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According to Persistence Market Researchs new report, globalmale hypogonadism marketis slated to exhibit a steady expansion throughout the forecast period (2017-2026). Revenues from the global market for male hypogonadism are estimated to exceed US$ 3,300 Mn by 2026-end.

Governments Taking Initiatives to Spread Awareness about Male Hypogonadism Therapeutics

Lack of sex hormones, usually referred to as male hypogonadism has resulted into many health risks that include osteoporosis, heart disease, and cardiovascular diseases on the back of thinning of bones. Global male hypogonadism market comprises several patented brands that currently have high market penetration. Proliferation in geriatric population in tandem with rising incidences related to rheumatoid arthritis and obesity have been primary factors affecting prevalence of male hypogonadism globally.

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Mounting incidences of testosterone deficiency in male population is a key factor that prevalence of male hypogonadism has surged worldwide. Several governments around the world have been taking initiatives to spread the awareness on hypogonadism treatment procedures, for example testosterone replacement therapy (TST), in order to relieve the painful burden on patients and their families.

As low testosterone levels are increasingly associated with exacerbation of chronic conditions, it further results into disorders apropos to hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Advent of TST has however enabled reduction in cases of male hypogonadism considerably. With growing awareness related to its treatment among patients, the market is likely to gain an uptick during the forecast period.

Rising availability of the selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) has further sustained the market expansion. The development and high availability of SARMs has led toward the provision of improved treatment procedure to patients having androgen deficiencies, thereby influencing the market growth.

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North America will continue to Dominate Global Male Hypogonadism Market

North America will continue to dominate the global male hypogonadism market, with more than one-third revenue share during the forecast period. In addition, revenues from the male hypogonadism market in North America will exhibit the fastest expansion through 2026, as compared to those from all the other regional segments comprised in the report. Europe and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) are also expected to remain lucrative for the male hypogonadism market. The market in APEJ will ride on a slightly higher CAGR than that in Europe through 2026.

Topical gels are expected to remain the most lucrative among drugs available for treatment of male hypogonadism globally, with sales projected to register the fastest expansion through 2026. Injectables will also remain a major revenue contributor to the market. Sales of injectable and transdermal patches are poised to reflect an equal CAGR through 2026.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy to Remain Preferred among Patients

Based on therapy, testosterone replacement therapy is expected to remain preferred among patients with male hypogonadism worldwide. Roughly 66% revenue share of the market is expected to be held by revenues from testosterone replacement therapy by 2026-end. Revenues from gonadotropin replacement therapy will remain slightly more than half revenues gained from testosterone replacement therapy throughout the forecast period.

Klinefelters syndrome is expected to remain the most prevalent disease type observed in the male hypogonadism market, and revenues from treatment of this disease will exceed US$ 1,800 Mn by 2026-end. Kallmann Syndrome and Pituitary Adenomas among disease types will also account for major revenue shares of the market by 2026-end.

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The Male Hypogonadism Market To Witness An Escalating CAGR Of 3.7% - NeighborWebSJ

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Market report provides a holistic evaluation of the market for the forecast period (20192025). The report comprises various segments as well as an analysis of the trends and factors that are playing a substantial role in the market. These factors; the market dynamics involve the drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges through which the impact of these factors in the market are outlined. The drivers and restraints are intrinsic factors whereas opportunities and challenges are extrinsic factors of the market. The Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Market study provides an outlook on the development of the market in terms of revenue throughout the prognosis period.

In order to present an executive-level model of the market and its future perspectives, the Androgen Replacement Therapy Market report presents a clear segmentation based on different parameters. The factors that affect these segments are also discussed in detail in the report.

Androgen replacement therapy (ART), often referred to as testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), is a form of hormone therapy, in which androgens, often testosterone, are replaced. ART is often prescribed to counter the effects of male hypogonadism. It typically involves the administration of testosterone through injections, skin creams, patches, gels, or subcutaneous pellets. Testosterone replacement therapy is a promising technology for improving symptoms of hypogonadism and to raise the testosterone level. Furthermore, benefits related to application of testosterone replacement therapy include an increase in muscle tissue, overall surge in energy, and significant decrease in depression symptoms.

Major Players included in this report are as follows AbbVie, Inc., Allergan Plc, Bayer AG, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Kyowa Kirin International Plc, Mylan N.V., Novartis International AG, Pfizer, Inc., Clarus Therapeutics, Ferring Holding SA, Perrigo Company Plc, Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Bausch Health Companies Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Par Pharmaceutical.

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Androgen Replacement Therapy Market: Regional analysis includes:

The study will also feature the key companies operating in the industry, their product/business portfolio, market share, financial status, regional share, segment revenue, SWOT analysis, key strategies including mergers & acquisitions, product developments, joint ventures & partnerships an expansions among others, and their latest news as well. The study will also provide a list of emerging players in the Androgen Replacement Therapy Market.

Androgen Replacement Therapy Market scope

A basic summary of the competitive landscape A detailed breakdown of the regional expanse A short overview of the segmentation

Furthermore, this study will help our clients solve the following issues:

Cyclical dynamics We foresee dynamics of industries by using core analytical and unconventional market research approaches. Our clients use insights provided by us to maneuver themselves through market uncertainties and disruptions.

Identifying key cannibalizes Strong substitute of a product or service is the most prominent threat. Our clients can identify key cannibalizes of a market, by procuring our research. This helps them in aligning their new product development/launch strategies in advance.

Spotting emerging trends Our Ecosystem offering helps the client to spot upcoming hot market trends. We also track possible impact and disruptions which a market would witness by a particular emerging trend. Our proactive analysis helps clients to have an early mover advantage.

Interrelated opportunities This report will allow clients to make decisions based on data, thereby increasing the chances that the strategies will perform better if not best in the real world.

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Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers:

Androgen Replacement Therapy Regional Market Analysis

Androgen Replacement Therapy Production by Regions Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Production by Regions Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Revenue by Regions Androgen Replacement Therapy Consumption by Regions

Androgen Replacement Therapy Segment Market Analysis (by Type)

Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Production by Type Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Revenue by Type Androgen Replacement Therapy Price by Type

Androgen Replacement Therapy Segment Market Analysis (by Application)

Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Consumption by Application Global Androgen Replacement Therapy Consumption Market Share by Application (2014-2019)

Androgen Replacement Therapy Major Manufacturers Analysis

Androgen Replacement Therapy Production Sites and Area Served Product Introduction, Application and Specification Androgen Replacement Therapy Production, Revenue, Ex-factory Price and Gross Margin (2014-2019)Main Business and Markets Served

Key questions answered in the report:

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Key Benefits

Major countries in each region are mapped according to individual market revenue. Comprehensive analysis of factors that drive and restrict market growth is provided. The report includes an in-depth analysis of current research and clinical developments within the market. Key players and their key developments in recent years are listed.And More.

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Androgen Replacement Therapy Market to Witness Robust Expansion throughout the Forecast Period 2017-2026 | AbbVie, Inc., Allergan Plc, Bayer AG, Endo...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Pune, India, Jan. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global COVID-19 diagnostics market size is projected to reach USD 11.40 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period. Uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus worldwide will be the major factor propelling the growth of this market, shares Fortune Business Insights in its report. According to Johns Hopkins University, global COVID-19 infections reached 100,000 in just 60 days, growing to 200,000 in the next 12-14 days, and the recent addition of 100,000 cases has taken only 3 days. The calculation of the spread of this disease is based on the estimation of the reproduction number or R Naught (Ro).

The UK Research and Innovation organization states that if the Ro goes above 1, exponential growth will be witnessed. As per a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine based on the virus transmission rate in Wuhan, the Ro was computed to be between 2.49 and 2.63. Such rapid transmission of the virus has surged the demand for coronavirus diagnostics tools and kits, which is boosting the growth of this market.

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Concerted Efforts towards Developing COVID Detection Tests to Accelerate Growth

With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of abatement, medical and regulatory bodies are collaborating to encourage innovation and speed up research in developing coronavirus detection tools. For instance, in April 2020, the National Institutes of Health in the US announced the launch of Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative with a funding of USD 1.5 billion to commercialize and widen the accessibility of COVID-19 testing.

Similarly, in June 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) joined the COVID-19 Diagnostics Evidence Accelerator created by the Friends of Cancer Research and Reagan-Udall Foundation with the aim to evaluate the performance of PCR and antibody tests for COVID. Together, these and similar initiatives are expected to augment the COVID-19 diagnostics market growth throughout 2020.

Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market.

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High Number of COVID-19 Cases to Give North America Leading Market Position

The United States is one of the worst-hit countries in the world by the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of cases as of June 2020 standing at 2.68 million and 129,000 deaths. In response, the US government is injecting more funds into medical research facilities to accelerate development of COVID-19 diagnostics and widen the testing net in the country. The regions market size in 2019 stood at USD 2.17 billion.

In Europe, the virus is spreading at a furious pace, with the UK, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany having the highest number of cases. Quick adoption of advanced detection tools in the region will enable it to expand its footprint in the COVID-19 diagnostics market share in the immediate future. Heavy investments by governments in Asia Pacific in the healthcare sector are expected to favor market growth in the region.

Regulatory Support to Novel Diagnostic Solutions to Encourage Innovation

The coronavirus is tightening its hold on the world and pharmaceuticals and governments are in a race against time to develop and launch quick and accurate diagnostic tests for this deadly virus. As a result, bodies such as the FDA are providing the necessary support to companies by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers, which is encouraging other players to innovate.

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Industry Developments:

List of Key Players Covered in this Market Report:

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Table of Contents:

TOC Continued.!

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Market Segmentations:

By Product

Instruments

Reagents & Kits

By Technology

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

Point-of-care (POC)

Others

By Sample Type

Oropharyngeal & Nasopharyngeal Swabs

Blood

Urine

Others

By End User

Hospital & Clinics

Laboratories & Diagnostics Centers

Research Institutes

By Geography

North America (U.S. and Canada)

Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Rest of Asia Pacific)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America)

The Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC, and Rest of the Middle East & Africa)

SECONDARY RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED TO DERIVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

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Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Market Share & Industry Analysis, By Therapy Type (Estrogen and Combinations Replacement Therapy, Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy, Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy), By Indication (Menopause, Hypothyroidism, Male Hypogonadism, and Growth Hormone Deficiency), By Route of Administration (Oral, Transdermal, and Parenteral), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

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Global COVID-19 Diagnostics Market Size Worth USD 11.40 Billion at 7.9% CAGR; Pharmaceutical Giants Such as Abbott and Roche to Pump More Funds for...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Their eyes met across the rugged mountain landscape of prehistoric Romania.

He was a Neanderthal, and stark naked apart from a fur cape. He had good posture and pale skin, perhaps reddened slightly with sunburn. Around one of his thick, muscular biceps he wore bracelet of eagle-talons. She was an early modern human, clad in an animal-skin coat with a wolf-fur trim. She had dark skin, long legs, and her hair was worn in braids.

He cleared his throat, looked her up and down, and in an absurdly high-pitched, nasal voice deployed his best chat-up line. She stared back blankly. Luckily for him, they didnt speak the same language. They had an awkward laugh and, well, we can all guess what happened next.

Of course, it could have been far less like a scene from a steamy romance novel. Perhaps the woman was actually the Neanderthal and the man belonged to our own species. Maybe their relationship was of the casual, pragmatic kind, because there just werent many people around at the time. Its even been suggested, too, that such hook-ups werent consensual.

While we will never know what really happened in this encounter or others like it what we can be sure of is that such a couple did get together. Around 37,000-42,000 years later, in February 2002, two explorers made an extraordinary discovery in an underground cave system in the southwestern Carpathian mountains, near the Romanian town of Anina.

Even getting there was no easy task. First they waded neck-deep in an underground river for 200m (656ft). Then came a scuba dive for 30m (98ft) along an underwater passage, followed by a 300-metre (984ft) ascent up to the poarta, or mouse hole an opening through which they entered a previously unknown chamber.

Inside the Petera cu Oase, or "Cave with Bones", they found thousands of mammalian bones. Over its long history, its thought to have primarily been inhabited by male cave bears extinct relatives of the brown bear to which they largely belong. Resting on the surface among them was a human jawbone, which radiocarbon dating revealed to be from one of the oldest known early modern humans in Europe.

The rest is here:
Here's what we know sex with Neanderthals was like - BBC News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Odin, in Norse mythology, is an extremely powerful god whos also a trickster. He has only one eye, having sacrificed the other for wisdom. Among his many talents, he can wake the dead, calm storms, cure the sick, and blind his enemies. Not infrequently, he transforms himself into an animal; as a snake, he acquires the gift of poetry, which he transfers to people, inadvertently.

The Odin, in Oakland, California, is a company that sells genetic-engineering kits. The companys founder, Josiah Zayner, sports a side-swept undercut, multiple piercings, and a tattoo that urges: Create Something Beautiful. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and is a well-known provocateur. Among his many stunts, he has coaxed his skin to produce a fluorescent protein, ingested a friends poop in a D.I.Y. fecal-matter transplant, and attempted to deactivate one of his genes so that he could grow bigger muscles. (This last effort, he acknowledges, failed.) Zayner calls himself a genetic designer and has said that his goal is to give people access to the resources they need to modify life in their spare time.

The Odins offerings range from a Biohack the Planet shot glass, which costs three bucks, to a genetic engineering home lab kit, which runs almost two thousand dollars and includes a centrifuge, a polymerase-chain-reaction machine, and an electrophoresis gel box. I opted for something in between: the bacterial CRISPR and fluorescent yeast combo kit, which set me back two hundred and nine dollars. It came in a cardboard box decorated with the companys logo, a twisting tree circled by a double helix. The tree, I believe, is supposed to represent Yggdrasil, whose trunk, in Norse mythology, rises through the center of the cosmos.

Inside the box, I found an assortment of lab toolspipette tips, petri dishes, disposable glovesas well as several vials containing E. coli and all Id need to rearrange its genome. The E. coli went into the fridge, next to the butter. The other vials went into a bin in the freezer, with the ice cream.

Genetic engineering is, by now, middle-aged. The first genetically engineered bacterium was produced in 1973. This was soon followed by a genetically engineered mouse, in 1974, and a genetically engineered tobacco plant, in 1983. The first genetically engineered food approved for human consumption, the Flavr Savr tomato, was introduced in 1994; it proved such a disappointment that it went out of production a few years later. Genetically engineered varieties of corn and soy were developed around the same time; these, by contrast, have become more or less ubiquitous.

In the past decade or so, genetic engineering has undergone its own transformation, thanks to CRISPRshorthand for a suite of techniques, mostly borrowed from bacteria, that make it vastly easier for biohackers and researchers to manipulate DNA. (The acronym stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.) CRISPR allows its users to snip a stretch of DNA and then either disable the affected sequence or replace it with a new one.

The possibilities that follow are pretty much endless. Jennifer Doudna, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the developers of CRISPR, has put it like this: we now have a way to rewrite the very molecules of life any way we wish. With CRISPR, biologists have already createdamong many, many other living thingsants that cant smell, beagles that put on superhero-like brawn, pigs that resist swine fever, macaques that suffer from sleep disorders, coffee beans that contain no caffeine, salmon that dont lay eggs, mice that dont get fat, and bacteria whose genes contain, in code, Eadweard Muybridges famous series of photographs showing a horse in motion. Two years ago, a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, announced that he had produced the worlds first CRISPR-edited humans, twin baby girls. According to He, the girls genes had been tweaked to confer resistance to H.I.V., though whether this is actually the case remains unclear. Following his announcement, He was fired from his academic post, in Shenzhen, and sentenced to three years in prison.

I have almost no experience in genetics and have not done hands-on lab work since high school. Still, by following the instructions that came in the box from the Odin, in the course of a weekend I was able to create a novel organism. First I grew a colony of E. coli in one of the petri dishes. Then I doused it with the various proteins and bits of designer DNA Id stored in the freezer. The process swapped out one letter of the bacterias genome, replacing an A (adenine) with a C (cytosine). Thanks to this emendation, my new and improved E. coli could, in effect, thumb its nose at streptomycin, a powerful antibiotic. Although it felt a little creepy engineering a drug-resistant strain of E. coli in my kitchen, there was also a definite sense of achievement, so much so that I decided to move on to the second project in the kit: inserting a jellyfish gene into yeast in order to make it glow.

The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, in the city of Geelong, is one of the most advanced high-containment laboratories in the world. It sits behind two sets of gates, the second of which is intended to foil truck bombers, and its poured-concrete walls are thick enough, I was told, to withstand a plane crash. There are five hundred and twenty air-lock doors at the facility and four levels of security. Its where youd want to be in the zombie apocalypse, a staff member told me. Until recently, the center was known as the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, and at the highest biosecurity levelBSL-4there are vials of some of the nastiest animal-borne pathogens on the planet, including Ebola. (The laboratory gets a shout-out in the movie Contagion.) Staff members who work in BSL-4 units cant wear their own clothes into the lab and have to shower for at least three minutes before heading home. The animals at the facility, for their part, cant leave at all. Their only way out is through the incinerator is how one employee put it to me.

About a year ago, not long before the pandemic began, I paid a visit to the center, which is an hour southwest of Melbourne. The draw was an experiment on a species of giant toad known familiarly as the cane toad. The toad was introduced to Australia as an agent of pest control, but it promptly got out of control itself, producing an ecological disaster. Researchers at the A.C.D.P. were hoping to put the toad back in the bottle, as it were, using CRISPR.

A molecular biologist named Mark Tizard, who was in charge of the project, had agreed to show me around. Tizard is a slight man with a fringe of white hair and twinkling blue eyes. Like many of the scientists I met in Australia, hes from somewhere elsein his case, England. Before getting into amphibians, Tizard worked mostly on poultry. Several years ago, he and some colleagues at the center inserted a jellyfish gene into a hen. This gene, similar to the one I was planning to plug into my yeast, encodes a fluorescent protein. A chicken in possession of it will, as a consequence, emit an eerie glow under UV light. Next, Tizard figured out a way to insert the fluorescence gene so that it would be passed down to male offspring only. The result is a hen whose chicks can be sexed while theyre still in their shells.

Tizard knows that many people are freaked out by genetically modified organisms. They find the idea of eating them repugnant, and of releasing them into the world anathema. Though hes no provocateur, he, like Zayner, believes that such people are looking at things all wrong. We have chickens that glow green, Tizard told me. And so we have school groups that come, and when they see the green chicken, you know, some of the kids go, Oh, thats really cool. Hey, if I eat that chicken, will I turn green? And Im, like, You eat chicken already, right? Have you grown feathers and a beak?

Anyway, according to Tizard, its too late to be worried about a few genes here and there. If you look at a native Australian environment, you see eucalyptus trees, koalas, kookaburras, whatever, he said. If I look at it, as a scientist, what Im seeing is multiple copies of the eucalyptus genome, multiple copies of the koala genome, and so on. And these genomes are interacting with each other. Then, all of a sudden, ploomph, you put an additional genome in therethe cane-toad genome. It was never there before, and its interaction with all these other genomes is catastrophic. It takes other genomes out completely. He went on, What people are not seeing is that this is already a genetically modified environment. Invasive species alter the environment by adding entire creatures that dont belong. Genetic engineers, by contrast, just alter a few stretches of DNA here and there.

What were doing is potentially adding maybe ten more genes onto the twenty thousand toad genes that shouldnt be there in the first place, and those ten will sabotage the rest and take them out of the system and so restore balance, Tizard said. The classic thing people say with molecular biology is: Are you playing God? Well, no. We are using our understanding of biological processes to see if we can benefit a system that is in trauma.

Formally known as Rhinella marina, cane toads are a splotchy brown, with thick limbs and bumpy skin. Descriptions inevitably emphasize their size. Rhinella marina is an enormous, warty bufonid (true toad), the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service notes. The U.S.Geological Survey observes that large individuals sitting on roadways are easily mistaken for boulders. The biggest cane toad ever recorded was fifteen inches long and weighed six poundsas much as a chubby chihuahua. A toad named Big Bette, who lived at the Queensland Museum, in Brisbane, in the nineteen-eighties, was nine and a half inches long and almost as wideabout the size of a dinner plate. The toads will eat almost anything they can fit in their oversized mouths, including mice, dog food, and other cane toads.

Cane toads are native to South America, Central America, and the southernmost tip of Texas. In the mid-eighteen-hundreds, they were brought to the Caribbean. The idea was to enlist the toads in the battle against beetle grubs, which were plaguing the regions cash crop, sugar cane. (Sugar cane, too, is an import; it is native to New Guinea.) From the Caribbean, the toads were shipped to Hawaii. In 1935, a hundred and two toads were loaded onto a steamer in Honolulu, headed for Australia. A hundred and one survived the journey and ended up at a research station in sugar-cane country, in northeast Queensland. Within a year, theyd produced more than 1.5 million eggs. (A female cane toad can produce up to thirty thousand eggs at a go.) The resulting toadlets were intentionally released into the regions rivers and ponds.

Its doubtful that the toads ever did the sugar cane much good. Cane beetles perch too high off the ground for a boulder-size amphibian to reach. This didnt faze the toads. They found plenty else to eat, and continued to produce toadlets by the truckload. From a sliver of the Queensland coast, they pushed north, into the Cape York Peninsula, and south, into New South Wales. Sometime in the nineteen-eighties, they crossed into the Northern Territory. In 2005, they reached a spot known as Middle Point, in the western part of the Territory, not far from the city of Darwin.

Along the way, something curious happened. In the early phase of the invasion, the toads were advancing at the rate of about six miles a year. A few decades later, they were moving at the pace of twelve miles a year. By the time they hit Middle Point, theyd sped up to thirty miles a year. When researchers measured the individuals at the invasion front, they found out why. The toads had significantly longer legs than the toads back in Queensland, and this trait was heritable. The Northern Territory News played the story on its front page, under the headline SUPER TOAD. Accompanying the article was a doctored photo of a cane toad wearing a cape. It has invaded the Territory and now the hated cane toad is evolving, the newspaper gasped. Contra Darwin, it seemed, evolution could be observed in real time.

Read more here:
CRISPR and the Splice to Survive - The New Yorker

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Ten years ago, Tony Herbert developed a lump on the right side of his chest. The clump of tissue grew and became painful and he was tested for breast cancer. The result was positive.

I had surgery and chemotherapy and that worked, he said last week. But how had Herbert managed to develop a condition that is so rare in men? Only about 400 cases of male breast cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK compared with around 55,000 in women. A genetic test revealed the answer. Herbert had inherited a pathogenic version of a gene called BRCA2 and this mutation had triggered his condition.

The genetic link was a crucial revelation that not only played a key role in Herberts recovery and survival over the next decade, but which has also helped many women and men fight breast cancer as well as cancers of the ovary and prostate. All three cancers are now known to be linked to mutated versions of BRCA2 a gene whose existence was first revealed 25 years ago this month in a paper in Nature.

Today it is calculated that in the UK alone there are tens of thousands of people who carry pathogenic versions of the gene, which is known as Breast Cancer 2 or BRCA2. It can be inherited from either parent and can spread through lineages with devastating effect. Revealing its existence which was achieved by a research team led by Michael Stratton, who was then working at the Institute of Cancer Research in London has revolutionised the treatment of cancers for a great many individuals.

In the case of Herbert, his inheritance of the mutated gene meant he was susceptible not just to breast cancer but to prostate cancer as well, as doctors realised. I was monitored for prostate cancer and it was found to be at quite an advanced stage. I was given radiotherapy and to be honest I now feel fine, said Herbert who campaigns to raise awareness about breast cancer in men.

The crucial point is that his fight against both the cancers that have touched his life would not have been possible without the discovery of BRCA2. Pinpointing the mutated, pathogenic gene, which is passed through families leaving carriers prone to breast, ovary and prostate cancers, was a medical milestone that involved UK scientists in a desperate race against US companies who wanted to find the gene and patent it for private gain. For good measure Stratton who is now director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire was told by some researchers that he was wasting time when he launched his project. One breast cancer gene, BRCA1, had already been found and it was unlikely there would be a second, I was told, Stratton told the Observer last week.

Nevertheless he and his colleagues persisted and began investigating several large UK and Irish families who were suffering grim numbers of cases of breast and ovary cancers. Was there an unknown mutant gene being passed from one generation of women to the next, one that was leaving them vulnerable to tumours? We looked at hundreds of genetic markers to see if we could find one that was carried only by women who got cancer. That would tell us where the new cancer gene was located.

Genetic markers are small pieces of DNA that are found stretched across the 46 chromosomes that make up the human genome. A first attempt was made using 250 of such markers but failed to produce a result. It was dispiriting, admitted Stratton.

But the team persisted and developed a second set of 300 different markers. I came into the laboratory one day and the results of our study were waiting. They clearly showed a piece of DNA on chromosome 13 that tracked women who went on to develop cancer. We had discovered a new breast cancer gene and, for good measure, we had found out where it lay on the human genome. It was a wonderful feeling, though we realised we still had to pinpoint the gene itself.

The breakthrough also came with a complication. Strattons team had been cooperating with several laboratories in their BRCA2 hunt, including one in the US. This group was backed by the company Myriad Genetics who had found the first breast cancer gene, BRCA1, and who had taken out a patent on it. We did not believe in patenting genes to make profits, however. So we decided to go our own way.

So the race to find BRCA2 began. Initially the prospects for Strattons team looked poor. Myriad Genetics had already found one such gene. It had the experience and also plenty of funds to back its search for another cancer gene. However, an unexpected ally stepped in when the newly opened Sanger Centre (later renamed the Wellcome Sanger Institute) offered to turn its DNA sequencing prowess to explore the region of chromosome 13 where BRCA2 was known to reside.

Sanger scientists provided precise details of the millions of units of DNA on that part of chromosome 13. One morning we went through the most recent data and found a tiny piece of a gene on the chromosome that was missing, a deletion of several DNA units that would have destroyed its function as the gene in which it lay, said Stratton.

Crucially women who inherited that deletion in the family they were studying usually went on to develop breast cancer. That was exactly the sort of thing that we had been looking for, said Stratton. We had landed right on BRCA2. It was an extremely humbling moment.

Over the next two months, the team discovered different abnormalities in this gene in different breast cancer families. It was incontrovertible evidence that this gene was BRCA2, added Stratton. In most families, BRCA2 plays a role in DNA repair and so helps to prevent the triggering of cancers. In families where the gene is damaged, that protection is lost. The discovery was published in Nature and had a dramatically speedy clinical impact. A woman in one of our families was very worried she would get breast cancer and was considering a double mastectomy. We tested her straightaway and found she had not inherited the mutated gene that ran in her family. That meant we were able to tell her she didnt need the operation, added Stratton.

Since then thousands of others have benefited from screening and treatments that have emerged in the wake of BRCA2s discovery, a point stressed by Clare Turnbull, professor of cancer genomics at the Institute of Cancer Research. If a woman gets breast cancer, and we find she is a gene carrier, we can treat her for that condition and also offer to operate to remove her ovaries if shes completed her family because we now know of BRCA2s link to ovarian cancer. Such an operation dramatically reduces the likelihood of women developing ovarian cancer.

In addition, siblings who might have also inherited a pathogenic gene from a mother or father can be tested. For those who test negative, that knowledge relieves anxiety, added Turnbull. For those who test positive, we can offer breast cancer screening while they are still in their 30s. They can also choose to have a mastectomy. In addition, drugs that can counter the effects of the pathogenic version of BRCA2 gene have also been developed, added Turnbull.

In the beginning, breast and ovary cancers formed the main targets of BRCA2 research. However, more recently, it was found that cases of prostate cancer in men were also linked to the gene, as was found in the case of Herbert.

If a man inherits a pathogenic mutation in BRCA2, then, when hes in his early 60s, we now know he will have a 20% chance of developing prostate cancer. That compares with the normal risk for that age of about 3%, said Professor Rosalind Eeles, at the Institute of Cancer Research. In addition, those cancers are a lot more aggressive than standard cases of prostate cancer.

As a result, new European medical guidelines have recently recommended that men over the age of 40 who have a pathogenic BRCA2 mutation should be offered annual screening for prostate cancer. We also hope it will become a UK guideline in the near future, added Eeles.

In addition, Eeles said research showed that prostate cancers in men with BRCA2 mutations are more likely to spread to surrounding tissue but would respond better to surgery to remove tumours as opposed to using radiotherapy alone. All this is a consequence of finding BRCA2 25 years ago, she added.

But testing for BRCA2 can also bring stress, a point made by Dee Gardner. In 2013, after being treated for ovarian cancer, she was urged to have a BRCA2 test. It was positive and I was completely sideswiped. I had three children all young adults then and I now knew each had a 50-50 risk of carrying a gene that could predispose them to cancer.

Gardners children have since had a BRCA2 test of their own. However, there was a further problem. I come from a very large family with lots of cousins and I realised it was up to me to tell them they could also be carrying the gene. It really weighed heavily on me. They needed to be told of the risks, said Gardner, a social worker who lives in Colchester, Essex, with her husband, Howard.

In the end, Gardner wrote to many of her cousins to pass on the troubling news, but it was a strain. It was tough. I knew my letter would cause pain. The trouble is that there is no emotional support for people who are put in this situation, and that lack needs to be addressed.

On the other hand, Gardners BRCA2 status picked up because she developed ovarian cancer led her to undergo investigations for signs of breast cancer. I was found to be in the early stages of a tumour and so elected to have double mastectomy, she added. So yes, finding I had the BRCA2 gene may also have saved my life.

Each of us has around 20,000 genes that direct the manufacture of the proteins from which our bodies are constructed. These genes are bundled together in chromosomes. We get 23 of these chromosomes from our mothers and 23 from our fathers. The genes that lie along these chromosomes are made of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, which is made up of twin chains of complex chemicals that coil around each other to form a double helix.

BRCA2 is found on chromosome 13. As we each have two chromosome 13s one inherited from our mother, one from our father if one parent has a mutant BRCA2 gene there will be a 50-50 chance they will pass it on to one of their children.

BRCA2 is involved in repairing damaged DNA and helps to keep cells in a healthy condition. When the gene mutates and becomes pathogenic, the gene no longer helps to keep DNA from becoming damaged and this raises the risk that a cell will become cancerous and grow uncontrollably. BRCA2 is said to be a tumour suppressor gene because it helps to stop cells from growing and dividing too rapidly or in an uncontrolled manner.

BRCA2 is not the only gene whose mutations are linked to increased risks of developing breast cancer. Pathogenic versions of BRCA1 have a similar effect while abnormal versions of another gene known as PALB2 has also been found to increase risk. The prospect of getting breast cancer over an average lifetime for a woman is 12%. However, if they carry mutated versions of BRCA1 or BRCA2 that risk rises to around 70%. An abnormal version of PALB2 raises that risk to around 50%.

In addition to increasing prospects of developing breast cancer, mutant forms of BRCA2 also raise risks of a carrier developing ovary, prostate and pancreatic cancer.

Read more:
How race to track mystery gene with links to three cancers saved millions - The Guardian

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

If one good thing has come out of 2020, its been the call to action to identifyand actively work to changethe many areas in our society where systemic inequality is impacting peoples ability to live a truly well life. One such area? Inequality in medical research.

Medical research might make you think of petri dishes and mice in a laboratory, but its actually a lot more relevant to your daily life than thatand the numbers are staggering. Nearly 40 percent of Americans belong to a racial or ethnic minority group, yet clinical trials skew heavily white (up to 90 percent), says Vincent Nelson, MD, vice president of medical affairs and interim chief medical officer at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

To be specific, these trials have predominantly focused on white people who are straight and male, which has left out huge chunks of the population such as women, LGBTQ+ people, racial and ethnic minority groups, and people from low-income and/or rural communities, Dr. Nelson says.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans belong to a racial or ethnic minority group, yet clinical trials skew heavily white (up to 90 percent).

This lack of diversity is important because medical treatments may affect people of different groups differently, he explains, so in order to prescribe treatments and medications that will actually help, medical professionals need to have the right information.

Diversifying medical research can help reduce health inequities by answering questions such as why Black women are suffering from higher maternal mortality rates or why stroke is more common among rural communities, Dr. Nelson says. In order to answer these questions, researchers and the medical community need to have access to data that is truly representative of our diverse country.

So how do we fix this data diversity issue? The All of Us Research Program (which is managed by the National Institutes of Health) has been working on it since 2018, when All of Us set out to become the largest and most diverse research program ever. By partnering with volunteers who share their health info, All of Us is creating a massive data hub that gives researchers access to information thats actually reflective of the U.S. population.

By the numbers, the program already has over 360,000 participants (more than 50 percent of whom are people of color, and more than 80 percent are from underrepresented groups) with a goal of reaching at least one million people and tracking health changes over a decade. And, more than 300 studies have already begun using this data to study cancer, heart disease, Alzheimers, mental health, and more.

The All of Us Research Program already has over 360,000 participants, 80 percent of whom are from underrepresented groups.

Heres the catch: The program cant make the monumental impact its hoping to without volunteers, but a historically justified lack of trust between traditionally underserved communities of color and the medical field is a barrier for turning things around.

There is a lack of diversity with African Americans participating in medical research because there is significant mistrust in medical research based on the history of mistreatment, abuse, and deception with clinical programs within the African American community, says Shana Davis, senior program director at Black Womens Health Imperative. In addition, based on various negative and historical experiences, black and brown communities tend to be more skeptical about sharing personal information for fear that it will be exploited in some way.

To mend these bridges, All of Us is taking precautions to keeping all shared data safe and secure, and joining forces with groups like the Black Womens Health Imperative, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the Asian Health Coalition, and more to spread the word on the importance of this movementas well as to listen and learn how to be more culturally inclusive.

If we [Black women] are not part of the study, our specific needs will not be assessed nor addressed, Davis says. Black women are disproportionately underrepresented in clinical research. Therefore, so are our needs. Black women must be educated on why participating in clinical research is critical to our long-term health. [] One day, this work will allow clinicians to tailor their day-to-day treatment plans precisely for me based on my genetics.

If you or someone you know signs up, All of Us will ask for info (via surveys, electronic health records) on the factors that influence your health, like your lifestyle, activity levels, family health history, etc. You can also connect your fitness tracker (which you might qualify to receive for free if you dont already have one!) and provide a DNA sample for further study, which could help you learn more about your genetic ancestry. The key is, you only have to share what you personally are comfortable divulging.

If you decide to participate, youll be contributing to research that will help generations to come, Davis says. You could help ensure that people who share the same background, community, or orientation as you are represented and benefit from research. And thats a move toward equality you can definitely feel good about.

Sound like something youd be into? Click here to learn more and sign up to participate. Plus, you might qualify to receive one of 10,000 Fitbit devices participants will be given this year.

Top photo: The All Of Us Research Program

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is an association of of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies and owner of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield service marks.

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If Youre Not a Straight, White Man, Medical Research Might Be Overlooking YouBut Heres How To Change That - Well+Good

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Fiona the hippo is still too young to think about boys.Cincinnati's hippo darling is turning 4 years old this month, now weighing more than 1,500 pounds.The sassy heartthrob has reached a certain level of maturity. But according to Wendy Rice, the head keeper at Cincinnati Zoo's Africa Department, Fiona needs to be at least 5 before she starts thinking about boys. And although she has hippo admirers across the country, Rice said Fiona is still a few years away from picking up a boyfriend.Of those hippo admirers, one such hippo is still laying it on thick. Timothy, a 3-year-old hippo from San Antonio, still pens Fiona weekly love notes on Facebook.But what ultimately will decide Fiona's potential future romance? It may not be cute love notes."The genetics are basically what's going to matter most," Rice said. "If and when Fiona were to get a breeding recommendation someday, it would be based entirely on who was genetically the best match for her that may or may not be Timothy."Fiona's genes are valuable in the world of Nile hippopotamuses. And eventually, Rice said the goal is to have Fiona breed if she can. But we're talking way down the road when Fiona is at least 5 years old.What happens then?"We obviously don't want her going anywhere," Rice said. "We love her. She's our baby and this hometown loves her. We're fairly certain people would riot if we said Fiona was leaving. We're hopeful that if she gets a breeding recommendation, that a male would be brought here for her so she wouldn't have to leave Cincinnati."Fiona the hippo was thrust into the spotlight due to her remarkable survival story.Born six weeks premature at the Cincinnati Zoo on Jan. 24, 2017, Fiona weighed only 29 pounds at birth 25 pounds less than the lowest recorded birth weight for her species. She survived because of her animal care team's tireless efforts to save her and has inspired many to care about her species and wildlife.Now weighing a healthy weight for a hippo her age (more than 1,500 pounds), Fiona is remarkable for being unremarkable, just a 3-year-old hippo who almost didn't make it.

Fiona the hippo is still too young to think about boys.

Cincinnati's hippo darling is turning 4 years old this month, now weighing more than 1,500 pounds.

The sassy heartthrob has reached a certain level of maturity. But according to Wendy Rice, the head keeper at Cincinnati Zoo's Africa Department, Fiona needs to be at least 5 before she starts thinking about boys. And although she has hippo admirers across the country, Rice said Fiona is still a few years away from picking up a boyfriend.

Of those hippo admirers, one such hippo is still laying it on thick. Timothy, a 3-year-old hippo from San Antonio, still pens Fiona weekly love notes on Facebook.

But what ultimately will decide Fiona's potential future romance? It may not be cute love notes.

"The genetics are basically what's going to matter most," Rice said. "If and when Fiona were to get a breeding recommendation someday, it would be based entirely on who was genetically the best match for her that may or may not be Timothy."

Fiona's genes are valuable in the world of Nile hippopotamuses. And eventually, Rice said the goal is to have Fiona breed if she can. But we're talking way down the road when Fiona is at least 5 years old.

What happens then?

"We obviously don't want her going anywhere," Rice said. "We love her. She's our baby and this hometown loves her. We're fairly certain people would riot if we said Fiona was leaving. We're hopeful that if she gets a breeding recommendation, that a male would be brought here for her so she wouldn't have to leave Cincinnati."

Fiona the hippo was thrust into the spotlight due to her remarkable survival story.

Born six weeks premature at the Cincinnati Zoo on Jan. 24, 2017, Fiona weighed only 29 pounds at birth 25 pounds less than the lowest recorded birth weight for her species. She survived because of her animal care team's tireless efforts to save her and has inspired many to care about her species and wildlife.

Now weighing a healthy weight for a hippo her age (more than 1,500 pounds), Fiona is remarkable for being unremarkable, just a 3-year-old hippo who almost didn't make it.

More here:
From preemie to heartthrob: 4 minutes of hippo footage to celebrate Fionas 4th birthday - WLWT Cincinnati

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

How has the pandemic affected cancer research?

The outbreak of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus that began slowly in Wuhan, China a year ago, before quickly enveloping the world has had widespread, devastating effects on lives, livelihoods and entire economies. Although much focus has rightly centered on the impressive scientific research directly tackling the pandemic, including work tracking the virus, trialing treatments for Covid-19 and developing vaccines, the impact on many other areas of medical research have been less documented and may take several years to fully come to terms with.

Cancer, for example, is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., with the American Cancer Society projecting over 600,000 cancer deaths in 2020. Despite a raging Covid-19 pandemic, this is roughly a quarter of a million people more than died of Covid-19 last year in the U.S.

A survey of 239 cancer research scientists in the U.K. in November of last year found that the researchers estimated that their work would be set back by an average of 6 months. The same researchers also estimated that major advances would be delayed almost 18 months due to numerous effects of the pandemic including lab shutdowns, reductions in funding and barriers to enrolling patients on clinical trials.

In the U.S., restrictions and setbacks to research vary widely depending on location and nature of the work. Cancer research is also a highly diverse topic with research not only developing new treatments and testing them in clinical trials, but also studies looking at the health of people who have survived cancer and racial and social disparities which affect care and outcomes of people with cancer.

Forbes Health interviewed several cancer researchers in the U.S. about their experiences during the pandemic so far, asking how the pandemic has affected them and their work.

Dr. Wayne Lawrence,DrPH, MPH, Cancer Prevention Fellow, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, MD.

Dr. Wayne Lawrence (left), DrPH, MPH, Cancer Prevention Fellow, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and [+] Genetics, National Cancer Institute

My research is in the field of cancer epidemiology with an emphasis on minority and economically disadvantaged populations. My work lies at the intersection of biological susceptibility and inequities in health care delivery, said Lawrence. I am fortunate that I can work from home, as my research consists of analyzing large population-based data at a computer rather than working in a lab. However, the constant worry of family members becoming infected with Covid-19 pulls my focus away from my research often. This is intensified as I have family members that are essential workers in New York City, Lawrence added.

Lawrences research aims to develop new approaches to cancer prevention and improvement of long-term cancer survival in minority and economically disadvantaged people, an issue brought into sharper focus during the pandemic as it is now well-known that these people also have the highest risk of contracting, and dying from, Covid-19.

What is further challenging during this period is societys grapple with structural racism in the U.S. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made focusing on my work difficult with the constant concerns of infection among family and friends. Watching the country struggle to grasp how deeply rooted racism is in society has compounded this difficulty, said Lawrence.

Academic researchers already experience high levels of burnout, stress and mental health difficulties compared to the general population and many are finding that the additional strain of the pandemic is compounding their abilities to run their research programs.

I am still grappling with the extent to which the ongoing pandemic is impacting my daily life. At this point, I will be more productive when my family and friends have received the Covid-19 vaccine. The constant worry of loved ones becoming infected and dying from Covid-19, especially those living in areas with alarming increases in cases, makes it difficult to concentrate on projects, said Lawrence.

OliviaGeneus, Ph.D. Candidate in Nanotechnologyat State University of New York, Buffalo, NY.

Olivia Geneus, Ph.D. Candidate at State University of New York, Buffalo.

Geneus is working on a nanotechnology solution to deliver targeted therapies directly to a type of brain tumor called a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which has a very poor survival rate currently. Her campus at State University of New York in Buffalo was temporarily shut down during the first wave of the pandemic.

With the abrupt campus lockdown including our laboratories, experiments that were conducted prior had to be immediately terminated without any plan as to how to proceed forward. Accessing our instrument centers to test our samples also became difficult due to the campus-wide social distancing guidelines. And on the front end, laboratory materials and chemicals now take much longer to ship when ordered, said Geneus.

Geneus like many graduate students, helps to mentor and train other students earlier on in their careers, yet another aspect of research which was been disrupted.

During the pandemic, it is quite apparent that virtual learning has decreased feedback and engagement from my students. I never want my students to feel isolated from their learning environment and experience. Additionally, as a graduate research mentor, my undergraduate mentees are unable to receive the laboratory and research experience that they would have normally been provided, said Geneus.

However, an unexpected positive for Geneus was that the enforced time away from her lab gave her a chance to finish off some previous work.

It is quite difficult to accurately estimate how much the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed my research progress. Obtaining accurate data from laboratory experiments that are conducted are the biggest factor driving such setbacks. However, what is in my control is the time spent on completing my first-author research paper for publication, said Geneus.

Dr. ChristopherSweeney, MBBS, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.

Dr. Christopher Sweeney, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute:

Dr. Sweeney is a practicing oncologist and professor at Harvard Medical school. His research mainly focuses on international phase III trials for men with prostate cancer. In April 2020, the international team had just launched a new clinical trial to test out a new therapy for a particular type of prostate cancer and had to move quickly to modify the trial so that patients could still participate.

The global team convened and modified the trial in accordance with the relevant government regulations to allow tele-health visits and delivery of drugs to patients homes and so minimize in-person visits to a health care facility while maintaining the ability to safely monitor patients and deliver the care needed. We also adjudicated that some visits were still essential and ensured isolation protocols were in place so patients could still get the treatments designed to manage their advanced prostate cancer. It took some quick yet judicious thinking and adjustments and in the end has proven to be a successful model and allowed the safe continuation of research that has the potential to decrease the chancemen will die of prostate cancer, said Sweeney.

Dr. Erica T.Warner, ScD MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

Erica T. Warner, ScD MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and [+] Harvard Medical School

Dr. Warners research focuses on breast cancer risk factors and racial disparities in breast cancer treatment, diagnosis and survivorship, as well as ways to improve patient care in these areas.

I had several projects, including a American Cancer Society and Pfizer funded study on breast cancer survivorship in Black women, that were ready to launch right when all observational research was halted in March. Those projects have been significantly delayed by the pandemic because of the stoppage, and then the time it took the redesign them to recruit and enroll participants and conduct the study remotely, said Warner.

Warner estimates that her groups projects have been delayed approximately a year, so far, by the pandemic. However, like many researchers, Warner has also created projects to address problems caused by, or exacerbated by the pandemic.

We conducted a national survey in partnership with several breast cancer advocacy organizations to understand from the patient perspective how the pandemic has affected breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Im also working with several collaborators to use large institutional databases to see how screening rates have declined as a result of the pandemic, and to better understand how to bring women back to care, said Warner.

Dr. Elizabeth Wayne, PhD, biomedical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Dr Elizabeth Wayne, biomedical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Wayne recently started her own research group and focuses on studying immune cell interactions with biomaterials for the purpose of drug delivery, diagnostics, and drug discovery.

My work is heavily experimental and as such the reductions in density [of people] requirements have made it challenging to schedule and conduct laboratory experiments. Moreover, I am an early career professorI started my position in August 2019my lab is so young we are still in a training phase. Being in close proximity to someone outside of your household for prolonged periods of time is the one thing you arent supposed to do and yet it is exactly the thing that I need, said Wayne.

Wayne, like many other researchers also has academic teaching and mentoring duties, which have been severely affected by the ongoing pandemic. The need to pivot largely to virtual learning solutions has created many challenges, especially for students studying sciences as many programs require hands-on laboratory-based experience.

Postdocs, graduate students have felt like they were in a holding pattern and this has uncovered or exacerbatedphysical, social and mental health challenges.I also enjoy mentoring undergraduates, but it has been very challenging providing meaningful research experience. Myself along with other colleagues have pivoted to creating virtual lab experiences and I believe this is something that could have great utility even after the pandemic. Nonetheless, I absolutely worry about how this will affect students abilityto demonstrate their capacity for research, something that is valued if not required for admission into STEM PhD programs, said Wayne.

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How Has The Covid-19 Pandemic Impacted Cancer Research? - TechnoCodex

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Newswise LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 5, 2021)Understanding the mechanisms behind successful plant reproduction can lead to more reliable crop production and higher yields. In a recent study, an international group of scientists led by researchers from the University of KentuckyCollege of Agriculture, Food and Environmentidentified signaling and motor proteins that help guide the male nuclei toward its female counterparts to allow reproduction to occur in flowering plants.

Flowering plants use a unique method called double fertilization in which two male nuclei and two female nuclei containing the plants genetic material must meet to produce a seed. This study sheds new light on how the connection between nuclei occurs.

We knew plants controlled the migration of the male nucleus differently than animals, but how this dynamic movement occurred in plants remained unclear until now, said Tomokazu Kawashima, assistant professor in the UKDepartment of Plant and Soil Scienceswho led the project.

In the recent study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, the scientists also found plant reproductive cells use a unique signaling pathway which differs from signaling systems in other parts of the plant.

This means that the knowledge we have accumulated from studies in leaves and stems do not apply to plant sexual reproduction, including seed development, Kawashima said. Further detailed investigation directly into these sexual cells are critical to helping scientists understand how the reproductive process has evolved.

Kawashima specializes in land plant evolution and says this finding will not only help him better understand how flowering plants control double fertilization to produce seeds but may help scientists determine how to efficiently produce crops, particularly in unstable climate conditions.

Higher or lower temperatures can negatively affect plant fertilization, including the migration of the male nucleus, Kawashima said. This finding will give scientists new ideas and strategies to maintain or improve crop production.

Kawashima was joined on the project by UK doctoral students Mohammad Foteh Ali and Fatema Umma. Samuel Hacker, a recent graduate of the colleges agricultural and medical biotechnology program, also contributed to the project.

We were really excited about our achievement, and even during this pandemic, we kept going to get results for this publication, Kawashima said. Mohammad and Fatema were really impressive and completed the work without any delay! Moreover, I am grateful to have had a talented ABT undergraduate student, Sam Hacker, in my lab for this project. He understands how to process microscopy images to extract quantitative data for comparative analyses.

Additional contributors to the paper include scientists from Wuhan University in China and Yokohama City University in Japan.

Research reported in this publication was supported by theNational Science FoundationDivision of Integrative Organismal Systemsunder Award Number1928836.The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The paper is available online athttps://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/12/01/2015550117.

See more here:
Plant Reproduction Finding by University of Kentucky Scientists Could Lead to More Reliable Crop Production - Newswise

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A man reads newspapers reporting about Uganda's upcoming elections at a kiosk in Kampala.Photo: SUMY SADURNI/AFP via Getty Images

One night in Kampala, Vinka Silk, 20, a trans woman and sex worker, was in a bar when a friend she had come with told the bouncers that she was a man dressed as a woman.

My friend got jealous because I was getting rich men [that night], Silk says.

Silk was taken to the police station where she was frisked and undressed so the police officers could check her genitals. She was held till the next morning.

That was the [worst] moment of my life, she says. Following the incident at the bar, Silk decided she wanted to transition and start hormone replacement therapy. She didnt know anything about the process so she turned to the trans community, both in Uganda and outside of it, for help, advice and support.

I asked someone about hormones and that someone is in Canada, so she told me, you can go to these pharmacies [in Uganda] and you can buy them, she says.

Since she started taking hormones in July 2020, Silk has relied on a group of fellow trans sex workers for support.

The group is run by Anna Xwexx Morana, 24, another trans woman and sex worker in Uganda who, frustrated by how alone she felt at the start of her own transitioning journey, decided to create a support system, especially for trans sex workers to find community before, during and after they transition.

It was like something was missing, like some part of me was missing, Silk says about her life before discovering the group. At first, I thought I was born alone, like me alone in this world. But coming to the community, I realised I am not alone, that we are many, [and that made me feel] good.

Ideally, trans people looking to undergo hormone replacement therapy have to see an endocrinologist and then get a prescription unique to them.

This is not an opportunity many trans women in Uganda have, primarily for the transphobia ubiquitous in Ugandas healthcare system but also for how expensive endocrinologists are outside of that. Uganda has little to no services available to support transitions. Transgender people are not included in studies, they say, and so data about them is not readily obtainable. Many trans people like Silk and Morana report experiencing often violent transphobia when aiming to access medical services within the country and without the financial capability to look elsewhere, some of their needs are left unaddressed.

Informal networks like the kind Morana is fostering have stood in the gap.

Its a privilege for me, Morana says about creating a community for women like her. It's like I have a child and I am giving my child everything they've never had: a family, good health, anything.

The support groups are held under the auspices of Moranas Anna Foundation an NGO that uses innovative advocacy methods to address the problems faced by trans women who are sex workers in Uganda.

Outside of the support sessions though, Anna Foundation has organised trainings, conducted routine testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and provided safe housing for dozens of trans sex workers.

I can't say that it has been an easy road, but there's light at the end of the tunnel, Morana says. And [as] for me, I'm not waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel, I am creating my own light to get me to the end of the tunnel.

True to her word, the foundation has over 200 registered members, some of whom self-administer hormones.

Since I have started to take hormones, I am me, says JujuBee, 29, a trans woman and sex worker who started taking hormones in September 2019. I can go on the road and people start to call me a woman, and that makes me feel good. When someone tells me nyabo, you are a girl, you are beautiful, that makes me feel good.

Jujubee is originally from Burundi but has lived in Uganda since 2015 when she fled repeated harassment in her country for being trans.

I was arrested four times, she says. So I [decided] that I have to go, there is nothing [in Burundi] for me.

Now over a year into her transitioning journey, Jujubee is in a much better place mentally.

However, self-administering hormones, like self-administering any drugs, comes with considerable risks, according to Dr Alma Perez, an endocrinologist based in Mexico City who works with transgender patients.

Silk, for instance, takes two tablets each day, one in the morning and another in the evening, it is a prescription she arrived at by herself.

Many times when [trans people] are [self-administering], they are taking medications that are really not the best ones, Dr. Perez says. Second of all, they are taking higher doses, and with higher doses there are more risks of complications.

In this case, complications include the possibility of liver diseases, thrombosis and even heart attacks.

That's the point of really doing it with knowledge, not just like, what I heard, what my friend said, or what I read in a blog, she says. That is why it's so important to really go to the expert.

Nonetheless, Dr Perez is not oblivious to the systemic challenges that prevent this from being the case both in Uganda and in Mexico.

We can really help all those [transitioning] to get the knowledge of what is happening and what really could happen if they self administer higher doses, she says.

One day after taking her hormones, Morana says she became unconscious. I passed out. I was in my bed, I just felt dizzy. I felt like I couldn't raise my hand and I think I was in that bed unconscious for almost 40 minutes, she says.

While Morana describes it as her worst experience with hormones, she is unable to afford to consult with an endocrinologist and still doesnt know why it happened.

She has also had to struggle with gender dysphoria and feeling like the changes are not happening fast enough. You get up in the morning and get to look at your body having a penis in it. That is another type of trauma on its own, Morana says. Looking at your body and you're expecting to have bigger rounded hips and they are not coming but youre having a bigger ass. And you're like, Okay, what is this ass doing?

Her experience is not uncommon though, according to Dr Perez, who says its something she sees happen often in her work with trans women.

We wish [the changes] would happen faster, but even if you are taking higher doses, it won't happen earlier, it will still happen in the time it will, she says. That is why it's called a transition, it's not just everything in one day.

To combat this, Dr Perez says she encourages patients at her clinic who start hormone replacement therapy to take selfies every day.

[With these photos], they can see how they have evolved, how they have transitioned, because you see yourself and you hear yourself every day and you really don't see the evolution, the transition or how big the change has been.

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Trans Women are Taking Hormones Without Medical Supervision in Uganda - VICE UK

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A flurry of stories broke this fall about the versatility of HIV medications and how they battle other diseases and conditions, in addition to news that a medication currently utilized for multiple sclerosis could fight HIV.

Researchers at Penn State University College of Medicine reported findings in October that indicated antiretroviral therapy for HIV reduces the risk of Alzheimers disease and early-onset Alzheimers. People living with HIV have a heightened chance of the degenerative disease, which impairs memory, speech, and most cognitive functions. The risk is even more pronounced, researchers found, for early-onset Alzheimers among people living with HIV. But for HIV-positive people who maintain their treatment regimen, the risk of Alzheimers is comparable to that of the general population.

Using public information on nearly 75,000 people aged 64 or younger and living with HIV, researchers looked at those not on HIV treatment and found the prevalence of Alzheimers higher among this group (0.11 percent) than those without HIV (0.07 percent). Early-onset Alzheimers was even more pervasive among those not on HIV meds (0.16 percent) than those without HIV. The occurrence of Alzheimers among HIV-positive people on treatment, though, was the same as for HIV-negative people (0.07 percent).

While no specific HIV medication was cited by researchers, the results appear to indicate that antiretrovirals battle more than just HIV. Scientists will now try to figure out how these antiretroviral drugs fight Alzheimers they currently theorize it may be because the medications hinder neurological toxicity caused by unsuppressed HIV or because these meds also reduce the incidence of medical conditions seen as risk factors for Alzheimers, like hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

The Penn State findings are important for many reasons, including the fact that the survivors of the early waves [of the HIV epidemic] are entering seniorhood, Guodong Liu, Ph.D., associate professor of public health sciences and neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and behavioral health at the Penn State University College of Medicine, told Healio.

Just days before the Penn State announcement, researchers with the University of Virginia School of Medicine reported that medications used to treat HIV and hepatitis B slash the risk of developing diabetes by a third for these patients.

The drugs could be repurposed to prevent type 2 diabetes, a condition the Mayo Clinic describes as the body resisting the effects of insulin a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells or not producing enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels.

Information for the findings was culled from records of over 128,000 people with HIV or hepatitis B, some of whom are veterans who receive their care from the Veterans Health Administration.

The fact that the protective effect against the development of diabetes was replicated in multiple databases in studies from multiple institutions enhances confidence in the results, researcher Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said in a statement.

The researchers also studied the effects of one specific drug, lamivudine, sold under the brand name Epivir and a component of Dovato, in human cells and in animals, and found evidence that it could reduce the risk of diabetes among people living with HIV.

Most recently, researchers at George Washington University and the University of Montreal found that the multiple sclerosis drug fingolimod, sold as Gilenya, can hinder several key steps of the HIV lifecycle, AIDSMap reported in November. Taken orally, fingolimod is now used to treat MS, a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that disrupts communication between the brain and the body. During their studies, the researchers found that fingolimod prevented cell-to-cell transmission of HIV.

Fingolimod may be useful as a strategy to limit the size of the latent [HIV] reservoir if used prior to [antiretroviral] initiation, such as in acute infection, researcher Rachel Resop, Ph.D., and her colleagues noted.

Read more:
Multitasking Meds Combat HIV, Along With Alzheimer's and Diabetes - HivPlusMag.com

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Medically defined, infertility is the inability to become pregnant after one year or longer of unprotected sex. Emotionally, its a nightmare for any person who has ever dreamed of becoming a parent. Its a medical condition that many suffer in silence, treat in secret, and pay for out of pocket. And the worst part is: Not everyone has equal access to the treatments that offer hope for couples struggling to conceive.

If you or your partner have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancyas one in eight couples doyou are in for a hell of a fight, regardless of your race. But if youre Black, Latinx, or Native American, you are in for a war. You cannot downplay the fairly substantial evidence that suggests minorities have it worse than their white counterparts, says Will Kiltz, the communications director at CNY Fertility, a clinic in Syracuse, New York.

Here are the facts: Twelve percent of U.S. women used fertility services between 2006 and 2010, according to data collected by the National Survey of Family Growth. But white women were almost twice as likely as Black or Latinx women to have done so15 percent of non-Hispanic white women used medical help to get pregnant, while only 8 percent of (non-Hispanic) Black women and 7.6 percent of Hispanic women reported the same. So why the racial disparities in care? The reasons are complex, and experts say there is a long road ahead to positive change.

Following a preliminary visit to the OB/GYN, the journey to parenthood for many heterosexual couples begins at home. Depending on the age and overall physical health of both parties, experts say that following six months to a year of contraceptive-free sex, a pregnancy should result. If a pregnancy is not achieved in that timeframe, the standard practice is for an OB/GYN to refer the couple to a fertility specialist.

However, some Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) say their doctors made them wait much longer to get that all-important referral. My husband and I have been trying for 21 years to have this baby, says Racheal Martinez, now age 40. When Martinez was 20, she was newly married and living on a military base with her husband. She shared with her OB/GYN that she wanted to have a child but was having trouble conceiving. She asked her provider for a referral to a fertility specialist. She says her doctor refused and told her she was too young for treatment and that having a baby with her husband would make her another statistic. (Martinez is Black and her husband Roberto is Mexican American.)

It took another six years before a physician provided Martinez with a referral to a fertility specialist. In that time, and the years that followed, Racheal and her husband experienced 22 miscarriages, a diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (a hormone disorder that can lead to infertility if untreated), a diagnosis of recurrent miscarriages, and a diagnosis of hypothyroidism (a hormone condition that can also negatively affect fertility).

There are some studies that show that patients of color are referred to fertility specialists a little later than white patients, says Michael Thomas, MD, chief of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He says delays in treatment for patients of colorlike what Martinez facedoccur for a variety of reasons.

One small survey of 50 Black women found that 26 percent of them believed that their encounters with medical professionals had been influenced by gender, race, and/or class discrimination, and some reported that their doctors made assumptions about their inability to pay for services based.

Martinez was young when she approached her physician for a referral, and perhaps the provider assumed time was on her side. But its also possible that her doctor was making assumptions about her fertility based on her race. In the case of Black patients like Martinez, there is data to support this. Although Black women are at a higher risk for fibroid tumors and health issues such as diabetes and hypothyroidism that can lead to an increased risk of fertility issues, only 16 percent of doctors correctly identified Black women as the racial group most at risk for infertility, according to a 2019 survey of 150 family doctors and OB/GYNS conducted by Fertility IQ.

It was horrible. [The fertility doctor] had his arms and legs crossed the whole time. You could tell he thought we couldnt afford [treatment] and wondered what we were doing there. Nicole Vaughn, 34, fertility patient

When doctors make assumptions about their patients, the results can be costly. A persons fertility declines with age and a two- or three-year delay in seeking infertility treatment can decrease the chances of a successful pregnancy. OB/GYNs have to treat all patients the same, says Dr. Thomas. They have to understand that if a patient needs a fertility expert, its important to send them early rather than later.

Once a patient gets their foot in the door of the fertility specialists office, its not an instantaneous lassoing of the stork. Fertility treatment comes with a price tag, and for many people, this cost is the biggest obstacle of all. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), one cycle of IVF costs on average between $12,000 to $17,000. (That doesnt include the cost of medication required for IVF, which can bring the total cost closer to $25,000 for one cycle.) And in the majority of states, infertility treatment is not covered by insurance (only 19 states legally require some level of fertility coverage for residents). This leaves patients without the means to pay the bill the tough decision between walking away or going into debt.

This was the case for Nicole and Vaughn Hill, 34 and 33 respectively, educators from Texas. The couple (both Black) began the process of trying to start a family about three years ago. Nicole had long experienced irregular periods, which her OB/GYN told her was normal. When she and Vaughn struggled to conceive, Nicoles provider prescribed a fertility drug called Clomid to help boost their chances. After four failed cycles on the drug, Nicoles doctor referred the couple to a reproductive endocrinologist.

Dr. Smug, recalls Nicole. It was horrible. He had his arms and legs crossed the whole time. You could tell he thought we couldnt afford [treatment] and wondered what we were doing there. He didnt go into a lot of detail about any of the treatment options. I felt more confused than anything. Worst experience I could have ever had, says Nicole.

Like many people experiencing infertility, Nicole and Vaughn were not rich. So that we could afford treatment, we both taught summer school, and I also received a promotion while we were going through the process, says Vaughn. In the end (after finding a new fertility doctor), Nicole and Vaughn spent approximately $25,000 for two IVF procedures and four embryo transfers. It was a hefty price, but they say worth every penny for just one giggle from their daughter Amaya, who is now eight months old.

While the Hills found a way, many others are not as fortunate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income for non-Hispanic white households is $76,057; for Black households, $45,438; for Hispanic households of any race, its $56,113income disparities largely due to systemic racism that historically has made accessing wealth, loans, and equitable pay more difficult for many BIPOC communities. To afford treatment, many families must consider various financing options such as refinancing their homes, working second or third jobs, changing jobs to work for an employer who offers fertility benefits, moving to a state with mandated coverage, and/or applying for loans.

And even if a couple has the means to undergo infertility treatment, that doesnt mean they feel comfortable doing so. Many patients who have trouble sustaining a pregnancy keep their struggles private. While the stigma of infertility is nearly universal, it can be compounded by social and religious beliefs. There are a lot of conversations in the Black community about what we dont do, Regina Townsend, founder of online fertility support group The Broken Brown Egg, previously told Well+Good. We dont go to therapy, we pray. We dont give our kids away or adopt. Phrases like that are really damaging. Its the wrong story to tell ourselves, she said. To her point, these types of beliefs may cause a couple to reject, or in some cases refuse to discuss, medical options available.

Beyond price, the fertility industry at large has also not made itself particularly available to BIPOC patients. The industry relies on physician referrals and marketingpromotional materials with testimonials from patients, websites, and social mediato bring in new patients. But many of these efforts do not include or reach potential BIPOC patients. In one review of the websites for 372 fertility clinics, 63 percent of those sites only featured pictures of white babies, according to a paper published in the Indiana Law Journal. The lack of diverse imagery hammers home the concept that fertility treatments are not available for all people, just certain people.

The racial disparities in fertility treatment are not going to be solved overnight. This has been a problem for a long time, and we have to address it, says Rebecca Flick, the chief external affairs officer for Resolve: The National Infertility Association. Fortunately, things are starting to change. The fertility startup Kindbodywhich aims to be a more inclusive company through its marketing, promotional materials, and staffsays 44 percent of its patients are people of color, suggesting that the message is being heard and received. According to Kindbody founding physician Fahimeh Sasan, MD, inclusivity is imperative for progress in the industry. The key is to educate people about fertility, to educate them about facts, she says. We cant improve access if people dont know about the process.

Advocacy and educational organizations such as The Broken Brown Egg, Sister Girl Foundation, and the Cade Foundation are also helping to improve the situation by offering resources, support, and opportunities to women of color dealing with infertilityresources that can help break stigma and help BIPOC patients be better advocates for their care. And in 2020, Kindbody partnered with Fertility for Colored Girls, an organization dedicated to raising awareness surrounding the issues of fertility and race, to award a collective $50,000 to four BIPOC women looking for financial assistance for fertility treatment. (After receiving more than 300 applications, Dr. Sasan says the company is open to extending the program due to the response.)

Making fertility treatment more affordable will also help. Both the Martinezes and Vaughns ended up getting pregnant with the help of CNY Fertility. Our mission has always been to make fertility care accessible to everyone, including the traditionally underserved, says Kiltz. An IVF cycle at the clinic costs, on average, $3,900, a price that makes its services more accessible to a wider group of people. Our patient population is approximately 40 percent minority populations, 20 percent of whom are African American, he adds.

CNY Fertility and Kindbody have also instituted open-door policies that allow patients to schedule a consultation without a referral, which can help mitigate some of the delays experienced by many BIPOC patients. The first person to know something is wrong with their body is the patient. So, let them go straight to the experts, says Kiltz. Although CNY Fertility also accepts referrals from OB/GYNs, more than 50 percent of their patients are self-referred.

Doctors who specialize in reproductive medicine are also working to improve access to their care for all patients. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recently created a diversity, equity, and inclusion task force (Dr. Thomas is the chair). One of its goals is to recruit more physicians of color into the field. When I started back in the 80s, there were fewer than 10 reproductive endocrinologists of color. Its increased since then, but not substantially, says Dr. Thomas. I think that by slowly increasing the number of physicians of color, we will have a better understanding of what African American women go through. And that, he says, would be helpful to all patients.

While the work is underway, patients who have been through infertility say there is still much to be doneand you cant rely on the system to do it for you. You have to advocate, says Martinez. You have to do a lot of research. You may need a second or third opinion because some doctors are going to be biased, but you have to do what you have to do and be smart. The experts are listening. Its how they act from here that will make the difference.

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Racism and Bias Make Infertility Treatment Even More Inaccessible to Couples of Color - Well+Good

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Dr. Joshua Schiffer (third from left) and E. Fabian Cardozo-Ojeda (far right) led research published on Tuesday that provides mathematical models on strategies for optimizing treatment for HIV. (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Photo)

In the nearly four decades since HIV was discovered, only two people have been cured of the virus that has killed millions.

Researchers in Seattle are hoping to boost that number. On Tuesday, scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington published a study that provides clues to optimizing treatments that could wipe out HIV in infected patients.

Worldwide, some 26 million people are receiving antiviral therapy to keep the virus in check, but the drugs dont completely stamp out HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The virus becomes latent, hiding out in cells until the drugs are gone. It gets activated again and starts reproducing.

One key component to HIVs reanimation is the presence of a molecule called CCR5 thats found on the outside of a certain class of immune system cells. The CCR5 helps the virus enter and infect new cells.

The two men seemingly cured of HIV, known as the Berlin Patient and the London Patient, also had cancer, one with acute myeloid leukemia and the other Hodgkin Lymphoma. As part of their cancer treatments, the patients received transplants of healthy stem cells, which produce immune system cells. They received the transplants from donors who lacked the gene that produces functional CCR5 molecules.

It appears that by suppressing the virus and then cutting off its pathway to resurgence, the virus can be defeated.

Since the 1960s, the Fred Hutch has been a pioneer in bone marrow transplants in cancer treatment, and researchers there are applying similar strategies for treating HIV.

Fred Hutch and UW scientists in recent years have performed experiments using pig-tailed macaques that are infected with a simian version of HIV. In one study of 22 monkeys, the infected macaques received transplants of their own stem cells, after they were treated to knock out the CCR5 gene. Researchers were interested in using the monkeys own altered cells because their immune systems would accept them and not perceive them as foreign invaders to be fought off.

One of the challenges of this approach to fighting HIV is figuring out how many of the altered stem cells are needed its difficult to produce a massive supply in order to overwhelm the cells that still produce CCR5. Add to that the rate of stem cell replication and figuring out the timing of administering and stopping antiviral drugs.

Thats where the new research comes in.

E. Fabian Cardozo-Ojeda, a senior staff scientist at the Fred Hutchs Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, took all of the data available from the 22 monkeys to figure out how to perfect the treatment. He and his team developed a multi-stage mathematical model to calculate the effects of different amounts of residual and transplanted stem cells, the HIV viral load and the timing of when antiviral drugs are halted.

Were trying to do interdisciplinary work to get that optimal approach for a cure, Cardozo-Ojeda said.

In order to control HIV through this strategy, the researchers came to two conclusions with their formula. First, a patient needs a dose of at least five times as many transplanted stem cells compared to residual cells, and second, before a patient stops taking antiviral drugs, the cells lacking CCR5 need to total between 76-to-94% of the total transplanted stem cell population in their blood.

While the study was based on macaque data, were generating possible hypotheses of what could happen with people, Cardozo-Ojeda said. When it comes to applying their formula to higher primates, we believe that could be translated to humans for sure.

The peer-reviewed study was published by eLife, a non-profit platform. Cardozo-Ojeda is first author of the study and the other authors are Elizabeth Duke, Christopher Peterson, Daniel Reeves, Bryan Mayer, Hans-Peter Kiem and Joshua Schiffer.

More:
Seattle researchers find clues for treatments that could eliminate HIV in infected patients - GeekWire

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Whether you follow a strict 10-step routine or prefer the upmost minimalism, finding your failsafe skin care can be a complex process of trial and error. With so many products on the market, not only do you need to find those that work best for your skin type, but you also need to ensure the ingredients play well together, too. Similarly to retinol, the benefits of niacinamide seem to hold no bounds, but the big question is: can these two powerhouse ingredients be used together?

In case you needed a reminder, Daniel Isaacs, director of research at Medik8, told us that retinol is the classic form of vitamin A and the unequivocal gold standard for tackling multiple skin concerns.

"Retinol stimulates cellular turnover in the skin, pushing fresh skin cells to the surface and [enhancing] collagen production." The powerful combination means that when used in topical skin care, retinol can reduce acne, smooth uneven skin texture, and brighten stubborn scarring. "Retinol is second to none for improving signs of photo-aging as it helps block the formation of pigment in the skin for brighter, more even-toned skin."

Despite all the virtues of retinol, it is also well known for being irritating if you're new to the ingredient, have overused it, or are using a formula with a high concentration, according to dermatologist Dr. Cristina Psomadakis. "Common side effects of retinol include redness, flaking and increased skin sensitivity," she told POPSUGAR.

Thankfully, using niacinamide in your skin-care routine can help combat the negative side effects of retinol. Also known as vitamin B3, consultant dermatologist Dr. Justine Hextall explained that niacinamide is another multipurpose powerhouse ingredient.

"Niacinamide is a great anti-inflammatory and can help to improve uneven skin tone, diminish dullness, and soften fine lines and wrinkles. It's also crucial for healthy functioning of the skin barrier as it boosts ceramide production and reduces trans-epidermal water loss, which are key elements of reinforcing our skin barrier, keeping our skin hydrated, and improving redness and sensitivity from retinol usage."

Not only can niacinamide be used alongside retinol treatment to make it more tolerable, but Dr. Psomadakis also explained that niacinamide can also act as a preretinol skin trainer. "Research shows that pretreating your skin with niacinamide for a few weeks before starting retinol reduces the likelihood of side effects because your skin barrier will be in better shape."

Although the dynamic duo of niacinamide and retinol pair very well together, Dr. Hextall advised people to still be cautious. "I always recommend a low and slow approach with retinol, and this shouldn't change just because you are using a compensating ingredient. It's always best to respect the skin barrier and build up your actives." Dr. Psomadakis agreed, pointing out that there are very few skin-care absolutes that apply to everyone. "Overall, niacinamide is very well tolerated and is known to be calming but there will always be exceptions." She also added that although niacinamide can help you tolerate retinol, it doesn't work the other way around. "If niacinamide on its own doesn't suit you, combining it with retinol won't change things."

When it comes to pairing the two together, you can either use two separate products or one product that contains both retinol or niacinamide. Those with more sensitive skins or are new to retinoids may prefer a handy duo according to Dr Hextall. "It is often thought that retinol is only for robust skins, however, using a clever formulation that combines cushioning niacinamide, can help to mitigate sensitivity." With niacinamide available in variety of products from face washes, to serums, hydrating toners and moisturizers, how you pair the two together is a matter of preference, but Isaacs said the typical skin-care layering rules still apply.

"The golden rule is to begin with the lightest formulation and build up layers with heavier textures so the heavier products can penetrate through the lighter ones to be properly absorbed. Start with water based products, follow with oil, emulsions, and finish with heavier creams." As always, but especially when using retinols, make sure to use a broad spectrum SPF in the daytime, too.

Ahead, find our favorite retinol and niacinamide products to take your skincare routine up a notch.

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Can Retinol and Niacinamide Be Used Together? Here's What the Experts Had to Say - POPSUGAR

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By Deborah Borfitz

January 13, 2021 | As aging researchers are aware, birthday candles are not a good guide to either human health or longevity. But there is an abundance of clues in the genome and, as suggested by studies in animals, some of age-related damage is reversible by removing or reprogramming problematic cells or blocking the activity of key proteins.

As it turns out, DNA methylationa frequently-used biomarker of biological ageis not just marking time like a clock on the wall but actually controlling time within cells, according to David Sinclair, an expert on aging at Harvard Medical School and cofounder of 4-year-old Life Biosciences. The revelation emerged from a study recently published in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2975-4) where Harvard researchers showed, for the first time, that the pattern of DNA methylation in the genome can be safely reset to a younger age.

It was in fact a prerequisite to restoring youthful function and vision in old mice, says Sinclair, who has spent most of his adult life studying the epigenetic changes associated with aging. Up until a few years ago, he thought the process was unidirectional and that cells ultimately lost their identity and malfunctioned or became cancerous.

It seemed crazy to try to get proteins to return to the place they were in young cells, Sinclair says. Proteins move around in response to age-associated DNA damage and end up in the wrong places on the genome, causing the wrong genes to be turned on, but scientists did not know if proteins could go back, where the instructions were stored, or if they were being stored at all.

As covered in his 2019 bestseller Lifespan, Sinclair now believes that aging is the result of the so-called epigenetic changes scrambling how the body reads genetic code. Were essentially looking for the polish to get the cell to read the genome correctly again, he says, a process he likens to recovering music on a scratched CD.

Yamanaka Factors

Sinclair and his research associates have been focusing on the eye, in part because retinal tissues start aging soon after birth, he explains. While a damaged optic nerve can heal in a newborn, the injury is irreversible in a 1-year-old.

Yuancheng Lu, a former student of Sinclairs, was also interested in the eye because his family has a vision-correction business and recognized sight loss as a huge unmet need, he continues. We thought if we could take the age of those retinal cells back far enough, but not so far that they lose their identity, we might be able to see regrowth of the optic nerve if it was damaged.

Among the foundational work was a 2016 study in Cell (DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.052) by Life Biosciences cofounder Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) who partially erased cellular markers of aging in mice that aged prematurely, as well as in human cells, by turning on Yamanaka factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) highly expressed in embryonic stem cells. Short-term induction of OSKM ameliorated hallmarks of aging and modestly extended lifespan in the short-lived mice.

The lifespan gain was widely dismissed as an artifact of shocking a mouse, says Sinclair, since the mice died if the treatment continued for more than two days. Although the human health implications appeared unlikely, his Harvard team decided to try the approach using an adeno-associated virus as a vehicle to deliver the youth-restoring OSKM genes into the retinas of aging mice.

The technology kept killing the mice or causing them to get cancer until Lu decided to drop the c-Myc genean oncogenein his experiments using human skin cells. He looked at [damaged] cells that had been expressing OSK for three weeks and the nerves were growing back toward the brain to an unprecedented degree. Moreover, the cells got older by the damage and younger by the treatment.

As the broader team went on to show in the Nature paper, the trio of Yamanaka factors effectively made cells younger without causing them to lose their identity (i.e., turning back into induced pluripotent stem cells) or fueling tumor growth even after a year of continuous treatment of the entire body of a mouse. If anything, the mice had fewer tumors over the course of the study, says Sinclair.

Although the mice needed to be autopsied to definitively measure tumor burden, Sinclair says the study will be repeated to learn if the epigenetic reprogramming technique can increase lifespan.

Findings have implications beyond the treatment of age-related diseases specific to the eye, says Sinclair. Aging researchers have published studies showing other types of tissues, including muscle and kidney cells, can also be rejuvenated.

Clocked Results

In the latest study using mice, epigenetic reprogramming was found to have three beneficial effects on the eye: promotion of optic nerve regeneration, reversal of vision loss with a condition mimicking human glaucoma, and reversal of vision loss in aging animals without glaucoma. The latter finding, from Sinclairs vantage point, is the most important one. This is ultimately a story about finding a repository of youthful information in old cells that can reverse aging.

Results of all three experiments are noteworthy and have commonly thought to be three separate processes, says Sinclair. That is only because the fields of aging and acute and chronic disease are distinct disciplines that rarely talk to each other.

The Harvard team is pioneering a new way to tackle diseases of aging by addressing the underlying cause. This is the first time, as far as Sinclair is aware, where nerve damage was studied in old rather than young animals. In the case of glaucoma and most diseases, aging is considered largely irrelevant, when of course we know glaucoma is a disease of aging.

A variety of aging clocks, including some the research team built themselves, have been deployed for studies because they are considered the most accurate predictor of biological age and future health, says Sinclair. As embryos, cells lay down different patterns of methylation to ensure they remember their purpose over the next 80 to 100 years.

For unknown reasons, methyl groups get predictably added and subtracted from DNA bases across cell and tissue types and even species, Sinclair says. In 2013, UCLAs Steve Horvath (another Life Biosciences cofounder) showed that machine learning could be used to pick out the hot spots and predict individual lifespan depending on how far above or below the DNA methylation line they sit (Genome Biology, DOI: 10.1186/gb-2013-14-10-r115).

A multitude of aging clocks have since been developed. Eventually, we will need some standardization in the field, but there is nothing super-mysterious about aging clocks, says Sinclair. One of my grad students could probably get you one by the end of the day.

Booming Field

Aging research is a rapidly accelerating field and epigenetic reprogramming is poised to become a particularly active area of inquiry. In terms of numbers, there are still only a dozen or so labs intensely working on this, but there are probably a hundred others I am aware of who are getting into it, says Sinclair.

Life Biosciences began with four labs, but new ones are now joining on an almost weekly basis, he adds. Collaborators have expanded work to the ear and other areas of the body beyond the eye, he adds.

Were also reducing the cost of the DNA clock test by orders of magnitude so [biological age prediction] can be done on millions of people, he continues. In the future, aging clocks are expected to be a routine test in physicians arsenal to guide patient care as well as to monitor response to cancer treatment.

Harvard University has already licensed two patents related to the technology used by the aging researchers to Life Biosciences, Sinclair says. The company has built a scientific team with a group of world-class advisors who developed gene therapy for the eye, which will be tested first for the treatment of glaucoma.

The role of chaperone-mediated autophagy in aging and age-related diseases is another promising area of research being pursued by Life Biosciences Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D, Ph.D., professor, and co-director of the Institute of Aging Studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Cuervo recently reported at a meeting that fasting-induced autophagy, the cells natural mechanism for removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components, can greatly extend the lifespan of mice. She believes the triggering of this process might one day help treat diseases such as macular degeneration and Alzheimers.

The specialty of Manuel Serrano, Ph.D., the fourth company cofounder, is cellular senescence and reprogramming and how they relate to degenerative diseases of the lung, kidney, and heart. He isan internationally recognized scientist who has made significant contributions to cancer and aging research and works in the Institute for Research Biomedicine in Barcelona.

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Reversing The Aging Clock With Epigenetic Reprogramming - Bio-IT World

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Sarah Connell Sanders| Correspondent

Jenna Balestrini is the Head of Strategy and Business Development for Precision Medicine and Cell Bioprocessing at Draper.

What is your connection to the city of Worcester?

Well, I love Worcester. I moved there to do my Ph.D. in 2003. I graduated with a Ph.D. from WPI in 2009. I have to say, those were six of the best years of my life. Worcester is such an amazing place and WPI is such a great school. I've always had a fondness for that city more than pretty much anywhere else I've lived. It's just a very special place filled with really great people.

I was hoping you could talk a bit about your career trajectory, particularly after you finished your Ph.D.

I went to WPI and worked for Kristen Billiar, who is the best advisor anyone could ever ask for. One of our focuses was to understand the environment in cells and around cells. Factors like breathing or stiffness can either stimulate cells or impact cells pathologically and create disease. Or, if you understand a cells environment, you can harness those signals and start to build therapies. You can get cells to make specific proteins and we looked at the fundamentals of that. From there, I did a postdoc in Toronto studying fibrosis with Boris Hinz. Then, I went to Yale and worked for Laura Niklason doing translational medicine work. All of this ties to understanding how we can direct regenerative medicine applications with cells by understanding the cues around them to make different therapies. In 2016, I was at the end of my postdoc and I was trying to think about what to do. I had wanted to be a professor for many years, but towards the end, I realized what I really wanted was to be more translational and be a little bit closer to where the patients and the action are. I had a friend that I met at WPI who recommended I speak to her uncle, Jeff Borenstein, at Draper. I'd never heard of Draper before and I didn't know much about the nonprofit world. He looked at my CV and said, "You know what, you'd actually make a really good fit here."

What can you tell me about Draper?

I came to Draper in 2016. As a nonprofit, Draper reinvests its profits into research. One of the manifestations of that are large internal awards called IRaD, which stands for Internal Research and Development. Within six months, I got an IRaD to build technologies to make the next generation of cell therapy. That project went from concept to commercial pretty quickly. I transitioned into being a business development lead and then the portfolio grew even more, mainly because I work with some really talented engineers, some of whom went to WPI. Ultimately, we partnered with Kite Therapeutics. So what that means is my career in cell therapy literally went from an idea scribbled on a napkin with a colleague, to overseeing a partnership with, in my opinion, one of the best cell therapy companies in the world in just a few years. I am in a completely different space than I ever would have imagined. I had no idea I'd ever go into business or cell therapy and I'm really pleased.

I suspect a lot of great ideas have started on napkins. I'm curious about just the term cell bioprocessing. Can you explain it for someone lacking a science background?

Basically, what we're trying to do is take cells from a patient and modify them to make those cells into therapies themselves. It's a really interesting way to enable a patient to heal themselves. We take your immune system cells and then we genetically modify them with equipment that we've made. The equipment separates the cells from your blood, and then we introduce genes that serve as a set of instructions for your immune system to attack something like cancer. Think of it like taking those cells from the patient, giving them some extra tools to make them "super-powered," to make them better at hunting down and identifying things like cancer, and then putting them back into the patient.

Sounds very futuristic.

So here's the thing, I don't know why this is, but most people don't realize that it's not 10 years from now. It's happening right now. Cell therapy is FDA approved. If you have certain types of leukemia or lymphoma, you can get cell therapy made from your cells to target and kill your cancer. And this is a curative solution. You can get a dose of these cells that have been modified to hunt the leukemia down, or lymphoma down, and then you are cured from that disease.

That's amazing.

We're living in an era where cancer is curable. But now, the thing is, can we take it further? You can identify a unique combination that separates out the thing you're trying to hunt down HIV, hepatitis. You can also use the same tools to rectify genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis. It's just a faulty gene that you can replace, right? Those are the next steps.

What are your hopes for the future?

You know what? I would like people to get excited. Everything I just described is what's called autologous cell therapy we take cells from a patient and do all of this work and it's really expensive to do but the future is something called allogeneic cell therapy, where we can take the same tool to do genetic engineering or modification of cells and knock out all those individual components that make yourself uniquely identifiable to you. From that, you create a universal donor. And you can use that as a starting material to make therapies for everyone. So what that means for you as a patient is that you could come into your doctor's office and find out you have something, let's just say a cancer, and you'll have an off-the-shelf ready-to-go therapy that day, frozen and ready to go for you. I don't think that chemotherapy and radiation are going to last much longer in terms of what the first line of defense is going to be. And they're terrible. The truth is, we are still behind the times with cancer therapy. If you look at the cause of death over the last hundred years, pretty much everything but cancer has gone down. Heart disease, influenza, strokes, but not cancer. This is for a variety of reasons, one of which is that we're living longer. But the thing is, our tools are terrible. We kill people with our drugs. Weve arrived at a moment when we can finally imagine a world where cancer is no big deal.

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Last Call with Jenna Balestrini, the WPI grad treating cancer with cell therapy - Worcester Mag

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APikwkanagn First Nation family can now apply for government help to cover a $2.8-million drug that could change the course of their 14-month-old son's life.

"It just gives me this amazing feeling inside that they're willing to potentially help us out and give him what he needs," said Kevin Verch's mother, Dana Pearce, on Friday.

The toddler was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 2, or SMA2, on Boxing Day. The condition causes muscles to weaken over time, and without treatmentcan prevent patients from walking, feeding themselves or holding their heads up.

The family believes their son'sbest shot at avoiding the most severe effects of SMA2 is a single dose of Zolgensma, which costs $2.8 million. The drug effectively replaces the missing or malfunctioning gene that causes SMA.

Verch's doctor received a letter from the Ministry of Health on Friday morning saying patients whorequire the gene therapy can now apply under Ontario's Exceptional Access Program on a case-by-case basis. The letter, shared withCBC, acknowledges patients like Verchare facing "unique circumstances" given the astronomically high cost of the drug.

Zolgensma should be administered to patients as soon as possible after they're diagnosed with SMA. Pearce said herson requires a dose before he turns two in November.

Until mid-December 2020, families could apply for a free dose from the drug maker'smanaged access program.When Health Canada approved the drug on Dec. 16, 2020, however, Novartis ended the lottery program for residents in Canada.

Thatleft families on their ownto figure out how to pay for the drug themselves as provinces and territoriesfinalize details aroundcoverage.

"It gives us a lot of hope, and we're glad that they're starting to realize that there are quite a few babies in Canada that are struggling with this," said Pearce.

The boy's family started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his treatment, and plans to continue raising fundsin case Ontario denies the family's application.

"This is just a hope, not a guarantee," Pearce said.

If the province agrees to pay for the drug, the family is considering using the money they've raisedto covertravel costs for Verch's appointments at CHEO, as well as any mobility devices he may requirein the future. They may also donate some of the money to other families dealing with SMA.

Pearce and Verch's father are both in their early 20s, and both earnminimum wage.

As of Friday afternoon, the family's GoFundMe page has raised more than $81,000 toward their goal of $2.8 million.

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Province gives family facing $2.8M drug bill a glimmer of hope - CBC.ca

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Study data published in NeuroImage: Clinical suggest that pre-therapy neuroimaging profiles may be able to predict outcomes of cross-sex hormone therapy in transgender individuals. In a cohort study of transgender women and men, post-therapy reductions in gender dysphoria were predicted by greater pre-therapy connectivity within the cingulo-opercular and fronto-parietal networks. Such data may provide insight into the body-brain effects of hormone therapy and support the use of certain pre-therapy characteristics to predict whether individuals may need additional support during hormone replacement therapy.

Participants were recruited from a clinic specializing in gender-affirming medical care in Stockholm, Sweden. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 2 time points: (1) prior to hormone intervention and (2) an average of 14 months post-therapy initiation. During the MRI scans, participants were asked to complete a body morph task, in which they were presented with a set of images taken of their own bodies.

The body photographs were morphed towards 5 different iterations of female-presenting bodies and 5 different iterations of male-presenting bodies. While being presented with this continuum of images, participants were asked to rate each one on how closely it represented their own self-image. Results from these body image tasks were used to produce a body index (BI) score, or the degree to which each patient felt their bodys physical characteristics aligned with their gender identity.

More negative scores on the BI were indicative of greater congruence between body image and gender identity. The mean MRI-determined activity within 7 regions of interest (ROIs) was compared between the pre- and post-hormone therapy time points. A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to predict post-therapy BI scores using pre-therapy imaging and clinical data.

Data from 16 trans women and 9 trans men were used in analyses. Mean age at enrollment was 25.2 7.8 years. Mean pre-therapy BI score was -10.4 21.8; mean post-therapy score was -23.1 25.7 (P =.002). The majority of patients (n=18; 72%) experienced a significant decrease in BI score over time, indicating better congruence between body image and gender identity. In regression models which incorporated both clinical features and imaging data, functional connectivity in the fronto-parietal network (P <.005) and the cingulo-opercular network (P <.006) were significantly associated with post-therapy BI ratings.

Models which incorporated all 7 ROIs with clinical features were less accurate in predicting post-therapy BI scores. The best-fitting algorithm combined pre-therapy clinical features with functional connectivity within the fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks (P =.001). Predictive clinical features included age, body mass index, years of education, sexual orientation, and duration of hormone therapy. However, clinical features alone did not predict post-therapy congruence.

Per these data, network connectivity in certain brain regions was associated with hormone therapy outcomes in transgender individuals. Specifically, the front-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks were predictive of post-therapy BI scores. It remains unclear why these specific regions were implicated in therapy outcomes.

Regarding study limitations, investigators cited the small cohort size, relatively short follow-up duration, and use of BI score as a measure of body congruence. While the BI is a validated measure of body congruence, it likely fails to capture the full spectrum of patient experiences.

Even so, [this study] illustrates the potential for predicting hormone therapy responsiveness in transgender individuals with [gender incongruence], the investigators wrote. Results could help identify the need for personalized therapies in individuals predicted to have low body-self congruence after standard therapy.

Reference

Moody TD, Feusner JD, Reggente N, et al. Predicting outcomes of cross-sex hormone therapy in transgender individuals with gender incongruence based on pre-therapy resting-state brain connectivity. Neuroimage Clin. Published online December 2, 2020. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102517

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Functional Connectivity in Certain Brain Regions May Be Associated with Hormone Therapy Outcomes in Transgender Patients - Psychiatry Advisor

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Whether you're trying to get pregnant for the first time or you've been trying for a while, a prenatal multivitamin is standard care. Some specific vitamins may be a worthwhile option to further explore, says Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist with FertilityCenters of Illinois.

Both genders see age-related declines in fertility by age 30. This makes infertility a common issue, affecting up to one-third of couples trying to conceive.

For people trying to get pregnant, the Mayo Clinic advises that women of reproductive age should start taking prenatal vitamins daily even before they start trying to conceive.

Here are some of the top recommended prenatal vitamins and supplements that help with female fertility and achieving a healthy pregnancy.

Many of the recommended prenatal vitamins and supplements contain antioxidants as one of the main ingredients. This is because research suggests that antioxidants combat oxidative stress which may be linked to female infertility. However, it's important to note that more research is needed to determine if antioxidants actually boost fertility.

Hirshfeld-Cytron suggests these common prenatal vitamins and supplements to help increase female fertility:

Coenzyme Q10. This is an over-the-counter (OTC) antioxidant that Hirshfeld-Cytron says can improve the quality of eggs. In theory, better egg quality is associated with less risk of genetic abnormalities, such as too few or too many chromosomes, which can cause trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), Turner Syndrome, and other conditions. Coenzyme Q10 may also reduce cellular damage and boost energy production in cells.

"I would recommend holding to start this supplement until a physician sees you to confirm issues around egg quality," Hirshfeld-Cytron says. If you can take it, she suggests 200 mg, three times a day with food.

Melatonin. This is a hormone with antioxidant activity that can be found as an OTC supplement. A 2012 review suggests the hormone helps promote fertilization by reducing cellular damage inside the ovaries.

Hirshfeld-Cytron says this may be particularly important for female night-shift workers whose schedule disrupts their circadian rhythm an internal clock regulated by melatonin. She recommends 3 mg each evening, as melatonin also helps to promote sleep.

Omega-3 fatty acids. Commonly found in fish and flaxseed, omega-3 fatty acids can aid hormone production. Hirshfeld-Cytron says they may also help to produce higher quality eggs and better reproductive functioning as you age.

"Elevated levels of omega-3 have shown to improve embryo development and baseline estrogen levels," she says. Estrogen helps to thicken the uterine lining to prepare the body for pregnancy. Hirshfeld-Cytrom recommends 1200-1500 mg EPA + DHA daily, but not to exceed 3000 mg/day.

Vitamin D.Your body produces this fat-soluble vitamin when it's exposed to sunlight. You can also get vitamin D through certain foods and as a supplement. It helps to control the genes involved in producing estrogen, as well as embryo implantation.

"Most of us are Vitamin D deficient. I strongly recommend adding at least 1000 IU, which can be found in some prenatal vitamins," says Hirshfeld-Cytron. There is no need to take additional vitamin D along with a multivitamin unless directed by your doctor.

Folic acid. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), folic acid is a B vitamin that all women of reproductive age should take because of its ability to produce new cells, such as for nails, hair, and skin. When taken as a supplement, a 2015 study found it increased the likelihood of pregnancy.

Folic acid is also important to avoid birth defects. The MGH Center for Women's Health says that most pregnancies go undetected in the first few weeks, a critical period for the formation of the neural tube which creates the brain and spinal cord in the fetus. A daily minimum dose of 400 mcg of folate is recommended for most people.

Hirshfeld-Cytron says that an all-inclusive prenatal vitamin or multivitamin "should contain folic acid, calcium, and iron, and ideally also have vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, and copper. These are a must if you are trying to conceive."

If prenatal vitamins in pill form cause an upset stomach, you can try liquid supplements or chewables. However, when choosing gummies, it's important to have extra supplementation as they may lack iron.

When taking your prenatal vitamin, it's best to have it with a full glass of water. For better absorption, Hirshfeld-Cytron says to take prenatal vitamins with a meal. Speak with your physician if you are having issues with nausea or constipation.

Hirshfeld-Cytron also says it doesn't make much difference if vitamins are prescribed or not. "The nutrients in over the counter and prescription prenatal vitamins are similar. In some cases, prescription prenatal vitamins may be easier on the stomach," she says.

Typically, your OB-GYN will administer the first round of fertility tests. Women attempting to conceive for more than one year, or more than 6 months if age 35 or older, may choose to undergo an evaluation by a fertility specialist. Fertility tests can include checking reproductive hormone levels along with:

Beyond aging, female fertility is affected by a range of conditions such as endocrine disorders, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). People with untreated gonorrhea or chlamydia are at risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, which may block fallopian tubes.

Taking prenatal vitamins can potentially improve egg quality and the antioxidant activity may boost fertility.Overall, Hirshfeld-Cytron recommends a variety of prenatal vitamins to increase your chance of fertility success. She says including prenatal vitamins, particularly a multivitamin that includes vitamin D and folic acid, to your health regimen is a critical proactive measure when seeking to boost your fertility.

Continued here:
The best prenatal vitamins for women and how to take them to boost your fertility - Insider - INSIDER

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A column about being a pregnant trans dad, and all the prejudices, healthcare challenges, personal dilemmas, and joys that come with making a family in 2021.

Its Christmas eve. Chilly Gonzales contemplative yet comforting festive album fills my English seaside living room. Our TV is wearing tinsel. Golden fairy lights shine in the corner of my eye. The tree my almost-3-year-old and I decorated is festooned with seahorse ornamentsa symbol affectionately adopted by trans dads such as myself, because male seahorses are the ones who get knocked up.

It finally feels Christmassy at home, if not outside. Our town, our entire countyall 1.9 million of usis in Tier 4, the highest level of Coronavirus lockdown in the UK. The new restrictions were imposed with less than 12 hours notice on December 20th. I still hadnt got anything for my mum, and now, all non-essential shops are closed.

Im not worried too much on that front, though. Yesterday, I was able to give her an early Christmas present of sorts: I did a pregnancy test and the result was positive. I immediately rang to tell her the news. Its early days, but still, there it is. For now, it worked, and on first attempt at that. If all works out, I will be having my second child via IVF embryo transfer.

Just like the first time, Im using my eggs and sperm from a donor who can be contacted later on. Anonymous sperm donation ended in the UK in 2005 and donors are now only reimbursed for expenses, up to around $50.

Like many queers who seek fertility support, I did so for practical reasons, not because of infertility. I have been medically transitioning since 2013, but so far Ive retained my reproductive ability. Ive been on testosterone (T) for years, but this hormone has never been shown to harm trans male fertility, despite what you may have heard. My ovaries dont bother me and I dont bother them, most of the time.

Some quick context: For a wide range of reasons, many trans men choose not to have hysterectomies, be that ever or until many years into transition. We used to be told that retaining our reproductive organs would likely give us cancer, but thankfully, that has since been debunked. Its common knowledge in our community that many of us continue to ovulate or have light periods, even while taking testosterone. And, because the idea that we all hate our entire bodies is only a reductive and insulting generalization, it is worth clarifying that we can enjoy all kinds of sex, penetrative or otherwise.

If we pause our hormone treatment, we can, and increasingly do, become dads who give birth. So, given all this, its not quite a Christmas miracle that my recent fertility treatment was successful. It was just the best Christmas gift I could have dared hope for. In terms of IVF, after creating healthy embryos and waiting for my body to give all the right signals, my chances were as good as they get.

Many prospective queer parents go the DIY route, meaning they simply have sex. Or they do at-home insemination, aka the turkey-basting method. But I chose to attend a clinic because, well, Im a pragmatist. First, Im (happily) single and I dont have a known donor with semen on tap. Despite donors no longer getting paid, frozen donor sperm is still expensivearound $1,400 a popso creating multiple embryos with just one vial was cost-effective for me. Second, I find being off T really hard and with my first pregnancy, the uncertainty of how long it would take to conceive was truly agonizing. This time, knowing more about what my mental health can withstand, I chose IVF. Insemination (IUI) is noninvasive and affordable, but IVF success rates, round for round, are generally much higher.

I know its unorthodox to share news of a pregnancy this early. In fact, I am hyper aware of this (thanks, anxiety!). Im not immune to the phobia of pregnancy being somehow jinxed by being announced early on but, at the same time, I am sick of it. Part of my reason for doing this column is to push against the normative assumptions surrounding pregnancy, and that includes superstitions. Does any good come of keeping this a secret for any length of time? If not, why do we do it?

Historically, misogyny has told us that miscarriage is an individual failure and therefore, should be a private shame.

When a cis, straight couple tries for a baby, they might mention it to close friends or family. Or they might well not. Beyond that, the fairly universal norm is for silence to enshroud the process, until, at the very earliest, a 12-week scan is safely navigated. That potentially means months and months of having no one, or perhaps just one other stressed-out person, to confide in.

Such a tangle of social mores, ancient superstitions, and personal comfort levels is impossible to tease apart. Still, Ill hazard a guess that the fact pregnancy has been understood as an essentially female experience is mostly to blame for the secrecy. It would also explain the stigma that accompanies being open about this stuff too soon or too much. Whoever is going through it might worry that if they do not abide by The Rules, they are inviting judgement, or worse, blame if something goes wrong.

Historically, misogyny has told us that miscarriage is an individual failure and therefore, should be a private shame. That means, too often, people experience miscarriage or baby loss in complete and devastating isolation.

Anecdotally, Ive noticed that secrecy or shame around pregnancy and pregnancy loss is less of a thing in LGBTQ+ communities and certainly in online community spaces. On the contrary, people often actively reject these concepts, perhaps having already realized the power in rejecting them in relation to their sexual and gender identities. So, finding that other queer parents have shared their experiences before me is not in the least bit surprising.

I get that its something of a matter of necessity. Queer people who are Trying To Conceive (TTC as the lingo has it) would have no where else to turn if we didnt find each other and get candid about our family-making methods, hacks, and struggles. In short, we are usually our only source of information and support. One of the few upsides of not being reflected in mainstream society might be avoiding, or at least having space to unlearn, its neuroses around fertility.

I want to share the nuts and bolts of this process, both the highs and lows, because before I started my own family, all the media about people like me was sensationalist and left me with the same unhelpful questions: Am I a freak? And not the good kind?

There should never be another trans or nonbinary person relying on luck, or the difficult unlearning of shame, to fulfill their dreams of family, whatever form it takes.

I had no positive role models and no practical advice. The very possibility of creating a family the way I did was something I learned about totally by accident. Today, when I look at my beautiful kid, this detail in particular makes my heart lurch. What if Id never been put straight about my fertility and my options for becoming a parent? What if that doctor who assumed I didnt want kids had also managed to convince me that I could never really be me without a hysto? I know people who were robbed of this knowledge and these choices and it has to stop. There should never be another trans or nonbinary person relying on luck, or the difficult unlearning of shame, to fulfill their dreams of family, whatever form it takes.

I also want to use this space to explore lots of other ideas and questions relating to gender, fertility, family, parenthood, and the society in which they currently, somewhat unsteadily, percolate. Anecdotally, Ive noticed that, regardless of gender, prioritizing starting a family makes me a bit of an outlier as a Millennial. If its true more broadly that my peersboth straight and queerhave different priorities, is it out of choice or economic necessity? Ive also learned firsthand that, while more parents are trying to free their kids from the chains of gendered expectations, those expectations seem to have an ever greater influence on us from before were even born. Why do gender reveals and the pink/blue binary still dominate?

So, here I am, carrying on this fine queer tradition of oversharing. As I write this, I am four weeks pregnant. I feel nauseous all the time and I hope beyond hope that this poppy seed-sized life finds its way earthside in 40-ish weeks time to meet us. I am also conscious that it might not and that if it doesnt, that I will not be alone, nor will I feel like a failure.

Its a privilege to be able to share this experience with you, whether youre here to see yourself reflected, out of pure curiosity, or somewhere in between. I hope you will stick with me, too.

Follow Freddy on Twitter.

Originally posted here:
Why I'm Sharing Everything About My Experience As a Pregnant Dad - VICE

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The nations have conflicting research results on Roches Actemra and Sanofi and Regenerons Kevzara. The United Kingdom says the anti-inflammatory drugs significantly reduce the risk of death in covid patients needing intensive care.

FiercePharma:Roche's Actemra, Regeneron's Kevzara Win U.K.'s Favor In COVID-19 After Study Shows 24% Drop In Death RiskThe question of whether seriously ill COVID-19 patients can benefit from anti-inflammatories like Roches Actemra and Sanofi and Regenerons Kevzara has dogged practitioners in the United States thanks to conflicting clinical trial results. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has reached a definitive answer on the two drugs, both of which are IL-6 inhibitors: They significantly reduce the risk of death in COVID-19 patients needing intensive care, and they should be used to ease the pressure hospitals are now facing as the coronavirus pandemic continues to intensify, the countrys National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) said Thursday. The recommendation came after data from an NIHR-sponsored study showed that Actemra and Kevzara can cut hospital stays for COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care by 10 days and can lower the risk of death by 24% in patients who receive either drug within a day of admission. (Weintraub, 1/8)

Albuquerque Journal:NM Providers Slow To Prescribe Coronavirus Antibody DrugsNew antibody drugs are available around the state that, if given early, can dramatically reduce the chance of at-risk COVID-19 patients getting so sick they end up in the hospital. But there havent been a lot of takers in New Mexico despite a near-record of 43 daily deaths one day last week related to COVID-19. Now the push is on to educate patients and medical providers about the availability and effectiveness of the two IV-administered antibody therapies. (Heild, 1/10)

Fortune:Bayer Strikes Deal To Aid CureVac In COVID-19 Vaccine RolloutThe German biopharma firm CureVac has announced a tie-up with the country's biggest pharmaceutical beast, Bayer, for the development and supply of CureVac's candidate COVID-19 vaccine. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Bayer's stock jumped more than 2% on the news Thursday morning. The collaboration and services agreement should aid the supply of "several hundred million" vaccine doses, the companies said. CureVac said in November that it intends to produce up to 300 million doses this year, and up to 600 million doses in 2022. (Meyer, 1/7)

FiercePharma:Look Out, Pharma. A 'Tidal Wave' Of Side Effect Reports Is Coming Amid COVID-19 Vaccine RolloutsWith COVID-19 vaccine launches gaining steamand an unprecedented level of media coverage zeroed inpharma companies of all stripes should brace not only for a wave of adverse event reports, experts say, but for lawsuits that could follow. With tens of millions of Americansset to be vaccinated, including many people athigh risk of severe COVID-19, it's not just vaccine makers who need to actively look out for potential adverse events or drug interactions, lawyers with Sidley Austin said. All pharma companiesnot just those involved in COVID-19 vaccine deliveriescanexpect a significant increase in volume of reports over the coming months,Torrey Cope, a partner in the firm'sFood, Drug and Medical Device Regulatory practice,said in an interview. (Sagonowsky, 1/7)

ProPublica:CDC Shut Down A Lab Involved In Making Faulty Coronavirus TestsWith no public notice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October shut down a key lab involved in making faulty COVID-19 tests for state and local health authorities early in the pandemic. The move came less than six hours after ProPublica published an investigation that detailed for the first time the chain of mistakes and disputes that unfolded inside CDC labs, which culminated in one of the biggest fumbles in the agencys 74-year history. A CDC acting branch chief told the staff of the Respiratory Viruses Diagnostics Team lab on Oct. 15 that the closure would be for two to four weeks while the CDC investigated and the staff worked on corrective action plans, according to internal sources. But more than two months later, the lab still is not performing tests. (Bandler, Callahan and Rotella, 1/8)

In other pharmaceutical industry news

FiercePharma:FDA Extends Immunodeficiency Drug's Shelf Life As Pandemic Exacerbates ShortagesThe U.S. immunoglobulinsupplyjust got alittle more secure, thanks to a label change enablingone of Octapharma's chief rare disease meds to sitin the fridge for up to three years.The FDA has stretched the expiration date of 42 existing lots of Octapharmas subcutaneous immune deficiency drug cutaquigand granted a 12-month shelf life extension on future lots stored at 36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. The drug was previously cleared to last 24 months when refrigerated. Cutaquigs six-month shelf life at room temperature remains unchanged, Octapharma said Tuesday. (Kansteiner, 1/6)

Stat:FDA Advisory Panel Meetings Became "Rarer And Tougher" In 2020Among the myriad changes wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meetings to review medicines are rarer and tougher now, according to one Wall Street analyst. Over the past year, just half of new drug applications taken to advisory committees were recommended for regulatory approval. That compares with 78% in 2019 and a rate of more than 80% in three of the four years before that, according to Cowen analyst Rick Weissenstein, who cited an analysis by the Prevision Policy consulting firm in an investor note. (Silverman, 1/8)

FiercePharma:Should Pharma Charity Contributions Be Publicly Disclosed, Just Like Doctor Payments? Senators Say YesPharma companies have inked a series of federal settlements over payments to charity organizations, which the federal government argues are a conduit to boosting drug sales. Now, after an opioid investigation, two Senators want all those charity payments disclosed publicly. And they have just the mechanism for it. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden have calledforan expansion of theCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database. Thatdatabase now includespayments from pharma companies to doctors and other medical providers, but the senators propose adding payments to tax-exempt groups, too. Further, the senators have called for anew requirement that the HHS secretary formulate guidelines to boost transparency aroundresearch organizations and others contracted by the health agency. (Sagonowsky, 1/8)

CIDRAP:Nations Facing Drug Shortages Use Registries, Other StepsDrug supply chain vulnerabilities have achieved greater visibility with the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have increasingly plagued countries in the past few years. A survey published in Health Policy's December issue found that 20 of 24 countries used drug registries to combat them, 20 simplified regulatory procedures during shortages, 18 regularly talked with stakeholders, and 15 had financial sanctions in place for when manufacturers missed notification or supply requirements. Even with these practices in place, multiple countries expressed an interest in increasing management strategies, and for good reason. Finland, the researchers report, experienced an 18-fold increase in shortages from 2010 to 2018, with instances doubling from 2016 to 2018 alone. (McLernon, 1/8)

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2 More Drugs Recommended To Treat Covid In UK, But Not In US - Kaiser Health News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

No one knows what's gonna happen next in The Ventrue Bros, and yet it always seems like every twist was always meant to happen.

In the second half of 2020, Adult Swim decided to cancel one of its longest lasting and most prominent series, The Venture Bros. Thought by many within its community to be one of the most well-written superhero series of all time and a clear rival to even Rick and Morty, The Venture Bros. was an adult animation stand out that impressed with its witty writing, tot pacing, and large yet complex cast of characters.

RELATED:The Venture Bros: 10 Most Heroic Characters, Ranked

For a series that was initially animated over old, Hanna-Barbera cels, the series clearly became its own beast. This isn't just because it did the action cartoon schtick well but because it more than redefined subversion with its famous line of plot twists and character development. No one ever knows what's gonna happen next, and yet it always seems like every twist was always meant to happen.

One of the earliest and hardest hitting twists in the series was discovering that the Hank and Dean Venture that the fans were introduced to were not, in fact, the original Hank and Dean Venture. As Jonas Venture's old associate, Ben, put it, their dad couldn't handle the heartbreak of seeing them gone and decided to use a big ol' "band aid" to make things better.

RELATED:10 Best Venture Bros. Episodes (Until Season 8)

Due to the Venture Family's dangerous missions, some negligence on Rusty's part, and some stupidity on their part, the boys have actually died a shared 29 times throughout their "lifetime." With the slugs being destroyed and the O.S.I. now watching Dr. Venture for his illegal clone farm, there is now no longer a safety net for the Ventures, meaning that the Hank and Dean of today are likely going to be the last ones.

Myra debuted in Season 2 in another one of her kidnap attempts of Hank and Dean. According to her, she was apparently an old bodyguard of Rusty's that fell in love with him and, after a brief moment of passion, gave birth to the boys. After Rusty and Brock saved them, the two denied that Myra was their mother yet gave a very shaky cover story that she as an American Gladiator.

This gave some fans pause since the series from there would actually show Myra in a couple of flashbacks as Rusty's bodyguard, making some people think that she really could the Venture mom. It wouldn't be until Season 5 when she tried to kidnap Dean that she'd reveal that she never gave birth to them in the first place.

It's to be expected that in the clandestine world of super agents that there would be plenty of twists, turns, and double agents. Colonel Hunter Gathers love and embraces everything about the superspy world.

This meant even taking elective, plastic surgery to infiltrate Molotov's Black Hearts. Yes. Colonel Gathers didn't really betray the O.S.I. but was instead trying to gather intel on another mercenary group. But that's not even true either! Instead, Hunter had initiated is own offshoot of the O.S.I. and a reboot of an old villain organization, S.P.H.I.N.X. to take on bad guys within his own terms.

The relationship between the Venture scientists and their bodyguards is a sacred one. Rusty Venture's trusted second has consistently been Brock Samson. The original Dr. Venture had Kano. And, before them, was Colonel Venture and Eugen Sandow. During the earliest iteration of "The Guild," Colonel Venture was the leader of a group of scientists, artists, and adventurers that had worked together to create the ORB, a MacGuffin purely written to be a MacGuffin.

To prevent Colonel Venture from using it, it looked like Sandow had killed him. Instead, he had actually just broken the ORB, making it useless for future generations. It seemed like the two should've told people, but it did make for a good twist.

The Ventureboys have never shared a bad word against one another, unless for petty, campy reasons. Their closeness had practically been a staple of the series.

RELATED:Love Hurts: The 10 Best Comic Book Love Triangles Of All Time, Ranked

While Season 7 did tease that Dean may have had feelings for Sirena, no one was actually thinking that he'd steal Sirena from Hank, let alone as suddenly and coldly as it was shown at the end. This has created the biggest divide between the two to date and inspired Hank to finally go out on his own. Here's hoping that they work things out in Season 8 and that Season 8 even exists.

Rusty Venture has done a lot of terrible things. He has sacrificed Hank over Dean in a ton of adventures, killed interns in his self-centered Palaemon Project, and literally powered one of his machines with an orphan. These are all terrible things, but it's been easy to pass them off across the story due to the inherently dark and campy nature of the show.

However, if there was one scene of his that assuredly disgusted and horrified fans everywhere, it was learning that he was actually Dermott's father. Upon seducing the 15-year-old president of his own fan club, Rusty held unto one of his darkest and most shameful secrets to date.

It was easy enough to just call Rusty a bad dad given how he's cloned the boys so much. Despite his begrudging efforts to be a good dad, the whole clone thing may have made him even more arrogant and negligent as a father. Did he really need to take the boys on all of those dangerous missions?

As morally ambiguous as the cloning process was, it was surprising (well, not too surprising given Rusty's intelligence) to discover that he didn't actually invent the clones. They were a project of his father's when Rusty himself got into a few too many adventures himself.

Season 7's Morphic Trilogy was the ultimate culmination of some of the series' longest built stories and it was the epicenter of plenty more twists and surprises within the tail end of the story. One of the biggest bombshells was discovering how important the monotoned Vendata really is.

RELATED:20 Comic Dads That Would Make Anyone Wish They Were Orphans

Initially appearing as the most unpopular member of the Council of Thirteen, Vendata was actually Don Fitzcarraldo, the original Blue Morpho, The Monarch's father, and one of Dr. Venture's most trusted associates. After a tragic plane crash, Jonas resurrected Don as Venturion but quickly got rid of him after an incident with Rusty. Don would later get taken in by Dr. Z who reprogrammed him for evil.

While the true nature of Vendata was surprising on its own, his reveals don't compare to the sheer impact of discovering that the original Dr. Venture was still alive...kind of. After the Movie Night Massacre, the original Team Venture quickly got to work to put Jonas in PROBLEM, orPROgressive Biological Life Extension Module.

It was meant to extend someone's life in the event of their untimely death. When Rusty was first called in to check on the PROBLEM's light in Season 1, that was actually Jonas trying to communicate with the passengers of Gargantua-1. He'd resurrect once again in Season 7 only to have one final exchange with the Blue Morpho.

For years, one of the biggest questions in the series was why exactly does The Monarch want to arch Dr. Venture. Fans got somewhat of an idea when he discovered an old childhood photo of the two that he just couldn't recall. In Season 7, it was hinted that Don Fitzcarraldo had some issues conceiving on his own, leaving Jonas to offer his help which inevitably meant sleeping with his wife.

This made Rusty and The Monarch half brothers. Do they now need to compete for the right to the Venture throne? Will The Monarch still want to arch Dr. Venture? Will Rusty actually care about any of this? These questions and more are what keeping longtime fans waiting for Season 8.

NEXT:10 Best Superhero Sibling Rivalries (& Their Best Fights)

Next Legend Of Korra: 5 Characters That Improved After The Time Skip (& 5 That Regressed)

As a writer, auteur, and innovator, I seek to expand human potential through the creative medium, intellectually and emotionally challenging the mass audience. I seek to work in visual and written media, whether it be in film, video games, or publishing, using a variety of mediums to express the full spectrum of art. Over the years, Ive familiarized myself and worked with film organizations and workshops, such as the Austin Film Society, Austin Film Festival, and Austin Film Meet, to grow my understanding of the industry and hone my craft as a writer. My interaction and networking with the Austin film community as well as my interests and studies as a Writing & Rhetoric major have contributed to a fundamental and growing understanding of trends and changes within the art and media industries. In this instance, my knowledge and research could be fundamental in creating and editing effective material. As a whole, Im a valuable asset to any organization seeking experience and knowledge of the media industry as well as any group seeking ambitious storytelling and content creation.

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The Venture Bros: 10 Biggest Twists In The Series | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Bath and body rituals add to the feeling of overall wellness from day to night.

Long baths and showers are immensely underrated. The same goes for the body rituals that follow. Its strange to think that we would be willing to spend $300 for face creams yet scrimp on nourishing oils for the body. Truth is, bath and body rituals ought to be the norm instead of being an occasional indulgence. There are countless benefits that go with an invigorating shower in the morning, energizing body oils before heading out for the day, and a relaxing bath by nighttime. Apart from hygiene, the rituals that nurture and nourish our bodies are essential for overall sense of wellness. It can awaken the senses, create a feeling of balance, ease nerves and tension.

Firm, Toned and Cellulite-Free

Plant Collagen Body Mist for firmer and younger looking skin from ADONIA ORGANICS

Our bodies change in countless ways as we age. While exercise is a great way to keep our bodies in shape, skin tends to be less supple and firm as time progresses. ADONIA ORGANICS Plant Collage Body Mist is a plant based body spritz that helps to boost natural collagen all over the body. It is a potion that I love to use as a compliment to daily workouts. Formulation helps to boost the bodys ability to produce collagen, which is responsible for keeping skin smooth and firm. The non-greasy, easily absorbed spray creates a youthful skin tone and texture.

Reduce appearance of cellulite with ADONIA ORGANICS Legtone Serum

You may also want to complement your Collagen Body Mist with ADONIA ORGANICS Legtone Serum. Utilizing organic plant stem cells that reduce the appearance of cellulite, this toning serum renders visible results by 47% within nine minutes from first application. Rosemary Verbenone boosts cell renewal while Neroli helps bring back skin elasticity. It also helps improve the appearance of stretch marks and scarring. The Legtone Serum is also great to use for arms and other parts of the body where there is cellulite.

The Miracle Marula Oil Shower

Moo and Yoo Miracle Body Lotion is infused with skin hero ingredient, Marula Oil.

Many of us are in the habit of choosing a body wash and lotion based solely on scent. Oftentimes, we forget to look into ingredients or the sustainability practices that go into our bath and body products. MOO AND YOOs MIRACLE LOTION and BODY WASH leaves skin feeling squeaky clean and fresh without use of harmful fragrances. The company uses recyclable glass containers, which makes for a chic addition to the bath and body vanity shelf. Since getting into more mindful and sustainable beauty, plastics containers have become eye sores in the boudoir.

The Miracle Body Was from MOO AND YOO is packed with anti oxidants and ingredients with anti ... [+] inflammatory properties.

The Miracle Body Wash is blended with Marual Oil and Icelandic Moss, which act as an antioxidant. A soft powdery scent enhances that clean and fresh feeling after cleansing with the Miracle Body Wash. Following purification, the Miracle Body Lotion will help to revitalize skin, leaving a soft and nourished feel all day long. This duo is great to use for daily showers that set the tone for an amazing day.

Young, Fabulous and Polished at the Farmhouse

Just like facial skin, our bodies also need the regular exfoliation to scrub off dead skin cells. This allows for the skin to better absorb nutrients from hydrating creams, lotions or oils. During the winter, a scrub or body polish is recommended for addressing dry, flaky skin. FARMHOUSE FRESH Muscadine Moonshine Liquor Infused Body Polish is an intoxicatingly invigorating skin treat that helps to stimulate skin renewal. Formulated with Georgia muscadine grapes, sea salt and a small batch of Moonshine (distilled in Austin, Texas), this delicious body cocktail will leave skin feeling like silk. Its delicious scent will also leave you wanting morejust as you would your favorite happy hour cocktail.

Farmhouse Fresh's Muscadine Moonshine Liquor Infused Body Polish is an intoxicatingly delicious skin ... [+] treat that help to stimulate skin renewal

Moondip Back To Youth Ageless Mousse by FARMHOUSE FRESH is an ultra light body whip infused with ... [+] peptides and retinol to keep skin youthful.

After a body polish, pamper skin with the Moondip Back To Youth Ageless Body Mousse. This light-as-air anti-aging body whip is formulated with fresh notes of winter mint, apple, amber and greens. It glides like clouds against skin without the greasy or sticky feel. Infusion of age defying peptides and retinol visibly improve appearance of skin especially when applied over necklines, arms, legs and chest. Ageless Body Mousse is the jar to keep on your bedside for a pre slumber self care treat.

An Undisturbed Staycation

The Feelist Staycation Detoxifying Salt Soak is formulated with Broad Spectrum CBD, Himalayan, Epsom ... [+] and sea salts

CBD is a wonder ingredient for relaxation as well as alleviating pains and aches. It has also worked beautifully in soothing inflammation. THE FEELISTs best-selling Staycation Detoxifying Salt Soak is a treat that the body will particularly enjoy after an intense workout. This purifying soak is formulated with Broad Spectrum CBD, Himalayan, Epsom and sea salts to soothe and relax the senses. Light a candle, enjoy a glass (or two or three) or Pinot and soak in all the goodness on a Friday night.

The Feelist Do Not Disturb Extra Strength Body Cream will ease lull you into your deepest slumber ... [+] yet.

For a complete bath and body spa experience, top off your bath and body ritual with Do Not Disturb Extra Strength Body Cream. This restorative and relaxing cream is infused with an extra dose of Broad Spectrum CBD, essential oils and natural extracts that will ease lull you into your deepest slumber yet. This body cream is also idea for addressing inflammation and body cramps.

Magic at Midnight

Pink Moon's Midnight Melody Body and Hair Oil is hydrating, calming and multipurpose oil formulated ... [+] with essences of Night Blooming Tuberose, Petitgrain, and Ylang Ylang

Over the holidays, PINK MOON launched its very own calming body oil in small batches called Midnight Melody Body and Hair Oil. Since my very own bottle arrived, its been sitting on my bedside. This fresh, fragrance and clean formula of organic flower seed, apricot kernel and meadow foam is great for after a warm evening bath. Pat on slightly damp skin and allow to sink into skin. This will leave the surface feeling clean smooth and hydrated. You can also add a few drops into your bath for the most soothing bath after a long day of work from home. Essences of tuberose, ylang ylang, peppery wood and petit grain transport ease the senses into deep relaxation. What makes this the holy grail of oils is that you can also wear it as a hair oil or perfume. I love to massage this onto my scalp at night for hair that is soft, silky and revitalized.

Glow Like A Goddess

The newly launched Dry Body Oil from HIGH ON LOVE is infused with cannabis oil to give hair and skin ... [+] a goddesses glow without the greasy feel.

Self care rituals that leave you feeling and looking good are priceless. I particularly love pampering the body with oils and creams that help to amp confidence and sense of self. For years, oils that help create that glow from within radiance have been my go-to everything I set out to paint the town red. HIGH ON LOVEs Dry Body Oil is a gem that nourishes and illuminates skin. This non-greasy, cannabis seed oil formula softens and hydrates skin without the unwanted shine. For optimum results, apply all over the body. You may also use this for hair. Gently massage to allow the oils to soak. Tip: Use this body oil just before putting on that slip dress youve been waiting to wear for a special night out on town.

The Truth About Dry Brushing

The Perfect Skin Brush from ROSEBUD is made using sustainably sourced materials like sisal and ... [+] beechwood, resulting in the ideal skin lymphatic massager.

It was only very recently when my good friend and health guru Chechel Joson suggested I add dry brushing to my wellness routine. It exfoliates from dead skin and boosts lymphatic drainage, she explained. Skin is also visibly smoother and silkier after dry brushing. A few days following the conversation, ROSE BUDs Perfect Skin Brush arrived in the mail as on cue. Made using sustainably sourced sisal and beeechwood that paddle is firm enough to render maximum results even with light pressure. The key to dry brushing is to work towards the lymph nodes near the armpits and groin area. Start with a five-minute brushing routine and extend as the days progress. Follow your dry brushing routine with a warm (not hot0 shower) using a gentle body cleanser. Other benefits of brushing include: detoxification and better immune function. Tip: Try a quick dry brushing session just before a post-workout shower to feel completely energized in the mornings.

Soak, Disconnect and Breathe

PURSOMA's Just Breathe Ritual is a clearing sea salt concoction infused with clearing eucalyptus, ... [+] rosemary, lavender, and ginger.

Flu and allergy season has many of us looking for ways to ease and soothe discomforts from sneezing, sniffles and congestion. Peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils are great natural remedies now occupying prime real estate by the bedside. Ive also recently added a calming and clearing eucalyptus bath treatment with PURSOMAs Just Breathe Ritual to the current routine. This highly therapeutic French Grey Sea Salt concoction, infused natural essential oils gives sinuses relief and supports immune strength. After 20 minutes of undisturbed me-time immersed in this ritual, mind and body emerges energized and feeling brand new.

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Bath And Body Routines That Make You Look And Feel Good From Day To Night - Forbes

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Organ and Tissue Transplantation and Alternatives" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report offers forecasts, by product segment, from 2018 through 2024, including supporting analyses for projections. Product segments covered consist of the solid organ (e.g., kidneys, liver, heart-lung, pancreas, intestines) and the tissue transplantation (e.g., bone, skin, cornea, heart valve) markets, along with the pharmaceuticals that accompany each market.

Also included are experimental xenografts and artificial organs; tissue transplants; and cell transplants (e.g., bone marrow, cord blood, peripheral blood, islet cell). The report touches on the use of fetal cells, stem cells, and altered cancer cells.

The arrangement of this report offers an overview of the key elements in the transplantation process: tissue typing, procurement and preservation, immunosuppressants for solid organ and tissue transplants, and postoperative monitoring. International markets are discussed, and information is provided on industry structure and the regulatory environment.

Within each section are discussions of commercialization opportunities for each segment of the market. New or emerging devices, techniques, and pharmaceuticals are highlighted.

Profiles of leading companies involved with solid organ transplantation, tissue transplantation, and alternative technologies are included. The report provides information on company placement within the market and strategic analyses of the companies' available and emerging products.

An appendix featuring various terms and processes used in transplantation is provided at the end of the report.

This report cites autologous products only in relation to their impact on the market for allografts. It does not include blood products, except for peripheral and umbilical cord blood as a source of stem cells.

Companies Mentioned

Report Includes:

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights

Chapter 3 Market and Technology Background

Chapter 4 Market Dynamics

Chapter 5 Market Breakdown by Product & Devices

Chapter 6 Market Breakdown by Region

Chapter 7 Impact of COVID-19

Chapter 8 Overview of Donation Process

Chapter 9 Regulations & Reimbursement

Chapter 10 Competitive Landscape

Chapter 11 Company Profiles

Chapter 12 Appendix: Acronyms

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/c4x7cw

Excerpt from:
Worldwide Organ and Tissue Transplantation and Alternatives Industry to 2024 - Featuring Mylan, Novartis & Pfizer Among Others -...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith