Demyelination Accelerates Amyloid- β Aggregation
Nerves require myelin sheathing in order to function correctly. With age, some degree of dysfunction in myelin maintenance takes place, with consequent cognitive and other nervous system degeneration as a consequence. This loss of myelin integrity takes place to a lesser degree than is the case in severe demyelinating conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Nonetheless, that lesser degree may be contributing to the early stages of Alzheimer's disease by reducing immune clearance of amyloid-β aggregates. At present a question hovers over the role of amyloid-β in Alzheimer's disease due to the failure of amyloid-clea...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 13, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Free Download of The Capitol Forum's Report: " Exclusive Drug Dealing: Anticompetitive Practices in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain "
In 2020, I wrote a blog post entitled " It ' s the Rx rebates, stupid! " (seehttps://blog.sstrumello.com/2020/09/its-rx-rebates-stupid.html for the post) in which I revealed the reason everyone was overpaying for insulin was because of rebating paid by insulin-makers to secure PBM formulary placement. Novo Nordisk revealed to its investors that it was spending 74% of its gross U.S. sales in the form of legally-exempted rebate kickbacks paid to PBMs. The good news is thanks to a series of actions by a number of different parties, the insulin PBM rebate price bubble finally burst whenLilly, followed byNovo Nordisk and thenSa...
Source: Scott's Web Log - June 11, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Exclusive Drug Dealing: Anticompetitive Practices in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain report The Capitol Forum Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 5th 2023
In conclusion, higher BMR might reduce lifespan. The underlying pathways linking to major causes of death and relevant interventions warrant further investigation. Betting Against Progress Turns Out Poorly, But Can Work in the Short Term in a Slow Field https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/06/betting-against-progress-turns-out-poorly-but-can-work-in-the-short-term-in-a-slow-field/ Setting oneself up as a spokesperson for "we will not achieve this goal", as the fellow noted here is choosing to do, is a bet against technological progress. A glance at any few decade period in the past two hundred yea...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 4, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Long Term Hypoxia Slows Aging in an Accelerated Aging Mouse Model
Researchers here show that a mouse model of accelerated aging lives considerably longer when in a low-oxygen atmosphere for most of its life span. This is quite interesting, even given that large effect sizes in accelerated aging models should be taken with a grain of salt. It is most likely that any effect on normal mice would be smaller, and also likely that any form of life extension achieved through manipulation of stress responses, such as the response to hypoxia, will produce much smaller effects in long-lived mammals than in short-lived mammals. As is always the case, recall that when we say "accelerated agin...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 2, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Cells with Backpacks to Treat Multiple Sclerosis
Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a new type of cell therapy for multiple sclerosis patients. The technique involves taking a blood sample from the patient being treated, isolating a sample of myeloid white blood cells, and then modifying them with ‘backpacks’ that contain anti-inflammatory molecules. The modified cells can then be administered back to the patient, and the backpack ensures that they maintain an anti-inflammatory phenotype. The cells can access inflammatory lesions in the central nervous system that are characteristic of multiple sclerosis and help to reduce the inflammation and a...
Source: Medgadget - May 2, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine MS multiple sclerosis wyssinstitute Source Type: blogs

XRHealth and Amelia Virtual Care Announce Merger, Creating the Largest XR Therapeutics Platform in the World
Both Companies will Be merged Under the XRHealth Brand Name and By the End of the Year Are Forecasted to Have over 500K VR Treatments, Exceed 25K Patients Treated, and Be Deployed by Over 2500 Clinicians XRHealth, a Boston-based developer and operator of virtual treatment rooms, and Amelia Virtual Care, a global leading virtual reality platform for mental health professionals based in Barcelona, Spain, today announced their intention to merge into one company, which will remain called XRHealth. The union aims to create an XR therapeutic powerhouse, uniquely capable of addressing both physical and mental health issues. The...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - April 18, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT 2023 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition Amelia Virtual Care Amelia VR Asabys Asabys Partners Augmented Reality CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Cognitive-Behavioral VR Therapy Eran Orr Guill Source Type: blogs

In Other Words: Not All Bases Are in the Ballpark
You might first think about sports when you hear the word base, but not all bases are on the baseball diamond. In chemistry, a base is a molecule that reacts with an acid, often by accepting a proton from the acid or from water. Baking soda and dish soap are common bases. Credit: NIGMS. A Building Block for Life Bases are found throughout biological systems and in many molecules critical to life. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic (“alkaline”) liquids, such as water or blood, are. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, while liquids with a pH greater than 7 are basic. Electrolytes, like sodium, ca...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Molecular Structures DNA In Other Words RNA Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 20th 2023
This study also provides the potential for de novo generation of complex organs in vivo. T Cells May Play a Role in the Brain Inflammation Characteristic of Neurodegenerative Conditions https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/03/t-cells-may-play-a-role-in-the-brain-inflammation-characteristic-of-neurodegenerative-conditions/ Alzheimer's disease, and other forms of neurodegenerative condition, are characterized by chronic inflammation in brain tissue. Unresolved inflammatory signaling is disruptive of tissue structure and function. Here, researchers provide evidence for T cells to become involved in thi...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 19, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

T Cells May Play a Role in the Brain Inflammation Characteristic of Neurodegenerative Conditions
Alzheimer's disease, and other forms of neurodegenerative condition, are characterized by chronic inflammation in brain tissue. Unresolved inflammatory signaling is disruptive of tissue structure and function. Here, researchers provide evidence for T cells to become involved in this process. Normally T cells of the adaptive immune system do not enter the brain in any great numbers, but those numbers are greater in Alzheimer's patients. Researchers here show that eliminating these T cells slows the progression of neurodegeneration in animal models, suggesting that this approach may be worth trying in human clinical trials. ...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 17, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Neuroimmune Modulation for Inflammatory Disease: Interview with Dr. Simhambhatla, President and CEO of SetPoint Medical
SetPoint Medical, a medtech company based in California, is developing a neuromodulatory device that is intended to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The overlap between the nervous and immune systems is increasingly appreciated, and this technology aims to capitalize on this to create a new treatment for inflammatory disease. The neuromodulation device is intended to be implanted on the left cervical vagus nerve in an outpatient procedure. It stimulates the nerve with electrical pulses. The idea is that this can act to calm inflammatory processes that contribute to rheumatoid arthritis, without the drawbacks of immunosuppres...
Source: Medgadget - February 28, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Medicine Neurology autoimmune immunology SetPointMed Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 13th 2023
This study investigated whether taller Polish adults live longer than their shorter counterparts. Data on declared height were available from 848,860 individuals who died in the years 2004-2008 in Poland. To allow for the cohort effect, the Z-values were generated. Separately for both sexes, Pearson's r coefficients of correlation were calculated. Subsequently, one way ANOVA was performed. The correlation between adult height and longevity was negative and statistically significant in both men and women. After eliminating the effects of secular trends in height, the correlation was very weak (r = -0.0044 in men and ...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 12, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Viral Infection in Middle Age Correlates with Later Dementia Risk
A range of evidence suggests that persistent viral infection contributes to the risk of suffering neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. This may be due to mechanisms relating to amyloid-β accumulation, in its role as an anti-microbial peptide, a part of the innate immune system. It may have more to do with lasting chronic inflammation subsequent to infection. Researchers here note another addition to the epidemiological data on this topic, in this case linking severe infections requiring hospitalization with later dementia risk. The effect sizes here are large and last for a long time following infecti...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 10, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 2nd 2023
In conclusion, circulating monocytes in older adults exhibit increased expression of activation, adhesion, and migration markers, but decreased expression of co-inhibitory molecules. MERTK Inhibition Increases Bone Density via Increased Osteoblast Activity https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/12/mertk-inhibition-increases-bone-density-via-increased-osteoblast-activity/ Bone density results from the balance of constant activity on the part of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the former building bone, the latter breaking it down. With advancing age, the balance of activity shifts to favor osteoclasts, pro...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 1, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

What To Do About the Aging of the Glymphatic System?
It is becoming increasingly clear that issues in the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain play an important role in the onset of neurodegenerative conditions in late life. Neurodegenerative conditions are associated with a build up of various forms of molecular waste, such as toxic misfolded and otherwise altered proteins, in and around brain cells. It is likely that other stress signaling that provokes chronic inflammation in brain tissue is effectively amplified in effect as the drainage channels that normally carry metabolic products from the brain are reduced in capacity with age. Leucadia Therapeutics...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 29, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Netflix for Drugs?
By KIM BELLARD A relative — obviously overestimating my healthcare expertise — asked my thoughts on The New York Times article Can a Federally Funded ‘Netflix Model’ Fix the Broken Market for Antibiotics? I had previously skimmed the article and was vaguely aware of the Pasteur Act that it discusses, but, honestly, my immediate reaction to the article was, gosh, that may not be a great analogy: do people realize what a tough year Netflix has had? I have to admit that I tend to stay away from writing about Big Pharma and prescription drugs, mainly because, in a US healthcare system that seems to pride i...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 21, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: The Business of Health Care Congress Kim Bellard Netflix Pharma Pharmaceutical industry Source Type: blogs