A Recent Update on the Use of Immune Ablation and HSCT to Treat Autoimmunity
For more than twenty years now, Richard Burt's research teams have been working on the treatment of autoimmunity through the destruction and recreation of the immune system. Autoimmunity is a malfunction in the self-tolerance of immune cells, leading them to attack patient tissues. The malfunction is entirely contained in the immune system, so if the immune system is destroyed and replaced, the autoimmunity stops. If the genesis of autoimmunity is happenstance, an unfortunate one-time accident, then this is a cure. But if autoimmunity has a trigger outside the immune system in a given patient, it will return after some per...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 22, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
New Research Raises Concerns About the Dangers of Marijuana Use
Whatever your personal position on the subject of marijuana legalization, whether for medical or recreational use, a growing body of research reveals concerns over the potential harms caused by cannabis.
The concerns are more than academic. With increasing public support (varying by demographic cohorts) for legalized marijuana, and 10 states legalizing recreational marijuana and 33 states where medical marijuana use is legal, the cannabis movement is just gaining steam.
A new Pew Research Center report shows that 6 in 10 Americans (62 percent) say marijuana should be legal. Millennials support legalized marijuana more tha...
Source: World of Psychology - January 20, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Suzanne Kane Tags: Memory and Perception Mental Health and Wellness Research Substance Abuse Cannabis Drug Use Marijuana side effects Source Type: blogs
Choosing Effective, Sticky Health Apps (Part 2)
In a blog post last week, I shared an excerpt from the new book that Paul Cerrato and I just completed,The Transformative Power of Mobile Medicine. Here is a second excerpt from Chapter 3, “Exploring the Strengths and Weaknesses of Mobile Health Apps.”Even patients who are fully engaged in their own care still need access to medical apps they can trust. The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science has performed a detailed analysis of the clinical evidence supporting mobile health apps, rating their maturity and relative quality. Its rating scale places a single observational study near the bottom of the scale,...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 10, 2019 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
The Mind-Gut Connection — and Salt?
We have long been told to eat less salt as a high salt diet can lead to high blood pressure, which in turn is a risk factor for a host of health problems including heart disease and stroke. But did you know that, more recently, a high salt diet has been linked to stroke and overall brain health, regardless of the presence of high blood pressure?
It is now widely accepted that there is a connection between our minds and our guts and problems with communication between the two contribute to various diseases including Parkinson’s and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
This field of mind-gut connection is growing and a 2013 ...
Source: World of Psychology - January 6, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Health-related Research Source Type: blogs
FeetMe Partners with Novartis to Study Gait of MS Patients: Interview with CEO Alexis Mathieu
The way we walk can be influenced by both our physical and mental states. Poor cardiovascular health can slow down a person’s gait, but so can diseases such as Alzheimer’s and depression. Some conditions make their mark on one’s walking style in other ways, such as asymmetrical steps and uneven distribution of weight over the bottom of the foot.
While there are a number of existing tools to monitor a person’s walking gait, FeetMe, a company based in Paris, France, has developed a smart shoe insole that can monitor a patient’s gait throughout the day’s activities. The company just partner...
Source: Medgadget - December 26, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Exclusive Medicine Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 24th 2018
In conclusion, we found a gradient of increasing blood pressure with higher levels of BMI. The fact that this gradient is present even in the fully adjusted analyses suggests that BMI may cause a direct effect on blood pressure, independent of other clinical risk factors.
PRRX1 as a Possible Point of Control for Remyelination
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/12/prrx1-as-a-possible-point-of-control-for-remyelination/
Researchers here outline what is possibly a new point of intervention in the processes that maintain the myelin sheath that wraps nerves. This sheath is vital to the correct operati...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 23, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
PRRX1 as a Possible Point of Control for Remyelination
Researchers here outline what is possibly a new point of intervention in the processes that maintain the myelin sheath that wraps nerves. This sheath is vital to the correct operation of the nervous system, and as a consequence demyelinating conditions such as multiple sclerosis are unpleasant and fatal. Loss of myelin isn't just restricted to named conditions, however: some degree of degradation occurs over the course of aging, and is thought to contribute to the progression of cognitive decline. Thus therapies that can boost myelin maintenance may be of greater interest than it might at first appear.
Myelin is mai...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 20, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Philips HealthWorks Supports Startups Using AI for Radiology, Ultrasound, and Oncology: Interview
In Philips innovation hubs located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Eindhover, Netherlands, Bangalore, India, and Shanghai, China, 19 startups out of 750 applicants are taking part in an intensive, 12-week Philips HealthWorks program to accelerate their innovations. The focus of this program is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare with the goal to improve patient outcomes and the efficiency of care delivery. During the program, the 19 startups, representing 14 different countries, will validate their value propositions, build, test, and scale their ideas, and explore potential collaborations with Philips and o...
Source: Medgadget - December 19, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Michael Batista Tags: Exclusive Informatics Medicine Net News Oncology Radiology Society Source Type: blogs
OCD and Multiple Sclerosis
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a complicated illness, and the cause, or causes, remain unknown. Research has shown that OCD is seen more frequently than usual in those with various physical disorders, such as muscular dystrophy. An October 2018 study published in Frontiers in Immunology highlights a connection between OCD and another disease — multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating autoimmune disorder, where the body’s immune system goes haywire and attacks healthy cells. It affects over two million people worldwide and has no known cure. Patients with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmun...
Source: World of Psychology - December 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Janet Singer Tags: Health-related OCD Research Compulsions Multiple Sclerosis Obsessions Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Source Type: blogs
A Wee Wiggle in my Journey to Family
You're reading A Wee Wiggle in my Journey to Family, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Many of us have faced depression, struggled with low self-esteem, and other debilitating mental health challenges. My own journey with depression was a result of growing up with a rare blood disorder and being told I could never have children of my own. This completely changed my dreams of what family and life meant. Years later I suffered with a rare soft tissue sarcoma, yet, baffling the best of doctors, I survived. I’...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - December 13, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: donnagrantwilcox Tags: depression featured psychology self improvement best books Donna Grant Wilcox faith family mental health pickthebrain Source Type: blogs
'Kick-Ass Kinda Girl:' Caregiving During Middle Age Inspired Author to Help Caregivers in Need
When people think about caregiving spouses, they often think of older adults. We only have to look at a young mother diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a young husband diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or in this case, a woman who’s healthy husband had a sudden, massive stroke, to know differently. Care partners come in all ages. Kathi Koll, author of “Kick-Ass Kinda Girl: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving” knows the drill. She and her husband, Don, lived a life of glitz and glamour, working and playing alongside friends who were celebrities and politicians.
Read the full int...
Source: Minding Our Elders - December 12, 2018 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
On Mental Health and the advent of Digital Phenotyping
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Building the Thermometer for Mental Health (The Dana Foundation):
“Imagine that you visit your physician complaining of a fever and, rather than taking out a thermometer, they begin hovering their “educated hands” over you. Gradually, they press down against your arm to gain a full impression of your skin’s temperature and the “deeper seated combustions.” Removing their hand, they look closely at your appearance and pronounce their assessment: you do, in fact, have a fever. You might (justifiably) be dubious…
Just as the thermometer provided a standardized, objective measurement for detecting fever, tools...
Source: SharpBrains - December 4, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Uncategorized Brain-health Brain-Imaging digital phenotyping Mental-Health mental-illness thermometer Source Type: blogs
Why Is There So Little Price Competition among Prescription Drugs? Call It " Erectile Pricing. "
The latestarticle in the Kaiser Health News/NPR “Bill of the Month” series tells the story of Shereese Hickson, a 39-year-old disabled Medicare Advantage enrollee whose hospital charged $123,019 for two infusions of a multiple sclerosis drug:Even in a world of soaring drug prices, multiple sclerosis medicines stand out. Over two decades ending in 2013, costs for MS medicines rose at annual rates five to seven times higher than those for prescription drugs generally, found a study by researchers at Oregon Health& Science University.“There was no competition on price that was occurring,” said Daniel Hartung, the O...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 29, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Michael F. Cannon Source Type: blogs
Tackling Alzheimer ’s Biomarkers Using Machine Learning: Interview with IQuity CEO, Dr. Chase Spurlock
Losing one’s memories, and therefore one’s identity, must be a terrifying experience. With a global estimate of almost 50 million people living with dementia, predicted to rise to more than 130 million by 2050, the burden of Alzheimer’s and dementia are indisputable. While there are still no approved drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, there is an urgency for developing diagnostic tests and the identification of biomarkers that enable the early detection of the disease. In light of this need, diagnostic technology company IQuity (pronounced I-Q-witty) has recently received a grant from the National Institut...
Source: Medgadget - November 16, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Mohammad Saleh Tags: Diagnostics Exclusive Genetics Geriatrics Medicine Neurology Source Type: blogs
In Appreciation: Daniel R. Boone
Daniel R. Boone, 1976 ASHA president, died Oct. 27, 2018, at age 90, in Tucson, Arizona.
Boone joined the U.S. Army in 1945, and after several stateside assignments was deployed in 1946 to Korea. After his honorable discharge in 1947, he attended the University of Redlands, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology in June 1951. From 1951 to 1953, he worked as an SLP in the Long Beach VA Hospital with World War II and Korean War veterans who had aphasia. Boone received both a master’s and PhD from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he was an assistant professor. He also held ac...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - November 8, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Richard Zraick Tags: Academia & Research News Slider Speech-Language Pathology Speech Disorders Voice Disorders voice therapy Source Type: blogs
