How Could Digital Technology Make An Impact On Primary Care?
I truly hope that very soon I do not have to make an appointment at the GP when I suspect signs of a disease, but my GP will send me a message that she spotted something irregular in my latest test results and my digital health data, so I’d better visit. Let me show you in detail how primary care should be carried out in the future! Digital health should become an organic part of primary care in the future I live a fairly healthy life. I use data to improve my lifestyle and to make better decisions by optimising my sleep pattern, my physical, my cognitive or my emotional abilities; and I had several genetic tests....
Source: The Medical Futurist - September 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: berci.mesko Tags: Digital Health Research Healthcare Innovation technology wearables GP primary care general practitioner Source Type: blogs

Abbott Acquires Bigfoot Biomedical. Unity has a new home. Some Bigfoot employees might not like it.
In mid-September 2023, the medical technology startup known as Bigfoot Biomedical, reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories (see the official press release athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbott-to-acquire-bigfoot-biomedical-furthering-efforts-to-develop-personalized-connected-solutions-for-people-with-diabetes-301918254.html for details). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bigfoot ' s CEO Was Fired from JDRFSome people with diabetes might recall that Bigfoot Biomedical was co-founded by Jeffrey Brewer, whose previous job was as CEO of the JDRF. But Mr. Brewer was sh...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 20, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Abbott Bigfoot Biomedical Bigfoot Unity Dexcom FTC Source Type: blogs

Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle
Researchers at the Terasaki Institute in Los Angeles have developed a new method to create 3D printed muscle constructs with enhanced muscle cell alignment and maturation. The technique involves creating microparticles loaded with insulin-like growth factor (IGF) using a microfluidic platform. Then, these particles are included in a bioink that also incorporates myoblast cells and a gelatin-based hydrogel. Once 3D printed, the resulting constructs show enhanced cell growth, elongation, and alignment, and in some cases even began to spontaneously contract after a ten day incubation. The Terasaki researchers hope that their ...
Source: Medgadget - September 20, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Rehab Surgery artificial muscle TerasakiInst Source Type: blogs

Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an insulin delivery system that relies on music as a trigger. The unusual technology is based on calcium ion channels that typically reside in the cell membrane. Such channels are sensitive to mechanical deformation and these researchers discovered that sound waves will activate the channels. When insulin-producing cells are genetically modified to express this channel, they will experience an influx in calcium ions when music is played close by, prompting them to release insulin. The concept could be useful as a treatment for diabetes, whereby such cells, housed in a specialized ca...
Source: Medgadget - September 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine diabetes ETH Zurich Source Type: blogs

Glooko Solicitation: What's in it for me?
This morning, I received a peculiar email. The email was from my endocrinologist ' s office (well, sort of, it was actually sent fromGlooko). The subject line said " New York Presbyterian Medical Group created a Glooko account for your diabetes data " . I was actually a little creeped-out by it, but because I had a very vague idea of what Glooko actually was, I did not instantly delete it. Still, I have no connection to Glooko (in fact, I have never once given the company my email address, nor have I ever asked them for more information, which means they attained it from my endocrinologist ' s office).Some of the issu...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 19, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Glooko solicitation Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 18th 2023
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter, please visit: https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/ Longevity Industry Consulting Services Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 17, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Benefits of Calorie Restriction on Pancreatic Beta Cells
Researchers have studied calorie restriction as a means to slow aging quite extensively, but organisms are highly complex and there is always more that can be investigated. Here, researchers look in detail at the effects of calorie restriction in mice on the beta cells of the pancreas, necessary for the normal function of insulin metabolism. It is interesting to see mitophagy reduction as a means of increased mitochondrial function, though this could indicate that calorie restriction adjusts mitochondrial activity in ways that extend the functional life span of an individual mitochondrion, thereby less need for mitophagy. ...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 14, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Beyond the Scale: How organizations should evaluate the success of obesity management solutions
Conclusion Organizations have much to consider when evaluating obesity solutions for their population. It’s easy to be swayed by simple metrics that seem indisputable. But, in the end, outcomes like 5% weight loss and reductions in HbA1c for the majority of an eligible population are what counts. Sustainable outcomes rely on real behavior change, a careful step-therapy approach to medication, and personalized care when it comes to social determinants of health. Caitlyn Edwards, PhD, RDN, is a Senior Clinical Research Specialist at Vida Health (Source: The Health Care Blog)
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 8, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Medical Practice Caitlyn Edwards GLP-1 Obesity SDoH vida health Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 4th 2023
In conclusion, although the contribution of CRF to GrimAgeAccel and FitAgeAccel is relatively low compared to lifestyle-related factors such as smoking, the results suggest that the maintenance of CRF is associated with delayed biological ageing in older men. « Back to Top Release of Acetylcholine is Necessary for the Aging Brain to Compensate for a Lack of Neurogenesis https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/09/release-of-acetylcholine-is-necessary-for-the-aging-brain-to-compensate-for-a-lack-of-neurogenesis/ Neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are created by neural stem c...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 3, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Podcast Episode Recommendation for Deconstructed: Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations Advance
So, today I am going to share a podcast episode which provides an interesting history of how Medicare ended up being unable to negotiate prescription drug prices which, on its face, seems like it SHOULD make no sense, but somehow price negotiations never happened and the reasons were really absurd. Naturally, since the list of the first 10 drugs to get Medicare price negotiations was published, there has also been considerable discussion of insulin prices which is the poster-child for how broken the prescription drug market is, and even more interestingly was how, included in the first round of Medicare price negotiat...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 1, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Biden Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Joe Biden Part D price negotiations Source Type: blogs

PGC-1 α4 Gene Therapy Reduces Sarcopenia and Metabolic Disease in Aged Mice
Researchers here demonstrate that aged muscle metabolism can be improved via gene therapy to deliver a short isoform of PGC-1α. Upregulating PGC-1α in muscle tissue is suggested to be a good approach to therapy based on its declining expression with age. It is interesting that the researchers focus on an isoform of the protein shown to be upregulated in exercise, in effect aiming to produce an exercise mimetic gene therapy that switches on one of the reactions to exercise and leaves it switched on indefinitely. Sarcopenia is characterized of muscle mass loss and functional decline in elder individuals which seve...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 30, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Insurance Deductibles Don't Work Well for Patients with Chronic Illnesses. Some strategies for PWD's With HDHP's to Consider.
The U.S. IRS defines a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,500 for self-only coverage or $3,000 for family coverage, and for which the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts). About half of all Americans with employer-sponsored healthcare insurance plans have deductibles to satisfy before the insurance covers much although some employers provide Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) to help offset the deductible. That said, the IRS has also ruled that an HDHP can cover certain types of " preventive " care without a deducti...
Source: Scott's Web Log - August 24, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Ascensia CGM E3 Eversense HDHP Senseonics Source Type: blogs

Why Amazon Pharmacy's Recent Insulin Move is Helpful, But Not Groundbreaking
On August 15, 2023, Amazon Pharmacy (fka PillPack) announced (seehttps://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-pharmacy-insulin-coupons/ for the announcement) that it would begin automatically applying various manufacturer coupons to more than 15 common insulins and diabetes devices (including Dexcom, which offers a coupon for up to $200 per month athttps://www.dexcom.com/en-us/savings-center-cgm-without-insurance/ even without insurance). So far, no coupons from Abbott on Freestyle Libre 3 sensors, but the longer wear-time of 14-days means those cost about one-third less than Dexcom ' s 10-day Some products, such as bloo...
Source: Scott's Web Log - August 22, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Amazon Amazon Pharmacy coupons insulin prices Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 21st 2023
This study aimed to investigate the association between frailty index and circulating CAP2 concentration in 467 community-dwelling older adults (median age: 79; range: 65-92 years). The selected robust regression model showed that circulating CAP2 concentration was not associated with chronological age, as well as sex and education. However, circulating CAP2 concentration was significantly and inversely associated with the frailty index: a 0.1-unit increase in frailty index leads to ~0.5-point mean decrease in CAP2 concentration. Furthermore, mean CAP2 concentration was significantly lower in frail participants (i.e., fr...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 21, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

A Selective Destruction Theory of Aging
At present the research community cannot robustly connect underlying causative processes of aging, such as those described in the SENS view of damage and rejuvenation, or some of the hallmarks of aging, to higher level manifestations of aging, such as declining function or changing biomarkers associated with age-related disease. This gives great freedom to theorize on how exactly the present voluminous but disconnected body of data on aging, cellular biochemistry, and age-related disease all fits together. There is no shortage of theories of aging, and no sign that the research community will cease to create new ones at an...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 14, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs