Evolution of targeted cancer therapies: a radiation oncologist ’ s perspective
On July 1, 1987, I started treating cancer patients as a full-time radiation oncologist – a cancer specialist who uses radiation therapy to help cancer patients beat their disease. Now, nearly 37 years later, I have the privilege of caring for cancer patients at a cancer center. Nearly every type of cancer is treated differently; Read more… Evolution of targeted cancer therapies: a radiation oncologist’s perspective originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 2, 2024 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 8th 2024
This study examined whether the local injection of the supernatant of activated PRP (saPRP) into the salivary gland (SG) could help prevent aging-induced SG dysfunction and explored the mechanisms responsible for the protective effects on the SG hypofunction. Human salivary gland epithelial cells (hSGEC) were treated with saPRP or PRP after senescence through irradiation. The significant proliferation of hSGEC was observed in saPRP treated group compared to irradiation only group and irradiation + PRP group. Cellular senescence, apoptosis, and inflammation were significantly reduced in the saPRP group. Th...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 7, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment Rescues Damaged Salivary Gland Function in Aged Mice
This study examined whether the local injection of the supernatant of activated PRP (saPRP) into the salivary gland (SG) could help prevent aging-induced SG dysfunction and explored the mechanisms responsible for the protective effects on the SG hypofunction. Human salivary gland epithelial cells (hSGEC) were treated with saPRP or PRP after senescence through irradiation. The significant proliferation of hSGEC was observed in saPRP treated group compared to irradiation only group and irradiation + PRP group. Cellular senescence, apoptosis, and inflammation were significantly reduced in the saPRP group. ...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 5, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 31st 2023
In conclusion, an SBP level below 130 mmHg was found to be associated with longevity among older women. The longer SBP was controlled at a level between 110 and 130 mmHg, the higher the survival probability to age 90. Preventing age-related rises in SBP and increasing the time with controlled BP levels constitute important measures for achieving longevity. « Back to Top (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - July 30, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Cancer Treatment Increases Biological Age
The established non-surgical forms of cancer treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, induce cellular senescence via stress and damage to cells. The target for these harmful effects is the cancer, but other cells are also inevitably stressed to the point of entering a senescent state. An increased burden of senescent cells in tissues throughout the body is a feature of aging. These cells directly contribute to dysfunction of tissues and organs via secreted signals, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). When maintained over the long term, the SASP contributes to the onset and progression of age-related cond...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 15th 2023
In this study, we examined the average telomere length and telomerase activity, as well as the formation of telomere associated foci (TAFs) and the mRNA expression levels of the shelterin components in cultured primary cells of Spalax, a long-lived, hypoxia-tolerant, and cancer-resistant blind mole-rat species. We showed that with cell passages, Spalax fibroblasts demonstrated significant shortening in telomere length, similar to rat cells, and in line with the processes observed earlier in tissues. We also demonstrated that the average telomere length in Spalax fibroblasts was significantly higher than the average ...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 14, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Reviewing T Cell Immunotherapies to Treat Cancer
The use of immunotherapies will most likely replace chemotherapy and radiation therapy for the treatment near all cancers over the next twenty years, and has already done so for many types of cancer. We should expect immunotherapies to in turn be replaced by approaches that target the telomere lengthening essential to all cancers. The wheel turns slowly, but this progress will lead steadily to an end to the suffering and loss of life accompanying cancer. Cancer will become a mild, annoying but controllable condition within a matter of decades, within the lifetimes of most of those reading this now. The review paper noted h...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 10, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

13 Year Old McAllen
BY IAN MORRISON As a Scot, obviously I am a whisky fan, and although I prefer the smoky malts of Islay (where my grandfather was from and where I visit my friends there frequently), I am also a huge fan of McCallan 18-year-old whisky, the sticky toffee pudding of single malts. But as all policy wonks know, McAllen Texas is not famous for whisky but for Atul Gawande’s “Cost Conundrum” article in the New Yorker, in 2009 which is still required reading in medical school and MPH classes and was arguably the cornerstone of Obama health policy and the ACO movement. Dr. Atul Gawande described overutilization and hi...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 2, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: The Business of Health Care Affordable Care Act Atul Gawande Ian Morrison McAllen Texas Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 30th 2023
In conclusion, deletion of p16Ink4a cells did not negatively impact beta-cell mass and blood glucose under basal and HFD conditions and proliferation was restored in a subset of HFD mice opening further therapeutic targets in the treatment of diabetes. Communication Between Blood and Brain in Aging and Rejuvenation https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/01/communication-between-blood-and-brain-in-aging-and-rejuvenation/ As noted here, joining the circulatory systems of an old and young mouse results in some degree of rejuvenation in the old mouse. Where brain function is improved, researchers are inte...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Senotherapeutics Will Reduce the Side-Effects of Cancer Radiotherapy
Treatment with radiation to kill cancerous cells results in an increased burden of senescent cells, both in and around the tumor. This is a fair trade-off; a senescent cancerous cell may be harmful in and of itself, but it is a good deal less harmful in the long run than an active cancer cell. Unfortunately senescent cells produce pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signaling that is disruptive of tissue function, raises the risk of suffering a range of age-related conditions, and increases the risk of both reoccurrence of the treated cancer and the development of later unrelated cancers. Thus given the work taking place o...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 24, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

A woman in her 20s with syncope
Written by Destiny Folk MD, with edits by Meyers, peer reviewed by Smith and GrauerA woman in her late 20s with a past medical history of cervical cancer status post chemotherapy and radiation therapy presented to the emergency department for shortness of breath, chest tightness, and two episodes of syncope.Her initial vital signs revealed a temp of 97.7F, HR 125, RR 20, BP 115/90, and an oxygen saturation of 95% on room air. Upon arrival, she did not appear in acute distress. She was noted to be tachycardic and her heart sounds were distant on physical exam. She had a normal respiratory effort, and her lungs were clear to...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - November 28, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs

What type of devices should a person with a pacemaker be cautious about? Cardiology Basics
Artificial pacemakers are cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) which give tiny electrical signals to the heart when the heart’s own pacemaker is not functioning well. Sinus node is the natural pacemaker of the heart, located in the upper part of right atrium near the orifice of superior vena cava. Pacemakers may also be used when the impulses from the sinus node are not conducted well to the ventricles in complete atrioventricular block. Pacing for bradycardia can be with single chamber or dual chamber pacemakers, depending on the indication for pacing. Dual chamber pacemakers are AV sequential pacemakers which...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 9, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs

Is this Myo-pericarditis? Or OMI with subsequent pericarditis? Does the angiogram always explain the ECG findings?
Conclusion: Although at 1st glance, it looked like the ECG picture in Figure-1 might be suggestive of acute pericarditis — on further inspection, there are significant ECG features against the diagnosis of acute uncomplicated pericarditis.As per the superb discussion above by Dr. Smith — evolution of this case (including the ECG picture on serial tracings) — are consistent with what probably occurred in today ' s case, namely the combination of acute OMI from LCx occlusion, followed by development of post-infarction regional per...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - June 11, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs

How MRI-guided radiation therapy is changing the paradigm in pancreatic cancer  
I truly believe we ’re at the beginning of something great in terms of fundamentally changing how we approach pancreatic cancer, the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. With a mortality rate of roughly 80 percent, it’s been referred to as a medical emergency, yet minimal progress has been mad e in itsRead more …How MRI-guided radiation therapy is changing the paradigm in pancreatic cancer   originally appeared inKevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 14, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/michael-chuong" rel="tag" > Michael Chuong, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 11th 2021
In conclusion, this study examined how age and the process of aging are associated with changes in the microbiome of the small intestine, using validated sampling and processing techniques. The most significant differences are higher relative abundance of the phylum Proteobacteria and decreased relative abundance of Bacteroidetes in older subjects when compared to the youngest group. The higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria appeared to affect other duodenal microbial taxa, leading to decreased microbial diversity and increased relative abundance of coliforms and of anaerobic bacteria. The small intestine is vital to...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 10, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs