Health Care, Disagree Better
BY KIM BELLARD
On one of the Sunday morning news programs Governors Spence Cox (UT) and Jared Polis (CO) promoted the National Governors Association initiative Disagree Better. The initiative urges that we practice more civility in our increasingly civilized political discourse. It’s hard to argue the point (although one can question why NGA thinks two almost indistinguishable, middle-aged white men should be the faces of the effort), but I found myself thinking, hmm, we really need to do that in healthcare too.
No one seems happy with the U.S. healthcare system, and no one seems to have any real ideas about...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 25, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Health insurance Healthcare Access Healthcare system Kim Bellard Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 24th 2023
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that periodontal disease (PD) as a source of infection alters inflammatory activation and Aβ phagocytosis by the microglial cells.
Experimental PD was induced using ligatures in C57BL/6 mice for 1, 10, 20, and 30 days to assess the progression of PD. Animals without ligatures were used as controls. Ligature placement caused progressive periodontal disease and bone resorption that was already significant on day 1 post-ligation and continued to increase until day 30. The severity of periodontal disease increased the frequency of activated microglia in the brains on day 30 by 36...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 23, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
5 Ways Data (and Storage) are Powering the Evolution of Healthcare
The following is a guest article by Doug McLoughlin, Regional Manager at Western Digital
Healthcare technology is finally catching up with a digital revolution that’s been well underway for over a decade in other industries. The transformation was accelerated in the last three years when confined to our homes for months on end, doctors and patients alike turned to technology to try and stay healthy and connected.
From medical to consumer-grade devices, millions of new endpoints emerged, generating new volumes of data. Ranging from improving individual health to better patient outcomes to enabling more advanced research, ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - July 20, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Analytics/Big Data Health IT Company Healthcare IT IT Infrastructure and Dev Ops AI Data Storage Doug McLoughlin Healthcare Data Healthcare Data Storage Improving Patient Outcomes ML Reducing Costs RPM Western Digital Source Type: blogs
A Small Molecule to Reduce Mitochondrial Generation of Oxidative Stress
Researchers here report on an improved version of compounds known to reduce the generation of oxidizing molecules by mitochondria. Mitochondrial dysfunction can produce sustained oxidative stress that changes cell behavior for the worse, contributing to aspects of aging. That targeting antioxidants to the mitochondria or upregulating natural antioxidant molecules can produce some benefit to health suggests that the size of the contribution is meaningful. The details matter, however, and as cells use mild mitochondrial oxidative stress to trigger beneficial maintenance activities, with the metabolic response to exercise bei...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 18, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 17th 2023
In conclusion, the longevity-associated genotype of FLT1 may confer increased lifespan by protecting against mortality risk posed by hypertension. We suggest that FLT1 expression in individuals with longevity genotype boosts vascular endothelial resilience mechanisms to counteract hypertension-related stress in vital organs and tissues.
Resistance Exercise Slows the Onset of Pathology in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/07/resistance-exercise-slows-the-onset-of-pathology-in-a-mouse-model-of-alzheimers-disease/
With the caveat that mouse models of Alzheimer'...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 16, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Opinion Piece from Pharmacists United for Truth & Transparency ( " PUTT " )
Pharmacists United for Truth& Transparency ( " PUTT " ) is a non-profit advocacy organization founded by independent pharmacists and pharmacy owners devoted to exposing what they describe as anti-competitive tactics deployed by the largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs - aka Pharmacy Benefit Companies or PBCs as the trade organization known as the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association or PCMA has tried to rebrand its industry since the acronym PBM has become toxic) recently published an opinion piece with an interesting title: " The Deadliest Addiction in the U.S. Isn ' t What You Think It Is " (read it athttps:...
Source: Scott's Web Log - July 12, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 drug prices PBM Pharmacists United for Truth & Transparency PUTT Source Type: blogs
Recombinant Klotho Treatment Improves Cognitive Function in Old Rhesus Macaques
Klotho is one of the few genuinely longevity-associated genes, in that greater than normal expression increases life span in mice, while lower than normal expression shortens life span in mice. In humans, greater levels of circulating soluble klotho correlate with greater longevity. Klotho is thought to operate in the kidneys, in some way that is protective against the mechanisms of age-related decline, but there is a great deal of evidence for greater circulating klotho to improve cognitive function. At the same time, it seems unclear as to whether klotho is actually doing anything in the brain; it may be that the benefit...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 12, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 10th 2023
In conclusion, the examination of the GBA can aid in understanding the etiology and development of NDs, which may benefit the improvement of clinical treatments for these disorders and ND interventions. This review indicates existing knowledge about the involvement of microbiota present in the gut in NDs and potential treatment options.
The Aging of the Enteric Nervous System
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/07/the-aging-of-the-enteric-nervous-system/
The enteric nervous system is the nervous system of the intestines, and likely an important part of the relationship between the gut microbiome ...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 9, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Planarians Use a Similar Strategy to Embryonic Reprogramming to Maintain Immortality
There are a number of functionally immortal lower species, such as hydra, jellyfish, and planarians. Individual animals do not exhibit aging, in that mortality rate does not rise over time. An interesting question is the degree to which these species employ much the same strategy of cellular reprogramming as occurs in the early embryo of mammals, in order to maintain a youthful epigenome. Some of these species only maintain immortality under certain circumstances, and researchers have made use of that in order to examine what happens to cellular biochemistry when individuals switch from a state of aging to a state of rejuv...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 6, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Navitus 2022 Drug Trend Report
Its been many years since I posted news of a PBM Drug Trend Report. Once upon a time, PBM drug trend reports contained lots of interesting information. However, over time (in 2021, for example, when reports from the preceding year were published), CVS Caremark published only a bare-bones summary, while Prime Therapeutics, MedImpact, and other large PBMs all completelystopped publishing drug trend reports. The reason is basically because its becoming harder and harder for PBMs to present themselves as saving money when the biggest PBMs aren ' t saving any entities any money on prescription drugs anymore (I...
Source: Scott's Web Log - July 5, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 2023 Drug Trend Report Navitus Navitus Health Solutions PBM Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 3rd 2023
In this study, cultured adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) were derived from subcutaneous white adipose tissue isolated from mice fed a normal diet. We performed senescence-associated-β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining, real-time PCR, and Western blot to evaluate the levels related to cellular senescence markers.
The mRNA expression levels of senescence markers were significantly increased in the later passages of ASCs. We show that light activation reduced the expression of senescent genes, and SA-β-Gal in all cells at passages. Moreover, the light-activated ASCs-derived exosomes decrease the expression of senes...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 2, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
How to Run a Comparatively Simple Self-Experiment to Assess the Impact of Taurine Supplementation on Measures of Aging
This post walks through the process of setting up and running a simple self-experiment with taurine supplementation, shown to improve measures of health in old mice and non-human primates. These effects result from enhancing the performance of glutathione, an antioxidant enzyme. You might recall that supplementation with gluthathione precursors to increase gluthatione levels produced suprisingly large effects for a supplement regimen in a small trial in older people.
Taurine levels in blood decline with age, halving from the 20s to 40s-50s in the general population. So while forms of dietary supplementation are usua...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 30, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Connected Medical Devices —the Next Target for Ransomware Attacks
The following is a guest article by Ryan Witt, Healthcare Cybersecurity Leader at Proofpoint
The Internet of Medical Things, or IoMT, is a deep web of interconnected devices that increasingly plays a vital role in care delivery. Unfortunately, these devices have also significantly enhanced healthcare’s cyber risk, and security researchers have raised alarms about the vulnerabilities of these devices for more than a decade. While we haven’t seen threat actors widely exploiting the vulnerabilities in the wild, it is only a matter of time—and the results of an event like an IoMT ransomware attack will be devastating to ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - June 27, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Ambulatory C-Suite Leadership Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System IT Infrastructure and Dev Ops LTPAC Security and Privacy Consolidated Appropriations Act Cyber Risk Cybersecurity ECRI FDA Internet of Medical Source Type: blogs
Metabolic Disorders Increase the Burden of Cellular Senescence
Why do patients with metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes exhibit what appears to be an accelerated progression of aging, such as increased risk of disease, shorter life expectancy, and so forth? One increasingly well established candidate mechanism is the presence of a greater burden of senescent cells, these cells generating chronic inflammation and harmful alterations to the behavior of other cells via their secretions. Senolytic therapies to clear these senescent cells may prove to be a first step towards decoupling obesity from the consequences of obesity, but there are numerous other ways in which ...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Like Don Quixote Chasing Windmills, I Aim to See Financial Remediation for Patients Still Suffering in a Predatory U.S Healthcare System
Sometimes, I feel (if you pardon the metaphor) a bit like Don Quixote chasing windmills with my efforts to see true financial remediation introduced in the predatory U.S. healthcare " system " (and I am glad to see that the term " predatory " is now being used by a growing number of medical doctors, which I think is great). I envision a type of financial remediation whereby patients will be able to get access to the care they need without having to face financial predators trying to pick their pockets with illegal discount bribes standing in the way of their getting access to things they need like insulin, CGM senors ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - June 25, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 CGM Formulary Exclusion insulin PBM Source Type: blogs
