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Category: health

AI-powered ECG analysis shows promise for early COPD detection

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Effective management hinges on early diagnosis, which is often impeded by non-specific symptoms and resource-intensive diagnostic methods. A study published in the journal eBioMedicine assesses the effectiveness of electrocardiograms (ECGs) analyzed via deep learning as a tool for early COPD detection.

Mount Sinai researchers utilized a Convolutional Neural Network model to analyze ECGs, or medical tests that record the heart’s electrical activity, and can detect COPD. The primary outcome was the accuracy of a new clinical COPD diagnosis, as determined by International Classification of Disease codes. They performed an evaluation using Area-Under-the-Curve (AUC) metrics, derived by testing against ECGs from patients at five hospitals within the Mount Sinai Health System who represented a demographically diverse patient population in New York City.

They examined data from 2006 to 2023 within the GE MUSE system that exports electrocardiograms as individual XML files containing raw waveforms. The experts also used ECGs from patients at another hospital and ECGs of patients with COPD within the UK BioBank to expand the cohort and validate the analysis.

Abstract: Can we help fat cells get in shape in diabetes?

Here, James C. Lo & team identify FAM20C as a key mediator of obesity-induced adipocyte dysfunction and inflammation, suggesting its inhibition as a potential therapy for Type2 Diabetes:

The figure shows visceral white adipose tissue in mice with adipocyte-specific deletion of Fam20c shifts shows lower macrophage area compared with controls.

1Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Weill Center for Metabolic Health, Cardiovascular Research Institute, and.

2Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.

3Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity, and Vascular Research, Helmholtz Center Munich, University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

Huge genetic study reveals hidden links between psychiatric conditions

Exciting to see this modern genomic approach to classification of psychiatric disorders! Hopefully this will eventually lead to potential new gene therapy targets for treatment.

Analysis of more than one million people shows that mental-health disorders fall into five clusters, each of them linked to a specific set of genetic variants.

Fathers’ Use of Valproate Raises Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Offspring

Children whose fathers took valproate within three months prior to conception were more likely to have neurodevelopmental disorders than children of men exposed to lamotrigine or levetiracetam.

Researchers behind a new study believe that it is the first to show an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring of fathers who took valproate rather than lamotrigine or levetiracetam prior to conceiving children.

Children whose fathers took valproate within the three months prior to their conception were more likely to have neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, than children of men exposed to lamotrigine or levetiracetam, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open in November.

The European research team—which analyzed medical records from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—concluded that “health care practitioners should consider the potential risks associated with paternal valproate exposure and discuss alternative treatment options with male patients of reproductive age.” The team also said that “findings should be interpreted with caution due to the heterogeneity in the unadjusted estimates.”

Neurologists’ Expertise Drives Significant Downstream Revenue in Health Care Systems

A new Medicare study reveals that neurologists generate substantially more downstream revenue when treating common neurologic conditions than non-neurologists, mainly because neurologists use more in-depth diagnostics and treatment strategies.

Neurologists generate significantly greater downstream revenue while treating common neurologic diseases than non-neurologist physicians, underscoring their clinical and financial importance to health systems, an analysis shows.

The report, published in October in Neurology Clinical Practice, revealed that neurologist-led care generated up to 519 percent more downstream revenue than non-neurologists did, adding approximately $180 million to downstream revenue totals. For autoimmune neuromuscular diseases alone, neurologist-led care generated $58.7 million in downstream revenue compared to $9.5 million from non-neurologists. This increased revenue, experts note, translates to better outcomes for patients with neurologic conditions.

Prediabetes rates soar among children with overweight as maternal weight rises

The prevalence of prediabetes has increased significantly in recent years among Finnish children living with overweight or obesity, a recent study by Tampere University and the University of Eastern Finland shows. In the early 2000s, 11% of those studied had prediabetes, whereas 20 years later, the prevalence of prediabetes was 50%. The prevalence of obesity remained unchanged during the study period, but prediabetes became more common among children, which could, in part, be due to a simultaneous increase in maternal overweight.

The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, included 602 children aged 6 to 16 who had been assessed for overweight or obesity in primary health care or specialized health care in Tampere between 2002 and 2020. The study also included a control group of 483 children aged 7–16, which had been drawn from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study, underway at the University of Eastern Finland.

According to the study, 34% of children who had been assessed for overweight or obesity had prediabetes, and 1% had type 2 diabetes. In the control group, 7% had prediabetes, while type 2 diabetes was not observed. Prediabetes was more common in older children and those in more advanced stages of puberty. Its prevalence was also associated with fatty liver disease and acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition often linked to overweight and disturbances in glucose metabolism.

Covenant Health says May data breach impacted nearly 478,000 patients

The Covenant Health organization has revised to nearly 500,000 the number of individuals affected by a data breach discovered last May.

The healthcare entity initially reported in July that the data of 7,864 people had been exposed, but further analysis has revealed a larger impact.

After completing “the bulk of its data analysis,” Covenant Health now says that 478,188 individuals were affected.

Melanoma cancer cells secrete extracellular vesicles to paralyze immune cells

A new international study led by Prof. Carmit Levy of the Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry at the Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University finds that melanoma cancer cells paralyze immune cells by secreting extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are tiny, bubble-shaped containers secreted from a given cell. The research team believes that this discovery has far-reaching implications for possible treatments for the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The work is published in the journal Cell.

Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin tumor. In the first stage of the disease, melanocytic cells divide uncontrollably in the skin’s outer layer, the epidermis. In the second stage, the cancer cells invade the inner dermis layer and metastasize through the lymphatic and blood systems.

How Dad’s Fitness May Be Packaged and Passed Down in Sperm RNA

We tend to emphasize the maternal role in development: an egg cell is enormous compared to a sperm cell, and a mother gestates the embryo. But a growing body of research suggests that sperm cells carry more than just genetic information.

Research into how a father’s choices — such as diet, exercise, stress, nicotine use — may transfer traits to his children has become impossible to ignore.

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