining challenges.
1. Many more treatment products are being introduced, including some that last longer. In people with hemophilia, a “factor” — or blood protein that helps normal clots form — is missing or defective. Of the approximately 20,000 people with hemophilia in the U.S., about 80 percent suffer from hemophilia A, which is c...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 17, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Ellis Neufeld, MD, PhD Tags: Conditions Hematology Source Type: blogs
Drug Price Policy: New Transparency Bill Would Require Drug Companies To Report Costs For High Cost Drugs; Will Annuities Be The Future Payment Model For Expensive Medicine?
An interesting claim against the pharmaceutical industry (though usually made by only industry's most hardened critics) is that companies don’t want to find a cure—they’d prefer lifelong patients. Recently, Gilead Sciences indeed found a cure for hepatitis C--one that both gets rid of the hepatitis C virus in a patient’s body and does so without many of the terrible side effects that plagued previous therapies. Rather than embracing the medical breakthrough, however, many articles focused on the $84,000 price tag for the full round of treatment. Few mentioned the long-term cost savings now that newly cured pa...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 26, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Implementing Health Reform: 2016 Benefit And Payment Final Rule, Consumer & Provider Provisions
On February 20, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services published its massive Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (BPP rule) for 2016 Final Rule, accompanied by a fact sheet. This rule addresses a host of issues involving the continuing implementation of the Affordable Care Act for 2016. A few provisions, however, affect the 2015 year as well and a number of provisions will not be implemented until 2017.
The BPP rule amends and updates existing rules; thus, it must be read in tandem with rules that have been promulgated earlier, which are catalogue...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 22, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Timothy Jost Tags: Access All Categories Consumers Disparities Health Reform Insurance Pharma Policy States Source Type: blogs
Remotely and Noninvasively Controlling Genes and Cells in Living Animals
Researchers are developing a system to remotely control genes or cells in living animals with radio wave technology similar to that used to operate remote control car keys. Credit: Stock image.
One of the items on biomedical researchers’ “to-do” list is devising noninvasive ways to control the activity of specific genes or cells in order to study what those genes or cells do and, ultimately, to treat a range of human diseases and disorders.
A team of scientists recently reported progress on a new, noninvasive system that could remotely and rapidly control biological targets in living animals . The system can be acti...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 13, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Srivalli Subbaramaiah Tags: Chemistry and Biochemistry Genetics Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 052
This study looked at compliance with discharge instructions. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), 39% of pediatric patients returned to play (RTP) on the day of the injury. RTP is widely recognized as a risk for recurrent and more severe concussions as well as significant morbidity. It is the duty of the Emergency Physician to stress the importance of discharge instructions as well as the importance of appropriate follow up.
Recommended by: Anand Swaminathan
PediatricsSingleton T et al. Emergency department care for patients with hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. J Emerg Med. 2010; 39(2): 158-65. PMID: 18757163
Bleeding...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - October 9, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Nudrat Rashid Tags: Administration Anaesthetics Cardiology Clinical Research Education Emergency Medicine Haematology Infectious Disease Intensive Care International Emergency Medicine Microbiology Neurosurgery Obstetrics / Gynecology Ophthalmology Source Type: blogs
Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Organizations Respond to CMS
September 2nd marked the last day for comments on CMS’ proposed rule to eliminate the accredited continuing medical education (CME) exemption from Sunshine Act reporting. In an overwhelming display of support for the exemption, over 800 comments were submitted encouraging the agency to either maintain or expand the current exclusion.
-Total comments supporting maintenance or expansion of the CME exemption: 820
-Total comments supporting elimination of the CME exemption: approximately 20
-Percentage of comments supporting the CME exemption: 98%
We have followed this issue closely, and recentl...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 8, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 041
This study prospectively validated whether an age-adjusted D-dimer cutoff was associated with an increased diagnostic yield of D-dimer in elderly patients with suspected PE. Compared with a fixed D-dimer cutoff, the combination of pretest clinical probability assessment with age-adjusted D-dimer cutoff was associated with a larger number of patients in whom PE could be considered ruled out with a low likelihood of subsequent clinical venous thromboembolism. So if this is not your clinical practice already, maybe time to use age adjust d-dimer values?
Recommended by: Jerremy Fried
Read More: Age Adjusted D-Dimer Testing (RE...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - July 29, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Soren Rudolph Tags: Clinical Research R&R in the FASTLANE critical care Emergency Medicine Intensive Care literature recommendations research and reviews Source Type: blogs
Clot-building nanoparticles raise survival rate following blast trauma Read more: Clot-building nanoparticles raise survival rate following blast trauma
A type of artificial platelet being developed to help natural blood platelets form clots faster offers promise for saving the lives of soldiers, as well as victims of car crashes and other severe trauma.In preclinical tests led by a Case Western Reserve University researcher, the artificial platelets, called "hemostatic nanoparticles," when injected after blast trauma dramatically increased survival rates and showed no signs of interfering with healing or causing other complications weeks afterward."The nanoparticles have a huge impact on survival—not just in the short term, but in the long term," said Erin Lavik, an ass...
Source: Medical Hemostat - June 30, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: hemostatguy at gmail.com (hemostat guy) Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 036
This study found that a high percentage (49%) of patients with serious adverse outcomes after an ED visit for COPD were not initially admitted to the hospital. The authors used logistic regression to derive a decision instrument to aid in determining which patients with COPD exacerbation should be admitted based on risk stratification. The study does not show that admission improves outcomes but the instrument may prove useful for risk stratification if it is prospectively validated.
Recommended by: Anand Swaminathan
Emergency Medicine, Critical care, Anaesthetics
Barends CRM ,Absalom AR. Tied up in science: unknotting ...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - June 25, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Nudrat Rashid Tags: Anaesthetics Emergency Medicine Evidence Based Medicine Featured Health Infectious Disease Intensive Care Respiratory Resuscitation critical care literature R&R in the FASTLANE recommendations research and reviews Source Type: blogs
Drug companies developing longer-acting clotting agents for hemophiliacs
Several drug companies, such as Biogen Idec and Novo Nordisk, are developing new, longer-acting versions of the blood clotting factors used by people with hemophilia. Patients with severe forms of the disease need regular infusions, lasting 30 minutes or more, of relatively short acting and very expensive clotting factors.The new longer-lasting hemophilia B products can be given every 10 days or two weeks, offering significant advantages for patients, especially young children, who now need infusions every two or three days.Hemophilia is hereditary, passed from parent to child through genes. People with hemophilia have lit...
Source: Medical Hemostat - March 23, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: hemostatguy at gmail.com (hemostat guy) Source Type: blogs
Blood Coagulation Testing Using Smartphone Touchscreens
People who are prone to bleeding due to poor blood clotting, such as those with hemophilia or on anticoagulants, are often required to take blood tests. These test are usually done in clinics and hospitals, adding to the patient’s burden and expense of extra travel just to make sure that blood is adequately anticoagulated. New technology that is being developed at Qloudlab, a startup based at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, uses capabilities already present in today’s smartphone screens for blood coagulation testing.
The system works by first applying a microfluidic plastic sticker to...
Source: Medgadget - March 18, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Medicine Net News Source Type: blogs
Hepatitis C in Egypt
The following background data on Hepatitis C in Egypt are abstracted from Gideon www.GideonOnline.com and the Gideon e-book series. [1,2] Primary references available on request.
Incidence and Prevalence:
Hepatitis C is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Egypt. The nationwide carriage rate in 1997 was estimated at 6 to 8 million, or 18.1% of the population – the highest rate in the world.
A study published in 2010 estimated the yearly rate at 500,000 new cases (0.7% of the population); while a study published in 2013 estimated the yearly rate at fewer than 150,000 cases. An analysis published in 2...
Source: GIDEON blog - December 19, 2013 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Dr. Stephen Berger Tags: Ebooks Epidemiology ProMED Egypt hepatitis c Source Type: blogs
