Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 29th 2018
In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that TIGIT is a prominent negative immune regulator involved in immunosenescence. This novel finding is highly significant, as targeting TIGIT might be an effective strategy to improve the immune response and decrease age-related comorbidities.
Delivery of Extracellular Vesicles as a Potential Basis for Therapies
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/01/delivery-of-extracellular-vesicles-as-a-potential-basis-for-therapies/
Here I'll point out a readable open access review paper on the potential use of extracellular vesicles as a basis for therapy: harvest...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 28, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
An Alternative Approach to Myostatin Inhibition to Increase Muscle Growth
Today, I'll point out a group that is working on a novel approach to myostatin inhibition in humans. Myostatin is a part of the regulatory system for muscle growth. Its role is to suppresses muscle growth, and thus lowered levels of myostatin result in less fat and more muscle in a variety of mammalian species, including our own. Complete removal of myostatin via genetic engineering or breakage through rare natural mutation has resulted in very heavily muscled mice, dogs, cows, and even a few people. The technical name for the outcome is myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. There are no obvious downsides - which doesn't m...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 23, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
A Surprisingly Logical Argument in Favor of Head Transplantation
By ART CAPLAN & LISA KEARNS
Not since Rene Descartes gazed from his garret window in early 17th-century Paris and wondered whether those were men or hats and coats covering “automatic machines” he saw roaming the streets has the issue of personal identity and your cranium been of such import. Descartes feared a world that he alone occupied due to deception by the devil. Today we face a different mind-body challenge in the form of a devil we know: Italian neuroscientist Sergio Canavero. He recently announced that the first human head transplant is imminent.
For bioethicists, the moral critiques of this surgery pract...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 13, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Art Caplan Head Transplantation Lisa Kearns Sergio Canavero Source Type: blogs
Top Companies in Genomics
From portable genome sequencers until genetic tests revealing distant relations with Thomas Jefferson, genomics represents a fascinatingly innovative area of healthcare. As the price of genome sequencing has been in free fall for years, the start-up scene is bursting from transformative power. Let’s look at some of the most amazing ventures in genomics!
The amazing journey of genome sequencing
Genome sequencing has been on an amazing scientific as well as economic journey for the last three decades. The Human Genome Project began in 1990 with the aim of mapping the whole structure of the human genome and sequencing it. ...
Source: The Medical Futurist - May 30, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Genomics Personalized Medicine AI artificial intelligence bioinformatics cancer DNA dna testing DTC gc3 genetic disorders genetics genome sequencing personal genomics precision medicine Source Type: blogs
Orphan Drugs: Pursuing Value And Avoiding Unintended Effects Of Regulations
Amid ongoing scrutiny of high pharmaceutical drug prices, debate about the value of “orphan drugs”—those designed to treat rare conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 individuals—continues to capture public and policy maker attention.
The latest examples involve Emflaza and Spinraza, drugs used to treat the rare genetic childhood disorders of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy, respectively. Both have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and provide meaningful efficacy and value to patients affected by these conditions. However, outcry has developed in response to ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - May 4, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Joshua Liao and Mark Pauly Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Innovation Insurance and Coverage Quality Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy government regulation Orphan Drug Act orphan drugs value-based pricing Source Type: blogs
Hobson ’ s Wrong Answer
By JIM PURCELL
Thomas Hobson was his name, a licensed carrier of passengers, letters, and parcels between Cambridge and London in the years surrounding 1600. He kept horses for such purpose, and rented them when he wasn’t using them. Naturally, the students all wanted the best horses, and as a result, Mr. Hobson’s better mounts became badly overworked. To remedy this situation, he began a strict rotation system, giving each customer the choice of taking the horse nearest the stable door or none at all. This rule became known as Hobson’s Choice, and soon people were using that term to mean “no choice at all” in a...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Biogen Boston Globe Hobson Source Type: blogs
Can Employers Take A Bigger Role In Controlling Drug Costs?
An estimated 150 million Americans receive insurance through their employer — and employees and employers alike continue to suffer from “sticker shock” for prices for new drugs, despite several years of debate and threatened congressional action to control the high prices of pharmaceutical products. While considerable attention has been paid to potential actions by Medicare or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there has been less focus on the role of private payers to solve the issue. Employers sponsoring health benefits are not bound by the same statutory constraints that apply to Medicare and can ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 17, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Robert Galvin and Troyen Brennan Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Innovation Drugs and Medical Technology Insurance and Coverage employer coverage launch prices pharmacy benefit managers prescription drug prices QALY Source Type: blogs
Drug Halts Alzheimer ’s Related Tau Damage in Brain
In some people, the brain protein tau collects into toxic tangles that damage brain cells and contribute to diseases such as Alzheimer ’s.By Alzheimer's Reading RoomResearchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a drug that can lower tau levels and prevent some neurological damage.I thought this information was interesting so I decided to bring this research summary up for all to read.Note: Oligonucleotide treatments have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for two neuromuscular diseases.How to Adapt the Caregiver Brain to Alzheimer's and DementiaSubscribe to the Alzheimer's...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - January 27, 2017 Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer alzheimers drug alzheimers treatment dementia care health help alzheimer's help with dementia care science tau Source Type: blogs
FDA approves first drug for spinal muscular atrophy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationrecently approved Spinraza (nusinersen), the first drug approved to treat children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The FDA granted this application fast track designation and priority review. The drug also received orphan drug designation, which provides incentives to assist and encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases.Thanks to Dr. Nick Willard for alerting me to this development. (Source: neuropathology blog)
Source: neuropathology blog - January 23, 2017 Category: Radiology Tags: muscle Source Type: blogs
24 Creative Geniuses Who Inspire Boldness (Even if You ’re Shy or Socially Anxious)
You're reading 24 Creative Geniuses Who Inspire Boldness (Even if You’re Shy or Socially Anxious), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
“Any step in the direction of expressing your creative impulses is a step in the direction of actualizing the genius that resides within you.” -Dr. Wayne Dyer
Genius? Expressing creative impulses? Isn’t that aiming a little high? I’m just trying to survive.
If this represents the tired record playing in your mind, stick around for some major inspiration.
Per...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - September 29, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: rbourne Tags: confidence creativity featured self improvement best inspirational quotes best self-improvement blogs creative genius how to be bold how to build confidence pickthebrain self confidence Source Type: blogs
Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List
Editor’s note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks.
In this month’s Narrative Matters essay, former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Louis Sullivan writes about growing up in rural Georgia and entering medical school as the only black student in his class. Sullivan graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1958 with only $500 in debt — hard to fathom when, today, med students might finish school owing some $150,000 to $250,000. Sulli...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 12, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Jessica Bylander Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters On Our Reading List opioids Veterans Source Type: blogs
PhRMA Members Invested $58.8 Billion in R&D in 2015
In 2015, PhRMA member companies invested $58.8 billion in research and development, up 10.3% from 2014. The new R&D data is based on findings from the 2016 PhRMA annual member survey released in the 2016 Biopharmaceutical Research Industry Profile and the corresponding industry chart pack, Biopharmaceuticals in Perspective, which highlighted the wide-reaching impact of PhRMA member companies on the economy and biopharmaceutical innovation.
In the United States, the biopharmaceutical industry is a driver of economic growth and global competitiveness, and is the most research-intensive sector of the economy. The biopharmac...
Source: Policy and Medicine - June 16, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Rationing – The Case of NICU and the Place of Cost-effectiveness Thresholds
Julian Savulescu will be delivering the next public lecture at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research: "Rationing - The Case of NICU and the Place of Cost-effectiveness Thresholds" on May 18.
When health professionals are considering whether or not to provide life-sustaining treatment to a critically ill newborn infant, they often consider the best interests of the child. Frequently, they will consult with the infant’s parents, and take into account parents’ interests and their views about treatment for the child. However, there is one important ethical factor that health professionals do not neces...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - April 30, 2015 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope Tags: Health Care medical futility blog syndicated Source Type: blogs
Post for #BADD: Stop Excusing Murder
Trigger warning for discussion of child murder. Please call your emergency services or local crisis support number if you need immediate and urgent help.Samaritans UK 08457 909090Samaritans Ireland 116 123This is a post for Blogging Against Disablism Day 2014.Disablism means discriminating against people due to their disability. It's unjust and unfair. Disablist attitudes abound in our society and worsened in the past few years as a result of robust campaigning by certain political parties and media outlets depicting disabled people as lazy, scrounging cheats.Disabled lives are accorded less value than the lives ...
Source: The Voyage - May 2, 2014 Category: Autism Tags: disability disablism Source Type: blogs
Limitations – put a positive spin on it
Limitation is usually connected to something negative; it refers to being restricted, being held back from pursing or completing a task and it’s not just physical as we sometimes think. We all have some form of limitation, whether visible or invisible. My limitations can be the same or differ from yours, we either use them as learning tools, or stepping stones for something positive, or give in and let it dictate how we live our lives, and allow it to keep us stuck.
I am convinced that when we look at an unexpected limitation, the effects on the mind is instantaneous and can either grow and expand to become an ugly mo...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - July 8, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dianed Tags: Community Posts limitations negativity positive thinking self improvement Source Type: blogs
