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Category: health – Page 434

Study Reveals Essential Role of Sympathetic Nerves in Muscle Health

Contrary to what has long been believed, the role of the sympathetic nervous system in muscle tissue goes far beyond controlling blood flow by contracting or relaxing blood vessels, according to studies conducted at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil.

With support from FAPESP and the collaboration of researchers at Mannheim University and Heidelberg University in Germany, a group of Brazilian researchers led by Isis do Carmo Kettelhut and Luiz Carlos Carvalho Navegantes at the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP –USP) have demonstrated the importance of sympathetic innervation for the growth and maintenance of muscle mass and also for the control of movement.

Kettelhut is a full professor at FMRP -USP’s Biochemistry & Immunology Department. Navegantes is a professor in the same institution’s Physiology Department.

Bioquark Inc. and SC21 Biotech to Collaborate on Novel Cellular Therapies for Long Term HIV Control

Orginal press: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/02/prweb14062199.htm

Bioquark, Inc., (http://www.bioquark.com) a life sciences company focused on the development of novel biologics for complex regeneration and disease reversion, and SC21 Biotech, (http://www.sc21bio.tech), a biotechnology company focused on translational therapeutic applications of autologous stem cell therapy, have announced a collaboration to focus on novel cellular reprogramming and production approaches for CCR5 Delta32 homozygous cord blood stem cells, for long-term control of HIV via transplantation.

“We are very excited about this collaboration with SC21 Biotech,” said Ira S. Pastor, CEO, Bioquark Inc. “The natural synergy of our cellular reprogramming tools and SC21 Biotech’s translational cell therapy experience, will make for a transformational opportunity in this area of HIV disease control.”

HIV-1 infection afflicts more than 35 million people worldwide. For individuals who have access to antiretroviral therapy, these drugs can effectively suppress, but not cure, HIV-1 infection. The only documented case for an HIV/AIDS cure was a patient with HIV-1 and acute myeloid leukemia who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation from a graft that carried the HIV-resistant CCR5-Delta32 homozygous mutation. The patient has remained without any evidence of HIV infection for more than 8 years after discontinuation of antiretroviral drug therapy.

However, identifying immune matched adult CCR5- Delta32 homozygous donors for a given patients is not readily feasible in part because the prevalence is in only about 0.8%–1% of individuals of northern European descent and much less in other ethnic groups, as well as the fact that for such transplants with adult cells there needs to be a very close HLA match between donor and patient.

In contrast, cord blood that is CCR5- Delta32 homozygous provides a major advantage in that much less stringent HLA matching is required between donor and patient. However, a technological method to cost effectively and industrially scale the production of such cells has been missing.

“We look forward to working closely with Bioquark Inc. on this exciting initiative,” said Mr. Paul Collier, Managing Director of SC21 Biotech. “The ability to apply Bioquark’s cellular reprogramming tools in order to produce industrial quantities of such precious cell lines will offer a much greater global penetration of this important therapeutic modality for HIV.”

“Bioquark has spent several years studying the evolutionarily perfected ability of bioactive moieties found in ooplasms to turn back biological time and re-set cellular regulatory state” said Dr. Sergei Paylian, Founder, CSO, and President, Bioquark Inc. “This unique initiative is one more step in our broad translation of such natural capabilities to control the progression of human diseases.”

About Bioquark, Inc.

Bioquark Inc. is focused on the development of natural biologic based products, services, and technologies, with the goal of curing a wide range of diseases, as well as effecting complex regeneration. Bioquark is developing both biological pharmaceutical candidates, as well as products for the global consumer health and wellness market segments.

About SC21 Biotech

SC21 Biotech is a novel a biotechnology company focused on translational therapeutic applications, as well as expedited, experimental access for “no option” patients, to a novel range of regenerative and reparative biomedical products and services, with the goal of reducing human degeneration, suffering, and death.

Stolen Health Record Databases Sell For $500,000 In The Deep Web

Don’t be the CIO that sees their own this market as most Healthcare CIO’s will not allowed to stay given they are now a brand liability not to mention all those lawsuits that are coming from lawyers of the patients.

Electronic health record databases proving to be some of the most lucrative stolen data sets in cybercrime underground.

Medical insurance identification, medical profiles, and even complete electronic health record (EHR) databases have attracted the eyes of enterprising black hats, who increasingly see EHR-related documents as some of the hottest commodities peddled in the criminal underground. A new report today shows that complete EHR databases can fetch as much as $500,000 on the Deep Web, and attackers are also making their money off of smaller caches of farmed medical identities, medical insurance ID card information, and personal medical profiles.

The data comes by way of a report from Trend Micro’s TrendLabs Forward-Looking Threat Research (FTR) Team, which took a comprehensive look at how attackers are taking advantage of healthcare organizations’ weaknesses to devastating effect. Cybercriminals always have their eyes open for new profitable revenue streams, and the poor security around increasingly data-rich EHR systems pose a huge opportunity for the bad guys.

The Next Pseudoscience Health Craze Is All About Genetics

Husar, a 38-year-old telecom salesman, had spent most of his life eating the sort of Eastern European fare typical of his native Ukraine: lots of meat, potatoes, salt and saturated fats. DNA Lifestyle Coach suggested his body might appreciate a more Mediterranean diet instead.

Recently, Vitaliy Husar received results from a DNA screening that changed his life. It wasn’t a gene that suggested a high likelihood of cancer or a shocking revelation about his family tree. It was his diet. It was all wrong.

Study finds targeting biological clock in cells slows cancer

Nice. My friend Alex Zhavoronkov will appreciate this article.

Feb. 16 (UPI) — Researchers at McGill University in Montreal have found that targeting the internal circadian or biological clock of cancer cells can affect growth.

Most cells in the human body have an internal clock that sets a rhythm for activities of organs depending on the time of day. However, this internal clock in cancer cells does not function at all or malfunctions.

“There were indications suggesting that the malfunctioning clock contributed to rapid tumor growth, but this had never been demonstrated,” Nicolas Cermakian, a professor in the department of psychiatry at McGill University, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Chronobiology at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and author of the study, said in a press release. “Thanks to the use of a chemical or a thermic treatment, we succeeded in ‘repairing’ these cells’ clock and restoring it to its normal functioning. In these conditions, tumor growth drops nearly in half.”

Smart threads for in vitro and in vivo diagnostics

Nice.

A suite of flexible and biocompatible threads, embedded with sensors and electronics, can be sutured/woven into tissue for in situ measurements of physical and chemical biomarkers.

Real-time monitoring of chronic or surgical wounds for signs of infection or inflammation can drastically improve the health outcomes from these issues. Such monitoring requires that sensors be embedded deep within the tissue. In addition, the acquired information needs to be communicated to the doctor/caregiver so that patient-specific treatments can be optimized. Although recent miniaturization of sensors, as well as the fabrication of smart materials, has allowed the development of the necessary devices (e.g., electrocardiogram electrodes, temperature sensors, pH sensors, and flexible batteries) to continuously monitor a patient’s health status,1–5 there are still several challenges that need to be overcome. Such problems include the mismatch between mechanical and topographical properties of semiconductor-based electronics and biological tissues, as well as flexibility and biocompatibility issues.

Inkjet-printable stretchy circuits could lead to huge e-wallpaper screens

When and if that hurdle is overcome, the researchers say that the easily-fabricated stretchy technology could begin to find commercial applications, in devices like rubbery wrist-worn health trackers, deformable tablets and electronic wallpaper that can make huge screens out of entire walls.

“We have created a new technology that is not yet available,” says Wang. “And we have taken it one big step beyond the flexible screens that are about to become commercially available.”

The research was published in the journal ACS Nano.

The Biotechnological Wild West: The Good, the Bad, and the Underknown of Synthetic Biology

While the recent cases of Ebola and Zika contributed to an emphasis on research, response, and policy related to EIDs, the meeting also had presentations on emerging biotechnologies. Of particular note was the Synthetic Biology panel, which focused on the current state of synthetic biology, its use in the health security defense enterprise, and the policy conundrums that need to be addressed.

Synthetic Biology – Complexity through Simplification

The first presenter, Dr. Christopher Voigt of the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT, noted that synthetic biology was the application of engineering principles to biological systems. The end goal of this bioengineering framework is to leverage ever-increasing computer capabilities to simplify both the designing and writing of genomic sequences. Further simplification would then allow for the creation of more complex systems.

The Island of Dr. Moreau For Real

By Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, Medical Discovery News

H.G. Wells was a writer of fantastic science fiction during the 1890s. He is considered one of the fathers of science fiction and wrote novels whose stories remain popular today. He wrote about time travel in “The Time Machine”, about interplanetary conflict originally made popular by the Orson Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” and in “The Island of Dr. Moreau” he described beings that were part human and part animal. Two of the three remain pure science fiction but one is on the verge of becoming a reality. Do you know which one?

In August, 2016, the National Institutes of Health announced that it was lifting its ban on research that introduces stem cells from humans into animal embryos. Stem cells have the ability to evolve into any human cell and can grow into any human tissue. The goal of this type of research is to grow human tissues and eventually human replacement organs in animals. What an innovative way to improve upon transplantation medicine! But to realize this potential, we would create an organism that is part animal and part human! These hybrids are the stuff of ancient mythology. These mixtures of different animals are called chimeras after the mythical ancient Greek creature that was part lion, snake and goat. One goal of today’s research is to produce tissues and organs for experimentation that will improve our understanding of human disease. An alternative and longer term goal would be to produce organs directly for human transplantation.

Less is more: potential breakthrough for treating hypertension with ultra low-dose combinations

Synergy is very important in medicine and sometimes old drugs have unexpected results when combined with others. Here we have a quad therapy that has had great results with hypertension.

A small but clinically important trial of a new ultra-low dose four-in-one pill to treat high blood pressure has produced remarkable results.

Every patient on the pilot trial conducted by The George Institute for Global Health saw their blood pressure levels drop to normal levels in just four weeks.

Professor Clara Chow, of The George Institute, said the results published in The Lancet were exciting but larger trials were needed to see if these high rates could be maintained and repeated.