The Life-or-Death Molecule By Jane Farrell article Researchers have zeroed in on a molecule that’s involved in cell death, a discovery that could lead to better treatment for inflammatory illnesses such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. The investigators found that a previously identified molecule, RIPK1, inhibits necroptosis (cell death), which is implicated in inflammatory conditions. Paradoxically, RIPK1 is also responsible for initiating cell death.
_ Osteoporosis Do You Really Need Vitamin D Supplements? By article You may have heard that researchers who analyzed hundreds of studies have concluded that vitamin D supplements won’t protect healthy, middle-aged adults from osteoporosis. And even worse, the scientists say the supplements may increase the risk of death from other diseases. However, none health experts at the Cleveland Clinic warn that you need to make sure you aren’t deficient in vitamin D before you stop taking the supplement, especially if you are past menopause.
Vision Health Plugging Blood Vessels to Save Vision By article The growth of malformed blood vessels that can burst is a leading cause of vision loss in North America. Retinopathy and retina degeneration are associated with premature birth, with diabetes, and with increasing age. Now a new drug approach has been developed by a research team led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for safer clean-up of deformed blood vessels in the eye. The study was published in May 2014 in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
_ A Molecule That Could Battle Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a new technique that uses a so-called “energy molecule” to trigger the release of anti-cancer drugs directly into cancer cells. It may be especially effective in breast cancer treatment. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. Once inside the cancer cells, the molecule, adenosine-5’-triphosphate (ATP), releases its “payload”: a collection of molecules embed with an anti-cancer drug called doxorubicin, which targets the nucleus of the cancer cell.
Longevity Gene May Be a Brain Booster By article If you’re lucky, you inherited a longevity gene that will up your chances of living to a ripe old age. Better yet, scientists at the University of California San Francisco have shown that people who have a variant of a longevity gene called KLOTHO are blessed with superior brain skills such as thinking, learning, and memory regardless of their age, sex, or even whether they have a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
_ Vision Health AMD Patients May Not Need Monthly Injections By article Here’s good news if you suffer from age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss among people 50 years of age or older in industrialized countries. A team of researchers at Miguel Servet University Hospital in Zaragoza, Spain and the University of Toronto in Canada have found that, contrary to previous clinical trial findings, monthly injections to counteract AMD may not be necessary. The study was in May 2014 presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Orlando, Florida..
_ Mental & Emotional Health A Healthcare Team Helps Women Beat Depression By article A collaborative approach to depression counseling for women at obstetrics and gynecology clinics involving psychiatrists, clinicians, specialists, and depression care managers is an improvement over typical of mental health care at specialty clinics. That is the finding of a study done at the University of Washington and published May 7th 2014 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A release from the university notes that approximately one-third of American women list an obstetrician/gynecologist as their primary physician.
_ Vision Health A Dry-Eye Discovery By Jane Farrell article Researchers are working toward an understanding of the distribution of tears in the eye, and the discoveries they’re making could lead to better treatment or even a cure for dry eye disease. The newest study was published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Dry eye disease afflicts millions of people worldwide, with symptoms such as pain, dryness, redness, reduced visual sharpness, and feelings of grittiness. Eye drops can help, but over time, dry can damage the cornea and lead to permanent reduced vision.
_ Medicare Reforms Save Money By article Reforms to Medicare regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other health care providers will save nearly $660 million annually, and $3.2 billion over five years, through a rule issued on May 8th 2015 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS).
_ For Older Adults, Complex Frailty Score Predicts Post-Op Outcomes By article More than half of all operations are performed on patients 65 years and older in the United States. Frail elderly patients who undergo surgery are more likely to have postoperative complications. But tools to estimate operative risk have their limitations because they often focus on a single organ system or solitary event. In geriatric medicine, the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is widely used to detect disabilities and conditions associated with frailty.
_ Living Well With Hepatitis C By Jane Farrell article By Jane Farrell Hepatitis C, an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus, is a discouraging, debilitating condition. It affects an estimated 3.2 million Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The illness is usually caused by receiving donated blood that is infected, having had a bad organ transplant, or sharing a needle or having sex with a person who is contaminated with the virus.
_ A Possible Cause of Age-Related Memory Decline By article Research done at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development in Baltimore, MD and the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that one cause of age-related memory decline is a protein called KIBRA and the gene responsible for its production is WWC1. KIBRA is known to play a role in human memory. The study was published in the May 2014 issue of Biological Psychiatry.
_ New Cancer Tx Raises Blood Pressure By article The upside of new cancer therapies that block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling is that these agents have improved the outlook for patients with some cancers and are now used as a first line therapy for some tumors. However the downside is that almost 100% of patients who take VEGF inhibitors (VEGFIs) develop high blood pressure, and a subset develops severe hypertension. That is the finding of a study done at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow.
_ Sleep Health Sleep and "Exploding Head" Syndrome By Jane Farrell article “Exploding head syndrome” sounds like the latest slang term, but it’s a real, though underdiagnosed, sleep disorder. People who have the syndrome usually hear loud noises – doors slamming, fireworks or gunshots – as they are going to sleep and waking up.
_ Nerve Damage After Hip Surgery By article An article published in May 2014 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings links some nerve damage after hip surgery to a condition called inflammatory neuropathy. Until now, nerve damage from hip surgery has been attributed to mechanical factors caused by anesthesiologists or surgeons, such as positioning of the patient during surgery or direct surgical injury of the nerves. A release from the clinic explains that inflammatory neuropathies occur when the immune system attacks the nerves, causing weakness and pain. Inflammatory neuropathies may be treated with immunotherapy.
Aging Well FDAΓÇÖs Adult Stem Cell Research By article Scientists who are part of the Food and Drug Administration’s MSC Consortium, are studying adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that could eventually be used to repair, replace, restore or regenerate cells in the body, including those needed for heart and bone repair. According to the FDA, the investigational work is unprecedented: Seven labs at FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research formed the consortium to fill in gaps in knowledge about how stem cells function.
_ Medical Care The Right Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Hepatitis C By Sondra Forsyth article By Sondra Forsyth The Centers for Disease Control has designated May as Hepatitis Awareness Month. One goal of that campaign is to let Boomers know that of the more than three million Americans infected with hepatitis C, over 75% are in their 50s and 60s. You can find out the extent of your risk with this 5-minute online assessment from the CDC.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Women & Peripheral Artery Disease By Sondra Forsyth article Women, especially older women, face greater limits on their lifestyle and have more severe symptoms as a result of peripheral artery disease (PAD) than men do. The condition happens when fatty deposits build up in arteries outside the heart, usually the arteries supplying fresh oxygen and blood to the arms, legs and feet. About 8 million Americans have peripheral artery disease.