Last Updated on January 10, 2020

Medically reviewed by Ann S. LaCasce, MD, MMSc

Mantle cell lymphoma is a rare, often aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a cancer that involves white blood cells known as lymphocytes, which help protect the body from disease. It is named for its origins in the mantle zone a ring of cells within the lymph nodes where B cells (a type of lymphocyte) grow and take on specialized functions. It comprises about 6% of all cases of NHL, usually arises during an individuals early 60s, and is more common in men than women.

The most common symptoms of mantle cell lymphoma include:

At the time of diagnosis,nearly all patients have disease that has spread beyond its initial site.

For most patients, the cause of the disease is unknown, but rates are higher among farmers and people from rural areas.

Itoccurs when B lymphocytes acquire genetic mutations that alter their functionand growth. One such abnormality, found in 90% of cases, causes B lymphocytesto overproduce cyclin D1, a protein that spurs the cells growth. Othermutations can interfere with B cells ability to produce infection-fightingantibodies, leaving patients vulnerable to certain diseases.

A definitive diagnosis requires a biopsy of an affected lymph node or other involved tissue.

Doctors use a variety of scans to determine the diseases stage, or how far it has advanced. These include:

Treatment for mantle cell lymphoma varies depending on patients age and overall health and the stage of the disease. Patients who have yet to develop symptoms and who have a relatively small amount of slow-growing disease may be recommended for active surveillance close monitoring of their health through regular checkups and lab tests. When lymphoma-related symptoms appear or tests show a worsening of the disease, active treatment may begin.

The initial treatment for aggressive mantle cell lymphoma in younger patients often includes a combination of chemotherapy drugs in conjunction with an antibody-based treatment, often followed by a stem cell transplant using patients own stem cells. Older, less-fit patients may undergo less intensive chemotherapy sometimes followed by a prolonged course of antibody therapy.

Other treatments may include drugs known as BTK inhibitors such as acalbrutinib and ibrutinib, which interfere with lymphoma cells internal growth signals.

In patients who relapse after treatment or dont respond to initial treatment, a variety of options may be available, including:

Clinical trials are currently underway of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with mantle cell lymphoma. The therapy, which uses genetically modified immune system T cells to attack tumor cells, has been shown to be effective in patients with other forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Other trials are testing drugs known as bispecific antibodies, artificial proteins that can bind simultaneously to two surface proteins on cells, and targeted agents directed against specific cancer-related proteins.

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What is Mantle Cell Lymphoma and How Is It Treated? - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Imago BioSciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative treatments for myeloid diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for the development of bomedemstat (IMG-7289) for the treatment of essential thrombocythemia (ET), a bone marrow disease associated with high platelet counts and potentially catastrophic vascular complications. Bomedemstat inhibits the enzyme LSD1 (lysine-specific demethylase 1), thus preventing excess platelet and neutrophil production.

"The Fast Track designation by the FDA recognizes the need for novel therapeutics for myeloid diseases and mirrors our own urgency in addressing these devastating conditions," said Hugh Young Rienhoff, Jr. M.D., CEO, Imago Biosciences. "ET is a quiet bone marrow cancer than can linger for years. In a subset of patients, the excess of platelets leads to bleeding and clotting including strokes and infractions, each having a significant impact on these patients. With only one FDA approved therapy, one that does not increase overall survival, patients are in desperate need of new options. Based on its mechanism and safety data obtained to date, we believe bomedemstat has the promise to be that new treatment."

The FDA grants Fast Track designation to facilitate development and expedite the review of therapies with the potential to treat a serious condition where there is an unmet medical need. A therapeutic that receives Fast Track designation can benefit from early and frequent communication with the agency, in addition to a rolling submission of the marketing application, with the objective of getting important new therapies to patients more quickly.

About Bomedemstat (IMG-7289)

Bomedemstat is a small molecule discovered by Imago BioSciences that inhibits lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1 or KDM1A), an enzyme essential for production and normal function of megakaryocytes and for self-renewal of malignant hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells. Megakaryocytes are the primary producer of platelets and cytokines that drive essential thrombocythemia pathogenesis.

In non-clinical studies, bomedemstat demonstrated robust in vivo efficacy as a single agent, and in combination with other therapeutics across a range of myeloid malignancy models including the myeloproliferative neoplasms encompassing myelofibrosis, essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera.

The FDA has also granted Fast Track designation to bomedemstat for the treatment of myelofibrosis, which is currently being studied in an international Phase 2b study. In this study IMG-7289 was effective in reducing spleen volumes and substantially improved symptom scores in a majority of evaluable patients. For more information visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03136185). Additional clinical studies in hematologic disorders will begin in 2020.

About Imago BioSciences

Imago BioSciences is a clinical-stage, venture-backed pharmaceutical company whose investors include a fund managed by Blackstone Life Sciences, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Omega Funds, Amgen Ventures, MRL Ventures Fund, HighLight Capital, Pharmaron, Greenspring Associates and Xeraya Capital, as well as other corporate and venture investors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200113005164/en/

Contacts

Ian StoneCanale Communicationsian@canalecomm.com (619) 849-5388

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Imago Receives Fast Track Designation from U.S. FDA for Bomedemstat for Treatment of Essential Thrombocythemia - Yahoo Finance

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

This week, the American Cancer Society released some very welcome news: the cancer death rate in the U.S. dropped by 2.2% from 2016 to 2017, the largest single-year drop ever recorded.

The drop, which the report attributes to plummeting smoking rates as well as new screening and treatment methods, continues a decades-long trend, as cancer death rates have fallen by nearly 30% since 1991 about 2.9 million fewer deaths.

Dr. Thomas Loughran, director of the University of Virginia Cancer Center, said UVA is in step with this national trend.

The UVA Cancer Center is one of 71 National Cancer Institute-designated treatment centers nationwide and ranked among the nations top 50 cancer centers over each of the past four years (No. 26 last year). The center serves approximately 4 million people in Virginia and West Virginia.

We spoke with Loughran about what he is seeing at UVA and beyond, new treatments and research helping to eradicate cancer, and where he sees cancer treatment in five years.

Q. Why have cancer death rates dropped so significantly?

A. As reports of this latest drop have said, a large part of the decline can be attributed to declining rates of lung cancer. The importance of preventing cancer particularly behavioral interventions like stopping smoking has become more prominent, and there have been remarkable declines in smoking across the United States.

This is a very important focus for us at UVA. We serve a large geographical area 90 contiguous counties in Virginia and West Virginia, including rural Appalachia. Southwest Virginia in Appalachia still has high smoking rates, and as a result, high rates of lung cancer. Education, screening and tobacco cessation programs are critically important, especially in those areas.

Q. What advances in treatment have contributed to falling cancer death rates, nationally and at UVA?

A. Screening technology, especially for the more common cancers like lung, colorectal, prostate and breast cancer, has improved. The latest report probably doesnt fully reflect recent implementation of lung cancer screening using a low-dose CT scan, recommended for high risk individuals and especially those with a history of heavy smoking. That has only been around a few years, and its impact will likely show up in future reports.

The second big factor is the development of immunotherapy [cancer treatments that utilize and help the patients immune system]. UVA has invested quite a lot of institutional resources in becoming a state-of-the-art immunotherapy center, and I am proud to say we are a leader in the field.

We have created a Cancer Therapeutics Program to support the development of new therapies. Dr. Craig Slingluff, who leads that program, is a surgical oncologist internationally famous for immunotherapy treatments for melanoma. To strengthen this program, we have recruited a cadre of leading physician scientists from across the country. Dr. Karen Ballen came here to lead our stem cell and bone marrow transplant program. Dr. Lawrence Lum, the scientific director of the transplant program, has developed a novel therapy using antibodies that bind to both T-cells [patient cells that can kill cancer cells] and tumor cells, forming a bridge between the two that helps the T-cells kill the cancer cells. Dr. Trey Lee is a leader in CAR-T cell therapy.

I could keep going; there are so many great people working on this. We also have a new Good Manufacturing Practice lab, supported by a grant from the commonwealth, that will help us grow and modify T-cells as needed and give them to patients under sterile conditions. That just opened and we are very excited about that program.

Q. What other areas of research have shown great promise?

A. Some of our work in nanotechnology is really unique and exciting. [Biomedical engineering professor] Mark Kester directs UVAs nanoSTAR Institute, which is working on delivering cancer therapies by nanotechnology basically, engineering at a very small scale. For example, nanoliposomes a sort of delivery system for cancer therapy are actually smaller than individual cells and can therefore penetrate cancer cells and release treatment from inside those cells.

We are very excited about early phase trials testing this technology on solid tumors, and we also hope to use it to treat patients with acute leukemia over the next few years.

Q. Looking ahead, where do you see the next big gains coming from?

A. Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, but why some patients respond well and some dont remains puzzling. I hope that we can begin to discover why some patients are reacting to these newer treatments differently than others. Once we figure out why some patients respond to immunotherapy, we can begin to make improvements that could benefit a larger percentage of patients with these deadly cancers.

CAR T Cell therapy one method of immunotherapy is very effective against leukemia, lymphoma and cancers of the blood, but not yet against solid tumors. Over the next five years, I hope we can determine how to deliver these T-cells to solid tumors such as those found in lung, colorectal and other common cancers again to make this advance more widely applicable to a larger number of patients.

The rest is here:
Q&A: Cancer Death Rates Are Falling Nationally. Here's What's Happening at UVA - University of Virginia

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, announced preliminary unaudited full-year 2019 results, driving strong growth in volume and revenues, signaling continued momentum going into 2020. The company accessioned more than 482,000 samples and generated approximately $216 million in revenue in 2019. The company also announced 2020 guidance of more than 725,000 samples accessioned and more than $330 million in revenue, reflecting a more than 50% annual growth in both volume and revenue. Invitae has now provided in-depth medical genetic sequencing for more than one million patients since launch, including more than 750,000 in the past two years.

"Invitae is proving that genetics is a growth story today and for the future, demonstrated by our nearly 60 percent volume growth, more than 45 percent revenue growth and yet another year of executional excellence. As we look to 2020, with new account growth continuing to soar and strong re-order rates, we are confident in our ability to drive growth and, most importantly, increase the number of patients we can help," said Sean George, co-founder and chief executive officer of Invitae. "Before Invitae began, medical genetics was considered a niche diagnostic offering, available at high prices to the sickest few. We envisioned a world where all patients would have access to in-depth genetic information to inform their healthcare. We are making that vision a reality, having now provided answers to more than one million patients."

Preliminary, unaudited financial results for 2019 and guidance for 2020

Looking ahead to 2020, Invitae anticipates test volume of more than 725,000 samples accessioned generating more than $330 million in revenue for the year, reflecting a more than 50% annual growth rate in both volume and revenue.

Invitae has not completed preparation of its financial statements for the fourth quarter or full year 2019. The preliminary, unaudited results presented in this news release for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 are based on current expectations and are subject to adjustment. Actual results may differ.

Invitae will report its full financial results and other metrics during its fourth quarter and year-end 2019 conference call in February.

2019 corporate and scientific highlights

Invitae's network of biopharma partnerships continued to grow throughout the year and now includes more than 80 agreements with more than 45 companies:

Invitae enhanced its technologies and services and advanced medical research to deepen understanding of the use of genetics in clinical care:

Invitae expanded access to its high-quality, in-depth medical genetic testing via insurers and health systems in the United States and internationally:

Webcast informationThe company will present at the 38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. Pacific followed by a breakout session at 8:00 a.m. Pacific at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The live webcast of both the presentation and the breakout session may be accessed by visiting the investors section of the company's website at ir.invitae.com. A replay of the webcasts will be available shortly after the conclusion of the presentation and will be archived on the company's website.

About InvitaeInvitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) is a leading medical genetics company, whose mission is to bring comprehensive genetic information into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for billions of people. Invitae's goal is to aggregate the world's genetic tests into a single service with higher quality, faster turnaround time, and lower prices. For more information, visit the company's website at invitae.com.

Safe Harbor StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the company's preliminary financial results for 2019, including volume, revenue, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash burn; the company's guidance for 2020, including volume and revenue levels; the company's expectations for 2020 regarding its ability to deliver on its goal to accelerate growth and to increase the number of patients served; the company's beliefs regarding the benefits of its acquisitions; and the company's beliefs regarding the momentum in its business and the drivers of such momentum; the company's announcement regarding new Detect partners; and the company's plans to increase its international presence. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: actual results for the fourth quarter and full year 2019, the year-end close process and audit of the company's financial statements, the company's ability to build on momentum in its business and the drivers of momentum, the company's history of losses; the company's need to scale its infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to increase demand for its tests; the company's ability to compete; the company's ability to develop and commercialize new tests and expand into new markets; risks associated with the company's ability to use rapidly changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately, consistently, and quickly; the risk that the company may not obtain or maintain sufficient levels of reimbursement for its tests; the company's ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, and the benefits to the company of any such acquisitions; laws and regulations applicable to the company's business; and the other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

INVITAE CORPORATION

Reconciliation of Net Increase in Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash to Cash Burn

(in millions)(preliminary, and unaudited)

Year Ended

December 31, 2019

Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

$

39.4

Adjustments:

Purchases of investments

260.9

Maturities of investments

(34.5)

Proceeds from public offering of common stock, net of issuance costs

(204.0)

Proceeds from issuance of convertible senior notes, net

(339.9)

Proceeds from exercises of warrants

(0.2)

Cash burn

$

(278.3)

1

1 Cash burn for the year ended December 31, 2019 includes $85.6 million of cash paid to settle our obligations under the 2018 Note Purchase Agreement (which includes $1.3 million of accrued interest on the third quarter 2019 quarterly interest payment) and $41 million paid in connection with acquisitions during 2019.

Contact:Laura D'Angeloir@invitae.com(628) 213-3369

1 Miller, Nicole, et al, "Behind the Seizure: A No-Cost 125-gene Epilepsy Panel for Pediatric Seizure Onset Between 24 Years". Presented at the American Society of Human Genetics Meeting: October 1620, 2018, San Diego, CA.

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SOURCE Invitae Corporation

Company Codes: NYSE:NVTA

Excerpt from:
Invitae preliminary 2019 financial results demonstrate strong momentum with nearly 60% growth in test volume and more than 45% growth in revenue...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Generate serves families from preconception to post-birth throughout the significant and highly personalized journey of building a family and protecting their children's health. Built upon the pillars of innovation, access, and connection, Generate has already helped grow and protect nearly 1 million families around the world.

Our legacy brands CBR, California Cryobank, and Donor Egg Bank USA are pioneering leaders in their respective fields and continue to set industry standards for innovation, scientific excellence, and customer focus. Generate is furthering the impact of this life sciences platform with the addition of advanced pediatric genetic testing, US distribution of reproductive medical devices and proprietary healthcare technology through the respective brands ReadyGen (pediatric genetic screening powered by Sema4), Kitazato USA (medical device distribution), and Donor Application (proprietary software for reproductive clinics).

"Our brands are leaders in each of their categories; as a life sciences platform, we are uniquely positioned to give clients access to the full range of expertise and services needed to create and support healthy families," said Richard Jennings, Chief Executive Officer. "Generate helps its clients realize their dreams of having a baby and provides access to scientific innovations in stem cells and genetic services that improve the lives of families around the world."

With the substantial growth in single parenting by choice and LGBTQ+ family building, as well as a trend towards having children later in life, Generate's reproductive health services have never been in higher demand. Similarly, advances in stem cell therapies and research into regenerative medicine have emphasized the importance and increased the awareness and interest in storing newborn stem cells with CBR.

"Generate Life Sciences is positioned to play an increasingly important role in protecting families as regenerative medicine and new genetic testing platforms open the door to the future of personalized medical treatments," said Jaime Shamonki, MD, Chief Medical Officer. "Uniting key elements of the family-building experience under Generate will give our clients peace of mind, convenient access, and exceptional support throughout this significant time in their lives. This organization has collectively helped create nearly 100,000 families and provides access to invaluable long-term health benefits to almost a million more. For us, Generate represents more than just good business; it is advancing scientific innovations that help the future of humanity."

"The journey to parenthood has evolved over the years, but the end goal is the same people want to have children and they want to keep them safe and healthy. In the modern age, we have advanced the science and technology available to help individuals grow their families and be more proactive in planning for their future health," said Michael J. Levy, MD, IVF Director and Co-Founder, Shady Grove Fertility. "That is where Generate Life Sciences becomes a trusted partner for clients from pre-conception through post-birth. From donor egg and donor sperm to newborn stem cell services and genetic testing, Generate is there every step of the way. And the possibilities are endless."

"Generate Life Sciences made our dream of becoming parents a reality. From helping us choose our amazing California Cryobank sperm donor for our twin girls, to rushing a CBR cord blood collection kit for our son when my wife went into early labor, they have always gone above and beyond to help. We look to Generate as a trustworthy partner we can rely on for these very personal and private moments in our lives," said Sharon Kochlany & Vanessa Colimorio, customers of Generate.

Generate Life Sciences BrandsGenerate Life Sciences is a company of established, trustworthy brands founded and grown over 40 years by experts in reproductive medicine, newborn stem cell services, and genetics. Those brands include:

Newborn Stem Cell Services CBR (Cord Blood Registry): CBR has stored newborn stem cells (stem cells collected from cord blood and cord tissue) for almost 30 years.

Reproductive ServicesCalifornia Cryobank Donor Sperm Bank:California Cryobank is a pioneer and industry leader in donor sperm banking, offering the most rigorously screened donors, largest selection, and scientific expertise for more than 40 years.

Donor Egg Bank USA:Donor Egg Bank is a true leader in its category, maintaining the highest clinical pregnancy rate in the industry, while growing the largest frozen donor egg program in the United States.

NW Cryobank:For over 30 years, NW Cryobank has been helping couples, single women, and the LGBTQ+ community create happy, healthy families.

Genetic Services ReadyGen:Powered by Sema4, ReadyGen is an innovative and advanced pediatric screening test that empowers parents to further protect their children by delivering clinically actionable and personalized health insights.

Medical Devices and Healthcare TechnologyKitazato USA:Kitazato USA by California Cryobank is the exclusive distributor of Kitazato products in the US, offering devices for human assisted reproductive medicine from the innovator of the Cryotop Method vitrification technique.

Donor Application: Proprietary software providingdonor screening and recipient matching services on a HIPAA compliant platform.

About Generate Life SciencesGenerate Life Sciences (Generate)is a life sciences company helping to grow and protect families through reproductive, newborn stem cell, genetic screening, medical device, and healthcare technology services. We serve families from preconception to post-birth. Our brands - CBR (Cord Blood Registry), California Cryobank Donor Sperm Bank, Donor Egg Bank USA, NW Cryobank, ReadyGen, Kitazato USA, and Donor Application are pioneering leaders, helping to grow and protect nearly 1 million families. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Generate operates facilities in Tucson, New York, Boston, Palo Alto, and Rockville, MD. Generate is a portfolio company of GI Partners, a private investment firm based in San Francisco.

Media ContactsMonica Rohledermedia@generatelifesciences.com847-606-1973

SOURCE Generate Life Sciences

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Introducing Generate Life Sciences - A First-Of-Its-Kind Company Focused On Helping Grow And Protect Healthy Families - PRNewswire

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When Katy Mathes and six of her family members learned they had a mutation on a BRCA gene that significantly raised their risk of breast cancer they underwent major surgery. But years later, the genetic testing company lowered the family's odds of getting the disease, Amy Dockser Marcus reports for the Wall Street Journal.

In August 2015, Mathes decided to get a BRCA test. Mathes' mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer at 49, and four of her aunts had tested positive for the BRCA gene, and "moved quickly to get surgery," Dockser Marcus reports.

Mathes and her sister, Tricia Leigh, also had positive tests. The test results showed that Mathes had up to an 84% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 and up to a 27% risk of developing ovarian cancer by age 70. Among the general population, the odds of developing breast or ovarian cancer are 7.3% and 0.7%, respectively, Dockser Marcus reports.

But the two women grappled over the decision of whether to get surgery: Mathes wanted another child and her sister was breastfeeding her second child.

After consulting with additional doctors, Mathes eventually decided to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, the same procedure her aunts, sister, and mother underwent. In addition, Mathes and her sister had double mastectomies.

"I treated my test results like the Bible," Mathes said. "There was no questioning the report."

But years after the initial test, Myriad Genetics, the molecular diagnostics company that did Mathes' test as well as her relatives', changed its classification of the BRCA variant Mathes has from "pathogenic" to "unknown significance," a move that Myriad said is very unusual.

By this point, Mathes and six of her family members had undergone surgery based on their test results. When the sisters learned the news, Mathes said, "My brain just shut off."

Susan Manley, SVP of medical services at Myriad and a board-certified genetic counselor, said, "We know these are very difficult situations. We make these reclassifications very carefully. The science is evolving." She added that changing a classification from harmful to uncertain "is a rare event, but I understand that rare is of no consolation to the patient when it happens to them."

BRCA tests are among the most common genetic tests in existence, Dockser Marcus writes, and genetic testing guidelines have expanded who should receive BRCA tests. Major genetic testing companies such as 23andMe, Ancestry, and MyHeritage now offer the tests for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

However, not every lab agrees on the specific classification of a BRCA gene variant, Dockser Marcus reports. That's in part because there are "tens of thousands of BRCA variants" and not all of them necessarily carry the same level of risk for a patient, Dockser Marcus reports.

Fergus Couch, a professor at the Mayo Clinic, said some variants "have intermediate or moderate levels of risk, not full-blown risk." For a number of those variants, labs "are making a judgment call but that is not always clear to the public," Couch said.

Stephen Chanock, a geneticist at the National Cancer Institute, said, "[G]enetics is murky." He added, "It's not so simple as 'Doctor, do I have to worry or don't I have to worry?'"

According to Melissa Cline, a researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, and project manager of the BRCA Exchange, the analysis on the BRCA variant in the Mathes' family put a lot of weight on a 2011 paper that found the variant likely alters the BRCA2 protein, which can help suppress tumors.

Seth Marcus, a genetic counselor at Advocate Health Care who counseled Mathes' mother and one of her aunts, said he checked a public database to see how other labs classify the variant once he heard of Myriad's change. He said six labs still classify the variant as "likely pathogenic."

"In the end, you give the patient the data and the knowledge you know," he said.

Dockser Marcus reports that Myriad currently has 38 people in its database with the BRCA variant Mathes and her relatives have, 12 of whom come from Mathes' family. Mathes said that if she had known about the sample size, she and her husband may have asked more questions about whether surgery was appropriate.

Now, based on Mathes' family history and Myriad's classification change, Mathes' genetic counselor estimated her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 21%, Dockser Marcus writes.

"That is not high enough to make me remove organs," Mathes said. "I would have had another kid. I would have waited to do surgery" (Dockser Marcus, Wall Street Journal, 12/20/19).

Originally posted here:
'I would have had another kid': How an imperfect gene test led to major surgeryand big regrets - The Daily Briefing

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Cystic fibrosis carriers individuals who have certain genetic mutations in one of the copies of the CFTR gene have a significantly increased risk compared with healthy people for several CF-related conditions, a new study shows.

The study, Cystic fibrosis carriers are at increased risk for a wide range of cystic fibrosis-related conditions, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Because CF is a recessive genetic disorder, both copies of a persons CFTRgene one inherited from the mother and the other from the father must be mutated to develop the full-blown disease. People with CF develop recurrent pulmonary infections and also hormonal, gastrointestinal, pancreatic, liver, and reproductive problems.

People with one mutated copy of the CFTRgene are called CF carriers. It was believed that these individuals, having only 1 defective CFTR gene, are not considered to be at increased risk for CF-related conditions, the researchers said.

In fact, CF carriers are routinely informed that they are not at increased health risk, they said.

However, some studies have found a higher-than-expected proportion of CF carriers with a limited number of CF-related conditions, the team noted. These conditions include pancreatitis, male infertility, airway infections, and gastrointestinal problems.

The researchers noted that the majority of these studies were performed on a small scale and lack appropriated controls. Thus, there was an unmet need to confirm and expand on previous studies suggesting that CF carriers are at greater risk for CF-related conditions.

That led the team, from the University of Iowa (UI), to investigate the risk of carrier status in developing CF-related conditions. The scientists analyzed data from the IBM Watson/Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Database, a large database of health information.

The team identified 19,802 CF carriers, and matched each carrier with five people without CF (controls), totaling 99,010 people. For the CF group, they included 23,557 patients with the disease, who were matched to a non-CF group of 117,762 healthy people (controls).

All participants were analyzed for 59 CF-related conditions, including those affecting the bone, like osteoporosis and scoliosis, those impacting the endocrine system, including diabetes, those having an effect on the gastrointestinal system, and those affecting organs like the liver, pancreas, kidneys, and lungs.

The results showed that CF carriers were at higher risk for all 59 conditions analyzed, with a significant risk found for 57 of them.

Carriers had a significantly greater risk of conditions previously linked to the CF carrier status, like male infertility or pancreatitis. However, they also were found to be at significantly increased risk for conditions not previously linked to the carrier state, such as constipation or diabetes, among others.

Moreover, the team found that the more prevalent a condition is in CF patients, the more widespread it also is in CF carriers.

To exclude any potential bias, the researchers included a CF carrier validation cohort a group composed of 2,185 mothers of CF patients (meaning the mothers must be CF carriers).

Health records of these women, from before their children were diagnosed, mirrored the previous findings. Specifically, among the 42 conditions detected in the adult women, 40 of them had higher prevalence among CF carriers. For 28 of these conditions, the link was statistically significant.

Taken together, our results call into question the idea that CFTR expression levels associated with the CF carrier state are sufficient to completely protect subjects from CF-related conditions, the researchers said.

Notably, while the investigators said their findings show the risk of certain CF-related conditions is higher for carriers compared with healthy controls (relative risk), the actual chance (absolute risk) of developing these conditions is still very low.

CF carriers are nowhere near as at-risk as patients with CF, Philip Polgreen, MD, UI professor of internal medicine and epidemiology, and the studys lead author, said in a press release. But compared to people with no CF mutations, they have a slightly higher risk for some diseases.

For conditions such as chronic pancreatitis, the relative risk is very high for carriers, but the absolute risk of pancreatitis is low, even for CF carriers in our sample, the researchers said.

Nonetheless, these findings carry implications for how CF carriers including more than an estimated 10 million Americans live their lives. For example, being a CF carrier may provide motivation for avoiding other disease-risk factors, such as excessive alcohol use (e.g., pancreatitis), and may help inform screening or preventive-treatment strategies (e.g., gastrointestinal cancer), the researchers said.

The team also emphasized that genetic testing, combined with data from large medical databases, may help CF carriers, and be extended to carriers of other recessive genetic diseases.

More and more individuals are receiving genetic testing from their providers or from private companies, and if this information can be incorporated into healthcare records, there could be many new opportunities to discover both population-level health risks and individualized treatment options, said Aaron Miller, PhD, UI assistant professor of epidemiology, and the studys first author.

Patricia holds her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from University Nova de Lisboa, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European Agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York.

Total Posts: 336

Patrcia holds her PhD in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands. She has studied Applied Biology at Universidade do Minho and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon, Portugal. Her work has been focused on molecular genetic traits of infectious agents such as viruses and parasites.

Originally posted here:
CF Carriers at Increased Risk for Disease-related Conditions, Study Finds - Cystic Fibrosis News Today

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The only thing Amber Freed ever wanted was to be a mom.

Like a lot of people, she and her husband Mark had a hard time conceiving. But after two years of IVF treatments, the Denver couple got a double dose of good news: Amber was pregnant with twins.

Maxwell and Riley were born on March 27, 2017.

"They instantly changed my life and made me so happy," Amber said.

But while the twins came into the world together, they didn't develop at the same pace as they grew. When they were about four months old, Amber and Mark noticed the difference: Maxwell wasn't reaching for toys or his bottle like his sister did he didn't use his hands at all.

After six months of genetic testing, Maxwell was diagnosed with a disease so rare it doesn't even have a name. Instead, it's known by its genetic location: SLC6A1. At the time of Maxwell's diagnosis, there were only 50 known cases in the world.

"I just remember thinking that that wasn't the name of a disease. It was the name of a flight number," said Amber. "I could not understand what my perfect, beautiful little baby boy had, and neither could the doctors."

What they did know was that Maxwell's rare neurological condition would likely cause severe movement and speech disorders and intellectual disability. Between the ages of three and four, Maxwell is expected to develop a debilitating form of epilepsy and start to regress.

Mark and Amber Freed with their twins Riley and Maxwell

Amber Freed

Amber refused to just sit back and watch that happen. She quit her job as a financial analyst at Janus Henderson the day Maxwell was diagnosed, and dedicated herself to finding a cure.

"It was in that moment that there was no future for my most prized possession in the world, that I was not going to accept that answer for little Maxwell," she said. "And I decided to fight like a mother."

She asked the doctors what they would do if Maxwell were their child. They told her to "call scientists."

Working 80 hours a week, Amber became an expert in the biology of the disease and reached out to 140 scientists over the next three months. She founded a non-profit and in 10 months, between that and a GoFundMe campaign, has raised $1 million to fund the initial research into a cure.

Amber was told gene replacement therapy was Maxwell's best hope.

The Food and Drug Administration has already approved gene therapy for some other diseases, including a rare form of vision loss and for some leukemia patients. It involves introducing a new gene through a virus that doesn't make the patient sick. It targets the defective gene, replacing it with a good copy, altering the patient's DNA and it's hoped dramatically improving the disease with a single treatment.

At some point, Amber decided Dr. Steven Gray at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas was the best person to help her son. But Gray was busy and hard to pin down. So Amber showed up at a conference where she knew he'd be speaking, and sat down next to him. After a four-hour dinner that night, they had a game plan.

Gray's team has advanced their research on SLC6A1 to the point where they're ready to start clinical trials.

But a phase one trial requires money. A lot of money. Amber needs another $3 million to $6 million and connections in the drug industry.

So she's joining the thousands of health industry investors and executives flying to San Francisco for the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference this week. You'll never find a place with a denser concentration of the people who fund drug development. She's hoping for donations or maybe to find a biotech company that would want to invest as a business opportunity.

But the Freed family is racing against the clock. Amber and Mark's little boy, who they call "Mr. Snuggles" because he loves hugging his sister and giving open mouth kisses, could start having debilitating seizures within the next year.

And even if she can get a clinical trial started, there's never a guarantee any patient, including Maxwell, will be admitted.

"The University of Texas Southwestern was very straightforward upfront that you may not be doing this for Maxwell," Amber explained. "There's a chance this may not be done in time for him, that you're doing it for every child that comes after him. And I lived with that fear and uncertainty for a very long time. And I understand and the way I make peace with it is thinking that there's no greater legacy in the world and doing the best you can to really impact a multitude of little lives."

She says her dream is that SLC6A1 will someday be part of a newborn screening panel, and that babies with the defect will be able to be treated and cured before they ever leave the hospital.

"They will never become symptomatic of this disease," she hopes. "There will never be another Maxwell Freed."

CORRECTION: This article was updated to correct the number of hours Amber Freed worked trying to find a cure for her son. It was 80 hours a week.

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'I decided to fight like a mother': How one parent is battling to cure a disease so rare it has no name - CNBC

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A doctor speaks with a patient. Individualized drug therapies will disrupt many of the automated processes that have been tested and validated under quality control requirements.

Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images

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The idea that we all could lead healthier, longer lives with the advent of personalized health care is a testament to the ingenuity and evolution of medicine.

That being said, cost, regulations and ethical issues are some of the main challenges still to overcome.

According to a recent white paper by PreScouter, Personalized Medicine: Moving From Average to Personal, personalized medicine will not only change the way patients are diagnosed and treated, but it will also disrupt current drug manufacturing protocols.

Large-batch production may become a thing of the past, and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Single-use technologies that produce small batches of drugs are safe and effective and dont have the financial burden of fixed capital investments and constant equipment upkeep.

On the other hand, individualized drug therapies will disrupt many of the automated processes that have been tested and validated under quality control requirements.

This could mean a shift in manufacturing to manual labor, which would require new production facilities and altered supply-chain logistics. Many current personalized treatments involve manufacturing products using a patients own cells. For example, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy necessitates the extraction of a patients T-cells, genetic reprogramming of those T-cells so they can fight cancer cells and reinfusion back into the patient.

This type of therapy is a far cry from the simple manufacturing of a drug in-house and exporting it to facilities that directly market to patients. Instead, it is a complex arrangement of appropriate shipping conditions, quality control and safety requirements. And this is all for a single patient. How personalized medicine will ultimately affect manufacturing and distribution is unclear, but the industry will need to adapt to fulfill individualized production needs.

Personalized medicines effect on health care costs is also not clear. It seems likely that specialized treatments made for individuals or small groups of people would increase costs because everyone would require individualized drug production.

On the flip side, genomic sequencing, which creates a roadmap for precision treatment decisions, is not as costly as it was 15 years ago and informed drug targeting could reduce the overall cost of health care by addressing the underlying causes immediately. Perhaps it will be most interesting to observe how insurance companies react to this treatment paradigm shift.

Source: Personalized Medicine: Moving From Average to Personal, PreScouter

Historically, health insurance companies have taken a conservative approach to coverage of genetic testing, which at this point is the primary foundation for identifying individual treatment strategies.

To circumvent this problem, U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are drafting legislation like the Advancing Access to Precision Medicine Act, which would allow states to apply for exceptions to the federal medical assistance percentage rate to cover whole genome sequencing clinical services for children whose diseases may have an underlying genetic component.

Genetic and genomic sequencing companies are also doing their part in making personalized medicine more palatable to insurance companies by offering to pick up part of the tab.

Under a contract between Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Illumina, Harvard Pilgrim will cover to a predetermined limit prenatal genetic testing for women under the age of 35 with average-risk pregnancies, while Illumina, a next-generation genetic testing company, will cover the remaining cost. Partnerships like this may show the utility of genetic testing while potentially reducing the financial burden of lifelong health care for improperly diagnosed and treated conditions.

The number of approved personalized medicines has increased dramatically since 2005.

This consists of both conventional modalities as well as novel approaches; for example, in 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of CAR T-cell therapy to treat B-cell lymphoma. Despite this rise in approval, some challenges to regulation have arisen.

Personalized Medicine at the FDA: Then and Now

Source: Personalized Medicine: Moving From Average to Personal, PreScouter

Personalized medicine is possible thanks to the thousands of people who have essentially donated their medical information.

Much of the data now stored in biobanks and used to make informed treatment decisions were gathered when personalized medicine was naught but a thought. Potential ethical issues of using this data, where informed consent was given at a time when precision medicine was inconceivable, have been resolved. The language of consent forms was broad and therefore ruled inclusive for modern research questions.

In an age of data compiling and sharing across the academic, industry and health care settings, the most important considerations are patient confidentiality, protection and ownership of information, and proper disposal of materials.

While interdisciplinary collaboration is great for innovation and discovery, it can also confuse the proper channels for information and sample handling. To get a handle on this, patients now have the power to control their information. Dynamic consent requires communication between the patient and the user of the patients information when the user plans to apply the data to a new project. The patient can deny or allow consent at any point and will always be informed of the manner in which their information is to be used.

But dynamic consent is neither widespread nor a requirement across all biobanks. Overall, there is a lack of consistency in consent requirements and perhaps a need for more strict and pervasive health data protection legislation.

As is the case with most scientific advancements, the regulatory, social and economic facets must play catch-up with the technology.

Clear and transparent processes and communication will be necessary to ensure that personalized medicine is practiced efficiently and effectively. With the power to address unmet medical needs at the individual level, universal personalized medicine is the goal.

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Personalized Medicine Is About to Go Mainstream With Big Implications for Health Care - BRINK

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging its novel technology platforms to develop and commercialize ready-to-use injectable and infusible drug formulations, today announced positive topline results from the in-clinic stage of a Phase 2 study of its developmental ready-to-use (RTU) glucagon for the prevention of hypoglycemia during and after moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise in adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D).

Results from the in-clinic stage of the Phase 2 Exercise-Induced Hypoglycemia (EIH) study show that a mini dose of RTU glucagon was adequate to maintain normal blood glucose levels during prolonged, moderate-to-intense aerobic exercise. Episodes of hypoglycemia were observed both during and after the prescribed exercise session. Overall, there were more EIH episodes among subjects who received standard of care (placebo plus 50% insulin pump reduction) than subjects who received RTU glucagon plus 50% insulin pump reduction. The use of glucose tablets to treat hypoglycemia during and after exercise was less with RTU glucagon when compared to standard of care. Treatment-emergent adverse eventswith a mini dose of RTU glucagon were comparable to placebo, including negligible injection site reactions. In this phase of the study, mini doses of RTU glucagon were safe and well tolerated, and no serious adverse events occurred.

For people with Type 1 diabetes, prolonged and vigorous aerobic exercise can be dangerous if not planned out and executed carefully. The current standard of care includes multiple preparation steps, such as insulin pump reduction well before exercise, and eating high glucose foods before, during, and after the exercise session. These steps can be a barrier to exercise, and therefore, many people with diabetes do not achieve 2 hours of aerobic exercise per week as per ADA guidelines, said Paul R. Edick, Xeris Chairman and CEO. Our goal with this study is to show that a mini dose (150 g) of Xeris liquid stable glucagon, administered immediately prior to aggressive aerobic exercise, can alleviate this burden and prevent exercise-induced hypoglycemia. This data from the in-clinic portion of our ongoing Phase 2 study, we believe indicates that we can do just that. The second half of the study, where subjects will be exercising on their own at home, will inform us further as to the safety and effectiveness of using mini doses of glucagon to reduce the risk of experiencing hypoglycemia during exercise for this population.

This study is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, two-treatment, two-period, crossover comparison in a clinical research center setting, followed by a randomized, placebo-controlled, two-treatment double-blind with a parallel open label, 3-arm comparison in an outpatient setting to evaluate the preliminary efficacy and safety of RTU glucagon to prevent EIH in adults with T1D, who perform regular, moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise. The in-clinic stage is now unblinded and complete, while the blinded outpatient stage is currently ongoing. The results of the outpatient stage will be available in the first half of 2020. For more information, visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03841526.

About Exercise-Induced Hypoglycemia (EIH)

For persons with diabetes, especially with T1D, the lack of pancreatic-cell function leads to the requirement for exogenous insulin (introduced into the body by injection or infusion). Circulating levels of insulin consequently cannot be regulated endogenously and depend on the quantity and timing of insulin taken by the individual before exercise. Thus, insulin levels are often higher than they would be in the absence of diabetes, which has the result of limiting glucose production by the liver while stimulating glucose uptake by muscle, adipose, and liver cells for storage. As a result, blood glucose levels often decrease dramatically during physical activity for individuals with T1D unless carbohydrates are consumed before, during, and after exercise. This condition of low blood glucose with physical activity is known as EIH.

About Glucagon

Glucagon is a metabolic hormone secreted by the pancreas that raises blood glucose levels by causing the liver to rapidly convert glycogen (the stored form of glucose) into glucose, which is then released into the bloodstream. Glucagon and insulin are two critical hormones in a glycemic control system that keep blood glucose at the right level in healthy individuals. In people with diabetes who are dependent on insulin, this control system is disrupted, and insulin must be injected to avoid high levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia). The opposite effect, or low blood glucose (hypoglycemia), is also prevalent in this population due to dysregulated glucagon secretion. Severe hypoglycemia is a serious condition and can lead to seizures, coma, potential brain injury and, if untreated, death.

Glucagon is the standard of care for treating severe hypoglycemia. According to the American Diabetes Association, glucagon should be prescribed for all individuals at increased risk of clinically significant hypoglycemia, defined as blood glucose <54 mg/dL (3.0 mmol/L). Leveraging XeriSol, one of Xeris two proprietary formulation technology platforms, Xeris has the potential to provide the first ready-to-use, room-temperature stable liquid glucagon for use by people with diabetes and other conditions to prevent or manage various forms of hypoglycemia and improve glucose control.

AboutXeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Xeris (Nasdaq: XERS) is a specialty pharmaceutical company delivering innovative solutions to simplify the experience of administering important therapies that people rely on every day around the world. With a novel technology platform that enables ready-to-use, room-temperature stable formulations of injectable and infusible therapies, the company is advancing a portfolio of solutions in various therapeutic categories, including its first commercial product, Gvoke. Its proprietary XeriSol and XeriJect formulation technologies have the potential to offer distinct advantages over conventional product formulations, including eliminating the need for reconstitution, enabling long-term, room-temperature stability, significantly reducing injection volume, and eliminating the requirement for intravenous (IV) infusion. With Xeris technology, new product formulations are designed to be easier to use by patients, caregivers, and health practitioners and help reduce costs for payers and the healthcare system.

Xeris is headquartered inChicago, IL.For more information, visitwww.xerispharma.com, or follow us onTwitter,LinkedInorInstagram.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including statements regarding the acceptance of Gvoke in the marketplace, the market and therapeutic potential of its product candidates, expectations regarding clinical data, the timing or likelihood of regulatory approval and commercialization of its product candidates, the timing or likelihood of expansion into additional markets, expectations regarding the timing of the commercial launch of Gvoke HypoPen, the potential utility of its formulation platforms and other statements containing the words "will," "would," "continue," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, the regulatory approval of its product candidates, its ability to market and sell its products, if approved, its reliance on a single source supplier for Gvoke HypoPen and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Xeris subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Xeris expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The Company intends to use the investor relations portion of its website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

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Xeris Pharmaceuticals Announces Positive Results from the In-Clinic Stage of a Phase 2 Study of Its Developmental Ready-To-Use (RTU) Glucagon in...

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IN the perfect world, every time you get between the sheets will be a magical experience.

But in reality it doesn't always work that way.

1

Lots of people will go through various problems throughout their life when it comes to sex.

Now health subscription brand EveAdam has uncovered the 10 most common difficulties encountered in bedrooms in the UK and in the US.

Their study involved analysis of Reddit threads compared with Google search data.

The findings revealed that erectile dysfunction was the most searched term at 286,000 searches per month.

And Cardiff was the city googling the term the most.

Here are the top 10 most common sex issues... and how to combat them:

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is very common it affects about half of men aged between 40-70 year olds.

It can be a symptom of other medical conditions, such as diabetes or being at high risk of heart disease, so its important to talk to your doctor.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical lead at Patient.info, told The Sun Online: "Its also vital to remember that excess alcohol is an extremely common cause of ED.

"In recent years, several tablets have been developed to treat ED Viagra is perhaps the best known but there are several others, which work for different lengths of time.

"Theyre effective for about 4 in 5 men and are now available from many pharmacists, as well as on prescription.

"Its really important not to be tempted by cheap email offers of miracle cure tablets for ED theyre often counterfeit, which means they may not work and can even be dangerous."

Most women use contraception at some point.

There are dozens of different types, which may or may not include hormones.

Dr Jarvis said: "If your current contraception isnt suiting you, its important to speak to your GP or family planning clinic.

"For instance, if youre taking the contraceptive pill, it may be possible to change you to a different one which suits you better.

"Or you may prefer a long acting form of contraception such as the copper coil, a hormone-releasing coil or an implant, which you dont need to remember to take every day or use every time you have sex."

Vaginal dryness becomes much more common after the menopause, when levels of the female hormone oestrogen drop.

Dr Jarvis said: "If this is your main problem, a topical form of HRT, such as pessaries, gel or a vaginal ring, can often solve the problem.

"Several non-hormonal vaginal moisturisers are also available from the pharmacist.

"However, vaginal dryness can also arise because of lack of arousal or anxiety if you think this might be the case, speak to your GP."

Premature ejaculation is common and isnt due to a serious underlying medical condition.

Dr Jarvis said: "One of the most common causes is anxiety and its more common in younger men.

"Sometimes just relaxing and taking your time about sex is enough to solve the problem.

"Otherwise, there are creams and tablets available on prescription."

Lots of women worry about conceiving, but often there is no cause for concern.

Many couples take several months to conceive, but six in seven will conceive within a year of trying and more than nine in 10 conceive within two years.

Dr Jarvis said: "If you have been having regular sex for at least a year, you and your partner should visit your doctor together.

"Your GP can arrange some tests to see if early referral to a specialist clinic is needed.

"If these tests are normal, your doctor wont usually be able to refer you until you have been trying for at least two years.

"However, if youre not having periods or have very irregular periods, or if the woman in the couple is over 36, you may be referred sooner.

"There are a variety of treatments depending on whether a cause (such as low sperm count or blocked fallopian tubes) is found.

"Being overweight, drinking too much alcohol, being physically inactive and smoking can all reduce your risk of conceiving.

"Getting into good physical shape may increase your chances of getting pregnant, and can certainly help you to have a healthy pregnancy."

Getting pregnant is your decision ideally your decision as a couple.

Nobody else should have any say in when you start trying for a baby.

Dr Jarvis said: "If you feel friends or members of your family are trying to put pressure on you, speak to your partner and get their support for both of you to have a gentle chat with those people.

"If youre feeling the pressure yourself for instance if youre trying to get pregnant and its not happening the best thing you can do is remember that most people dont get pregnant straight away.

"Many couples take several months to get pregnant and women who get pregnant the first time they try are the exception.

"Take steps to get yourself in good physical shape stopping alcohol and smoking, exercising regularly, losing weight of youre overweight, taking a daily folic acid supplement. And then enjoy trying!"

Performance anxiety is really common its anxiety about performing a specific act or task, and one of the most common anxieties is in relation to sex.

It often leads to a vicious cycle... perhaps you had too much to drink on one occasion and couldnt perform in the bedroom.

This preys on your mind and next time youre planning to have sex, your anxiety level increases.

Anxiety makes it harder to get or keep an erection, so you cant perform next time and so on.

Dr Jarvis said: "The best way to reduce performance anxiety is to relax and take things slowly, although this can be easier said than done.

"You may think that alcohol will help loosen you up but actually, it can often have a negative impact on your ability to perform.

"If youre worried about performing with your partner, talk to her about it she may be really relieved, as she may believe you were avoiding sex because youd gone off her.

"Set the tone with a romantic date, away from distractions and stresses, and take things slowly.

"If this doesnt work, you may find it helpful to ban sex for a few weeks but still cuddle and be close this takes the pressure off the need to get an erection, which may mean youre more likely to achieve one.

"If its having a significant impact on your life, speak to your GP sometimes counselling can help."

There are lots of reasons for low libido in both men and women.

Sometimes theyre hormonal men may have low levels of testosterone, and low libido is common after the menopause in women.

"Relationship problems are a common cause you may not feel like sex with your partner but fancy other people." says Dr Jarvis.

"If youre a man, continuing to get early morning erections can be a sign that theres a psychological cause.

"Or it can be a symptom of depression.

"If its bothering you, speak to your GP the treatment will depend on the cause."

Body image issues have always been around but they have undoubtedly become more common with the rise in social media.

So many of us depend on likes for our self esteem, and forget that the images other people put out on social media are doctored to look more beautiful.

Dr Jarvis said: "Taking some time off social media is sometimes all that is needed.

"However, its important to remember that poor body image is closely linked to eating disorders, and to be aware of the warning symptoms.

"Poor body image is also closely linked to depression it can be a symptom or a cause of depression.

"If its affecting your life, speak to your GP counselling may help you to identify whats causing your body image issues and help you to become more realistic and realise youre beautiful just as you are."

Millions of women in the UK have weakness of their pelvic floor, which can lead to leaking urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh, run or jump.

Lots of factors including childbirth, menopause, constipation and being overweight can make it worse.

"For most women, regular pelvic floor exercises can make a major difference, and can sometimes solve the problem completely," says Dr Jarvis.

"Youll need to learn how to do them properly, and to do them regularly for several weeks before you notice a significant improvement."

More:
The 10 most common sex issues revealed and a doctors tips to combat them - The Sun

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A new ruling from the B.C. Court of Appeal reaffirms a 15-year-old'sright to undergo hormone treatment to transition to male, despite his father's objections.

But the ruling also throws out part of a lower court order that said the father's misgendering of his son constituted "family violence"under the Family Law Act.

The teen, who was 14 when the conflict began, had decided to undergo medical treatment for gender dysphoria recommended by the Gender Clinic at B.C. Children's Hospital. The teen's mother approved of the treatment, but his father objected.

The teen, his father, mother, and the many health professionals named in the case cannot be identified, due to apublication ban.

The reasons for the appeal court's decision, which was written by two justices and concurred by the third, detail mixed outcomes for the teen and his father one of the lower court orders wasupheld, while some were dismissed in part.

The appeal judges found there was no reason to strike down the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that the teen's consent to undergo the hormone treatment was valid.

In their written reasons, the justices did slightly limit the order, saying the teen was exclusively entitled to consent to aspecifictreatment if it is one he understands, not treatment for gender dysphoria, generally.

The father won a partial victory in the case on Friday when the decision was handed down. A lower court order forbid him from attempting to convince his son to stop medical treatment, use female gender pronouns, usethe female name the teen was given at birth, or refer to him as a girl.

The father had given interviews and made public comments about his son referring to him as a girl.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge had ruled thatidentifying the teen as a girl would be considered family violence under the Family Law Act, given the harm it had caused him. That has been struck down by the new ruling.

In the decision, the judges write that misgenderingthe teen does not constitute a act of family violence, which was part of a protection order enforceable by police. Instead, the appeal court made what's called a conduct order that the father refer to his son as a boy, use male pronouns and his male name. A conduct order is not enforcable by police.

The appeal judges ruled that the father is entitled to his views and to communicate those views to his son, and that, though there was evidence the father's refusal to accept the teen's gender was clearly harmful, there was not sufficient evidence that the father intended to hurt his son.

In the justices' reasons, they call the father's conduct "seriously misguided." They urgethe father to engage with his son's medical team "in an effort to consider other points of view," and to "exercise restraint" with his son and listen to his point of view.

Under the appeal court decision, the father is allowed to express his opinion and share his son's private information in private communications with family, close friends andadvisors, but the appeal judges upheld the part of the B.C. Supreme Court order that he not express those opinions publicly.

Do you have more to add to this story? Email rafferty.baker@cbc.ca

Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker

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B.C. Court of Appeal decision a mixed outcome for trans teen and disapproving father - CBC.ca

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NewsIf Ms Evans and Mrs A's case wins, a clinical decision to prescribe puberty blockers will soon become a legal one

Friday, 10th January 2020, 4:38 pm

Susan Evans, a former nurse who worked with transgender people, intends to file a legal case with 'Mrs A', the mother of a 15-year-old teenager with autism who wants to take puberty blockers. The duo want to establish a minimum of age of 18 for puberty-blocking treatment.

Ms Evans, a former healthcare worker who has now had her proposal supported by the likes of Transgender Trend, an organisation that sends out information packs to schools saying it's better if teachers don't affirm a child's gender identity, said the treatment should only be offered to those aged 18 and above.

But specialists have stated that raising the age of consent for gender diverse children would pose medical, ethical, and legal complications - some of which could be life-threatening for transgender people.

How do puberty blockers work?

The treatment, given through injection or implant, is given to children and young adults before the onset of puberty so they can consider whether they'd like to permanently transition through cross-sex hormones, before they develop adult characteristics that can only be altered through surgery.

"The puberty blockers put the pause button on puberty," Dr Caroline Salas-Humara, adolescent paediatrician at Hassenfeld Childrens Hospital at NYU Langone, told i.

"The treatment pauses irreversible changes in their body, such as breast growth, voice deepening, body hair, or an Adam's apple developing, which a young person would need surgery later to change if they transitioned. This way, the blockers can stop irreversible changes while being a fully reversible intervention, and it helps the young person feel like theyre not experiencing the wrong puberty.

"If they started and stopped the treatment, whether they've realised they don't want to transition or they decide they want to take cross-sex hormones, puberty would recommence."

How are puberty blockers prescribed?

A GP will refer a person suffering from gender dysphoria to a gender identity clinic, with seven specialist practices operating in the UK.

But for children under 18, there is just one funded clinic in England and Wales, the Gender Identity Development Service, known as GIDS.

At the clinic, specialists will decide whether puberty blockers are right for their patient. But Ms Evans believes that the treatment is offered with little clinical guidance.

The nurse, who left her job at gender identity clinic The Tavistock Centre in 2004, said: "The alarm bells began ringing for me when a colleague at the weekly team clinical meeting said that they had seen a young person four times and they were now recommending them for a referral to the endocrinology department to commence hormone therapy."

While her words triggered an internal enquiry, Dr Peter Dunne of University of Bristol Law School, an expert on the law surrounding gender identity and sexual orientation,said that the UK generally has a "conservative approach" to puberty blockers.

"In the UK, it's more common for patients to access puberty blockers once their puberty has already started," he told i.

"If you look globally, transgender and gender diverse people who want to change their gender are offered puberty blockers at the very onset of gender dysphoria. When you administer the treatment early, it saves a child going through a process that can be quite harmful," he explains.

The teenager, who was fourteen at the time, says the delay had more of an impact on his mental health than the medication itself.

"I was thankful, because the process was starting, but I was frustrated at times," he said.

"And it's not an easy ride, because you're assessed by the clinic, and challenged on your ideas of who you are. But I know those waiting times are important, and I know blockers can be great for the people who dont know what they want."

Age of consent for blockers?

According to the argument put forward by Ms Evans and Mrs A's lawyer, the concern doesn't regard the grievances she brought forward in 2004, but the age in which children can take the blockers.

We are essentially seeking to say that the provision at the Tavistock for young people up to the age of 18 is illegal because there isnt valid consent, said Paul Conrathe, a solicitor with Sinclairslaw, which is representing Evans and the mother.

The allegation is in dispute of a landmark legal case over the age of informed consent for children receiving medical treatment without the permission or knowledge of their parents, known as the Gillick competency test.

The test is based on the case of Roman Catholic mother Victoria Gillick, who challenged the right for children and teenagers under the of 16 to be offered the contraceptive pill in 1984.

She was unsuccessful, with the House of Lords ruling that the medication could be offered to under 16s if the child achieves sufficient understanding and intelligence to fully understand what is proposed."

But Mrs A believes that her teenager, who is 15 and autistic, might not understand the decision, writing on a Crowdfunder page for the legal case that she worried that no one (let alone my daughter) understands the risks and therefore cannot ensure informed consent is obtained".

Dominic Wilson, consultant neonatologist and professor of ethics, at the University of Oxford, told i the decision to supply blockers is all down to a patient's understanding.

"The key ethical principle for decisions about medical treatment for a child or young person who cannot consent is whether the treatment is in their best interests, do the benefits outweigh the risks? It is important for the young person (if they are able) to be involved in the decision, but their consent is not crucial. The consent of the child's parents is important.

"If a young person is mature enough to be able to make a decision by themselves, the ethical question is slightly different. Then the focus is on whether the young person understands the risks and benefits of the treatment, and believes that overall it would be best to proceed. They may receive the treatment if they consent to it, even if their parents do not support the treatment."

It is that competency test that clinicians like Dr Salas-Humara use to determine whether their patients are viable and ready for the treatment.

"There is an evaluation process, its based on maturity, and the capacity to send for these hormones," said the specialist.

But the medical professional recognises that patients over the age of 18 would tend to be offered cross-sex hormones rather than the blockers, as puberty is very likely to have already taken place.

"In my own clinical experience, oftentimes, I see smart people who are 9, 10, 11 who understand the risks and benefits. Puberty starts earlier than 18," she added.

What are the pitfalls?

Because of these effects, anti-trans campaigners and beyond have referred to puberty blockers as "experimental treatment," with the treatment in need of further study.

While experts are in agreement that treatments for trans people require significantly more research, Dr Salas-Humara has said the treatment has been successfully used on children who haven't experienced any dysphoria symptoms.

"First of all, it's important to know that medical bodies across the world follow specific guidelines on administering treatment such as puberty blockers. What people don't necessarily realise is that this treatment has been safely used on patients for more than 30 years," said Dr Salas-Humara.

"The treatment was first used to treat people with central precocious puberty, to stop children experiencing hormonal changes who had started puberty too early. Because of this, we have been aware of the safety and efficacy of the treatment for children and young adults for a lot longer than people realise."

Trans children 'falling by the wayside'

If Ms Evans and Mrs A's case wins, a clinical decision to prescribe puberty blockers will soon become a legal one - one Dr Dunne believes will result in treatment for transgender children "falling by the wayside."

"In England were married to the welfare of the child through the Children Act. All childrens law is about doing whats best for the welfare for the child. If you have a young person with a clinical determination, that this is a young person who would benefit, then putting in place for obstacles for that child accessing those seems in contradiction with that ruling," said the Law lecturer.

"Prohibiting access to puberty blockers would not be in the best interest of the child, and if an age cap was put on the treatment, it would be"a blanket ban that doesn't take into account these individual considerations. If this became a judicial process, the real fear would be those that can afford it go to court, with other cases falling by the wayside."

But for trans kids that are currently struggling with gender dysphoria, Dr Salas-Humara insists it is crucial that their concerns are taken seriously.

"Theres data to suggest that those 62 per cent of transgender people have experienced mental health problems when they were refused gender affirming care, and 44.8 per cent have attempted suicide. If a young person comes to me, and they are who they are, and theyre suffering with mental health issues, because of societal implications, it would feel wrong to not use our medicine to help them," the paediatrician said.

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The medical, ethical, and legal complications surrounding the puberty blockers case - inews

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The Muse S biofeedback and score-keeping rankles traditional mindfulness teachers, but its data-driven approach could be a game changer for high-level entrepreneurs and executives.

Heres an inspiring story for the first week of the new year, when even the steeliest of resolutions confront the nagging drag of entrenched habits: The most sophisticated new device to promote mindfulness comes from the restless mind of a once-failed meditator.

I was a psychotherapist and would teach my patients to meditate, but I, myself, was never able to crack the code. I always had a million ideas, had an entrepreneurial mind, and the thought of silencing it was quite uncomfortable to me, says Ariel Garten, cofounder of Muse, the app-based device used by more than 100,000 people since its debut in 2014. I was just never able to stick with it.

Ariel Garten. Photo courtesy of Muse

This week, Gartens company launched its most advanced version: the Muse S, which has a soft headband embedded with sophisticated electroencephalogram (EEG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors to monitor brain activity, heart rate and breathing. Users get real time feedback, in the form of nature sounds like falling rain, that prompt them when they become distracted. The app documents brain and heart rate, keeping a log that users can review after each session. (The device retails for $350; an additional $95 buys a yearly subscription to more than 300 guided meditations.)

For many meditators, particularly for those new to the practice, the biofeedback and the accompanying documentation provide reassurance, Garten says.

Most people have a misconception that your mind is supposed to go blank, but if you try to meditate with that belief, youre setting yourself up for failure. Your mind never goes blank, she says. Muse shows you what youre supposed to be doing: Youre putting your attention on your breath, youre notified when your mind wanders, you return to your breath. Just knowing what the process is, is tremendous for people.

The company has a lofty pedigree: Garten studied neuroscience at the University of Toronto, researched Parkinsons disease and hippocampal neurogenesis in labs at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, has guest lectured at MITs Neurotechnology program and worked in the Mann Lab, a pioneer in wearable technology, with Muses cofounder Chris Aimone.

In the early 2000s, Garten and Aimone were working with brain-computer interface technology, creating experimental concerts during which the audience controlled music with their minds. Participantsslipped an EEG on the back of their head, and as they relaxed, the change in brainwave activity altered the quality and volume of the rooms audio output.

We spent a long time thinking that our work was going to be about controlling technology with your mind and later realized that the most powerful part of this was showing what was going on in your own mind, Garten says. We were giving you insights and feedback on your own mental activity. The best way to apply this was to help more people meditate.

Since its launch, Muse has been used for breast cancer patients at the Mayo Clinic, as well as at other prestigious institutions like Harvard and NASA. A 2018 paper on a four-week study at the Catholic University of Milan documented neuroplastic changes to Muse users brains and reduction of their stress levels.

Garten cites studies by Harvard professor Sara Lazar that demonstrate long-term meditators have improved thickness in their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher order processing, cognition and metacognition, as well as more connections between the left and right sections of the brain. Aging, too, is helped by regular meditation, which decreases the presence of cortisol, a stress hormone that can shrink the hippocampus.

Successful meditation, Garten says, promotes higher functioning by helping regulate the competing messages in our brain.

Our amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for our fight or flight response, gets freaked out at all sorts of things that may or may not be relevant. Theres this dance between the amygdala, which is the child, and the prefrontal cortex, which is the parent, she explains. Through meditation process, youre strengthening your prefrontal cortexs ability to actually rise above, see whats going on in the situation, and then make a better choice about it.

That ability, and the promotion of emotional intelligence, is resonating with corporations like Shopify, as well as major media and banking companies that have also enlisted Muse for workshops and meditation challenges.

Garten says her corporate clients gain increased productivity, focus, job satisfaction and decreased stress levels and employee conflict. In the workplace context, metacognition is key, she says. Its the difference between being driven by habits and frustration, and being a more disciplined, wiser individual.

Among Muses fans: executive coach Alex Charfen and Trend Micro president Wael Mohammed, a Muse user who became an investor.

Its a tool that high value performers use across the board. Youre a high-level entrepreneur because you like data, feedback and the ability to make good decisions. This charts your progress and makes it actionable, which is very appealing, Garten says.

Muses success reflects a broader, and recent, cultural shift: Garten, Aimone and their third cofounder, Trevor Coleman, initially marketed the technology in Muse as a cognitive trainer, decorated with logos of brains with muscles, Garten recalls. In 2012, when the trio tried to get funding, investors balked.

Muse S. Photo courtesy of Muse

Theyd say: You have this incredible technology that can read brains. Whats your killer app? Wed say, Meditation, and theyd look at us like, Are you guys kidding? Garten recalls. Today, most educated people understand that you need to eat well, exercise and relieve stress through meditation. Its part of the canon of things that we do, but thats an incredibly recent market trend.

Still, for some meditation teachers, an app based on rewards and control undermines the central premise of mindfulness.

Theres a lot of gaming involved and its very Western, external and goal-oriented. We are so addicted to and dependent on devices that, for me, its almost ironic to use a device on our heads to get out of our heads, says Cathy Trentalancia, founder of MindScience and a meditation teacher who works with companies like American Express, Sony, Moinian, Simpson Thatcher, Shiseido, Carnegie Hall, and at MNDFL studios in New York.

Muse definitely seems fun, but meditation isnt necessarily about having fun. Its about learning to create space and learning how to be comfortable with whatever is there. When you yourself notice your mind is wandering, thats mindfulness. An external entity shouldnt do that for you, she says.

While Trentalancia is skeptical about Muses device, she does recommend guided meditation apps like Dan Harris Ten Percent Happier; Insight Timer and Journey LIVE. I think Muse can offer something very interesting in the EEG experience. Its fascinating, but its not the same journey, she says.

Garten agrees that experienced meditators may ultimately eschew Muse and says that while she still uses Muse as a base tool, she has expanded her practice to multiple other forms of meditation. Still, for beginners, and for those wanting to honor New Years resolutions to pursue a more mindful life, Muses empirical, data-driven approach may create useful habits.

Muse was the thing that really taught me to meditate, it was the thing that finally gave me that aha moment of, Oh, this is what meditation is, she says. It taught me the discipline of coming back to my breath, and the comfort of being able to let go of stray thoughts.

An indispensable guide to finance, investing and entrepreneurship.

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With Kristien Boelaert, MD, PhD, and Reshmi Srinath, MD

After successful treatment for her overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), the patient (who we will call June), not only gained all excess the weight she had lost while her thyroid gland was in overdrive, but the weight continued to creep up.

This is common complaint repeated by many people who visit the discussion board on EndocrineWeb. Understandably, June was so distraught with the undesirable weight gain, so she stopped taking the medication meant to normalize her thyroid levels.

Treatment for hyperthyroidism may lead to excess weight gain if not addressed early. Photo: RapidEye @ iStock

"This woman had developed thyroid storm," says Kristien Boelaert, MD, PhD, associate professor of endocrinology at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and senior author of a new study focusing on weight gain after treatment for hyperthyroidism. Thyroid storm is a life-threatening condition in which body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure often rise to dangerous levels.

These symptoms arose in June, landing her in the intensive care unit, Dr. Boelaert says, and required urgent medical attention. Just like this patient, many people are tempted to stop taking their antithyroid therapy with of the hope of lessening the weight gain, she says, and for those who do, the result is even worse medical complications.

In recognizing this common scenario, Dr. Boelaert and her colleagues were compelled to study the issueexactly how much weight people typicaly gain while being treated for hyperthyroidismand report their findings in the journal Thyroid.1

Dr. Boelaerts team found that many people do indeed gain weight, with some developing obesity. The data gathered from this study puts concrete numbers to this adverse effect of hyperthyroid treatment. Simple awareness of how common excess weight gain may be can be a big relief for patients, Dr. Boelaert tells EndocrineWeb; knowing that weight gain can occur means patients can take proactive steps to anticipate the problem and lessen the result.

While healthcare providers are aware that weight gain may arise after treatment, they often do not mention this outcome to patients, Dr. Boelaert says.

The usual progression, Dr. Boelaert says, is this: patients notice they are losing weight without trying and go to the doctor, at which time they learn they have an overactive thyroid. They undergo treated with antithyroid drugs or with medication plus radioactive iodine treatment (RAI).

Following treatment for hyperthyroidism, patients will observe a steady weight gain despite not changes in their eating or exercise. First, the weight will approach their normal level but then many continue experience further weight gain, reaching overweight or even obesity. As such, Dr. Boelaert set out to evaluate out just how severe the weight gain issue is in patients treated for hyperthyroidism, and what might explain this problematic result.

The researchers turned to the Thyroid Clinic Database at the University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Foundation Trust to gather data on all adult patients with hyperthyroidism treated either with antithyroid drugs, radioiodine (131-I), or both. Information was collected for patients treated between 2000 and 2014 with three years of followup.1 None of the patients had a thyroidectomysurgical removeal of the thyroidwhich is another treatment option.

In all, there were 1,373 patients, ages 18 to 90 years, who were evaluated, and their weight was tracked over time. During treatment, the men, in general, gain about 17.6 pounds while the women gained a little over 12 pounds. The researchers compared the patients' weight gain with that of a matched comparison population of nearly 11,000 people who did not have an overactive thyroid.1

At the start of drug treatment, those who were diagnosed as having an overactive thyroid weighed less, on average than the comparison population, Dr. Boelaert says, which was expected. However, after treatment, the patients with hyperthyroidism were more likely than the comparison group to reach a level of obesity. In effect, men were 1.7 times more likely and women, 1.3 times more likely, to gain enough weight to be considered in the obese range.1

When compared with drugs alone, treatment that included RAI was linked with an additional gain of about 1.3 pounds. (This is included in the overall gain found, as that figure looked at all patients, with all three treatment plans, and averaged the gain).1

"Experiencing steady weight gain is the most prevalent during the first six months," after treatment, Dr. Boelaert tells EndocrineWeb, and then it may taper off somewhat. But some level of weight gain was experienced by most pateints for more than 24 months.1

From the point at which the patients sought care to the end of their treatment followup, an increased in weight of 5% or more was measured in 65% of patients with hyperthyroidism, and more than one iin three (38%) experienced a weight gain of 10% or more over their usual body weight.1

Men gained more than women and those with overactive thyroid due to Graves' disease were more likely to gain more weight than those who had toxic nodular hyperthyroidism or those whose cause of overactive thyroid was not known.1

Dr. Boelaert still cant say for sure why individuals who are treated with antithyroid drugs to reverse their hyperthyroidism show a tendency to gain back the lost weight plus more. "It appears something in the disease process or perhaps from the treatment makes them end up heavier." Clearly, more research is needed for us to understand the specific mechanisms behind the shift upward in body weight as a result of non-surgical treatment for overactive thyroid, she says.

Also, we know that appetite signals get disturbed when the thyroid goes out of whack, she says. When patients come in for treatment, ''lots of patients say, 'I am losing weight although I feel like am eating like a horse.'" After the antithyroid treatment begins, at least some people may continue to eat the same larger amounts that they have grown accustomed to, and this may contribute to the weight gain, she says.

Do appetite signals return to normal once treatment begin? "We don't know, but we hope to study this," Dr. Boelaert says.

She worries about the adverse effects that are associated with overweight. "People with an overactive thyroid already have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease," she explains. "If they then become overweight or obese, that is a further 'hit.''' So recognizing your increased risk for heart disease, and concerns about weight gain should be discussed with your doctor, and incorporated into your treatment plan.

Address Weight Gain from Antithyroid Drug Therapy

The new research is providing some valuable new information, says Reshmi Srinath, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Weight and Metabolism Management Program ,and assistant professor of endocrinology, diabetes, and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City; she reviewed the findings but was not involved in the research.

"It puts some numbers on a phenomenon that we have observed but haven't been able to quantify," she says of the average weight gains found among the men and women in the study.

My patients with overactive thyroid, Dr. Srinath says, are often delighted at the initial weight loss but she cautions about the chance that this trend will reverse. Knowing that weight gain is likely once the drug treatment begins to normalize the thyroid function, and that weight gain may ''overshoot" resulting in unwanted excess body weight is a key point of care to be addressed.

When she sees patients, she makes it a point to warn them of the possibility of weight gain and urges them to make necessary adjustments to their diet and especially to get regular physical activity as the best way to counter the potential for weight to creep up.

It's also very important, she says, to be closely monitored while you are under treatment. Particularly in the first 18 months, patients should be in contact with your health care team every three months, for services such as lab testing, to keep an eye on the thyroid function, which requires monitoring thyroid function levels. "We want to avoid extreme fluctuations in thyroid hormone levels, whichif out of rangecould accellerate the tendency to experience weight gain," Dr. Srinath says.

Awareness of the tendency for weight gain is the first crucial step for every patient with hyperthyroidism, Dr. Boelaert says. She says doctors should be more forthcoming about the probability of weight gain but that patients should be prepared to discuss it and insist it become part of your care plan.

"I tell patients, 'When I make you better, I expect that you will gain weight. The evidence is that probably you will gain more than you lost." So know this, and advocate for clear guidance on what you can change to slow any inevitable weight gain and to prevent exceeding your usual, healthy weight.

Dr. Boelaert found slightly more higher net weight gain in her patients who had radioactive iodine therapy than drugs alone, but she doesnt think this side effect should not steer people away from having RAI treatment since the cure is much higher with this treatment, she says.

She notices that the patients who do adopt a healthier lifestyle, if they werent already following a heart healthy diet and getting daily physical activity, when she first met them, can curtail the otherwise likely excess weight gain.

"Having an overactive thyroid is not a benign disease," she tells her patients. Treatment is crucial and so is keeping an eye on your weight as the treatment process progresses.

Neither Dr. Boelaert nor Dr. Srinath have any disclosures.

Last updated on 01/09/2020

5 Foods that May Help Ease Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

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Weight Gain After Hyperthyroid Treatment is Common: What to Know - EndocrineWeb

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Whether its age, physical stress, medical conditions or genetics and hormonal disturbances, the reasons behind female infertility, not being able to become pregnant after a year of trying, are diverse and wide ranging. If youre one of the many women who have been having difficulties and hopes to have a giggly baby in your arms in 2020, its important to be well-informed. The good news is the vast majority of couples who have struggled to conceive at some point are now parents thanks to advanced treatments.

Certain elements may impact a womans ability to get pregnant in a natural way. Lifestyle choices as well as the decision to delay pregnancy, among others, can contribute to a womans capability to conceive later on in life, Dr Upma Shanker, IVF Specialist at the IVI Middle East Fertility Clinic in Muscat, said. Some serious medical conditions may lead to infertility problems as well. Whatever the case might be, women - most of the time, only find out about their condition after actively trying to have a baby for a year but failing to conceive. Such a situation is understandably devastating to any couple, the team member at the clinic with a success rate of over 70 percent, the highest in the Middle East, added.

According to IVI, the parent company of IVI Middle East Fertility Clinics, which offers extensive male and female infertility treatments, one in every seven couples has difficulties in getting pregnant. When it comes to female infertility, the most common medical causes are endometriosis, obstructions in the fallopian tubes, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and other ovulation problems such as anovulation. Quite a few young women are also affected by some of these health issues.

About 35 percent of females facing infertility have been diagnosed with endometriosis, or the presence of tissue that lines the uterus outside its normal location in the womb. And approximately 25 percent have had difficulty conceiving due to some abnormalities in their fallopian tubes.

PCOS is a medical condition that causes irregular menstrual cycles or no menstruation at all. Around 20 per cent of women have polycystic ovaries and are having difficulty conceiving because they do not ovulate.

With anovulation, menstruation stops completely. Stress, significant weight gain or loss, polycystic ovaries, or even excessive production of prolactin, the hormone responsible for producing breast milk, can result in anovulation, while menopause is the inevitable and natural reason for this condition.

IVI Fertility also cited other risk factors that contribute to fertility problems. These include myomas also known as fibroids, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, cancer, other chronic diseases and in certain cases, some medications such as anti-depressants.

Fortunately, advances in reproductive medicine have led to the development of treatments specifically addressing a range of female infertility causes. These modern approaches, including the advanced In-vitro fertilization treatments, have been helping more and more women achieve their dream of having a baby, Upma added.

Did you know? While around 40 percent of infertility causes are female related, 40 percent are connected to men and the remaining 20 percent is a combination of issues.

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These Are the Female Infertility Causes Hopeful Mums-To-Be Should Know About - About Her

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If you've ever spent anafternoonon the couch with the TV and a bag of salted chips, orgone to bed with a belly full ofTeochew porridge and its accoutrements of salted eggs, fish,vegetables and cured meats, youre probably familiar with the feeling.

You wake up the next morning feelingpuffed up and heavier than usual. Yourring feels like it's strangling your finger. Instead of ankles, you now have cankles. And when you presson theswollen areas for a few seconds, you get weird temporary dimples. In other words, you could very well stand in for the Michelin Man.

Thats water retention or edema in action.

WATER RETENTION CAUSE #1: SALT

The most common cause for edemais eating too much sodium-loaded food. This upsets your body's sodium-to-water balance,which it needs to function. As a result, your body produces an anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) that nudges thekidneys to hold on to water if the water content in our blood is lower than usual, saidAssociate Professor Chionh Chang Yin, the chief of Changi General Hospitals Department Of Renal Medicine.

Once you have drunk adequate fluids and the water content in the blood is restored, your body stops secreting ADH, he said. In that sense, it doesn't really help for you to drink less water to minimise edema.

But edema isnt just about your bodyholding on to insufficient fluids. It also has something to do with how fluids are diverted and pooled incertain parts of the body, which leads us to the next point below.

WATER RETENTION CAUSE #2: GRAVITY

If youve been standing a lotand have swollen ankles or legs, thats gravity's effect on your body'sfluids.It reflects a shift of water between physical compartments within the body, and in this case, it is related to gravity, said Dr Chionh.

The increased volume of bloodin your legs and feet raisesthe pressure inside the blood vessels.The excess fluid in the blood vessels then leaks out into the tissue in the legs, causing them to swell. This may explain theswelling in the lower legs some runners experience after running.

And its not just water. Edema may be a result of more blood flowing down to the legs than the blood flowing up from it, said Dr Ian Phoon, who heads the Cardiovascular Diseases Workgroup at SingHealth Polyclinics.

WATER RETENTION CAUSE #3: HORMONES (FOR WOMEN)

For women, edema could sometimes be part of the dreadedpremenstrual syndrome or PMS.Some women may observe a gain of 1kg to 2kg, which is gradually lost once menstruation begins. Such rapid changein weight is likely due to the change of the water retention status, said Dr Phoon.

But he added that you cant always blame edema for the bloated feeling as it could also "be a feeling of gas in the stomach or a feeling of indigestion.

About 5 litres of water is in the blood vessels, while the rest are in the cells, organs, and tissues of the body.

Your body doesn't produce more fluids when you have edema; instead, itstoresand channelsfluids. But pregnancy is a time when yourbody actually produces fluids about 50 per centmore bloodand body fluids,according to the American Pregnancy Association.

Theextra fluid is needed to soften the body andenableit to expand as the baby develops. "Extra fluid also helpsprepare the pelvic joints and tissues to open for delivery. The extra fluids account for approximately 25 per centof the weightwomen gain during pregnancy," noted its website.

WATER RETENTION CAUSE #4: CERTAIN MEDICINES

Certain medicines can cause edema as a side effect. The Mayo Clinic website lists, among others: High blood pressure medicines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, steroids, oestrogens and certain diabetes medicines known as thiazolidinediones.

HOW TO SOLVE EDEMA?

It should be as easy as holding back on those chips and going to the toilet more, right? Unfortunately, the science isnt likethat. For starters, your body is made of a lot of water.

About 60 per cent of your body consists of water, said Dr Phoon. About 5 litres of wateris in the blood vessels, while the rest are in the cells, organs, and tissues of the body.

And while this percentage can be lower in those who are obese and slightly lower in women than in men, he said, it doesnt change much no matter how much water you drink or dont.

But relieving edema is actually quite simple: By elevating one's legs (and reversing the effects of gravity), or wearing compression stockings during prolonged standing, said Dr Phoon. Moving the muscles of the affected limbs also helps to pump the excess fluids away.

BUT TAKE NOTE OF MORE SERIOUS WATER RETENTION ISSUES

However, persistent or severe edema warrants a consultation with a doctor, said Dr Phoon, as there are many possible causes, including serious underlying medical conditions such as heart failure or kidney damage.

Meanwhile, Dr Chionh advised that if a swelling in the leg or body is accompanied by other symptoms such asmarkedly frothy urine, breathlessness or reduced tolerance of physical activity, it may suggest edema related to an underlying medical condition.

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What are the causes of water retention and how do you solve it - CNA

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Stem Cell Therapy Market: Snapshot

Of late, there has been an increasing awareness regarding the therapeutic potential of stem cells for management of diseases which is boosting the growth of the stem cell therapy market. The development of advanced genome based cell analysis techniques, identification of new stem cell lines, increasing investments in research and development as well as infrastructure development for the processing and banking of stem cell are encouraging the growth of the global stem cell therapy market.

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One of the key factors boosting the growth of this market is the limitations of traditional organ transplantation such as the risk of infection, rejection, and immunosuppression risk. Another drawback of conventional organ transplantation is that doctors have to depend on organ donors completely. All these issues can be eliminated, by the application of stem cell therapy. Another factor which is helping the growth in this market is the growing pipeline and development of drugs for emerging applications. Increased research studies aiming to widen the scope of stem cell will also fuel the growth of the market. Scientists are constantly engaged in trying to find out novel methods for creating human stem cells in response to the growing demand for stem cell production to be used for disease management.

It is estimated that the dermatology application will contribute significantly the growth of the global stem cell therapy market. This is because stem cell therapy can help decrease the after effects of general treatments for burns such as infections, scars, and adhesion. The increasing number of patients suffering from diabetes and growing cases of trauma surgery will fuel the adoption of stem cell therapy in the dermatology segment.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Overview

Also called regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy encourages the reparative response of damaged, diseased, or dysfunctional tissue via the use of stem cells and their derivatives. Replacing the practice of organ transplantations, stem cell therapies have eliminated the dependence on availability of donors. Bone marrow transplant is perhaps the most commonly employed stem cell therapy.

Osteoarthritis, cerebral palsy, heart failure, multiple sclerosis and even hearing loss could be treated using stem cell therapies. Doctors have successfully performed stem cell transplants that significantly aid patients fight cancers such as leukemia and other blood-related diseases.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Key Trends

The key factors influencing the growth of the global stem cell therapy market are increasing funds in the development of new stem lines, the advent of advanced genomic procedures used in stem cell analysis, and greater emphasis on human embryonic stem cells. As the traditional organ transplantations are associated with limitations such as infection, rejection, and immunosuppression along with high reliance on organ donors, the demand for stem cell therapy is likely to soar. The growing deployment of stem cells in the treatment of wounds and damaged skin, scarring, and grafts is another prominent catalyst of the market.

On the contrary, inadequate infrastructural facilities coupled with ethical issues related to embryonic stem cells might impede the growth of the market. However, the ongoing research for the manipulation of stem cells from cord blood cells, bone marrow, and skin for the treatment of ailments including cardiovascular and diabetes will open up new doors for the advancement of the market.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Market Potential

A number of new studies, research projects, and development of novel therapies have come forth in the global market for stem cell therapy. Several of these treatments are in the pipeline, while many others have received approvals by regulatory bodies.

In March 2017, Belgian biotech company TiGenix announced that its cardiac stem cell therapy, AlloCSC-01 has successfully reached its phase I/II with positive results. Subsequently, it has been approved by the U.S. FDA. If this therapy is well- received by the market, nearly 1.9 million AMI patients could be treated through this stem cell therapy.

Another significant development is the granting of a patent to Israel-based Kadimastem Ltd. for its novel stem-cell based technology to be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other similar conditions of the nervous system. The companys technology used for producing supporting cells in the central nervous system, taken from human stem cells such as myelin-producing cells is also covered in the patent.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Regional Outlook

The global market for stem cell therapy can be segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America emerged as the leading regional market, triggered by the rising incidence of chronic health conditions and government support. Europe also displays significant growth potential, as the benefits of this therapy are increasingly acknowledged.

Asia Pacific is slated for maximum growth, thanks to the massive patient pool, bulk of investments in stem cell therapy projects, and the increasing recognition of growth opportunities in countries such as China, Japan, and India by the leading market players.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Competitive Analysis

Several firms are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships, apart from product development with a view to attain a strong foothold in the global market for stem cell therapy.

Some of the major companies operating in the global market for stem cell therapy are RTI Surgical, Inc., MEDIPOST Co., Ltd., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., Pharmicell Co., Ltd., Anterogen Co., Ltd., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Holostem Terapie Avanzate S.r.l.

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As humans continue to pump more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, concerns about global warming and climate change continue to grow. But what if that CO2 could be turned into a source of energy? One startup in Kyoto has developed cutting-edge nano-materials that could trap atmospheric CO2 and harness it as a power source. Its one way that Japans ancient capital is harnessing its large scientific and biomedical potential to address environmental and social problems.

Panning for invisible gold

Porous coordination polymers can be a form of carbon-capture technology, says discoverer Susumu Kitagawa, second from left, with (left to right) Atomis CTO Masakazu Higuchi, CEO Daisuke Asari, R&D officer Kenji Sumida, and COO Dai Kataoka.

Atomis is a new materials company that was spun off from Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS). Founded in 2015 following government-supported research, its business is based on studies led by Susumu Kitagawa, a professor and the director of iCeMS.

Its core technology is the production of materials comprising extremely small void spaces that can trap gases, including CO2. A breakthrough discovery in 1997 by Kitagawa, who has been considered a contender for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, these porous coordination polymers (PCPs, aka metal-organic frameworks) have enormous potential as tools to precisely control gases.

Humans have used the principle behind PCPs for thousands of years. They work the same way that a hunk of charcoal traps ambient odor molecules in its large surface area, but PCPs are many times more powerful. To the naked eye, PCPs look like powders, pellets or granules of various colors, shapes and sizes. But if you were to zoom in, you would see that PCPs are sponge-like materials with pores the size of a nanometer, or one billionth of a meter. They can be designed as scaffoldlike 3D structures from metals and organic ligands, and can be used for storage, separation and conversion of molecules.

These materials are unique in that we can design the shapes and chemical properties of the pores to suit specific applications, and some of the materials have flexible structures, which can potentially provide them with even more advanced features, says Daisuke Asari, president and CEO of Atomis. The company is basically the only business in Japan working with these materials in an industrial context. Collaborating with Kitagawa is a big advantage over foreign rivals, adds Kenji Sumida, executive officer for R&D.

One challenge related to these nanomaterials is that its difficult and costly to produce more than a few kilograms per day. Massively scaling production so that PCPs can be used to fight climate change is one reason that Atomis was founded, says Atomis founder and CTO Masakazu Higuchi, one of Kitagawas collaborators. The firm is developing solid-state techniques and making capital investments to increase PCP production capacity. Meanwhile, Atomis has developed products that harness the groundbreaking potential of PCPs, including Cubitan, a compact and lightweight gas cylinder for industrial and consumer use packed with smart features, such as the ability to notify users when the amount of reserve gas becomes low.

When viewed without special equipment, PCPs look like powders, pellets or granules of various colors, shapes and sizes, but they are sponge-like materials with countless pores the size of a nanometer.

Kitagawa has his sights on the bigger picture. He believes PCPs can be used as a form of carbon-capture technology, allowing the synthesis of methanol, an energy source. Thats why he calls CO2 invisible gold.

In ancient China, Taoist mystics were said to live in the mountains and survive simply on mist, which consists of water, oxygen and CO2, says Kitagawa. They were taking something valueless and using it for energy. Similarly, PCPs can control gases that humans cannot use and turn them into something beneficial, for instance absorbing CO2 in the air and turning into methanol and other hydrocarbon materials.

Building a regenerative medicine Silicon Valley

Atomis is one of many science startups in Kyoto that have benefitted from collaborative research between industry and government. Its part of a growing startup industry in Japan, where total funding for new companies reached a record high of 388 billion yen in 2018, up from 64.5 billion yen in 2012, according to Japan Venture Research. One driver for this expansion is science and technology discoveries.

While it may be known for its traditional culture, Kyoto has a strong pedigree in scientific research. It is home to 38 universities and about 150,000 students, which form a large pool of institutional knowledge, experience and talent. Many recent Nobel laureates either graduated from or taught at Kyoto University, including professors Tasuku Honjo and Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2018 and 2012, respectively. Working on discoveries by Yamanaka, Megakaryon has become a world leader in creating artificial blood platelets made from synthetic stem cells.Theres also a large group of high-tech companies that have carved out niches for themselves internationally.

Kyoto is a unique city in that it has an independent spirit that is similar to the U.S. West Coast, says Eiichi Yamaguchi, a professor at Kyoto University who has founded four companies.

Kyoto companies like Murata Manufacturing, Horiba, Shimadzu, and Kyocera have a global market and theyre competing with China, says Eiichi Yamaguchi, a professor at Kyoto University who has founded four companies. Thats the difference with companies in Tokyo, which are more domestically oriented.

Yamaguchi has authored several books on innovation, and says there is a growing awareness of the importance of collaborative research and entrepreneurship in Kyoto. He cites a recently formed cooperative group of seven university chairpersons and presidents from leading materials and biosciences companies that meets to discuss issues such as fostering new technologies, for instance building high-speed hydrogen fueling systems.

Kyoto is a unique city in that it has an independent spirit that is similar to the U.S. West Coast, says Yamaguchi. Kyoto is only a fraction of the size of Tokyo, but if you take a stand here, people will pay attention.

Another group that is promoting local high-tech business is Innovation Hub Kyoto. Its an open innovation facility based in the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine aimed at commercializing research from the university. Steps away from Kyotos historic Kamo River, its geared to researchers, investors, startups, and established companies working in the field of medical innovation including device development and drug discovery. This is where Japanese researchers are trying to build a Silicon Valley of regenerative medicine.

Tenants at Innovation Hub Kyoto can use this wet lab for research.

Part of the Kyoto University Medical Science and Business Liaison Organization, the hub was established about 15 years ago and opened a new building in 2017 with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The structure has a variety of labs, including ones meeting biosafety level P2 and for animal experiments.

Its tough for startups in Japan to access to animal laboratories like the one we have, says hub leader Yutaka Teranishi, a professor in the Graduate School of Medicine who estimates that some 50% of university researchers want to work with industry, up from 10% a few years ago. Were focused on university startups because its very difficult for them to develop drugs from just an alliance between companies and universities.

About 28 companies are tenants at Innovation Hub Kyoto. They include major brands such as Shimadzu and Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim as well as younger businesses. One is AFI, founded in 2013 and focused on fluid, electric filtering and sorting (FES) technology that can be used for applications ranging from food safety inspections to rapid diagnosis of disease to regenerative medicine.

Tomoko Bylund heads the Japan office of CELLINK, a Swedish bioprinting and bioink company that is a tenant at Innovation Hub Kyoto.

Another tenant is CELLINK, a Swedish bioprinting and bioink company headed in the Japan by Tomoko Bylund. Using its products, researchers can print body parts with human cells for drug and cosmetics testing. In 2019, the first 3D print of a human cornea in the U.S. was accomplished with the companys BIO X Bioprinter.

iHeart Japan is also a tenant. It was established in 2013 as a regenerative medicine business and is aiming to address a major shortage in the Japanese medical system: only about 40 out of 200,000 people on national waiting lists can receive donor hearts every year. The company is developing innovative medical products such as multi-layered cardiac cell sheets derived from synthetic stem cells. The Hub basis its success in fostering companies on its diversity and the business environment in Kyoto.

We have people from different backgrounds here who are exchanging cultures and experimental results, and this diversity is powering innovation here, says Teranishi. There are many traditional industries in Kyoto, and though people say its a conservative city, these companies have survived because theyre open to new technologies and have taken the time to choose which ones can help them. Thats how this city and its businesses have lasted for more than 1,000 years.

Diversity is powering innovation here, says Yutaka Teranishi, center, head of Innovation Hub Kyoto, with Kyoto University professor Hirokazu Yamamoto, left, and Graduate School of Medicine lecturer Taro Yamaguchi, right.

To learn more about Atomis, click here.

To learn more about Innovation Hub Kyoto, click here.

Link:
How Kyoto Is Rebuilding Itself As A Nanotech And Regenerative Medicine Powerhouse - Forbes

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) January 09, 2020

DOXYVA is a validated circulatory and nerve stimulant. The system was used by Prof. Puruhito for CO transdermal delivery, which has been shown to produce higher oxygen unloading by hemoglobin, thereby increasing oxygen-rich blood flow in the local microcirculatory system. This improved dermal microcirculation leads, in turn, to enhanced wound healing.

The American Diabetes Association standards of care for DFUs refer to microvascular complications and their treatment via improvements in microcirculation; therefore, Prof. Puruhitos team set out to test CO transdermal delivery via DOXYVA in their patients. They have been gathering data since 2015, which led to the following results.

During the course of a 5-day treatment, O saturation increased in patients treated with transdermal CO in comparison to controls (15 patients/group) over the whole measurement range (up to 120 minutes post application). Moreover, a consistent heart rate decrease was found in patients undergoing transdermal CO treatment. Furthermore, the perfusion index (PI) showed an upwards tendency in the treatment group, whereas it remained stable for untreated controls. See figure 1.

Figure 1: Changes observed after a 5-day transdermal CO treatment with DOXYVA. H1-H5: pre-treatment, 10, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after; blue trace: control, orange trace: treatment. (A) Changes in O saturation (B) Decrease in heart rate due to treatment (C) Masimo measurements of PI.

In light of these results, Prof. Puruhitos team performed extra measurements of transcutaneous carbon dioxide (TcPCO), O saturation, and PI in the 15 patients treated with DOXYVA for transdermal CO delivery. This data show that the oxygen saturation reached almost 100% in some patients, whereas the TcPCO remained relatively stable throughout the treatment time (120 minutes). For more detailed information, see figure 2.

Figure 2: Transcutaneous CO pressure (TcPCO), O saturation, and PI assessment in the 15 patients subjected to transdermal CO. (A) SENTEC TcPCO measurements for all patients at various time points after DOXYVA application (pre-treatment, 5, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after) (B) O saturation (C) PI.

Finally, Prof. Puruhitos team demonstrated the positive effects of transdermal CO delivery via DOXYVA on the healing of DFUs (fig. 3), proving the clinical potential of this intervention to improve the quality of life of people suffering from this common complication of diabetes.

In conclusion, the use of a DOXYVA device for transdermal CO delivery improves the outcomes of DFUs by enhancing dermal microcirculation and increasing perfusion rates and tissue oxygenation, therefore assisting in the healing process of the ulcers typical of diabetes neuropathy.

About DOXYVADOXYVA (deoxyhemoglobin vasodilator) is a novel, clinically validated blood flow and nerve stimulant for people suffering from neuropathy. In various clinical trials, DOXYVA has validated leading independent research results and demonstrated above-average results in improving a host of physiological functions.

Subjects suffering from high blood sugar have reported neuropathy pain relief minutes after DOXYVA was administered and long-term blood sugar level improvements after just a few weeks.

Rapid and gentle skin delivery (over-the-skin) with the DOXYVA lightweight, handheld device has prompted improvements in blood microcirculation or PI by 33%* on average in all participants. Lasting results have been measured at 5-60 minutes and up to 4 hours after a single 5-minute DOXYVA delivery on the skin surface without reduction in PI levels.

About Prof. PuruhitoIto Puruhito, MD is professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital as well as a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Airlangga (Indonesia). From 2001 to 2016, he was the rector of the aforementioned university. Prof. Puruhito finished his medicine studies at Universitas Airlangga in 1967, and in 1972 he received a doctorate degree, graduating cum laude from Frederich-Alexander University (Erlangen-Nrnberg, Germany). In his native country, he developed the Department of Thoracic-Cardiovascular Surgery at his former university, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya. In 1978, he co-founded the Indonesian Association of Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery. Prof. Puruhito has authored numerous indexed research articles in Scopus, ISI-Thompson or PUBMED, and scientific presentations and written several books in Indonesian, English, and German. He acted as reviewer for peer-reviewed journals such as Medical Tribune, Annals of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Asian Annals of Surgery, Medicinus, and many more Indonesian medical-surgical journals. Currently, apart from lecturing, Prof. Puruhito actively researches stem cells, cardiovascular medicine, and surgery at the Institute of Tropical Disease as well as some work in microcirculation. Further, he acts as coordinator of research affairs at the Department of TCV-Surgery at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya. Since 2014, he has been the chairman of the Council of Research in the Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia.

About Circularity Healthcare, LLCCircularity Healthcare, LLC, located in Los Angeles, CA, is a private biotech and medtech products and services company that designs, makes, markets, sells, distributes, and licenses its patented and patent-pending technologies, such as its flagship non-invasive deoxyhemoglobin vasodilator product line, DOXYVA. One of the main mechanisms underlying DOXYVAs science received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2019. Circularity enters into exclusive agreements with manufacturers to launch products in large and small clinics and hospitals to help enhance their profits and credit profiles with a wide variety of advanced products and services. In addition, Circularity Healthcare assists in the financing of equipment, working capital, and patient financing at industry-leading terms and speed.

For more information, please visit http://www.circularityhealthcare.com or http://doxyva.com; doctors (Rx only) visit http://wound.doxyva.com and send your general inquiries via the Contact Us page. For specific inquiries, contact Circularity Customer Care at info(at)doxyva(dot)com, info(at)circularityhealthcare(dot)com, or by phone (toll free) at 1-855-5DOXYVA or 1-626-240-0956.

References:

1.Rogers, L. C., Muller-Delp, J. M. & Mudde, T. A. Transdermal delivery of carbon dioxide boosts microcirculation in subjects with and without diabetes, Information summary for healthcare professionals. Circularity Healthcare, LLC2.Puruhito, I. et al. DOXYVA Medical Device, a Potentially Cost-Efficient and Safe Adjuvant Therapy for Diabetic Ulcers: A Pilot Study. J Vasc Surg (2019).3.Puruhito, I., Soebroto, H., Sembiring, Y. & Nur Rahmi, C. Observation of O2 Saturation after transdermal CO2 delivery using Doxyva apparatus.4.Jayarasti, K. & Puruhito, I. Preliminary study of measurement of TcPCO2 using SENTEC device.5.Nur Rahmi, C. Pengaruh Pemberian Transdermal CO2 terhadap Output Perawatan Luka Kaki Diabetik Wagner I dan II. (2018).6.D`OXYVA Relief from neuropathic pain. D`OXYVA https://doxyva.com/complete-fast-advanced-painless-relief-from-neuropathic-pain/.

Forward-Looking InformationThis press release may contain forward-looking information. This includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts and statements as to managements expectations with respect to, among other things, the quality of the products of Circularity Healthcare, LLC, its resources, progress in development, demand, and market outlook for non-invasive transdermal delivery medical devices. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those initially projected. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the launch of a new medical device, innovation and market acceptance uncertainties, fluctuating components and other advanced material prices, new federal or state governmental regulations, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and Circularity Healthcare, LLC assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. Circularity Healthcare, LLC makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of this press release and shall have no liability for any representations (expressed or implied) for any statement made herein, or for any omission from this press release.

See the original post here:
D'OXYVA improves dermal microcirculation and promotes wound healing in the diabetic foot - PR Web

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Jean Chen Smith, Correspondent for Memphis Commercial Appeal Published 6:00 a.m. CT Jan. 10, 2020

During the first part of winter, the holidays can be all-consuming from shopping to stressing to spending time with friends and family.But there's so much more to the season than that.

Here are nine tips and trends to keep things fresh this winter:

With shorter days and busy schedules, it becomes more difficult to eat delicious and nutritious meals. Heres where Fresh n Lean comes in. This healthy and convenient service was conceptualized by founder Laureen Asseo while preparing meals for friends and family during a time when her father was facing serious health concerns. The meal delivery service provides specialized categories such as Keto, Paleo and Vegan using the highest quality organic ingredients without preservatives or added sugar.The cost is as low as $11 a meal, and menu choices include dishes such as Coconut Chicken Curry with Mixed Vegetables and Chile Lime Salmon with Broccoli.The dishes are never frozen and can be heated up in less than 3 minutes.

Details: freshnlean.com

Bring the outdoors inside with the AeroGarden Harvest Elite Slim.(Photo: AeroGarden)

With the AeroGarden Harvest Elite ($125), you can grow an indoor garden of gourmet herbs, heirloom salad greens, red heirloom cherry tomatoes or cascading petunias. Easy to use and sleek with a premium brushed stainless-steel finish, the AeroGarden requires minimal care and can be set on vacation mode, all the while dressing up the kitchen countertop.

Details: aerogarden.com/harvest-elite-slim.html

... Or maybe it never left. When more is required of you than the Casual Friday outfit, men will find the Treffort Contemporary Fit Signature Oxford Shirt ($165) is a wardrobe essential for any office.The mens shirts are made with premium 100% Egyptian and Turkish cotton, using organic colorants that boast unique patterns to create soft comfort with minimal creasing. The company strives for eco-friendly production without sacrificing quality.

Details: treffortshirts.com

The SOUVENIR Toulouse Top is inspired by world travel.(Photo: SOUVENIR)

The silk Moroccan-inspired Toulouse Top ($300) bySOUVENIR is a beautiful novelty printed silk top that is super versatile.It can be worn with a structured woven jacket for a business lunch, free flowing out to dinner or as a pullover on vacation.Based in Los Angeles, the brand is inspired by travel and world culture, with a focus on bright colors and fun prints.

Details: escapetosouvenir.com

Just because its cold outside and you need to bundle up doesnt mean you cant look good.For men, Obermeyers Down Snowshirt ($159) is the perfect remedy with itscasual, lightweight fabric and engineered quilting. Featuring certified 550 Fill Power Duck Down, snap placket, cuffs, chest and hand warmer pockets, it can be worn as a layering piece or as a casual top.

Details: obermeyer.com

Orvis men's flannel provides casual warmth.(Photo: Orvis)

Orvis Mens Flat Creek Tech Flannel ($98) is comfortable and made from recycled oyster shells and PET polyester (think plastic bottles) to create an eco-blend that is then brushed to a soft hand.

Details: http://www.orvis.com

Available for both men and women, Gobi Heats outerwear such as the Victoria Heated Puffer Coat and Sahara Mens Heated Jacket are wind- and water-resistant, keeping you warm and dry throughout the season.Stylish and comfortable, the jackets have an easy one-touch LED controller with three heat settings: low, medium and high.

Details: gobiheat.com

Frances Austen cashmere Is the ultimate staple for your winter wardrobe.(Photo: Frances Austen)

Cashmere is one of the most precious and sought-after fibers because of its soft, silken feel.Frances Austenmakes the same heirloom-quality luxury cashmere that your grandmother owned, but at a more reasonable price point. The company partners with Scotland-basedJohnstons of Elgin, sweater manufacturer to big European fashion houses, and only releases two collections a year.The companys best-seller, Raw Edge Crew Neck(prices vary), is spun in Italy and perfectly matches with a pair of dress pants or jeans. It's also available in a colorblock version.

Details: francesausten.com

Lascanas Quilt Panel Moto Jacket ($89) is not only stylish and reasonably priced, it looks like the real deal while it is faux leather. With chic rose gold zippers and a flattering fit, this is a great item for any size and shape.

Details: http://www.lascana.com

Cat lovers will rejoice at how easy it is to feed fresh, human-grade food to their furry friend with Smalls, which ships directly to your door. The company makes freeze-dried raw kibble and treats that are specifically tailored to fit your cats nutritional needs. You simply add warm water, mix and serve.Smalls believes in giving back and works with shelters and animal nonprofits across the United States to provide quality food to cats in need.With their Shelter Program, shelters can order Smalls in bulk at cost-pricing.

Details: smallsforsmalls.com

The new CannaCell line from Andalou Naturals is super-powered by antioxidants from hemp stem cells, which help to defend against free radicals and counteract premature aging due to oxidative damage, pollutionand UV sun exposure. Hemp stem cells and hemp seed oil provide the skin with nourishing proteins, nutrients and minerals so that the products penetrate the skin for optimal results.

Details: andalou.com

Check out Revos 1985 sunglasses collection, which pays homage to the '80s with sixclassic unisex frame styles that not only look great but are also functional. Heralded as the leader in polarized lens technology, the brand was created using technology developed by NASA as solar protection for satellites.

Details: http://www.revo.com

Read or Share this story: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/life/2020/01/10/winter-trends-revo-andalou-naturals-orvis-aerogarden-fresh-n-lean/2833818001/

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From stylish clothes to indoor gardening, 9 tips and trends to try this winter - Commercial Appeal

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Cheap, re-purposed cancer drugs, negative carbon-emissions technology, calculating how fast the universe is expandingand huge leaps forward in quantum computing.

Will one of these be the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2020?

We asked a handful of New Zealand's top scientists what "Eureka!" moments might be on the cards next year but even with their formidable combined brain power and expertise, some found it hard to answer and hinted it was difficult to sheet home specific advances to any one year.

And, as one scientist says, 2020's most ground-breaking discovery may come as a total surprise, made accidentally by a student in a lab late one night.

READ MORE:*Scientists are baffled: What's up with the universe?*Medicine already in use may help cancer treatments*Roger Hanson: How you figure out the age of the universe*Doing my part not only to be carbon neutral but carbon negative

123rf

2020's most ground-breaking discovery may come as a total surprise, made accidentally by a student in a lab late one night.

Wellington's Gillies McIndoe Research Institute is carrying out cutting-edge research into ways of treating cancer without radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery.

The institute's founder and executive director, Dr Swee Tan, believes significant steps will be made in 2020 towards "re-purposing" existing drugs for cancer treatment.

Tan, a plastic surgeon and medical researcher who has received international recognition for dealing with life-threatening and disfiguring conditions, saiddrugs licensed and marketed for a particular treatment often had other benefits.

"They can be re-purposed for another condition, for the treatment of cancer. This is usually with drugs that have been around for some time they are off-patent, so they become generic, which means they cost next to nothing.

"Another advantage is their safety profile is well understood."

Wellington's Gillies McIndoe Research Institute's founder and executive director, Dr Swee Tan, believes significant steps will be made in 2020 towards "re-purposing" existing drugs for cancer treatment.

Globally, 18 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in nearly 10 million deaths.

"In New Zealand alone, new cancer cases are about 25,000 a year, and on top of that there are 11,000 non-melanoma skin cancers.

"The incidence of cancer is predicted to increase by 50 per cent by 2035, which is just around the corner. We are completely unprepared for that."

The increased incidence of cancer largely bowel, breast, prostate and lung cancers, and melanoma is mostly because people are living longer and due to lifestyle and diet, Tan says.

"Part of the problem now is the expense of treatment. In New Zealand, we spend $1 billion a year to treat cancer, and that is just the fiscal cost, that doesn't count emotional or personal.

"The cost is escalating because of the novel cancer drugsand, at some point, we are not going to be able to afford treatment for cancer.

"This creates disparity in access to treatment because some of these drugs are not funded and, if you have the means, you can buy it, but I don't think that is a good way to run a society. I think a society should allow people to access healthcare, regardless of personal circumstance."

Royal Society Te Aprangi/VIMEO

New Zealand is as vulnerable as all countries to the global growth in antimicrobial resistance that is making some diseases untreatable. Dr Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist from the University of Auckland, a Royal Society Te Aprangi Councillor and an expert adviser on the report on antimicrobial resistance produced by Royal Society Te Aprangi explains why it is such a big issue for us.

The institute has been undertaking a clinical trial based on drug re-purposing to control cancer stem cells, the proposed origin of cancer.

"It consists of a combination of low-cost, off-patent, oral medications to control cancer stem cells. We believe this would be more effective than using a single drug.

"For the cost of the drug itself, it costs about $4000 a year a patient, compared with the average cancer treatment, which is about $50,000 per patient.

"You have to prove it is effective first. The big issue with drug re-purposing is 'big pharma' is not interested because there is no money in it. The only way that we can realise the potential is for philanthropy and government to support initiatives like this."

Propranolol, a beta-blocker, had been added to the treatment for melanoma and angiosarcoma.

During 2020, GMRI would also be working on treatments for disfiguring keloid scars.

"They can cause quite significant issues with quality of life. They affect about 2 per cent of the general population, but in dark-skinned races, especially from the African continent, incidence can be up to 16 per cent.

"Treatment is really quite unsatisfactory, hence the reason why we are researching a solution. If you do surgery to remove it, almost every single one returns. Sometimes surgery is followed by radiotherapy to prevent recurrence. Topical chemotherapy is also used.

"What we have found is stem cells as the underlying problem. We are doing further work, which may allow us to develop a simpler, more effective, low-cost treatment taken by mouth, or by applying to the keloid lesion directly."

University of Auckland molecular biologist Dr Hilary Sheppard, a specialist in developmental and stem-cell biology, thinks there will be more emphasis next year on the gene-editing of adult cells.

University of Auckland microbiologist,associate professor Siouxsie Wiles, a specialist in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, says there are "desperately" needed breakthroughs in her field next year and beyond, including:

- Rapid "bedside" diagnostic tests that are cheap and can tell the medical practitioner if the patient has a bacterial or viral infection "a bonus if it can tell, if bacterial, what antibiotics would kill the bacterium responsible".

- Effective vaccines for tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, Staphylococcus aureus, Group A and B Streptococci, giardia "I could go on and on".

- Drugs that can kill carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae "a very scary group of organisms that are becoming untreatable".

"The other breakthroughs we need aren't scientific, they are political," she says.

"[We need] a global agreement on tackling antimicrobial resistance, which would include incentives to bring the pharmaceutical industry back in to antimicrobial development.

"Failing that, nationalisation of pharmaceutical companies so that development of drugs isn't a for-profit initiative."

Phil Doyle/Stuff

University of Auckland microbiologist, associate professor Siouxsie Wiles, says a global agreement on tackling antimicrobial resistance is desperately needed.

University of Auckland molecular biologist Dr Hilary Sheppard, a specialist in developmental and stem-cell biology, thinks there will be more emphasis next year on the gene-editing of adult cells.

"We have seen some major breakthroughs this year, such as the versatile tool which allows for gene-editing with increased precision over existing tools so the technique is becoming more reliable and safer. Hopefully, next year, we will see these newer techniques being tested in clinically relevant cells.

"As part of that, I hope we will see a community-wide discussion about the ethics of gene-editing with a particular focus on adult cells. Personally, I do not think we should be editing germline cells or embryos at least not for the next five years, while the ethical issues are debated.

"Part of gene-editing is knowing what DNA sequence needs to be edited, so I think I hope this could be the year where personalised medicine and individual genotyping takes off.

"Our research focuses on patients with a fragile skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa (EB). We are pushing to get patients with EB genotyped so that we can perform gene-editing on their skin cells we can't do anything useful without this information.

"Currently, we are paying for the genotyping out of our research budgets. Of course, genotyping raises its own ethical and societal issues, so I hope we will see more discussion about this."

In 2020, results should start rolling in from clinical trials using edited T-cells against melanoma and edited bone-marrow cells to treat patients with sickle-cell anaemia, Sheppard says.

"These are very exciting times. I'm sure we'll see more clinical trials targeting previously untargeted disorders soon perhaps for conditions like Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis."

RNZ

In this podcast, The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly talks to Auckland University physics professor Shaun Hendy about his no-flying mission for the whole of last year.

While Tan, Sheppard and Wiles are looking for discoveries on the tiniest of scales, other scientists are grappling with the biggest question in the universe.

Theoretical cosmologist and University of Auckland professor of physics Richard Easther is among those hoping for a resolution of what has become known as "Hubble tension" a growing disagreement in calculations of how fast the universe is expanding, which has repercussions on its likely age.

The Hubble Constant the number that tells us how fast the universe was expanding has always been hard to measure, he says.

"There was a period of time when a whole different bunch of approaches to measuring it had converged on a single value, which is fascinating. But just over the last couple of years, it seems like there are now two different sets of numbers you get and they've pulled apart a little bit.

"You know, there's this joke that science isn't so much about people saying 'Eureka!' but about someone looking at something and going, 'well, you know, that's funny'.

"This is increasingly resembling one of those moments.

"The numbers are clustering around two values one that would put it in the early to mid-70s [kilometres per second per megaparsec], and one that would put it in the mid- to late 60s, and the uncertainty in the measurements is such that they don't really overlap with each other.

"As the individual measurements get more accurate, the sharpness of the disagreement is growing."

University of Auckland physicist, professor Shaun Hendy, is expecting leaps ahead in clean energy in 2020.

Does it matter? Of course, Easther says.

"There are different physical assumptions that go into the different measurementsandso, if there is a real discrepancy, it would tell us there's something about the expansion of the universe that we don't understand.

"It's hinting at that. The implication seems to be that the story is one step more complicated than current models of the expanding universe might recognise.

"One thought is, that in one set of numbers, there's something that got missed and kind of got away. The other possibility is, there's something kind of physical, that isn't included in our current thinking of the expanding universe.

"The idea that there is something interesting going on is something that cosmologists over the course of the last year have grown substantially more willing to entertain."

Chris Skelton/STUFF

Nicola Gaston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland and Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

At the University of Otago, associate professor Mikkel Andersen, a physicist in the university's Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, has been making astounding international discoveries and controlling the movement of individual atoms in a world-first laboratory experiment.

Such control opens up possibilities for a "second quantum technology revolution" and quantum supremacy, something Andersen says will creep closer in 2020.

The first quantum revolution was made possible by the discovery of quantum mechanics in the 1920s, leading to the development of transistors and lasers, the building blocks of all computers.

In the second, he says quantum computers of fewer than 100 atoms will ultimately be able to out-compete "the world's combined conventional computing power".

"Reaching quantum supremacy means that a quantum computer will be able to do calculations that cannot be done on the world's conventional computers. I do not know if it will happen next year, but it will happen eventually.

"In recent years, Google, IBM, Microsoft and a lot of others have invested enormously in development of quantum computers. Quantum supremacy is likely still some years away, but it is one of those things that would clear all the headlines if it happened in 2020."

University of Auckland physicist,professor Shaun Hendy, agrees.

"Google declared quantum supremacy last month they demonstrated that a quantum computer could beat a conventional computer, albeit at a very niche task.

"We'll see more of this next year, as quantum computers start to stretch their legs just don't expect to see one on your phone any time soon."

Ross Giblin

Victoria University of Wellington's professor James Renwick hopes to see breakthroughs in climate change science which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hendy is also expecting leaps ahead in clean energy in 2020.

"We will continue to see the cost of solar and battery technologies fall, to the extent that they will start to disrupt other energy systems. We have seen this already in Australia, where it has become a defining political issue.

"It will play out differently in New Zealand, because our grid is already more than 80 per cent renewable, while many of our industrial energy systems are not. Expect to see some of our big industrial corporates Fonterra, NZ Steel etc moving to greener industrial processes."

Victoria University of Wellington's Professor James Renwick, head of the school of geography, environment and earth sciences, hopes to see breakthroughs in climate change science which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He points to work being done at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson into the benefits of using the seaweed Asparagopsis armata as cattle feed. Chemicals in the red seaweed reduce microbes in the stomachs of cattle that make them burp when eating grass.

Renwick is also excited about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help with severe weather prediction.

"Weather forecasters are totally inundated with information these days, volumes of radar data and satellite data coming through every 10 minutes. So, AI can help in making sense of all that, and what is the most important in determining where, for example, a severe storm will happen."

University of Otago associate professor Mikkel Andersen believes a "second quantum technology revolution" and quantum supremacy will creep closer in 2020.

Auckland University of Technology senior lecturer Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh also foresees huge steps forward in AI and its applications next year and beyond.

"In the medical sector, AI is being used to speed up symptom recognition and diagnosis. Early warning signs can be easily detected, allowing fast reaction.

"Environment and climate monitoring using AI can assist with weather-cycle predictions, frost warnings, and harvest alerts. Automated irrigation is possible using moisture and temperature sensors."

There are also uses in New Zealand's burgeoning space industry, in traffic management and in the "smart home" of the future, she says.

"New Zealand is a leader and frontrunner in the development of AI and related fields. The next 10 years of technology development are set to be exciting."

David White

Auckland University of Technology senior lecturer Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh foresees huge steps forward in AI and its applications next year.

University of Auckland physicist, associate professor Nicola Gaston, co-director of the Victoria University of Wellington-hosted MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, told Stuff scientific discovery did not happen "one year at a time".

"Discoveries that impact on our lives next year will be built on work that has been going on for decades. The biggest discoveries of next year will be the ones that impact on our lives in a decade or two.

"But there is no competition between this fundamental scientific work of discovery and the development of technologies. The two go in tandemand, perhaps in 2020, we can try to appreciate that."

That may be finding a way of moving to negative emissions technologies, or changing the chemistry of materials so they are recyclable and avoid environmental pollution.

"The most important breakthrough of 2020 will be one that none of us sees.

"It'll be a dedicated student or post-doc in a lab somewhere, or up late at night on a computer, who solves the last remaining piece of one of the puzzles that underpin so much of what we hope technology can do for us in the future."

Read this article:
What will be the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2020? - Stuff.co.nz

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Reproductive health: What is Hypogonadism? Know the symptoms, causes, and prevention of the condition  |  Photo Credit: Getty Images

New Delhi: Reproductive and sexual health may not be topics of drawing-room conversations, but that does not deem them unimportant. Reproductive health and sexual health are closely knit and need more attention than people give the concerns, since people suffering from problems may find it difficult to speak up, visit a doctor, and talk about their symptoms.

When it comes to sexual health, there is no 'one size fits all' solution, which makes it even more important to raise awareness. Various factors that include personal, gynaecological, and physical factors can affect sexual health and cause different types of disorders or problems. One such sexual health issue is that of hypogonadism, that many men and women may experience, but few are aware of.

Hypogonadism is a condition defined as the diminished functional activity of the gonads the testes in men, and the ovaries in women. This may result in diminished production of sex or reproductive hormones, and may adversely affect sexual and reproductive health. It is a pretty common condition, and sees about more than a million cases every year, in India alone.

The symptoms of the condition vary for both the genders, while some may be common for both. Fatigue, hot flashes, difficulty in concentrating, infertility, loss of body hair are some of the common symptoms. Other symptoms include -

For women

For men

The causes behind the condition can be various. Ranging from genetic disorder to autoimmune disorders, infections, diseases, radiation exposure, etc. can also cause the condition. Since the causes are difficult to identify, it is always advisable to visit the doctor if you see any symptoms of the condition.

Lifestyle factors that can cause the condition include obesity, rapid weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and the use of steroids or opioids.

There are no specific ways to prevent the condition. However, a recent study has shown that losing weight can help in treating testosterone levels in men. A healthy lifestyle and diet, regular physical activity or exercise, and a healthy diet play an important role in keeping the risk of diseases at bay and preventing conditions like hypogonadism. For better sexual health, refraining from smoking, binge drinking, and use of drugs is also recommended.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a professional healthcare provider if you have any specific questions about any medical matter.

Read the rest here:
Reproductive health: What is hypogonadism? Know the symptoms, causes, and prevention of the condition - Times Now

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Aytu Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 735,800 shares, an increase of 75.1% from the December 15th total of 420,100 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 125,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

AYTU stock opened at $0.80 on Friday. Aytu Bioscience has a twelve month low of $0.65 and a twelve month high of $2.61. The stocks 50 day moving average is $0.86 and its 200-day moving average is $1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.48 million, a PE ratio of -0.23 and a beta of 4.61.

Aytu Bioscience (NASDAQ:AYTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). Aytu Bioscience had a negative net margin of 390.43% and a negative return on equity of 252.42%. The company had revenue of $1.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 million. On average, research analysts expect that Aytu Bioscience will post -1.3 EPS for the current year.

In other news, CEO Joshua R. Disbrow purchased 55,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $0.83 per share, for a total transaction of $45,650.00. Also, major shareholder Armistice Capital Master Fund purchased 78,788 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $0.90 per share, for a total transaction of $70,909.20. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aytu Bioscience in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aytu Bioscience during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Aytu Bioscience during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Searle & CO. increased its position in shares of Aytu Bioscience by 24.1% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 249,848 shares of the companys stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 48,601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.76% of the companys stock.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Investment Research lowered Aytu Bioscience from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their target price on Aytu Bioscience from $4.00 to $4.75 in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Northland Securities assumed coverage on Aytu Bioscience in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a buy rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Finally, ValuEngine lowered Aytu Bioscience from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th.

About Aytu Bioscience

Aytu BioScience, Inc, a specialty healthcare company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel products in the field of hypogonadism (low testosterone), insomnia, and male infertility in the United States and internationally. The company markets Natesto, a nasal gel for the treatment of hypogonadism (low testosterone) in men; and ZolpiMist, an oral spray for the treatment of insomnia.

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Short Interest in Aytu Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) Increases By 75.1% - Riverton Roll

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Every year, BioSpace analyzes the biotech industry, looking for the hot new biotech startups to watch. We then produce the NextGen Bio Class of, twenty companies ranked based on several categories, including Finance, Collaborations, Pipeline, and Innovation. The companies were typically launched no more than 18 months before the list was created.

We thought it would be insightful to look back at our previous lists to see where some of those companies are today. Heres a look at the top three companies from the Top 20 Life Science Startups to Watch in 2018.

#1. BlueRock Therapeutics. Founded in 2016, BlueRock was #1 on our list of companies to watch in 2018. With facilities in Ontario, Canada; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and New York, New York, BlueRock launched in December 2016 with a $225 million Series A financing led by Bayer AG and Versant Ventures. The company focuses on cell therapies to regenerate heart muscle in patients who have had a heart attack or chronic heart failure, as well as therapies for patients with Parkinsons disease.

In October 2017, BlueRock and Seattle-based Universal Cells entered into a collaboration and license deal to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines that can be used in the manufacture of allogeneic cellular therapies. Shortly afterwards, the company established its corporate headquarters in Cambridge, and in April 2018, established a research-and-development hub in New York City, as well as formalizing a sponsored research collaboration with the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center. The collaboration focuses on translating Ketterings expertise in creating multiple types of authentic neural cells from stem cells to address diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. BlueRock also received $1 million from the State of New York and Empire State Development under its economic development initiatives program.

In April 2019, BlueRock partnered with Editas Medicine (which was on BioSpaces NextGen Bio Class of 2015 list) to combine their genome editing and cell therapy technologies to focus on novel engineered cell medicines. Part of the deal was to collaborate on creating novel, allogeneic pluripotent cell lines using a combination of Editas CRISPR genome editing technology and BlueRocks iPSC platform.

And finally, in August 2019, Bayer AG acquired BlueRock for the remaining stake in the company for about $240 million in cash and an additional $360 million in pre-defined development milestones.

#2. Prelude Fertility. Prelude Fertility is a bit of an outlier from the typical BioSpace NextGen company, because it isnt quite a biopharma company. It is a life sciences company whose business model is aimed at in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. It was founded with a $200 million investment by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky. The investment was in the largest in vitro fertilization clinic in the Southeast, Reproductive Biology Associates of Atlanta, and its affiliate, My Egg Bank, the largest frozen donor egg bank in the U.S.

Since then it has expanded in various parts of the country, including adding San Francisco-based Pacific Fertility Center (PFC) to its network in September 25, 2017; partnering with Houston Fertility Institute and acquiring Vivere Health; partnering with the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago; and in October 2018, partnered with NYU Langone Health.

In March 2019, Prelude merged with Inception Fertility to establish the Prelude Network as the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in the U.S. Inception is acting as the parent company, with the Prelude Network, both having board representatives from the previous organizations.

#3. Relay Therapeutics. Ranking #3 on our list for 2018, Relay Therapeutics launched in September 2016 with a $57 million Series A financing led by Third Rock Ventures with participation form D.E. Shaw Research. On December 14, 2017, it closed on a Series B round worth $63 million, led by BVF Partners, with new investors GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, EcoR1 Capital and Section 32.

The company focuses on the relationship between protein motion and function. It merges computational power with structural biology, biophysics, chemistry and biology. In December 2018, the company completed a $400 million Series C financing. It was led by the SoftBank Vision fund and included additional new investors, Foresite Capital, Perceptive Advisors and Tavistock Group. Existing investors also participated.

The company announced at the time it planned to use the funds to accelerate the implementation of its long-term strategy, expanding its discovery efforts, advancing existing programs into the clinic and improving its platform.

Read more:
Where Are They Now? Top 3 Biotech Startups From NextGen Bio Class of 2018 - BioSpace

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith