As the All of Us initiative (previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative) and the collection of DNA sequences of one million Americans begins this year, with at least 65,000 people already enrolled in the program, health care is transitioning from population-based approaches to individualized health care that focuses on the genetic makeup of each patient.
Beta (β) blockers reduce the risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation and should be restarted after surgery, but it remains unclear when best to resume β blockers postoperatively. The authors thus evaluated the relationship between timing of resumption of β blockers and atrial fibrillation in patients recovering from noncardiothoracic and nonvascular surgery.
Further bringing 3D printed medical models to life, Stratasys is expanding the suite of printers and materials validated by its collaborator Materialize as part of FDA-cleared Materialize Mimics inPrint software.
An unconventional approach has successfully reversed deficits in social behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in genetic, environmental and idiopathic mouse models of the condition. Researchers report in the journal Neuron that administration of the bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri could lead to specific changes in the brain that social deficits through a reverse mechanism involve the vagus nerve That and the oxytocin-dopamine reward system. These findings hold hope for the development of novel therapies for neurological disorders by modulating specific microbes in the gut.
A new report shows that three out of five young people in Bangladesh do not meet the WHO recommendations for daily physical activity. The Report Card published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health shows that only 41.4% of students aged 13-17 years were physically active for at least 60 minutes per day during the seven days of the survey.
It is heartening to see a new push to oral health by the Union Health Ministry, and this is important for many reasons. A Nature report, quoting Indian National Cancer Registry Program, had pointed out that there has been a worrying rise in cancers of the upper aero-digestive tract (mouth, tongue, gold-pharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, and esophagus). Tobacco Survey India, in 2009-10, revealed that 35% of adults used tobacco Tobacco-related cancers are expected to constitute 30% of the total cancer burden by 2020.
The Native Antigen Company has launched a series of ground-breaking immunoassays for Zika virus, offering researchers in academia, public health and drug discovery and the ability to work with unprecedented levels of specificity and sensitivity. Unlike previous methods, the new assays have little or no cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses, including Dengue, West Nile, Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Usutu virus.
The Zika virus poses a significant global risk and there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment available for those infected. Sensitive and specific diagnostic assays are crucial for enabling effective research, epidemiology and disease management, as well as the development of new vaccines and therapeutics.
William "Billy" Cohn, MD, vice president and director of the Johnson & Johnson Center for Device Innovation at TMC , showcased his invention that makes treatment easier for dialysis patients at the 12th annual Pumps & Pipes conference, at a uniquely Houston meeting that assembles leaders from the Bayou's city signature industries: medicine, energy and aerospace.
Scientists have deciphered how the proteasome converts energy into mechanical motion that untangles and unfolds proteins for destruction. The findings could help us understand how proteasomes keep diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's at bay.
Research increasingly links the gut microbiome to a range of human maladies, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and even cancer. Attempts to manipulate the gut with food rich in healthy bacteria, such as yogurt or kombucha, are in vogue, along with buying commercial probiotics that promise to improve users' chances against illness.
In the hands of experts, there was no difference in rates of major adverse cardiac events with endoscopic vs open vein-graft harvesting nearly 3 years after on-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in the Randomized Endo-Vein Graft Prospective ( REGROUP) trial. The study was published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Tuberculosis is the world’s leading infectious disease and it accounts for one in three deaths from HIV/AIDS, according to the World Health Organization’s 2018 report on TB. This is why on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), of which the American Thoracic Society is a founding member, is calling on governments, health advocates and non-government organizations to strengthen their response to AIDS and TB.