StemCell Therapy

In general, inflammation is good. However, when inflammation is bad, its very bad. Inflammation is good when it is the bodys response to tissue damage or the invasion of a harmful intruder like a toxin, bacteria, virus, or even a splinter.

Inflammation is bad when it becomes chronic (long-term) and has the potential to cause diseases like obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, blood vessel disease, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and even Alzheimers.

When inflammation lasts for a short duration (a few days), it is called acute inflammation. This is the bodys short-term response and attempts to fix a localized effect.When acute inflammation occurs, the body produces proteins, white blood cells, hormones, and nutrients that are carried from the circulatory system to the site of the problem.This type of inflammation is a protective healing process. As the body heals, the acute inflammation gradually subsides.

Conversely, when the duration of inflammation last longer, this is called chronic inflammation. Although acute inflammation is a healing process, chronic inflammation is most often just the opposite.As inflammation persists for weeks, months, or even longer periods of time, white blood cells often end up causing harm to healthy tissue.

As inflammation persists, it often contributes to the progression of many chronic diseases affecting physical and cognitive health. Some of the physical health issues associated with chronic disease are heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and Inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease.

The link between inflammation and cognition is complicated and somewhat unclear as it is difficult to be sure about cause and effect. Dr. Robert H. Shmerling from Harvard Medical School says: Its a chicken-and-egg scenario, does chronic inflammation increase the risk of these ailments, or is it a byproduct?

Daniela Kaufer, a University of California at Berkeley professor of integrative biology and Alon Friedman of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and Dalhousie University in Canada have been studying inflammation in the brain cognitive decline for some time. In a publication from the journal Science Translational Medicine, Mr. Kaufer stated, We tend to think about the aged brain in the same way we think about neurodegeneration: Age involves loss of function and dead cells. But our new data tell a different story about why the aged brain is not functioning well: It is because of this fo of inflammatory load. But when you remove that inflammatory fog, within days the aged brain acts like a young brain. It is a really, really optimistic finding, in terms of the capacity for plasticity that exists in the brain. We can reverse brain aging.

One of the best counter measures we can do to prevent or reduce chronic inflammation is exercise. Both observational studies and controlled trials have shown that exercise suppresses production of proteins that have harmful effects on inflammation. Further, exercise increase the production of certain molecules that play an important role in inducing anti-inflammatory defense mechanisms

Foods are anther powerful tool to assisting in fighting inflammation. By choosing to avoid certain types of food and integrating others, you can make a profound difference to your ability to fend off chronic inflammation.

Here are some of the foods that combat inflammation: tomatoes, fruits (berries, oranges) olive oil, green leafy, vegetables (spinach, kale), nuts (almonds and walnuts), fatty fish (salmon, tuna,) omega-3 fatty acids; high-fiber foods; and foods high in zinc and magnesium.

Here are some of the foods that exacerbate inflammation: sugar, saturated fats (dairy, fatty meat), refined carbohydrates (fruit juices, pastries, white bread), processed meats (sausage, deli meats high in sodium)

Physical, cognitive, and emotional health can all be tied to chronic inflammation.When you get too tired of the boob tube, go online and educate yourself about inflammation.Do a search for terms like, health risk of inflammation, chronic inflammation symptoms, or reducing inflammation in the body.

When diet and exercise are not accomplishing what you need, consider talking to your medical provider.There are prescription medications that have proven to be helpful in mitigating inflammation.

Judson Haims is the owner of Visiting Angels Home Care in Vail, Beaver Creek, and throughout Eagle County. He is an advocate for our elderly and is available to answer questions. He can be reached at http://www.visitingangels.com/comtns or 970-328-5526.

Read more here:
Haims: Inflammation the good and the bad | VailDaily.com - Vail Daily News

Medsafe has withdrawn its prosecution of Promisia Integrative Ltd in relation to its product Arthrem, in return for an agreement that will see the product removed from supply.

The settlement means Promisia accepts it breached the Medicines Act and will now cease manufacturing, advertising and selling Arthrem which has been linked to serious cases of liver harm.

In turn, Medsafe has agreed to withdraw the nine charges laid in the District Court against the company last year.

The prosecution of Promisia Integrative Limited, began in January 2019, followed Medsafes earlier warnings to the company about the sale, supply and advertising of Arthrem.

The company was warned that its advertising of Arthrem breached the Medicines Act.

Promotional claims made by the Company about Arthrems use for arthritis effectively made the product a medicine, which was unapproved, and was in breach of the Act.

In 2018 Medsafe published two privileged statements made by the Director-General of Health warning of the possible link between the Artemisia annua extract contained in Arthrem and reports of liver harm in people using it.

Despite the warnings, Promisia continued to supply Arthrem both within New Zealand and overseas, resulting in Medsafe laying charges.

Medsafe Group Manager Chris James says a settlement was seen as preferable given the length of time likely to be involved in pursuing a prosecution.

Under the Medicines Act, a substance that is supplied for a therapeutic purpose and that is to be administered to human beings is (with some exceptions) a medicine and, except in closely limited circumstances, cannot be sold, supplied, distributed, or advertised unless first approved by Medsafe on behalf of the Minister of Health. Promisia was supplying Arthrem for a therapeutic purpose without the necessary approvals.

Medsafe contends that Arthrem was intended to be taken for a therapeutic purpose but was being marketed under the guise of a dietary supplement.

Mr James emphasised that this is an example where a potentially harmful product was illegally marketed to the public as a dietary supplement, with fewer safety controls, when it should have been subjected to the more rigorous controls required for medicines.

Background

Promisia was first warned in 2016 that its advertising of Arthrem breached the Medicines Act because a therapeutic purpose was being claimed for the product.

Information on the safety issues relating to Arthrem can be found in the following links to the section 98 privileged statements: 15 Feb 2018; 27 Nov 2018. The New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Centre reported that up till 28 February 2020 it had received reports of 46 cases relating to adverse reactions reported in association with the use of Arthrem.

Medsafe operates an approval system for medicines that ensures they are safe, effective and of an acceptable quality.

The nine charges related to breaches of section 20 of the Medicines Act 1981; specifically, sections 20(2)(a) (selling) and 20(2)(c) (advertising).

The penalty, on successful prosecution, for a breach of section 20 is, for a body corporate, a fine not exceeding $100,000.

A product is a medicine if it comes within the definition of medicine in the Medicines Act 1981. Sections 3 and 4 of the Act are relevant.

See more here:
Medsafe takes action to prevent the supply of illegally marketed medicine linked to liver harm - New Zealand Doctor Online

This article was originally published here

Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2020 Sep 3:e13299. doi: 10.1111/ecc.13299. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Over recent decades, supportive care and patient quality of life, advocated by dedicated guidelines, have become a core focus of the concept of integrative medicine. The Calista 2 survey was conducted in France between September 2016 and October 2017 among oncologists and their patients being treated for early breast cancer, adjuvant colorectal cancer or advanced lung cancer. The present analysis sought to ascertain, understand and rank the expectations of cancer patients with regard to supportive care.

METHODS: Data were collected from 467 questionnaires from patients recruited by 82 oncologists. Inclusion criteria were patients already on treatment for breast cancer, colorectal cancer or lung cancer. Most supportive care facilities were available at the point of care.

RESULTS: Physicians were mainly seen to offer management of adverse events (81%), and pain (72%), psychological support (56%), and advice on diet/nutrition (49%). Patient uptake of supportive care related essentially to management of adverse events (72%) and pain (61%), diet/nutrition (34%), and self-image improvement techniques (31%). The main unmet needs voiced by patients were information on complementary medicines (28%), management of fatigue (27%), and relaxation techniques (24%).

CONCLUSION: Supportive care was essentially seen to satisfy patient requirements with regard to the management of adverse events and pain. However, patients highlighted the need for a wider access to fatigue management and information on complementary medicine and relaxation techniques.

PMID:32885521 | DOI:10.1111/ecc.13299

Read more here:
Patient perspectives on supportive care in cancer: Results of the Calista 2 study - DocWire News

The end of the day often comes too fast, and many of us may find ourselves not quite ready to settle down. There may be those last-minute emails to send, dishes to do, others in the household who need your attention, or anxieties about tomorrows to-do list. All of that buzz makes it tough to drift off to sleep.

Thats where before-bed yoga comes in. The gentle physical movement is relaxing itself, and the principles yoga is founded on gratitude, self-compassion, and contentment when practiced before bed can be calming, too, helping to promote sleep, says Carol Krucoff, a yoga instructor certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Alliance and a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.

RELATED: 9 Ways Practicing Yoga Benefits Your Health and Well-Being

Restorative yoga is becoming more popular, particularly since COVID-19 has people on edge, says Krucoff, who has a gentle yoga class on YouTube. A review and meta-analysis published in May 2020 in the journal BMC Psychiatry looked at 19 studies with nearly 2,000 women with sleep problems and found that, overall, a yoga practice (at any time of the day) improved sleep quality compared with not practicing yoga.

RELATED: The Basics on Hatha, Kundalini, and Other Types of Yoga

Before you try these poses, set the stage for sleep by centering your mind. Krucoff recommends practicing the Three Good Things exercise. The intention is to think about three good things that happened to you that day. It can be as little as having a really great cup of coffee that morning, she says. (For more details, find this how-to from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California in Berkeley.) It helps alleviate worry and get you into a positive mindset that helps you relax.

Then try these five gentle poses and exercises to get you all set for sleep:

If you can only do one thing to prepare yourself for sleep, take a few minutes to work on your breath, says Krucoff. What shes referring to is the relaxed abdominal breath, also known as the yoga belly breath. During the day, you are likely in the habit of breathing shallowly from your chest, but deeper breaths fill the lungs completely. This triggers a cascade of physiological changes. Your heart rate slows, your blood pressure decreases, and muscle tension eases, she explains.

How to Do It Lying down, put one hand below your belly button. Breathe in through your nose to fill your lungs (your belly should rise). Breathe out through your nose. Repeat for a few minutes.

RELATED: 7 Quick Stretches for Stress Relief You Can Do Right Now

Here, youll take your joints through their full range of motion. This is something thats quieting, releases tension and tightness, and is convenient because it can even be done lying down in bed, says Krucoff. Whats more, it helps bring attention to body sensations, making you consider not just whatever happened with your family or at work, or what was on the news over the course of the day, but also how your body actually feels. Are certain muscles sore? Are certain muscles tired? Many of us spend much of our day in our heads, Krucoff says. This practice guides you back into your body, which is a good way to prep for sleep.

How to Do ItLie down on the floor or in your bed. Circle your ankles. Extend your legs out long then bend your knees. Lift and lower your hips to make circular movements. Bend your elbows, then extend your arms long at your sides. Shrug and circle your shoulders. Repeat as needed and as feels good.

If you have back issues, the knee hug will feel particularly nourishing, Krucoff says. In fact, low back pain is one of the most common reasons for seeing a doctor; it also keeps people out of work, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Working hunched over at a desk all day can cause the ache. This pose will relieve it.

How to Do ItLie down and hug one or both knees into your chest. (Whether or not you do one or both depends on your physical abilities.) If you can hug both knees into your chest at the same time, rock from side to side to massage your spine.

RELATED: The Best Home Remedies for Back Pain

Its common to hold tension in your neck and shoulders, says Krucoff. Its even more common for tightness and pain to creep up here if you spend your day working at computer or staring at your smartphone.

How to Do ItSit on your bed, sitting up straight with good posture. Inhale and bring your shoulders up to your ears and squeeze your arm and shoulder muscles tightly. Exhale and release your shoulders, pulling your shoulder blades downward. Repeat a few times.

If you practice yoga, you know this as Savasana, which is the final pose of class. It looks extremely easy to lie down and do nothing, but its among the hardest poses to master because it requires you to release all physical and emotional tension and let go of mental thought, explains Krucoff. But no need to stress about getting Savasana right: Just lie down, be still, and try to not think about anything in particular and it will help you relax. Krucoff calls it relaxed alertness which might sound contradictory but is really about noticing whatever thoughts and feelings do come up without dwelling on any one particular one.

How to Do ItLie down with your arms at your sides, palms up and relaxed. Close your eyes and focus on the rise and fall of your breath. If you have trouble with intrusive thoughts, acknowledge their presence and picture them floating away.

RELATED: Yoga Poses for Beginners

View original post here:
Yoga Poses and Exercises to Help You Sleep - Everyday Health

Taylor Brune @heartsinbloomhealth is many things. To start, perhaps above all else, she is passionate about healthcare. Brune, who recently survived COVID-19, suffers from chronic autoimmune deficiencies, which began from a bite from a tick. As a result, she has had to learn and research much in the medical world so that she is as well equipped as possible to survive her severe afflictions.

On top of all that, Brune is also a Medical Assistant. In this capacity, she works with healthcare providers as a liaison to patients, in administrative capacities and other roles to ensure the facility operates smoothly. Brune, never one to shy away from a challenge, is also a student continuing her education. She is using her experience as a Medical Assistant to help transition to, one day, becoming a doctor. That is her ultimate aim.

We caught up with Brune to ask her about this long professional journey, her fight with COVID-19, her passion for healthcare and much more.

@heartsinbloodhealth

When and why did you decide you wanted to be a Medical Assistant?

The last ten years, I have dealt with my own health issues and my own health journey of developing chronic disease and autoimmune disease after a bite from a tic. So, when I lost my health, I was engulfed in the medical world and I was a patient 24-7 and having to do research for myself and be my own health advocate. In the process of learning how to heal myself, I grew the passion of wanting to help heal others.

While I was going through treatments, I was like, this is my calling. This is where Im supposed to be. This is why Im having my health issues and going through this huge life transition and transformation. When that realization happened, I decided to learn about medicine and how to switch my degree over to pre-med and integrative health.

Going into medical assisting school, was the first step in my path. And Im going to be a doctor one day no matter how long it takes! No matter what challenges I face, I know that everything Im going through in my own health is helping me transform into the best person that I can be so that I can be the best doctor for patients. Since Ive had the perspective of being a patient for so many years, I know exactly what theyre thinking and feeling.

If youre interested in becoming a medical assistant here is an awesome guide to start your research - it answers questions like,

After you read this interview go to the full Medical Assistant Career Guide.

Show Me Medical Assistant Programs

What was the process like for you to become a Medical Assistant?

First, I prayed a lot about it. I knew I wanted to switch my degree to pre-med but, I also wanted to work in the medical field a lot sooner. Becoming a doctor takes years in pre-med and medical school.

So, I figured the first step to completely immerse myself in the medical field as soon as possible was to complete a medical assistant program and to actually start working in the field that I love so much. Once I graduated from my medical assistant and phlebotomy program I immediately started working in the field. The experience Ive gained has just confirmed that this is where Im supposed to be and I love it!

How long did the process take, what type of schooling did you?

For medical assisting in California , I needed to go to a medical assisting school. I went to a trade school and enrolled into a medical assisting program. Medical assisting programs are more about gaining hands-on experience in an actual doctors office. This is how the program was set up,

The program style was really beneficial to help me to get on-the-job training and also land a great position right after graduation,

At the same time, though, Ive been going to Arizona State University Online to finish my Bachelors degree, which Ill be finishing in the fall. This fall, Ill have my Bachelors as well as my medical assisting diploma.

As a medical assistant its important to be certified. I took a national certification exam and every two years, I complete the required credits and retake the test to keep my certification up to date.

@heartsinbloodhealth

How did you land your first job as a Medical Assistant?

It was actually pretty easy for me because I seem to interview really well with medical places. My first job was working at a naturopathic office. Next, I went to primary care and oncology. So, thats where Ive been working the last year. Now, Im at Scripps Health Hospital in dermatology.

Theres a lot to know for the job and you have a lot of responsibilities - from first-aid to computer work to patient liaison. Do you like having all these aspects to your workday?

I love it! I have gained so much experience including,

Drawing blood is my absolute favorite because I really enjoy direct patient care. But, overall working with different modalities, systems and technologies has taught me so much about the medical field. Each private practice is completely different and the providers are unique in that they offer different specialties and treatments. Its been fun learning all these different skills.

@heartsinbloodhealth

Your long-term goal is to be a doctor. How did you choose becoming a medical assistant for that aim and how has it helped?

There are a few reasons why I chose medical assisting as my first step towards my goal of becoming a doctor,

What do you like least about being a Medical Assistant or the healthcare field, in general?

For my own personal experience, I have an immune compromised self. I just dont like that I pick up illnesses so easily. I even picked up COVID. Flu season is also difficult for me. Im thankful for the fact that everyone is now taking more precaution in the medical field. Ive observed that people are more mindful of sanitizing and patients are wearing masks. It gives me hope that at least this year I will have stronger defenses and not catch as many illnesses. But theres many great things about working as a medical assistant, too. Each person has their own experience.

As a chronic illness patient myself, the one negative that I dont like is that I feel some doctors dont have time to really hear their patients. When Im a doctor, that is something that I really want to change. However, Ive been really fortunate to work with providers who are integrative in their mindset and do give their patients time. Even now, working with providers who arent integrative, they still give patients time and hear them. Ive been really fortunate to work with good providers. But, from the perspective of a patient, I had to go through multiple providers to get to good ones - and, I didnt like that.

@heartsinbloodhealth

What advice do you have for other people looking to become a Medical Assistant today - first steps, things to keep in mind?

One of the main things is to really look inside yourself and question yourself. Ask yourself really important questions like,

@heartsinbloodhealth

As you said, you recently recovered from COVID-19. What was that experience like for you personally and professionally?

In the beginning of the year, we actually started seeing patients have lung flues and pneumonias with weird symptoms and they were just really sick in January. I believe that COVID-19 was definitely here in the United States in California in January. But we didnt know what it was yet. But then when they started announcing it in February, we definitely got more traffic in the office and we were taking care of patients - even though it was primary and oncology, a lot of the patients in the beginning stages when they were starting to get sick would come to us. So, we were being exposed to COVID-19 and it spread through the staff.

The COVID-19 symptoms started out mild for me. I just figured it was the stress from working and being the only medical assistant since we were short-staffed during that time. Then once the rest of the clinic tested positive, I was like, Oh, no! I think I may have it!

I got tested. The week after I tested positive the illness became super severe for me. I have asthma and type-one diabetes - it went straight into my lungs. I decided to just face it and not be crippled by fear. I set my mind to believe that I would not die from it. Because Id learned with my chronic illness that you just have to stay positive no matter how grim it looks. And really just focus on what you can do to heal.

During the time when it was really severe, I went to the hospital and towards the end, I was able to go home and recover.

Now, its been three months since I've been cleared. I still have lung damage. My body is still healing. My body is still recovering from it in that aspect. But I was very fortunate because Ive had over ten years of experience being a chronic illness patient and working in the medical field. With that experience in mind, I knew how to take care of my immune system and listen to my body. When I got it, it was the beginning of the pandemic when doctors really didnt know anything about it. They didnt know what to tell me. They didnt know how to help me. So, for a lot of it I was on my own. I had to figure out how to survive COVID-19.

Luckily, my knowledge and prayer and by the grace of God and blessings, I was able to fight it, survive it. I was able to apply my knowledge to quickly do a regimen of trying to boost my immune system fast. I made a point to not stress, not think negatively, not fear, and not feed into any of that. I just tried to stay calm through the whole thing. Eventually, after 70 days, I was cleared.

What was the most difficult symptom of COVID-19 for you?

I think, honestly, the worst part was not being able to breathe. Even now, its still hard to breathe. It felt like I was suffocating 24-7, there was no relief. I was even on a breathing machine, not a ventilator, but a nebulizer breathing machine every four hours and taking medication just to be able to survive. I probably should have gone on a ventilator at that point because my oxygen stats were just in the 80s and so low and I was so sick. But I just didnt want to go on the ventilator. When I went into the hospital, they gave me fluids, took all the tests to make sure there was no other organ damage.

So, it was just kind of traumatic, honestly! But I learned a lot. Im grateful to be alive. Im grateful to be able to help anyone, you know? Or to face it without as much fear, even though it is really scary. To have hope and to try to stay calm.

You seem connected with people, both in-person and digitally. How has this helped, how has Instagram helped spread your story?

Its so amazing because I just started sharing my story of being a chronic illness patient and so many people could relate to that. Then when I started sharing my story and my experiences working in the medical field so many more people would message me and connect with me. Ive met so many amazing people, its amazing whats come out of Instagram. Whats come out of this community is just so many different opportunities and abilities to be able to hear other peoples stories, share my story, be able to learn from others, be able to help others. Its made me a better person and its also helped me be able to have a stronger voice.

When youre about to start your day, what is the final thing that passes through your mind before you open the doors to work?

Every morning, I just say a prayer, walking in, in my mind. And I dont know if this is going to sound corny but because this is my calling, I really, truly want to make the most of my job.

I pray right before I walk in every single morning that God uses me as a light of warm light and love to each person that I come across so that my day is very purposeful and meaningful and that Im able to uplift someone in some way. Or help someone in another way or just comfort a patient in a way that they need. I pray every day that my light shines through to the patients and staff around me.

Still have specific questions about becoming a medical assistant? Read our ultimate guide to becoming a Medical Assistant now.

Show Me Medical Assistant Programs

View post:
This Is Why I'm Working as a Medical Assistant While I Advance My Education - Nurse.org

September is National Self Care Awareness Month, traditionally a time when "back to school"has always meant personal renewal, stretching yourself, and trying new things. Here's how to take care of yourself by eating a whole-food plant-based diet, according to Dr. Sari Eitches, an LA-based integrative internist whopromotes wellness through lifestyle choices and takes a holistic approach to personal health.

In an exclusive interview with The Beet, Dr. Eitches, a long-time vegan, talks about guiding her patients to a plant-based lifestyle, as well as what to look out for when transitioning to a vegan or plant-based approach to eating, and her love ofvegan cuisine from around the world. She leads by example and shows that a plant-based diet can optimize our bodys self-healing properties, by lowering inflammation and adding antioxidants to every meal.Lether advice will inspire you to nourish your body and start adding plants to your meals, and take care of you.

Dr. Eitches: I was just finishing my first year as a medical student and I was the least healthy I'd ever been. I was super addicted to caffeine and getting by with convenience food. One week, I signed up for a yoga retreat to reset and relax. The retreat center had a vegetarian dining hall and my teacher was a long-time raw vegan. I intended to eat a raw diet to cleanse at the week-long retreat, but I felt so incredible that I continued to follow the raw diet for two years and remain vegan 14+ years later.

Dr. Eitches: I was pretty fascinated by the vast data that the majority of chronic conditions that Americans suffer from can be controlled, prevented, or even reversed with lifestyle changes including a plant-based diet. We literally are what we eat. The food choices we make (or are made for us) can either cause inflammation and accelerate chronic disease or, if we choose whole food plant-based diet, for example, our foods can slow, reverse and prevent chronic diseases. I now see it in my office every day.

Dr. Eitches: I think of my role as a holistic approach to primary care. I get to learn about my patient's backgrounds, families, hobbies, and values. I understand their health goals and concerns in this context. I do have conventional training as a board-certified MD and run standard tests and prescribe medications when needed. I also have a board certification in integrative holistic medicine, which I lean into, to recommend supplements and refer to complementary healing modalities. With all of my patients, I always address optimizing nutrition, activity, sleep, and mental wellness.

Dr. Eitches: My nutrition plans are evidence-based and customized for each patient's preferences and underlying conditions. For instance, I recommend a plant-based diet for heart disease, diabetes and cancer, but a gluten-free diet for Hashimoto's, or a dairy-free diet for acne, or a low-FODMAP diet for IBS. In all of these cases, I recommend a three-month trial of the diet to see whether we see a difference in their symptoms or labs. I try to balance these recommendations by focusing on the healthful foods to include rather than on what to avoid. We need to be aware that restrictive diets can be isolating and triggering for some people, so there is no one-size-fits-all.

I do think that everybody should eat more greens and fruits and veggies and that nobody should consume dairy. There is great evidence that a whole-food, plant-based diet decreases cholesterol and blood sugar, decreases cancer risk, decreases inflammation and improves bowel regularity. When a patient is ready to try a plant-based lifestyle I am so excited to guide and encourage them on this journey.

Dr. Eitches: Start with adding plants to every meal. Think about the different types of plant foods: Fruits, veggies, greens, legumes, grains, and nuts, and explore all of them. Get excited about a recipe or a farm-share. Some non-vegan foods are simple to swap out such as dairy for plant-based milk and others can be slowly crowded off of the plate.

Dr. Eitches: I recommend that all vegans have their B12 and homocysteine levels checked yearly. Ideally, our B12 levels should be over 400, and homocysteine should be below 8. We should take a B12 supplement, such as a methylcobalamin lozenge or spray to get to these goals. B12 is hugely important for our energy levels, mood, and neurologic function. I often will check omega 3's, vitamin D and iodineas all of these levels tend to be lower in vegans.

Dr. Eitches: There is some meal planning that has to happen around traveling and events, but it's pretty easy to plan ahead. I do make sure to always have vegan cupcakes on hand, either as a mix or in the freezer, so that my kids never feel left out at a birthday party.

Dr. Eitches: I eat plenty of legumes, especially lentils, black beans and edamame. I sometimes add pea protein to my smoothies. I also love (sprouted, organic, non-GMO) tofu and seitan.

Dr. Eitches: I love food, so I can't pick just one. I do love to make a huge green salad and tofu scramble, which I have a few times a week. I live in LA, where it is easy to order amazing vegan food. Some of my favorites are Thai eggplant with brown rice or papaya salad, Ethiopian platters, Japanese ramen and veggie sushi, Indian bharta or bhindi, and Mexican fajitas or burritos.

Dr. Eiches: I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion and where it isnt, thats where my work lies. -- Ram Dass

Read more:
September is Self Care Month. Here's how to Eat for Wellness - The Beet

J.D. Prose|Beaver County Times

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb has co-introduced a trio of bills with three different Republican colleagues to help veterans gain mental-health services and improve government suicide prevention efforts.

In the past week, Lamb, D-17, Mount Lebanon, has teamed with Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks County, on the Testing, Researching and Expanding Alternative Treatments (TREAT) Act; Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., on the VA Precision Medicine Act and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., on the VA Data Analytics and Technology Assistance (DATA) Act.

We must do more to combat the veteran suicide crisis, said Lamb, a Marine Corps veteran and vice chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, in a joint statement. Congress needs to give the (Department of Veterans Affairs) every tool possible to meet the mental health challenges facing our veterans before they get to the point of danger.

Lamb added that the work is critical, and it is bipartisan because we all know that one more veteran lost to suicide is one too many.

Fitzpatrick said that "it is imperative that our nations veterans receive access to the highest quality medical testing and holistic treatment options, including for mental health.

Under the TREAT Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would be required to create a two-year program to provide complementary and integrative care services for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, as well as to conduct a study on treatments such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture, chiropractic care and others that address mental and physical conditions.

The VA Precision Medicine Act would direct the VA to establish the Precision Medicine Initiative for Veterans that Lambs statement said would identify and validate brain and mental health biomarkers among veterans, with specific consideration for depression, anxiety, PTSD, TBI (traumatic brain injuries), and bipolar disorder.

That bill also would have the VA create a robust data privacy and security measures to ensure veterans personal information is kept secure.

The VAs capacity to contract and work with academic and research groups on analyses and data evaluation would be expanded under the DATA Act.

Read the rest here:
Lamb partners with GOP colleagues on three veteran-focused bills - The Times

How three equine athletes returned from injury to the show ring

At some point in your horse care journey, youve likely ridden a beautiful round, brought your horse in from turnout, or unloaded him from the trailer and realized something was off. Maybe it was a lame step or the slightest bit of swelling but, either way, it prompted a call to your veterinarian. If you were lucky, the root cause was something minor that would resolve with time off and anti-inflammatories. With the more challenging cases, however, you and your veterinarian might have pursued further diagnostics to determine the cause.

After reaching a diagnosis and settling on a treatment plan, you began the arduous process of healing and rehabilitation. This stage can be trying for even the most patient equestrian. But, with a good equine care team and some time, it can be smooth and fruitful.

To see what effective rehabilitation looks like, we found three real-life examples of equine athletes that made full recoveries from their injuries. Well share each ones diagnostic challenges, rehab modalities, and recovery details.

Chanel, a 10-year-old Quarter Horse mare competing in Western pleasure, had been struggling for years with a nagging intermittent left front lameness. Her owner and veterinarian managed this with routine coffin joint corticosteroid injections for about two years. However, the injections ultimately proved to be ineffective at keeping Chanel completely sound and comfortable, so she was referred to Carrie Schlachter, VMD, Dipl. ACVSMR, who founded and designed Circle Oak Equine Sports Medicines rehabilitation and fitness programs and also founded Animals In Motion, a practice that focuses on integrative sports medicine, rehabilitation, and injury prevention.

The case was pretty routine, says Schlachter. We nerve-blocked (used local anesthesia to numb and pinpoint the painful area) her foot, then we X rayed the area, and the X rays showed some mild abnormality in her coffin bone. We recommended an MRI so we could look at the area more deeply.

The MRI showed that Chanel actually had two injuries to her left front foot. The first was mild coffin bone bruising and remodeling in the area we had been looking at radiographically, Schlachter says. But, on the opposite side of the foot, she also had a collateral ligament injury. Collateral ligaments are located on either side of most joints.

This was the aha! moment, she says: Without the MRI I wouldnt have known about the collateral ligament injury so, because the owners were willing to do the MRI, I was not only able to confirm my diagnosis of the bone bruising and remodeling but I was also able to see the reason for it.

Chanel had likely been compensating for the collateral ligament injury by bearing more weight on one side of her foot, creating the bruising in the coffin bone. The injections helped initially because they suffused the area with steroids, reducing inflammation and allowing her to continue working soundly for a brief period.

With a diagnosis in place, Schlachter recommended putting Chanel in a bar shoe to support and stabilize the collateral ligament and the coffin bone. She and her team also injected the coffin joint and the collateral ligament with autologous protein solution (a biologic therapy that stimulates the bodys production of anti-inflammatory mediators and growth factors) and treated the area with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (believed to improve new blood vessel growth, recruit mesenchymal stem cells, and have pain relieving effects).

Schlachter also recommended for Chanel a controlled exercise program, which she modifies to meet the needs of different injuries and disciplines but typically involves:

Two months post-diagnosis, Schlachter reevaluated Chanel. At that point she was 80-90% better, so we allowed her to be walked under saddle for the next two months, she says. When we looked at her again at the four-month mark, she was 100% sound, so we started her on some trot work.

Once she was sound at the canter, Chanel began working back into training. Eight months post-diagnosis she was still sound and back in the show ring. She is now free of bar shoes, and her only maintenance since recovering has been a round of hock and sacroiliac joint injections to manage normal wear and tear.

Chanel was a wonderful patient, Schlachter says. She is the picture perfect example of what a good diagnosis, good treatment, compliant owners, and a well-behaved horse can do.

Melissa King, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVSMR, is an associate professor at the Colorado State University (CSU) Veterinary Teaching Hospital, in Fort Collins, where she specializes in equine sports medicine and rehabilitation. King treated JR, a 16-year-old Thoroughbred who had shown as a four-star eventer. From repetitive use in his job, JR developed an insertional lesion in his deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT, which runs from the knee down the back of the leg and around the navicular bone, attaching to the coffin bone) and a second, discrete tear at the pastern level. This article continues in the August 2020 issue of The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care. Subscribe now and get an immediate download of the issue to continue reading. Current magazine subscribers can access the digital edition here.

See original here:
The Journey Back: Three Horses Go From Rehab to Recovery - TheHorse.com

CoachCare, a virtual health and remote patient monitoring platform for providers and patients across specialties, today announced survey results for over 1,400 patients currently undergoing virtual visits on the CoachCare platform during COVID-19. According to the survey, the patient response to virtual visits was highly positive, with a significant number of patients expecting virtual visits to be a part of their treatment going forward. These findings indicate that clinics and providers must implement a long-term virtual care solution to remain competitive.

CoachCare providesvirtual health and remote patient monitoring servicesto over 3,500 clinics, and approximately 100,000 providers and patients. Earlier this year, as the healthcare industry found itself forced to evolve into a virtual environment practically overnight due to COVID-19, CoachCare sought to understand how patients were reacting to the new reality. The survey revealed that patients were both accepting and optimistic about the changes to their healthcare routines.

Recommended AI News:Litmus and Oden Partner to Offer Complete IIoT Solution for Smart Manufacturing

Our survey shows that although only a small percentage of patients had used virtual video visits prior to COVID-19, they quickly adjusted. Many patients now prefer virtual care or a combination of virtual and in-person care compared to strictly in-person appointments, said CoachCare Marketing Director, Carol Duke, who ran the survey. This is encouraging news for clinics and providers who are worried their patients will resist virtual care, now and in the future.

Providers in the healthcare space have faced unprecedented changes to their businesses and patient programs as they have been forced to look for ways to continue to care for their patients during COVID-19. Part of the challenge is the need to implement new services and technologies for staff and patients to stay safe, while keeping their clinics open. Today, patient services such as remote patient monitoring and secure video visits are a necessity for providers.

Recommended AI News:S&P Global Market Intelligence Becomes Exclusive Provider of Citigroup Aftermarket Research

The CoachCare survey shows that these virtual technologies are beneficial to both the clinic and patient, allowing clinics an acceptable way to monitor and check on their patients at any time between in-person visits, and providing patients with more flexibility, time, and money when it comes to their healthcare journey.

Secure video visits are just the tip of the iceberg here. Duke continued. COVID has brought to the forefront the need for providers to not only visit with their patients remotely but also to fully monitor their conditions and programs from home, 24/7. This is not something that will go away once COVID passes. Patients will expect personalized remote care moving forward.

All of the survey highlights can be seen below:

Title: Patient Response to Virtual Visits Due to COVID-19

Recommended AI News:ZelaaPayAE Partners with Tron to Empower Users with a Dual Chain Solution

Read more:
90% Of Patients Utilizing Virtual Visits; 63% Say They Want to Continue - AiThority

Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were among the earliest celebrities to catch the novel coronavirus. In an interview at the beginning of July, Hanks described how differently COVID-19 had affected each of them in March.

My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, he said. I was very fatigued all the time and I couldnt concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes.

Why does COVID-19 present such different symptoms or none at all in different people?

Preexisting conditions can only be part of the story. Hanks is over 60 and is a Type 2 diabetic, putting him in a high-risk group. Nevertheless, he survived his brush with the virus with no pneumonia and apparently without any long-lasting effects. Knowing what causes variation in different patients could help physicians tailor their treatments to individual patients an approach known as precision medicine.

In recent years, a gene-centric approach to precision medicine has been promoted as the future of medicine. It underlies the massive effort funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health to collect over a million DNA samples under the All of Us initiative that began in 2015.

But the imagined future did not include COVID-19. In the rush to find a COVID-19 vaccine and effective therapies, precision medicine has been insignificant. Why is this? And what are its potential contributions?

We are a physician geneticist and a philosopher of science who began a discussion about the promise and potential pitfalls of precision medicine before the arrival of COVID-19. If precision medicine is the future of medicine, then its application to pandemics generally, and COVID-19 in particular, may yet prove to be highly significant. But its role so far has been limited. Precision medicine must consider more than just genetics. It requires an integrative omic approach that must collect information from multiple sources beyond just genes and at scales ranging from molecules to society.

Inherited diseases such as sickle cell anemia and Tay-Sachs disease follow a predictable pattern. But such direct genetic causes are perhaps the exception rather than the rule when it comes to health outcomes. Some heritable conditions for instance, psoriasis or the many forms of cancer depend on complex combinations of genes, environmental and social factors whose individual contributions to the disease are difficult to isolate. At best, the presence of certain genes constitutes a risk factor in a population but does not fully determine the outcome for an individual person carrying those genes.

The situation becomes yet more complicated for infectious diseases.

Viruses and bacteria have their own genomes that interact in complex ways with the cells in the people they infect. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 underlying COVID-19 has been extensively sequenced. Its mutations are identified and traced worldwide, helping epidemiologists understand the spread of the virus. However, the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 RNA and human DNA, and the effect on people of the viruss mutations, remain unknown.

Tom Hanks and his wife caught the virus and recovered in a matter of weeks. Presumably each was infected over the course of a few minutes of exposure to another infected person, involving cellular mechanisms that operate on a timescale of milliseconds.

But the drama of their illness, and that of the many victims with far worse outcomes, is taking place in the context of a global pandemic that has already lasted months and may continue for years. People will need to adopt changes in their behavior for weeks or months at a time.

What should a precision medicine approach be in a pandemic? The gene-centric vision of precision medicine encourages people to expect individualized gene-targeted fixes. But, genes, behavior and social groups interact over multiple timescales.

To capture all the data needed for such an approach is beyond possibility in the current crisis. A nuanced approach to the COVID-19 pandemic will depend heavily on imprecise population level public health interventions: mask-wearing, social distancing and working from home. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity to begin gathering the kinds of data that would allow for a more comprehensive precision medicine approach one that is fully aware of the complex interactions between genomes and social behavior.

With unlimited resources, a precision medicine approach would begin by analyzing the genomes of a large group of people already known to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2 yet asymptomatic, along with a similar-sized group with identified risk factors who are dying from the disease or are severely ill.

An early study of this kind by Precisionlife Ltd data mined genetic samples of 976 known COVID-19 cases. Of these, 68 high-risk genes were identified as risk factors for poor COVID-19 outcomes, with 17 of them deemed likely to be good targets for drug developments. But, as with all such statistical approaches, the full spectrum of causes underlying their association with the disease is not something the analysis provides. Other studies of this kind are appearing with increasing frequency, but there is no certainty in such fast-moving areas of science. Disentangling all the relevant factors is a process that will take months to years.

To date, precision medicine has proven better suited to inherited diseases and to diseases such as cancer, involving mutations acquired during a persons lifetime, than to infectious diseases. There are examples where susceptibility to infection can be caused by malfunction of unique genes such as the family of inherited immune disorders known as agammaglobulinemia, but these are few and far between.

Many physicians assume that most diseases involve multiple genes and are thus not amenable to a precision approach. In the absence of the kind of information needed for a multi-omic approach, there is a clear challenge and opportunity for precision medicine here: If it is to be the future of medicine, in order to complement and expand our existing knowledge and approaches, it needs to shift from its gene-centric origins toward a broader view that includes variables like proteins and metabolites. It must consider the relationships between genes and their physical manifestations on scales that range from days to decades, and from molecules to the global society.

Read this article:
How to use precision medicine to personalize COVID-19 treatment according to the patient's genes - The Conversation US

Charlotte, NC Quick question: Are you holding your breath right now? If youre anything like the rest of us you probably answered. Yes.

Holding your breath or breathing at a shallower rate when youre using any kind of screen is a Real Thing. It even has a name: Screen apnea. Others have dubbed it email apnea, or, more recently, Zoom apnea, after the online meeting app.

Screen apnea was first brought to attention by Linda Stone, a writer/researcher, and former Apple and Microsoft executive, who noticed that the vast majority of us hold our breath or breathe shallowly while using screens.

And its getting a lot more attention now that COVID-19 has radically changed the workday for millions of Americans who now spend countless hours transfixed by phone and computer screens. Dreaded meetings that at least offered a chance to connect now mean: more screen time.

So, if Zoom leaves you feeling depleted, know youre not alone. Feeling trapped at your desk under the gaze of multiple moving headshotsisanxiety-provoking.

The performative aspect alone maintaining a pleasant facial expression while others speak, planning a thoughtful response, and being the center of unwavering attention while you talk can cause a sense of stage fright. Big hint: Turning off the camera can help.

The short answer is: Yes, according toDr. Russell GreenfieldofNovant Health Integrative Medicine.

Over time, screen apnea can:

Screen apnea alters your bodys delicate balance of gasses like oxygen, nitric oxide, and carbon dioxide, Greenfield said. This can cause inflammation and interfere with your immune systems ability to fight infection.

Not exactly good news during the coronavirus pandemic, when we all want our immune systems functioning like well-oiled machines.

Its pretty safe to assume weallhave screen apnea to some degree, Greenfield said, as we focus on devices and spend less time on the aspects of our lives that enhance a sense of peace and comfort.

By changing our habits around three key contributing factors of screen apnea posture, stress, and the breath itself Greenfield said we can protect our health and simply feel better day-to-day.

Most of us think of ergonomics in relation to back pain or repetitive-stress injuries. But ergonomics also affects our breathing.

For example, when we work on computers,e lean forward, extend our necks and round our shoulders, while compressing the rib cage. Strategies:

Relying more on email and texts robs us of vital information wed normally get at the workplace: facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. That makes it easier for misunderstandings, frustration, and anger to flare, which leads to more stress and poor breathing a vicious cycle. Greenfields advice:

Breathing is one of the few critical body functions we can control. Thats good news it means we can retrain ourselves to breathe in a healthier manner, Greenfield said.

We tend to think of our bodies as isolated parts and systems lungs, heart, brain but everything is interrelated, Greenfield said. The truth is: Our breath is intimately connected to multiple aspects of our well-being.

The foundation of almost every meditation practice, including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), breathing slowly and deeply enables us to be fully present, and to offer our complete attention to whatever were engaged in. To breathe better:

Bottom line: Paying just a little more attention to your body, your screen habits, and your breathing can improve your life, safeguard your health, and keep your resilience strong.

Read the original post:
Why Heavy Zoom and Screen Time is Hazardous to your Health - Mint Hill Times

Get to know Cardiologist Dr. Bradley A. Radwaner, who serves patients in New York, New York.

(Spin Digit Editorial):- New York City, Sep 4, 2020 (Issuewire.com)One of New Yorks most highly credentialed and respected cardiologists, Dr. Radwaner is the Founder and Medical Director of The New York Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease. He opened the practice in 1994 with the goal of integrating state-of-the-art techniques with a concierge level of individualized precision medical care.

In his 30+ years of practice, Dr. Radwaner has developed comprehensive individualized programs to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and sudden death; these seamlessly woven into the internal medicine portion of his practice. Patients are given the full time and attention that is needed for diagnosis, treatment, and education.

Alongside his cardiology practice, Dr. Radwaner is the Founder of Elite Veins NY. There, he uses cutting-edge therapeutic methods to treat patients with conditions such as venous insufficiency, spider veins, varicose veins, leg cramps, swelling, and pain, using radiofrequency vein ablation, sclerotherapy, and other minimally invasive treatments. In addition to advanced treatment techniques, he offers free vein consultations.

When he is not seeing his patients at The New York Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and Elite Veins NY, he teaches medicine at New York University Grossman School of Medicine and is an attending cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital.

In the early days of his academic career, Dr. Radwaner obtained his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York in 1980. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital and his fellowship in cardiology at Columbia University and New York University medical centers. He then spent an additional third year of cardiology training in cardiac catheterization and coronary angioplasty at the New York University Medical Center.

Following his education, Dr. Radwaner served as Associate Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Maimonides Medical Center and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. In Philadelphia, he was on staff at Temple University Hospital as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine.

From 1989 to 1991, he practiced at the Deborah Heart and Lung Center, performing consultative cardiology on referred cardiovascular problems from throughout the East Coast before returning to New York to establish The New York Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.

Providing an integrative approach to overall health and wellness, Dr. Radwaner is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

In addition to being a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP), he is a founding member of the National Lipid Association Northeast Chapter, a founding physician of the Society of Computed Tomography (CT), and a lifetime member of Strathmores Whos Who.

A personal advocate and leading authority in the field of preventive cardiology, Dr. Radwaner has conducted several research projects in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. He has also written cardiology research articles and has presented his work at national cardiology meetings.

Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart, as well as the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Cardiologists are doctors who diagnose, assess, and treat patients with diseases and defects of the heart and blood vessels (the cardiovascular system).

Among his numerous accolades, Dr. Radwaner has been named Connolly Top Doctors in New York for over 12 years; New York Magazine Top Doctors in Cardiology in New York; Super Docs in New York Times; and Top Physicians in America in Cardiology by the Consumers Research Council of America.

Learn More About Dr. Bradley A. Radwaner:

Through his findatopdoc profile, https://www.findatopdoc.com/doctor/2775903-Bradley-Radwaner-Cardiologist, through The New York Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, https://www.thenyheartcenter.com/cardiology-staff.html or through Elite Veins NY, https://www.eliteveinsny.com/about

About FindaTopDoc.com

FindaTopDoc is a digital health information company that helps connect patients with local physicians and specialists who accept your insurance. Our goal is to help guide you on your journey towards optimal health by providing you with the know-how to make informed decisions for you and your family.

Source :Bradley A. Radwaner, MD, FACC, FCCP

Originally posted here:
Bradley A. Radwaner, MD, FACC, FCCP, a Cardiologist with The New York Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease / Elite - Spin Digit

If you're clued into the ever-changing world of wellness, you may have noticed that energy healing has been steadily gaining mainstream popularity. Millana Snow, an energy healer and founder of Wellness Official, is excited to see it happen.

Energy healing has its roots in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine, and it comes in many forms, including Reiki, acupuncture, and crystal healing; you can expect different experiences from different teachers, Snow said. Essentially, it's the act of channeling and changing the energy that runs through your body as a way of healing it.

Snow has developed her own practice, which she calls integrative energy healing. "I liken it to being the opposite of acupuncture," she told POPSUGAR; working from the inside (your emotional, mental, and spiritual states) to affect your physical body. "There are so many different healers who have their own approach, their own unique way of seeing the world," Snow explained. "I wanted to bring those approaches to this work."

So what does it look like when you're trying energy healing for the first time? With Snow, it starts with meditation and breathwork, where you'll consciously change your breathing pattern to alter your mental and physical state. From there, "I start to work on your chakra system, the seven main chakras," Snow explained. This helps to unblock your energy channels and return you to "your natural state of well-being," she said.

The goal of this practice is to "move deeper into the unconscious mind," Snow explained, "looking at how your mental stories and ideas are trapped in that energy, in that emotion, in that physical ailment."

If you're thinking about trying energy healing now, we have good news: you don't have to be in person to do it. Snow has been leading energy healing sessions online for two years through Wellness Official, and said you can still get the benefits without leaving your home. She's even led sessions through Instagram Live.

"You put your headphones in, you lay down, and I start to guide you into a meditation to help you go deeper into your subconscious," Snow said. She then leads clients into breathwork before starting to send energy healing. "It's working off the premise that space and time are illusions," she explained. "Energy doesn't need the containers of physical space. It goes wherever it needs to go." While undergoing distance energy healing, Snow's clients have said it actually feels like she's in the room with them, like they can feel the touch of her hands. "It might sound a little scary," Snow laughed. "I promise you, it's not scary. It's all positive, loving energy."

In Snow's experience, most people don't try energy healing until they're going through a tough or challenging time, whether it's in their job, health, or relationships. "They've kind of hit a wall," she said.

But energy healing can actually benefit anyone, no matter where you are in life. "What I hope for most people is that it doesn't have to get really hard before they come to me," Snow explained. If energy healing or even separate aspects of it, such as breathwork or meditation are part of your normal routine, you'll be more in tune with your body and mind. If something's going wrong in life, you'll be so in touch with yourself that you'll pick up on it sooner and have the strength to make a change. "That's what I ultimately wish for all of my clients," Snow said. "That they get into that practice and they can just have that strength and clarity on their own."

Read the original:
Energy Healing Can Renew Your Mind and Body Here's How It Works and What to Expect - POPSUGAR

The UAB team identified how the poorly understood BIN1 gene might be player in Alzheimers disease.

The neurons in this image are stained blue, indicating the presence of the BIN1 protein. Points of direct interaction between BIN1 and calcium channels are in purple.Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are on the track of a gene that might play a role in the development of Alzheimers disease. The research team is studying a gene called BIN1, which was first linked to Alzheimers disease in 2009.

In a paper recently published online in eLife, the team shows that BIN1 helps to regulate the activity of neurons. This may be significant, as too much neuronal activity, known as hyperexcitability, is associated with Alzheimers disease. BIN1 becomes the first gene to be linked to hyperexcitability as a driver of Alzheimers disease.

BIN1 was identified as a risk factor for Alzheimers following large scale studies called genome wide association studies, which looked at the genomes of thousands of people with and without Alzheimers disease.

These genetic studies showed that variants of BIN1 were present in many of the study participants who had Alzheimers, said Erik Roberson, M.D., Ph.D., the Rebecca Gale Professor in the Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, and lead author of the study. The problem was that nobody had a clear idea what BIN1 does in the brain.

Using different ways of increasing BIN1 and measuring neuronal activity, members of Robersons lab found that neurons with higher BIN1 levels fired more often and were more prone to hyperexcitability.

We think thats important because hyperexcitability is now recognized as a feature of early Alzheimers, said Roberson, who is director of the UAB Alzheimers Disease Center and the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics. The neurons fire too often, which appears to lead to damage.

Prior studies had linked BIN1 to the Tau protein, which has long been associated with Alzheimers as one of the hallmarks of the disease.

Importantly, we found a key role for Tau in the hyperexcitability caused by BIN1, said Yuliya Voskobiynyk, a senior graduate student in Robersons lab who led the work. Reducing Tau made neurons resistant to the effects on BIN1 on neuronal hyperexcitability. Along with BIN1 and Tau, a third factor is involved: channels that allow calcium into the neuron, which are important for neuronal firing. We found that calcium channels form a complex along with BIN1 and Tau, and reducing Tau not only blocked neuronal hyperexcitability, but also reduced the formation of this complex.

Erik Roberson, M.D., Ph.D.Roberson is quick to point out that this research, conducted in animal models and cell cultures, is very preliminary. Tau is a major research focus for investigators worldwide; but the role of BIN1, and its interactions with Tau and calcium channels, is only starting to be explored.

It seems clear that something about this gene has a role to play in Alzheimers, Roberson said. At this point, we dont know if that role is driven by too much BIN1 protein, too little, or by more subtle changes in the type of BIN1 being made in people with Alzheimers disease.

Roberson says next steps will include digging deeper into the genes normal function within the brain, and then working to understand what happens in Alzheimers disease. His lab was already working to develop drugs that would block the binding between Tau and proteins like BIN1 as potential therapies.

This study helps to establish that there is a connection between Tau, BIN1 and calcium channels, Roberson said. But we need to learn more. We need to understand how they bind and how binding affects their function. If we can zero in on the molecular details of these interactions, we may be able to find new targets for intervention.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants RF1AG059405, R01NS075487, R01MH114990, T32NS095775 and T32NS061788; the

Alzheimers Association; and the Weston Brain Institute.

Co-authors are Jonathan R. Roth, J. Nicholas Cochran, Travis Rush, Jacob S. Mesina, Mohammad Waqas and Rachael Vollmer, of the UAB Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimers Disease Center and Evelyn McKnight Brain Institute; Nancy V.N. Carullo and Jeremy Day, Ph.D., UAB Department of Neurobiology; and Lori McMahon, Ph.D., UAB Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology.

The rest is here:
UAB study targets gene associated with Alzheimer's disease - The Mix

Global Nutrigenomics Market was valued US$ XX Mn in 2018 and is expected to reach XX Mn by 2026, at a CAGR of XX % during a forecast period.

Nutrigenomics is a domain of science, which regulates the association between human genome, nutritional diet, and healthcare. It also helps in the understanding about what one intake and how the ample human system responds to the food.

REQUEST FOR FREE SAMPLE REPORT:https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/request-sample/30470

The report study has analyzed revenue impact of covid-19 pandemic on the sales revenue of market leaders, market followers and disrupters in the report and same is reflected in our analysis.

The increasing occurrence of metabolic ailments, the growing overweight population, and rising utilization of nutrigenomics in dermatology are some of the factors behind the global nutrigenomics market. Additionally, increasing healthcare spending and government support for research & development and technology advancement along with increasing demand for advanced diagnostic methods are expected to boost the growth in the global nutrigenomics market. Furthermore, the high cost of the treatment and lack of qualified healthcare service providers & professionals is limiting the growth of the global nutrigenomics market.

The reagents and kits segment is projected to dominate the global nutrigenomics market. The factors, which are responsible for its dominance are growth in clinical laboratories across the globe and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular complication, and cancer. Furthermore, the services segment is expected to hold steady growth on account of technical innovations in IT healthcare services and apps. Compulsory generation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) of patients is expected to the adoption of these services, which is expected to increase market demand.

Presently buccal swabs are the most preferred test owing to its quick, non-invasive procedure and less pain related to the sample collection. The consumers indicate a great inclination towards the oral sample collection method owing to its essential advantageous features like quick, ease of collection, pain, and venipuncture associated with sample collection. Researchers are carefully working to address the bacterial contamination issue, which undermines the DNA collected in oral samples.

North America is expected to contribute substantial growth in the global nutrigenomics market share during the forecast period. The significant growth can be credited to the introduction of direct to consumer nutrigenomics supplies and the humungous ingestion of specialized diet and adoption of the latest technologies & biotechnologies in the food sector. Additionally, developed countries like the U.S. and Canada have a huge number of obese patients, who are suffering from lifestyle disorders like diabetes. These factors are expected to increase the need for nutrigenomics in this region. Furthermore, the Asia Pacific regional market is expected to grow at a XX % rate of CAGR in the during the forecast period. The region is expected to witness considerable growth in the global nutrigenomics market owing to increasing demand for functional food and beverages, resulting in an increase in the adoption of the nutrigenomics techniques.

DO INQUIRY BEFORE PURCHASING REPORT HERE:https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/inquiry-before-buying/30470

The objective of the report is to present a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. The report also helps in understanding dynamics, structure by analyzing the market segments and, projects the global nutrigenomics market. The report also provides a clear representation of competitive analysis of key players by product, price, financial position, product portfolio, growth strategies, and regional presence in the global nutrigenomics market. The report also provides PEST analysis, PORTERs analysis, SWOT analysis to address the question of shareholders in arranging the efforts and investment in the near future to a particular market segment.The Scope of the Report for Global Nutrigenomics Market

Global Nutrigenomics Market,By Products

Reagents & kits ServicesGlobal Nutrigenomics Market,By Techniques

Saliva Buccal swab Blood OthersGlobal Nutrigenomics Market,By Application

Obesity Diabetes Anti-aging Chronic diseasesGlobal Nutrigenomics Market,By Region

North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Latin AmericaKey players are operating in Global Nutrigenomics Market

Koninklijke DSM N.V. BASF SE Danone GeneSmart Unilever Genova Diagnostics Inc. NutriGenomix, Inc. Cell Logic Cura Integrative Medicine Centogene Genomix Nutrition, Inc. Metagenics, Inc. Navigenics XCODE Life Sciences, Pvt. Ltd. WellGen, Inc.

MAJOR TOC OF THE REPORT

Chapter One: Nutrigenomics Market Overview

Chapter Two: Manufacturers Profiles

Chapter Three: Global Nutrigenomics Market Competition, by Players

Chapter Four: Global Nutrigenomics Market Size by Regions

Chapter Five: North America Nutrigenomics Revenue by Countries

Chapter Six: Europe Nutrigenomics Revenue by Countries

Chapter Seven: Asia-Pacific Nutrigenomics Revenue by Countries

Chapter Eight: South America Nutrigenomics Revenue by Countries

Chapter Nine: Middle East and Africa Revenue Nutrigenomics by Countries

Chapter Ten: Global Nutrigenomics Market Segment by Type

Chapter Eleven: Global Nutrigenomics Market Segment by Application

Chapter Twelve: Global Nutrigenomics Market Size Forecast (2019-2026)

Browse Full Report with Facts and Figures of Nutrigenomics Market Report at:https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/market-report/global-nutrigenomics-market/30470/

About Us:

Maximize Market Research provides B2B and B2C market research on 20,000 high growth emerging technologies & opportunities in Chemical, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics & Communications, Internet of Things, Food and Beverages, Aerospace and Defense and other manufacturing sectors.

Contact info:

Name: Vikas Godage

Organization: MAXIMIZE MARKET RESEARCH PVT. LTD.

Email: [emailprotected]

Contact: +919607065656/ +919607195908

Website:www.maximizemarketresearch.com

See the original post here:
Global Nutrigenomics Market : Global Industry Analysis and Forecast (2019-2026) By Product, Techniques, Applications, and Region - Galus Australis

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not "backpedal" on the number of deaths caused by Covid-19, reducing the figure from nearly 154,000 to just over 9,000, as social media posts claimed.

The term "Only 6%" trended widely on Twitter over the weekend as supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory promoted tweets that falsely suggested the CDC had updated its records to show that only 6% of U.S. deaths tied to Covid-19 were legitimate. President Donald Trump was among those who tweeted the information, which was later taken down by Twitter for violating platform rules.

The posts, which received hundreds of thousands of shares online, were based on a regularly updated CDC data table showing underlying conditions for those who died of Covid-19. The conditions included high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, as well as problems that are caused by Covid-19 itself, such as respiratory failure and pneumonia.

The other 94% list Covid-19 and other conditions together. Among those deaths, there were, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death, the public health agency said.

As of Aug. 26, the CDC said, there were 161,332 deaths where Covid-19 was listed on the death certificate. Social media users over the weekend posted an older screenshot of the data that showed 153,504 deaths. The posts used the 6% figure to claim the U.S. death toll was much lower - 9,210.

"CDC just backpedaled (quietly) and adjusted the U.S. Covid deaths from 153,504 to 9,210. Admitting that their numbers are so (expletive) that they are off by a whopping 94%," said a post being shared on Facebook Monday.

But such claims misrepresent the data. A death isn't excluded from the Covid-19 tally just because the person was obese or had diabetes or dementia. Someone with heart problems can still be killed by Covid-19, and the death certificate could mention both as contributing.

Experts say it's not surprising that so few people who died from Covid-19 had no underlying conditions listed on their death certificates. It is rare for people not to have multiple medical issues at death.

Also, while death certificates are supposed to list any causes or conditions that contributed, past research has shown that the documents aren't perfect. Doctors might not know - or specify - all the reasons behind a particular death.

More important, the CDC figures show what medical professionals have been saying since the outset of the pandemic - that the virus tends to have a more severe impact on people with underlying conditions.

For example, people died with diabetes not because of it, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

"If it hadn't been for the Covid virus infection, these people would be living today," he said. "So yes, although they have contributing underlying chronic health factors, it's still the Covid virus that killed them."

View original post here:
CDC has not reduced the death count related to Covid-19 - ETHealthworld.com

The Alliance Review

ALLIANCE University of Mount Union has announced 11 new full-time faculty members for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Toms Barrett joins Mount Union as an assistant professor of exercise, sport and nutrition sciences while currently completing his Ph.D. in neuroscience at Central Michigan University. Prior to that, he earned a Master of Arts in kinesiology and in exercise physiology from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in sports and exercise science from the University of Limerick in his home country of Ireland.

Dr. Lee Dionne has joined the Department of Political Science and International Studies. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California-San Diego, a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law, a Master of Arts degree from California State University-San Bernardino and a Bachelor of Arts from University of California-Riverside.

Dr. Lynn Dudash has joined the School of Engineering as an assistant professor specializing in biomedical engineering. She earned Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Arron Foster is a new teaching fellow in the Department of Art and with the institutions Integrative Core program. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in printmaking and art education from East Carolina University.

Dr. Vahraz Honary also joins the School of Engineering as an assistant professor. He earned a Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Master of Science degree in mobile broadband communication from Lancaster University and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and electronic engineering from National University of Guilan in Iran.

Dr. Tim Koba has joined the Department of Business as a visiting assistant professor of sport business. He worked in sport medicine and fitness for 12 years prior to earning his Ph.D. in sport management from the University of South Carolina. He also earned a Master of Science degree in sport management and a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training from the State University of New York-Cortland.

Dr. Tim Meyers joins Mount Union after 13 successful years at Kent State University. He will lead the Department of Nursing as a professor and chair. He earned a Ph.D. from Kent State University, a Master of Science in Nursing from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Maureen Morton joins the Department of Mathematics as an assistant professor. She earned a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian language and literature from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Noriko Okura has joined the Department of World Languages and Cultures and its its Japanese program as a visiting assistant professor. She earned a Doctor of Education degree in leadership and policy studies from Eastern Kentucky University, Master of Arts degrees in Japanese language pedagogy from Columbia University and Mary Baldwin College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Doshisha Womens College.

Dr. Zhongkun Frankie Ouyang is the final new member of the School of Engineering and joins the institution as an assistant professor of civil engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in civil engineering from The University of Hong Kong.

Lisa Parnell also joins the Department of Art as an assistant professor. She comes to Mount Union following more than two decades of global industry experience. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in visual communication from Kent State University and a Bachelor of Science form Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom.

Original post:
Mount Union adds 11 to full-time faculty - The-review

The esteemed group of medical professionals bring expertise in cardiovascular medicine, cardiopulmonary exercise, neurology and neuroscience

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON), the world's largest interactive fitness platform, today announced the formation of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council, which will work closely with the company as it continues to look at how it can positively impact the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of its community of Members from around the world. Peloton will collaborate with the council, which includes five renowned doctors, researchers and other medical professionals from the fields of cardiovascular medicine, cardiopulmonary exercise, neurology and neuroscience, and draw on their knowledge and expertise to help inform product and content development, community-focused and social impact initiatives, research projects and more.

"We constantly hear from our Members that Peloton has not only profoundly impacted their physical, mental and emotional health, but has also helped them cope with issues ranging from neurodegenerative disease or cancer, to PTSD or post-partum depression," said William Lynch, president, Peloton. "With the addition of this esteemed Health and Wellness Advisory Council, which includes some of the best minds in medicine, we can leverage scientific research and medical expertise to help us better serve our community through our content, products and platform."

The Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council includes the following experts:

Cardiovascular MedicineSuzanne Steinbaum, MD:Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum is an attending cardiologist, specializing in prevention. She has recently opened a private practice in New York City, at the Juhi-Ash integrative health center encompassing heart health, wellness and prevention, as well as the effects of stress and inflammation on heart health. She is the founder and President of SRSHeart, a personalized lifestyle management program using anatomy, physiology, functional data, genetics and metabolism, along with technology to reach ultimate cardiovascular health. She has been the Director of Women's Cardiovascular Prevention, Health and Wellness at Mt. Sinai Heart in New York City, after being the Director of Women's Heart Health at Northwell Lenox Hill. Dr. Steinbaum is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. She is a National Spokesperson for the Go Red for Women campaign and chairperson of the Go Red for Women in New York City. She is on the New York City Board of the American Heart Association and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Women's Heart Alliance.

NeurologyRichard S. Isaacson, MD:Richard S. Isaacson, M.D. is a Neurologist, clinician and researcher who specializes in Alzheimer's prevention and treatment. He previously served as Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, Vice Chair of Education, and Education Director of the McKnight Brain Institute in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine. Prior to joining UM, he served as Associate Medical Director of the Wien Center for Alzheimer's disease and Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai. Dr. Isaacson specializes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk reduction and treatment, mild cognitive impairment due to AD and preclinical AD. His clinical research has shown that individualized clinical management of patients at risk for AD dementia is an important strategy for optimizing cognitive function and reducing risk of dementia. He has also published novel methods on using a precision medicine approach in real-world clinical practice. He has also led the development of Alzheimer's Universe (AlzU.org) a vast online education research portal on AD with results published in the Journal of the Prevention of Alzheimer's disease, Journal of Communication in Healthcare, Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, and Neurology. With a robust clinical practice and broad background in computer science, m-Health, biotechnology and web-development, Dr. Isaacson is committed to using technology and lifestyle interventions (such as physical exercise and nutrition) to optimize patient care, AD risk assessment and early intervention.

Story continues

Vernon Williams, MD:Vernon Williams, MD is the Founding Director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Williams is a former Commissioner for the California State Athletic Commission and current Chair of Neurological Health for the Commission's Medical Advisory Committee, as well as a former two-term Chair of the American Academy of Neurology Sports Neurology Section. He serves as a neurological medical consultant to local professional sports organizations such as the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Sparks. He also assists local colleges and numerous high school and youth sports/club athletic teams in this capacity. Dr. Williams is a board-certified clinical neurologist with very specialized areas of subspecialty: Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine. He is actively engaged in researching and developing innovative and effective treatments and technologies that help people recognize symptoms of a neurological injury sooner so that the work of treating them can happen faster, and with less potential for permanent damage. He passionately advocates for optimization of Neurological Health across the lifespan for his patients and peak performance clients.

Cardiopulmonary ExerciseAimee M. Layton, PhD:Aimee Layton, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Applied Physiology in Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and the Director of the Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Exercise Laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center / New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Layton recently joined the pediatric cardiology team after being director of the adult pulmonary exercise laboratory for a decade. This cross discipline experience provides Dr. Layton with knowledge of both how the lungs and the heart respond to exercise and the role of disease and sports in both adults and kids. Dr. Layton's prior research investigated respiratory biomechanics, with publications in both diseased and healthy populations. Her new research focuses on bridging the gap between the lab and the home, in hopes of impacting kids' behavior and relationship with exercise. Dr. Layton is a respected expert in clinical exercise physiology and has lectured internationally on the topic. Beyond her research, Dr. Layton has been performing exercise testing and counseling for both patients with lung disease and patients with heart disease. She plays an important role as one of the lead exercise physiologists for Columbia University Medical Center in testing, exercise counseling and research.

NeuroscienceJay Alberts, PhD:As a Cleveland Clinic Scientist, Ph.D., Jay Alberts' research is aimed at understanding the structure-function relationships within the central nervous system and evaluating the impact of behavioral and surgical interventions to improve motor and non-motor function in Parkinson's disease, stroke, Alzheimer's and other neurological populations. Human studies are currently ongoing to address these basic and translational research questions. Dr. Alberts is developing and validating new methods of using exercise and augmented and virtual reality to engage patient populations remotely. He is currently leading two multi-site clinical trials investigating the role of exercise in slowing the progression of Parkinson's disease. Dr. Alberts has led multiple successful technology initiatives aimed at better understanding patient symptoms and communicating these symptoms to providers. He is currently building AR and VR applications as prescriptive digital therapeutic systems for neurological patients. To date, Dr. Alberts has written 100 peer reviewed articles, has had uninterrupted extramural funding since 1999 and holds 10 patents.

For more information about Peloton or the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council, please visit http://www.blog.onepeloton.com.

About PelotonPeloton is the largest interactive fitness platform in the world with a loyal community of more than 2.6 million Members. The company pioneered connected, technology-enabled fitness, and the streaming of immersive, instructor-led boutique classes for its Members anytime, anywhere. Peloton makes fitness entertaining, approachable, effective, and convenient, while fostering social connections that encourage its Members to be the best versions of themselves. An innovator at the nexus of fitness, technology, and media, Peloton has reinvented the fitness industry by developing a first-of-its-kind subscription platform that seamlessly combines the best equipment, proprietary networked software, and world-class streaming digital fitness and wellness content, creating a product that its Members love. The brand's immersive content is accessible through the Peloton Bike, Peloton Tread, and Peloton App, which allows access to a full slate of fitness classes across disciplines, on any iOS or Android device, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku TVs, and Chromecast and Android TV. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York City, Peloton has a growing number of retail showrooms across the US, UK, Canada and Germany. For more information, visit http://www.onepeloton.com.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peloton-introduces-its-first-ever-health-and-wellness-advisory-council-301122024.html

SOURCE Peloton

Read the rest here:
Peloton Introduces Its First-Ever Health And Wellness Advisory Council - Yahoo Finance

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "Through an evidence-based innovative program that merges modern integrative medicine with traditional martial arts, Kids Kicking Cancer addresses the overwhelming needs of children with illness," said Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, founder and global director for Kids Kicking Cancer. He adds, "We offer one-on-one training and group classes for both pediatric inpatients and outpatients in over fifty hospitals and institutions around the globe."

"We are thrilled to help this extraordinary organization expand their programs as broadly as possible," states Roger Holzberg, co-founder of Reimagine Well.

Together the two organizations are partnering to launch the Kids Kicking Cancer Infusionarium Platform, available to any pediatric hospital that would like to have the educational programs, immersive healing experiences, and live events as a part of what they offer to their patients and families as they undergo treatment. If your hospital would like access to the platform; contact us and we will find a way to make it available to you.

A patient and family version of the program is also available 24/7, to provide support whenever and wherever it's needed, over the course of the entire patient journey. Patients and families are able to use it on their smartphones, tablets, or home computers. If you, or someone you care about, would benefit from the Kids Kicking Cancer patient and family platform - click hereto get started.

All services provided by Kids Kicking Cancer are at no cost to the children and their families.

About Reimagine WellReimagine Well provides a proprietary platform and programs designed for infusion therapy, assisted living, and more; and has compiled an extensive library of patient-directed immersive healing experiences and disease-specific 'Learn Guides' hosted by clinicians and medical experts. Roger Holzberg and Leonard Sender, MD, founded Reimagine Well. Sender is the Medical Director of the Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children's Hospital, Orange County, California. He is board certified in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and his primary interest is in immuno-oncology. Holzberg is the founder of My Bridge 4 Life, a former award-winning Disney Imagineer, the first (consulting) Creative Director of the National Cancer Institute and a 15-year cancer survivor.

About Kids Kicking Cancer Kids Kicking Cancer's mission is to ease the pain of very sick children while empowering them to heal physically, spiritually and emotionally.Kids Kicking Cancer provides services in 92 facilities in 7 countries. Their vision is to lower the pain of one million children by 2025. All services provided by Kids Kicking Cancer are at no cost to the children and their families. Children 3 years & older, and their siblings, are eligible for the program.

Contacts: Pam Carstens / (949) 793-8777 / [emailprotected]Cindy Cohen, MS, CCLS / (248) 864-8238 / [emailprotected]

SOURCE Reimagine Well

Follow this link:
Reimagine Well and Kids Kicking Cancer Partner on Innovative Platform for Patients and Families - PRNewswire

Construction is complete on Mercy Hospital Souths new cancer center.

This week, patients walked in to the David M. Sindelar Cancer Care Center to receive the first treatments provided in the new, state-of-the-art, comprehensive cancer center. The centers first day of operation was Monday.

What these patients will find are services to meet all their needs, to treat any type of cancer, all under one roof, said Dr. Shaun Donegan, Mercy regional medical director of medical oncology. Were talking about more than just their medical needs. We are seeking to provide for their emotional, spiritual, nutritional and other needs that come with a cancer diagnosis.

The Sindelar Cancer Center is a standalone, 2-story, 78,000-square-foot facility located on the Mercy South campus across the main drive from the emergency department. Patients and visitors walking through the main entrance are greeted by the open, invitingBoniface FoundationAtrium filled with natural light. The Rooney Breast Center has its own dedicated entrance on the opposite end of the facility, providing patients with direct access to mammography and other breast health services.

Once inside, patients will have access to the infusion center, radiation oncology services, imaging, laboratory, integrative medicine, Mercy Clinic offices, chapel, specialty boutique, cafe, conference center and more. Specialized co-workers, including oncology nurse navigators, counselors, chaplains, social workers and dietitian, provide the individualized care to each patient.

Weve listened to our patients over the years about what we can do to improve their care, Donegan said in a news release. The infusion center weve created is a great example of taking those suggestions and putting them into practice to meet the varying needs of our patients.

The infusion center includes three different spaces where patients can choose to receive treatment based on the level of privacy they want. A community room allows them to spend time with other patients, especially those patients they may see on a regular basis because they receive treatment on similar schedules. The open room includes a fireplace, virtual aquarium and a great view of the outdoors from the second floor.

Patients seeking more privacy can choose to use a semi-private bay that allows them to close or open a curtain as they wish. Another option patients may choose is a private room by themselves.

The radiation oncology unit is where the newest technology is most obviously on display with two state-of-the-art linear accelerators, including one of only six Accuray Radixact with Synchrony machines in use in the United States. This device is able to pinpoint where it needs to deliver its radiation treatment and follow that targeted area even when a patient moves. This helps a patient relax because they do not feel the pressure to remain perfectly still during the treatment, which can help relieve some of their stress.

The Sindelar Cancer Center also houses an Elektra Versa HD linear accelerator.

Imaging services include MRI, CT, PET, X-ray, ultrasound, mammography (both 3D tomosynthesis and 2D) and bone densitometer.

Another example of the steps taken to improve the comfort of patients is the addition of sensory suites to the mammography rooms to create a more relaxing environment.

Mercy Clinic physicians located in the cancer center include medical oncologists and hematologists, surgical specialists, breast surgery specialists and palliative care.

Working close to each other allows us to better collaborate, said Dr. John Whitfield, Mercy Clinic colorectal surgeon. That collaboration between different specialties in turn leads to better care for our patients.

The cancer center is a special place because weve brought together all the services a patient and their caregivers need in one building, said Kim McGrath, executive director of cancer and imaging services. We have physicians, lab, imaging, financial counseling, navigation and integrated medicine all in one place to provide quality care and exceptional service to make the most of their experience and time.

Integrative medicine includes services some people might not associate with cancer care and traditional medicine, such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, healing touch therapy, massage therapy, reflexology, mindfulness and meditation, tai chi, Pilates and yoga.

The Comfortable Cup Caf provides patients and visitors with healthy options to meet the nutritional needs of cancer patients. A specialty boutique offers a variety of items designed specifically for cancer patients, such as wigs and scarfs.

Patients, their family and friends can rely on chaplains for help with their spiritual needs, and a chapel provides a prayer space. Much of the furniture in the chapel was built byAnew Naturefrom trees removed from the site to make way for the cancer center. Anew teaches job skills to felons through its internship and employment program.

The center also includes conference space and plentiful parking with an extensive number of handicapped accessible spaces.

There are a lot of these details, from massage therapy to the cafe, from the boutique to the chapel, and from all the natural light to the decor, that by themselves are nice to have, Donegan said. But when you put them all together the way we have, they create an environment that benefits our patients a great deal, lowers their stress and promotes healing.

The name of the cancer center honorsDavid Sindelarand the leadership he provided St. Anthonys Medical Center for many years through the decision to join Mercy. That agreement was reached shortly before Sindelar lost his own battle with cancer in March 2017. Groundbreaking for the cancer center that bears his name took place in September 2018.

The name of theRooney Breast Center honors Sara Sindelar, whose maiden name is Rooney, along with the rest of the Sindelar and Rooney families, for their continued support of this project and the mission to serve the south St. Louis County community.

View original post here:
Mercy South's new cancer center opens to public this week - Call Newspapers