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
Radiation Treatment Persistently Alters Heart Cell Function to Produce Benefits in Heart Failure Patients
This paper is interesting as a first step on the way to further research into compensatory therapies that can reduce the cardiac muscle dysfunction of heart failure. One-time radiation therapy appears to persistently change cardiomyocyte behavior via altered epigenetic regulation of notch signaling, leading to modestly improved heart tissue function. Perhaps this should be taken as supportive of efforts to more directly target this regulatory pathway in the aging heart via other means.
Cardiac radiotherapy (RT) may be effective in treating heart failure (HF) patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). T...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 5, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Oscillating Magnetic Field Shrinks Glioblastoma Tumor
At the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, researchers have developed a device that generates a magnetic field and used it to successfully shrink a glioblastoma tumor in a patient volunteer. The device is worn on the head each day during treatment, and uses an oscillating magnetic field to disrupt biochemical processes in cancer cells. While the technique is in its infancy, this first-in-human test of this particular type of device shows promise, and could herald the first steps in a new non-invasive treatment modality.
Glioblastoma is a brain cancer with a very poor prognosis, and which nearly always proves fatal...
Source: Medgadget - July 26, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Oncology Source Type: blogs
Anti-Restenotic Drug Delivery with the AGENT Drug-Coated Balloon: Interview with Dr. Ian Meredith, Global CMO, Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific recently announced a clinical trial of its AGENT drug coated balloon. The device is coated with paclitaxel, an anti-restenotic drug, and aims to deliver the medication to the affected vessel wall during a percutaneous procedure. Coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR) is caused by occlusive scar tissue that develops in the stented portion of a vessel.
At present, ISR is treated through the addition of extra stents and radiation therapy is also sometimes used. Both of these approaches pose safety risks for patients. Balloon angioplasty represents an alternative approach, but is not always successful, with mi...
Source: Medgadget - June 14, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Radiology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Localized Prostate Cancer Therapy: Interview with Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health
Avenda Health, a medtech company based in Santa Monica, California has developed the Focal Therapy System. It provides AI-powered prostate cancer therapy with the aim of treating only tumorous tissues, while reducing side-effects compared with conventional therapies. The system recently received FDA breakthrough designation.
At present, there are limited treatment options for men with prostate cancer, with surgery and radiation therapy being the most commonly used approaches. However, these techniques pose significant risks for patients, including urinary and sexual dysfunction. The Avenda Focal Therapy System uses A...
Source: Medgadget - June 7, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Informatics Oncology Urology Source Type: blogs
PROP s Disproportionate Influence on U.S. Opioid Policy: The Harms of Intended Consequences
ConclusionDespite being turned back from an effort to bluntly reduce opioid prescribing by the FDA in 2013 based on a lack of scientific evidence for its position (17,18), PROP has had a disproportionate effect on opioid policy in the Untied States for almost a decade. PROP found a willing federal regulatory partner in the CDC, and while PROP may not have secretly written the 2016 CDC Pain Guidelines (75), they certainly enjoyed disproportionate representation on CDCs review panels and Core Expert Group (23-25) in a process that lacked transparency (22, 23, 26, 27). When the CDC admitted that its Pain Guideline had been...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - May 3, 2021 Category: Palliative Care Tags: CDC health policy kollas opioids pain prop Source Type: blogs
PROP ’s Disproportionate Influence on U.S. Opioid Policy: The Harms of Intended Consequences
ConclusionDespite being turned back from an effort to bluntly reduce opioid prescribing by the FDA in 2013 based on a lack of scientific evidence for its position (17,18), PROP has had a disproportionate effect on opioid policy in the Untied States for almost a decade. PROP found a willing federal regulatory partner in the CDC, and while PROP may not have “secretly written” the 2016 CDC Pain Guidelines (75), they certainly enjoyed disproportionate representation on CDC’s review panels and Core Expert Group (23-25) in a process that lacked transparency (22, 23, 26, 27). When the CDC admitted that its Pain Guideline ha...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - May 3, 2021 Category: Palliative Care Tags: CDC health policy kollas opioids pain prop Source Type: blogs
Can AI Reinvent Radiation Therapy for Cancer Patients?
John Halamka, M.D., president, Mayo Clinic Platform, and Paul Cerrato, senior research analyst and communications specialist, Mayo Clinic Platform, wrote this article.Of all the advances in health care artificial intelligence (AI), medical imaging is probably the most remarkable success story. Two prominent examples come to mind: Machine learning has helped improve the screening and diagnosis of retinal disease and is making inroads in skin cancer detection. Given these developments, it ’s not surprising to find researchers and clinicians developing the digital tools to improve radiotherapy, which combines imaging techno...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - April 19, 2021 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
