Page 134«..1020..133134135136..140150..»

Archive for the ‘Gene Therapy Research’ Category

Stem cells tested to repair damaged hearts

Dr. Aidan R. Raney performs a checkup on heart attack patient Mark Athens, 52, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla. Athens received a stem cell treatment to help his heart recover as part of a clinical trial to determine the treatments safety and effectiveness.

A new stem cell treatment may help heart attack patients do something once thought medically impossible regenerate dead heart muscle.

Scripps Health in La Jolla is one of three centers testing the therapy from Capricor, a Los Angeles biotech company. The cardiac stem cells are meant to boost the hearts natural ability to perform minor repairs. If it works, scars should shrink and functional heart muscle should grow.

Capricor gets the cells from donor hearts, grows them into the amount needed for treatment, then sends them to doctors taking part in what is called the Allstar trial. Doctors inject the cells into the coronary artery, where they are expected to migrate to the heart and encourage muscle regrowth.

The trial has successfully completed Phase 1, which mainly evaluates safety. On Dec. 17, Capricor said it had received permission to begin Phase 2, which will examine efficacy in about 300 patients who will get the treatment or a placebo. More information can be found at clinicaltrials.gov under the identifier NCT01458405.

The Allstar trial is funded with a $19.7 million disease team grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM, the states stem cell agency.

This is a highly significant announcement for us at CIRM as its the first time weve funded a therapy into a Phase 2 clinical trial, Chairman Jonathan Thomas said in a Dec. 23 statement.

About 600,000 Americans die of heart disease annually, making it the leading cause of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Even those surviving may be left permanently impaired, if the heart is severely damaged. These are the patients Capricor seeks to help.

Mark Athens received Capricors treatment on Sept. 25, about a month after having a moderate heart attack. The Encinitas resident was the last treated under Phase 1, said Scripps cardiologist Richard Schatz, who performed the procedure. It will take about six months to know whether the treatment worked, Schatz said.

Unlike many trials, Phase 1 was not placebo-controlled, so Athens knows he got the therapy. He appeared cheerful, smiling and bantering with his examining doctor during a Dec. 17 checkup at Scripps Green Hospital.

Go here to read the rest:
Stem cells tested to repair damaged hearts

Lang leads swim raising cancer-fighting funds

Jacqu Lang of Ridgefield was co-chair of Swim Across America, which recently donated $460,000 to Stamford-based Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, the nations only nonprofit dedicated exclusively to cell and gene therapies for cancer.

Swim Across America is a national nonprofit dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research.

Jacqu Lang

Ms. Lang, who co-chaired the Greenwich/Stamford swim for the seventh time, has been involved with the organization for more than 20 years as a participant, board member and fund-raiser.

I swam growing up, and this organization provided a wonderful way to take my love of swimming and do great things with it, she said.

Her sister, Janel Jorgensen McArdle, who also grew up in Ridgefield, has been the national executive director of Swim Across America since 2005 she was also a 1988 U.S. Olympic silver medalist.

She asked if I would mind helping out to launch a new swim, and here we are going into our eighth annual event having raised over $2 million for the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.

Nationally, Swim Across America raised more than $5 million in 2013.

The next Greenwich-Stamford swim is Saturday, June 21. See http://www.swimacrossamerica.org for details.

See original here:
Lang leads swim raising cancer-fighting funds

Research into axon degeneration hits a nerve

Research into axon degeneration hits a nerve

University of Queensland (UQ) researchers have made a significant discovery that could one day halt a number of neurodegenerative diseases.

Scientists at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) have identified a gene that protects against spontaneous, adult-onset progressive nerve degeneration.

Dr Massimo Hilliard said that the discovery of gene mec-17 causing axon (nerve fibre) degeneration could open the door to better understand the mechanisms of neuronal injury and neurodegenerative diseases characterised by axonal pathology, such as motor neuron disease, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and Huntingtons diseases.

This is an important step to fully understand how axonal degeneration occurs, and thus facilitates development of therapies to prevent or halt this damaging biological event, Dr Hilliard said.

Dr Hilliard runs a laboratory at QBI specialising in neuronal development, and focuses on how nerves both degenerate and regenerate.

The team found that mec-17 protects the neuron by stabilising its cytoskeletal structure, allowing proper transport of essential molecules and organelles, including mitochondria, throughout the axon.

This discovery has also the potential to accelerate the identification of human neurodegenerative conditions caused by mutations in genes similar to mec-17.

Its our hope that this could one day lead to more effective treatments for patients suffering from conditions causing neuronal degeneration, Dr Hilliard said.

This discovery highlights the axon as a major focal point for the health of the neuron.

Here is the original post:
Research into axon degeneration hits a nerve

Genesis Genetics Institute fertility lab leaves Detroit for Plymouth

A fast-growing Detroit fertility laboratory that became a world leader in the business of screening embryos for birth defects has left the city for Plymouth.

Genesis Genetics Institute moved its headquarters and 32 employees from the Samaritan Center on Detroits east side to an office complex on South Main Street in Plymouth. The company this week announced the relocation, which happened in October.

The company was founded in Detroit in 2003 by its CEO, Dr. Mark Hughes, a former professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and pioneer in a type of genetic diagnosis, which involves the screening of embryos for potential birth defects or disease prior to an in vitro fertilization procedure.

In an interview Thursday, Genesis Genetics Managing Director Tony Gordon said the company outgrew its Detroit lab and offices and now has twice the space. The Plymouth site also is closer to Detroit Metro Airport and Ann Arbor and is an easier location for recruiting employees, he said.

Detroits a great city and it was a great location, but it was getting a little bit difficult to attract staff and things like that where we were, Gordon said in phone call from London, where Genesis Genetics has one of its eight branch laboratories.

In the news release announcing the move, Gordon said Genesis Genetics sought a location that would be inspirational for its workforce. The company did not receive any tax breaks or relocation incentives for the Plymouth move.

Our mission is to help couples build healthy families, he said. Plymouth is a quintessential American family town with concerts in the park, a multitude of family festivals, events and parades, and a bustling downtown replete with couples with young families. It just made sense.

Gordon said the company outgrew its lab space in the Samaritan Center and cited security concerns as another issue. The company considered other locations in Detroit, but did not find a suitable one.

Genesis Genetics is considered a world leader in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and provides services to about 3,000 to 4,000 families a year.

It employs more than 100 researchers and staff in Michigan, Arizona, Argentina, Brazil, Jordan, South Africa, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Originally posted here:
Genesis Genetics Institute fertility lab leaves Detroit for Plymouth

Stem cell gene therapy shows promise for treating ‘devastating’ skin diseases

Washington, Dec 27 : Researchers evaluated a patient with a genetic skin disorder known as epidermolysis bullosa (EB) nearly seven years after he had undergone a gene therapy procedure as part of a clinical trial.

They found that a small number of skin stem cells transplanted into the patient's legs were sufficient to restore normal skin function, without causing any adverse side effects.

To evaluate stem cell-based gene therapy as a potential treatment, Senior study author Michele De Luca of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and his colleagues previously launched a phase I/II clinical trial at the University of Modena and recruited an EB patient named Claudio.

The researchers took skin stem cells from Claudio's palm, corrected the genetic defect in these cells, and then transplanted them into Claudio's upper legs.

In the new study, De Luca and his team found that this treatment resulted in long-term restoration of normal skin function. Nearly seven years later, Claudio's upper legs looked normal and did not show signs of blisters, and there was no evidence of tumour development. Remarkably, a small number of transplanted stem cells was sufficient for long-lasting skin regeneration. Even though Claudio's skin had undergone about 80 cycles of renewal during this time period, the transplanted stem cells still retained molecular features of palm skin cells and did not adopt features of leg skin cells.

The study is published in journal Stem Cell Reports.

--ANI (Posted on 27-12-2013)

<< Previous News

Next News >>

View post:
Stem cell gene therapy shows promise for treating 'devastating' skin diseases

Revolutionary Skin Cell Therapy – Video


Revolutionary Skin Cell Therapy
My First Project.

By: Luisa Solley

View post:
Revolutionary Skin Cell Therapy - Video

Latin Americans inherited diabetes gene risk from Neanderthals

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Neanderthals may have passed down a gene variant to Latin Americans, putting them at a high risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

The largest genome-wide association study involving more than 8,000 Mexicans and other Latin Americans studied many genes in individuals and tried to find links to certain traits.

The high risk gene called SLC16A11 has been found in around half of those with recent Native American ancestry, including Latin Americans. The variant was also found in 20 percent of East Asians, but was rare in Europe and Africa.

"To date, genetic studies have largely used samples from people of European or Asian ancestry, which makes it possible to miss culprit genes that are altered at different frequencies in other populations," said co-author Jose Florez, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.

According to Florez, by expanding the scope of research to look at Latin American samples they have found the strongest genetic risk factor discovered to date, which accounts for 20 percent of that population's increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

Earlier research has shown that Neanderthals interbred with modern humans nearly 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, and researchers believe this is how SLC16A11 was introduced.

Altering the levels of SLC16A11 protein can change the amount of a fat that has been involved in the risk of diabetes. The study, published in the journal Nature, suggests that the SLC16A11 could be involved in the transport of an unknown metabolite the affects the fat level in cells.

[BBC] [Nature]

See original here:
Latin Americans inherited diabetes gene risk from Neanderthals

New Diabetes-Related Genetic Risk Factor Discovered

December 26, 2013

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

A previously undetected genetic risk factor could help explain why there is an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes among Mexican and other Latin American populations, according to a new study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

In the study, an international team of researchers known as the SIGMA (Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas) Type 2 Diabetes Consortium performed the largest genetic study to date in people of Mexican and Mexican-American descent. They discovered that people who had the higher-risk version of the gene SLC16A11 could be 25 percent more likely to have diabetes than those lacking said gene.

Furthermore, individuals who inherit copies from both patents are 50 percent more likely to have diabetes. The higher-risk version has been found in up to half of people with recent Native American ancestry (including Latin Americans) as well as 20 percent of East Asians, and elevated frequency of SLC16A11 in Latin American could account for up to one-fifth of the populations increased prevalence of diabetes, the authors explained.

To date, genetic studies have largely used samples from people of European or Asian ancestry, which makes it possible to miss culprit genes that are altered at different frequencies in other populations, said co-corresponding author Jos Florez, an assistant physician in the Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Unit. By expanding our search to include samples from Mexico and Latin America, weve found one of the strongest genetic risk factors discovered to date, which could illuminate new pathways to target with drugs and a deeper understanding of the disease.

In addition to validating the relevance to Mexico of already known genetic risk factors, we discovered a major new risk factor that is much more common in Latin American populations than in other populations around the world, added Teresa Tusie-Luna, principal investigator at the National University of Mexicos Biomedical Research Institute. We are already using this information to design new studies that aim to understand how this variant influences metabolism and disease, with the hope of eventually developing improved risk assessment and possibly therapy.

According to BBC News Science Editor Paul Rincon, the SLC16A11 sequence discovered by the SIGMA team was found in a recently sequenced Neanderthal genome originating from Denisova cave in Siberia. That would suggest, he explained, that the gene variant might have been inherited by the ancient, now-extinct species of early human.

This marks the first time that SLC16A11, which belongs to a family of genes that code for proteins that transport metabolites, has been identified as factoring into a human disease. As such, the researchers said that little information was previously available about its function. The study authors report that SLC16A11 is expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum, a cellular structure located within the liver.

Furthermore, the SIGMA investigators went on to demonstrate that altering levels of the protein could change the amount of a type of fat that had previously been implicated in the risk of diabetes. That discovery led the team to hypothesize that SLC16A11 could be involved in the transport of an unknown metabolite a metabolite which affects fat levels in cells, resulting in an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

View post:
New Diabetes-Related Genetic Risk Factor Discovered

Which rule to use in order to solve a genetics probability problem? – Video


Which rule to use in order to solve a genetics probability problem?
Probability Basics Probabilities are mathematical measures of likelihood. The empirical probability of an event is calculated by dividing the number of times...

By: GeneticsLessons

Go here to read the rest:
Which rule to use in order to solve a genetics probability problem? - Video

DNA Genetics Seeds @ Cannafest 2013 Prague / Praha – Video


DNA Genetics Seeds @ Cannafest 2013 Prague / Praha
Herbies Seeds Interview with Don of DNA Genetics Seeds @ Cannafest 2013 in Prague / Praha Czech Republic Buy DNA Genetics Seeds http://www.herbiesheadshop.co...

By: Herbies Seeds

Visit link:
DNA Genetics Seeds @ Cannafest 2013 Prague / Praha - Video

DNA Genetics / Big Buddha / True Canna Genetics Seminar PART 1 Cannabis Cup 2013 Amsterdam – Video


DNA Genetics / Big Buddha / True Canna Genetics Seminar PART 1 Cannabis Cup 2013 Amsterdam
http://andrew.pyrah.net Thanks for watching! COMMENT and LIKE if you enjoyed the video and SUBSCRIBE to see my new videos as they are released. This video is...

By: Andrew Pyrah

Read the original:
DNA Genetics / Big Buddha / True Canna Genetics Seminar PART 1 Cannabis Cup 2013 Amsterdam - Video

Minecraft FTB – Big Bee Project – Part 11 – Eldritch Bee Genetics, getting ready for next species – Video


Minecraft FTB - Big Bee Project - Part 11 - Eldritch Bee Genetics, getting ready for next species
We are going to set up one of the biggest bee projects known to minecraft! watch and enjoy!! watch, enjoy, subscribe, like and await the rest 😉 Add me on twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/weirdhans...

By: Weirdhans

More:
Minecraft FTB - Big Bee Project - Part 11 - Eldritch Bee Genetics, getting ready for next species - Video

Interpreting Technical Material Genetics – Video


Interpreting Technical Material Genetics

By: GU RIEC

Go here to see the original:
Interpreting Technical Material Genetics - Video

Neurotrophin Gene Therapy for Repair of the Injured Spinal Cord – Video


Neurotrophin Gene Therapy for Repair of the Injured Spinal Cord
George M. Smith, PhD | Shriners Hospitals Pediatric Research Center and Temple University 2013 Rare Neuro-Immunologic Disorders Symposium Repair and Recovery, Today and in the Future | October...

By: transversemyelitis

Read the original here:
Neurotrophin Gene Therapy for Repair of the Injured Spinal Cord - Video

New genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes revealed

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Dec-2013

Contact: Nicole Davis ndavis@broadinstitute.org 617-714-7152 Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Cambridge and Boston, MA; Los Angeles, CA; Mexico City, Mexico. Wed. December 25, 2013 An international team of researchers in Mexico and the United States has uncovered a new genetic clue that contributes to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, particularly the elevated risk among Mexican and other Latin American populations.

The team, known as the SIGMA (Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas) Type 2 Diabetes Consortium, performed the largest genetic study to date in Mexican and Mexican American populations, discovering a risk gene for type 2 diabetes that had gone undetected in previous efforts. People who carry the higher risk version of the gene are 25 percent more likely to have diabetes than those who do not, and people who inherited copies from both parents are 50 percent more likely to have diabetes. The higher risk form of the gene has been found in up to half of people who have recent Native American ancestry, including Latin Americans. The variant is found in about 20 percent of East Asians and is rare in populations from Europe and Africa.

The elevated frequency of this risk gene in Latin Americans could account for as much as 20 percent of the populations' increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes the origins of which are not well understood.

"To date, genetic studies have largely used samples from people of European or Asian ancestry, which makes it possible to miss culprit genes that are altered at different frequencies in other populations," said co-corresponding author Jos Florez, a Broad associate member, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Physician in the Diabetes Unit and the Center for Human Genetic Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital. "By expanding our search to include samples from Mexico and Latin America, we've found one of the strongest genetic risk factors discovered to date, which could illuminate new pathways to target with drugs and a deeper understanding of the disease."

A description of the discovery of the newly implicated gene named SLC16A11 and the consortium's efforts to characterize it, appear online in Nature December 25.

"We conducted the largest and most comprehensive genomic study of type 2 diabetes in Mexican populations to date. In addition to validating the relevance to Mexico of already known genetic risk factors, we discovered a major new risk factor that is much more common in Latin American populations than in other populations around the world. We are already using this information to design new studies that aim to understand how this variant influences metabolism and disease, with the hope of eventually developing improved risk assessment and possibly therapy," said Teresa Tusie-Luna, project leader at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Mdicas y Nutricin Salvador Zubirn and principal investigator at the Biomedical Research Institute, National University of Mexico.

This work was conducted as part of the Slim Initiative for Genomic Medicine for the Americas (SIGMA), a joint U.S.-Mexico project funded by the Carlos Slim Foundation through the Carlos Slim Health Institute. SIGMA focuses on several key diseases with particular relevance to public health in Mexico and Latin America, including type 2 diabetes and cancer. The current paper is the team's first report on type 2 diabetes.

Visit link:
New genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes revealed

Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Failed Knee Surgery – Video


Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Failed Knee Surgery
Even if knee surgery is successful, you may still be suffering from pain. Learn how biologic regenerative treatments can help complete the healing cycle afte...

By: StemCell ARTS

Read this article:
Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Failed Knee Surgery - Video

Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Regenerative Therapy Options – Video


Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Regenerative Therapy Options
When suffering from knee pain, Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma and Stem Cell Therapy offer new hope. Each treatment can help your knee to heal, where surg...

By: StemCell ARTS

Continued here:
Stem Cell Therapy: Knee Pain, Regenerative Therapy Options - Video

Stem Cell Therapy: Achilles Tendonitis – Video


Stem Cell Therapy: Achilles Tendonitis
Understand how this debilitating condition affects runners, and how biologic regenerative treatments go beyond physical therapy and very severe surgical opti...

By: StemCell ARTS

Read more:
Stem Cell Therapy: Achilles Tendonitis - Video

Combination of cell transplantation and gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Dec-2013

Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research

In a recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 33, 2013), Prof. Feng Li and team from Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University in China, synthesized a 19-nt oligonucleotide targeting BACE1, the key enzyme in amyloid beta protein (A) production, and introduced it into the pSilenCircle vector to construct a short hairpin (shRNA) expression plasmid against the BACE1 gene. Researhcers transfected this vector into C17.2 neural stem cells and primary neural stem cells, resulting in downregulation of the BACE1 gene, which in turn induced a considerable reduction in reducing A protein production. This technique combining cell transplantation and gene therapy will open up novel therapeutic avenues for Alzheimer's disease, particularly because it can be used to simultaneously target several pathogenetic changes in the disease.

###

Article: " Targeting -secretase with RNAi in neural stem cells for Alzheimer's disease therapy " by Zhonghua Liu, Shengliang Li, Zibin Liang, Yan Zhao, Yulin Zhang, Yaqi Yang, Minjuan Wang, Feng Li (Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China)

Liu ZH, Li SL, Liang ZB, Zhao Y, Zhang YL, Yang YQ, Wang MJ, Li F. Targeting -secretase with RNAi in neural stem cells for Alzheimer's disease therapy. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(33):3095-3106.

Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research http://www.nrronline.org/

Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=783

Read more from the original source:
Combination of cell transplantation and gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease

Gene That Influences Bonding Also Found To Impact Facial Recognition

December 24, 2013

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

The same gene that influences bonding between mothers and their infant children, as well as the attachment between partners in a monogamous relationship, could also be involved in the ability to remember faces.

The gene in question is the oxytocin receptor, a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family which receives chemical signals from the hormone and neurotransmitter oxytocin. The receptors modulate a variety of behaviors, including stress, anxiety, bonding, maternal behavior, social memory and recognition.

In a study scheduled to appear in an online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that the discovery could help diagnose and treat autism spectrum disorder and other conditions in which a persons ability to process social information is adversely affected.

In addition, the authors report that the findings could also help experts develop new methods of improving social cognition skills in patients suffering from serious psychiatric disorders. Researchers from Emory University, University College London and the University of Tampere in Finland were involved in the research.

According to author Dr. Larry Young of the Emory University School of Medicine and Center for Translational Social Neuroscience (CTSN), this is the first paper to demonstrate that variation in the oxytocin receptor gene has an impact on an individuals facial recognition skill.

He and his colleagues stated that while oxytocin plays an important role in promoting our ability to recognize one another about one-third of the population possesses only the genetic variant that negatively impacts that ability, the university said in a statement. They say this finding may help explain why a few people remember almost everyone they have met while others have difficulty recognizing members of their own family.

Dr. Youngs team analyzed 198 families with one autistic child, as those families had previously been found to demonstrate a wide range of variability when it came to the ability to recognize faces. Approximately 66 percent of the families hailed from the UK, while the rest of them resided in Finland, the university said.

Previously, researchers from Emory University discovered that the oxytocin receptor played a vital role in olfactory-based social recognition in rodents. While attempting to discern whether or not the same gene played a similar role in people, they looked at how subtle differences in the structure of the receptor gene impacted facial memory skills in parents, autistic children and their non-autistic brothers and sisters.

View original post here:
Gene That Influences Bonding Also Found To Impact Facial Recognition

Beware accuracy of mail-in genetic tests

The Perfect 46 is a coming movie in which people are routinely tested to find an ideal genetic partner with whom to create a child. In the real world, things are almost as far-out. Some companies can screen and alert you to DNA variants that might combine with your partner's to produce an offspring with a rare, single-gene disease, such as cystic fibrosis. Others look for genetic indications that you could develop a disease down the road, so you can make decisions about prevention or medical treatment.

But there are lots of questions about how reliable these mail-in-a-vial-of-blood-or-saliva genetic tests are. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered one big-buzz company to stop shipping its $99 spit kit. Seems the company can't prove the accuracy of its tests for 254 genetic problems and was suggesting what people might do with test results. That could have devastating consequences. For example, a false-positive result for a high-risk gene-linked condition such breast cancer might lead a woman to have a mastectomy when she didn't really need to consider having one.

So whether you're curious about your genome or you have a family history of a disorder that you want to avoid passing on to your children, get tested only if advised by a doctor whos trained in genetic medicine and have a second test done to confirm results. These tests will get more accurate, but they arent there yet.

A real fountain of youth is inside you: the sweat that comes from physical activity. A new eight-year study looked at 3,500 folks around age 65: Those whod always gotten moderate or vigorous exercise were seven times more likely to have healthy aging; even those who didnt exercise until they were already old tripled their chances of a healthy old age. When you're sweatin and smilin, dementia and depression, as well as heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes, just happen less often.

The two keys to keeping active or to getting movin as you age: Having a group or partner to do it with, and finding an activity you enjoy. So sign up for a group class at the gym or get a workout buddy or online coach to support you. And experiment with walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, yoga and strength-building or flexibility exercises to see what sustains your interest. Then sweat it out for at least 30 minutes daily! P.S. You cut the risk of stroke 20 percent by sweating four times a week.

Nothing about 3-D ever has been as life-changing as the way 3-D in mammograms can see breast tissue. Digital breast tomosynthesis, the name for these high-tech trouble-spotters, can identify 22 percent more cancers and avoid many false-positives (and unnecessary biopsies, particularly among women with dense breast tissue and younger women) that result from use of conventional digital mammogram machines.

And theyre potentially lifesaving for people with a family history of BRCA-2 breast cancer. New information reveals that family members who test BRCA-2-free are still at a much-increased risk of breast cancer, compared with folks with who have no family history of BRCA-2. For them, mammograms need to be as accurate as possible, every time, and 3-D images are just that.

Other people who might be grateful for the imaging power of tomosynthesis? Anyone with high LDL cholesterol is at increased risk for estrogen-dependent breast cancer (about 75 percent of breast cancers). Thats because a byproduct of cholesterol acts like estrogen in the body, making folks with high cholesterol more vulnerable. Regular 3-D screenings can catch breast cancer at its earliest and most curable stage.

Bonus tip: If you have elevated LDL, taking a cholesterol-lowering statin and aspirin are smart ways to reduce breast-cancer risk; statins reduce the estrogen-like powers of that cholesterol byproduct, and a daily aspirin cuts the risk by 40 percent.

Want to bring a little good cheer into a friend's life for various occasions scattered over the New Year? (Not a bad resolution.) Heres our list of eight mini-gifts that will make everyone healthier and happier (including you, because giving is a great feeling).

Continue reading here:
Beware accuracy of mail-in genetic tests

Gene Therapy Method Targets Tumor Blood Vessels

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report developing a gene delivery method long sought in the field of gene therapy: a deactivated virus carrying a gene of interest that can be injected into the bloodstream and make its way to the right cells.

In this early proof-of-concept study, the scientists have shown that they can target tumor blood vessels in mice without affecting healthy tissues.

Most current gene therapies in humans involve taking cells out of the body, modifying them and putting them back in, said David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, distinguished professor of radiation oncology. This limits gene therapy to conditions affecting tissues like the blood or bone marrow that can be removed, treated and returned to the patient. Today, even after 30 years of research, we cant inject a viral vector to deliver a gene and have it go to the right place.

But now, investigators at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine say they have designed a targetable injectable vector a deactivated virus that homes in on the inner lining of tumor blood vessels and does not get stuck in the liver, a problem that has plagued past attempts.

The findings are reported Dec. 23 in PLOS ONE.

Building on their own previous work and others, the researchers engineered this viral vector to turn on its gene payload only in the abnormal blood vessels that help fuel and nurture tumor growth. But unlike most therapies aimed at tumor vasculature, the goal is not to destroy the cancers blood supply.

We dont want to kill tumor vessels, said senior author Jeffrey M. Arbeit, MD, professor of urologic surgery and of cell biology and physiology. We want to hijack them and turn them into factories for producing molecules that alter the tumor microenvironment so that it no longer nurtures the tumor. This could stop the tumor growth itself or cooperate with standard chemotherapy and radiation to make them more effective. One advantage of this strategy is that it could be applied to nearly all of the most common cancers affecting patients.

In theory, Arbeit pointed out, this approach could be applied to diseases other than cancer in which the blood vessels are abnormal, including conditions like Alzheimers disease, multiple sclerosis or heart failure.

Read the original here:
Gene Therapy Method Targets Tumor Blood Vessels

Stem cell therapy in India for Avascular Necrosis – Video


Stem cell therapy in India for Avascular Necrosis

By: StemRx BioScience

Read more from the original source:
Stem cell therapy in India for Avascular Necrosis - Video

Adult Stem Cell Therapy | Orthopedic Stem Cell Institute

Our state-of- the- art Orthopedic Stem Cell Institute, at the base of the breathtaking Rocky Mountains, in Johnstown, Colorado, uses our own developing research to provide adult stem cell therapies promoting natural healing. We offer two revolutionary non-invasive treatments, Stem Cell therapy and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), which are transforming the lives of athletes and everyday people suffering with Spine and Orthopedic injuries caused by aging and degeneration. Dr. Kenneth Pettine, a world renowned spine surgeon and a pioneer in spinal stem cell therapy opened OSCI for patients seeking possible alternatives to surgery. Pettine and his staff treat patients from around the world, using the newest and most advanced technology to treat a number of conditions, including:knees, hips, spine, shoulders, feet and ankles, and other joints. Our adult stem cell therapyprocedureuses adult mesenchymal, multipotent stem cells taken from a patients own bone marrow and then injected back into the same patient into the injured, damaged, or painful area. For patients in Colorado or anywhere in the United States, we can help.About Adult Stem Cell Therapy

Continue reading here:
Adult Stem Cell Therapy | Orthopedic Stem Cell Institute

West Coast Stem Cell Clinic, TeleHealth, Now Offering PRP Therapy for Hip Arthritis Treatment

Orange County, California (PRWEB) December 23, 2013

The top stem cell therapy clinic in California, TeleHealth, is now offering PRP therapy for hip arthritis. The treatments are often able to delay or avoid the need for joint replacement, and are administered by Board Certified doctors at two clinic locations. Call (888) 828-4575 for more information and scheduling.

Tens of millions of Americans suffer from hip arthritis, and hundreds of thousands of hip replacements are performed every year. Nonoperative treatments prior to joint replacement often consist of steroid injections for pain relief. While the joint replacement typically has excellent pain relief outcomes, there are risks involved and sometimes the eventual need for a revision procedure.

Therefore, a procedure that offers pain relief while offering the potential for joint repair is a welcome option in hip arthritis management. TeleHealth is now offering platelet rich plasma therapy, known as PRP therapy for short, to provide pain relief and potential joint regeneration. The procedure involves a simple blood draw at the office, with the blood then being spun down in a centrifuge to obtain a solution of concentrated platelets and growth factors.

The PRP is then injected into the symptomatic hip, providing an immense amount of regenerative medicine to the arthritic joint. The material then calls in the body's stem cells as well. Published studies on PRP for joint arthritis have so far shown excellent results for pain relief.

Often times, PRP therapy at TeleHealth is covered by insurance. Verification by the clinic is able to check prior to the procedure. Patients are seen from all over Southern California for treatment of hip, knee and shoulder arthritis along with tendonitis and ligament injury. This often includes athletes, weekend warriors, executives, senior citizens and more.

To receive further information on stem cell and PRP therapy for joint arthritis or soft tissue injury, call (888) 828-4575.

Excerpt from:
West Coast Stem Cell Clinic, TeleHealth, Now Offering PRP Therapy for Hip Arthritis Treatment

Archives