StemCell Therapy

Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC) recently recognized Kasia Ellsworth, PhD, and Catie Spellicy, PhD upon their completion of laboratory fellowships in Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics.

Dr. Ellsworth earned a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. After finishing a Clinical Biochemical Genetics fellowship at GGC in 2016, she remained at the Center to complete a second fellowship in Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics. Dr. Ellsworth has joined GGCs DNA Diagnostic Laboratory as a Clinical Molecular Specialist.

Dr. Spellicy earned a PhD in Human and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston (UTHSCH). Prior to enrolling in GGCs program, she also completed two postdoctoral fellowships, the first studying neural tube defects, also at UTHSCH, and the second at Baylor College of Medicine where she studied the genetics of addiction. In July, she will join Mission Fullerton Genetics Laboratory in Asheville, NC as a Clinical Molecular Geneticist.

GGCs two-year fellowships include intensive training in laboratory technologies, clinical genetics and diagnostic laboratory management. GGC is one of only 44 sites in the US and the only program in SC offering this post-graduate genetics training programs in all specialty areas.

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Since GGCs program began in 1989, nearly 40 fellows and residents have completed the training and have gone on to practice medical genetics or lead diagnostic laboratories.

Submitted by Lori Bassett

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GGC Graduates Two from Medical Genetics Training Program - Index-Journal

Three courts in Britain agreed with the hospital, as did the European Court of Human Rights, which last week rejected a last-ditch appeal by Charlies parents.

But Pope Francis and Mr. Trump have also weighed in, adding another dimension to an extraordinarily thorny bioethical and legal dispute that pits Britains medical and judicial establishment against the wishes of the childs parents.

Judges in the case have acknowledged that the case highlights differences in law and medicine and an American willingness to try anything, however unlikely the possibility of success but have held that prolonging the infants life would be inhumane and unreasonable. The case echoes the one of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was left in a persistent vegetative state after a cardiac arrest and was also the subject of a court battle.

A Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, told Vatican Radio on Sunday that the pope had been following the parents case with affection and sadness, praying that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored.

Italys top pediatric hospital, which is run by the Vatican, told the Italian news agency ANSA on Monday that it would be willing to take Charlie.

We understand that the situation is desperate, said Mariella Enoc, director of the Bambino Ges hospital in Rome, noting that she had been in touch with British officials to signal a willingness to take the patient, the agency reported. We are close to the parents in prayer and, if this is their desire, we are open to receiving their child at our structure for the time it will take for him to live.

Mr. Trump, who was not known to have previously expressed a view on the matter, wrote on Twitter on Monday that if the United States could help, we would be delighted to do so.

Both the pope and the president stopped short of criticizing the court rulings or the hospital. Helen Aguirre Ferr, the director of the White House office of media affairs, said Mr. Trump had decided to speak out after he learned about this heartbreaking situation. Mr. Trump has not spoken with the family, she said, and does not want to pressure them in any way.

The president is just trying to be helpful if at all possible, she added.

Charlie was born on Aug. 4 with encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. He is thought to be one of only 16 children globally with the condition, the result of a genetic mutation.

Brendan Lee, the chairman of the department of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, who is not involved in the case, said in a phone interview that mitochondrial depletion syndrome has no cure. Treatments involve different types of vitamin supplementation, but none have been shown to definitively work through studies, he said.

Charlies parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, both in their 30s, have been waging a long and wrenching legal battle to keep him alive. They have raised more than 1.3 million pounds, or about $1.7 million, to help finance experimental treatment in the United States. There is also an international campaign, with an online petition, and there have been street protests in front of Buckingham Palace.

Charlie has been treated since October at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where doctors eventually decided that withdrawing life support was the only justifiable option. Although Charlies parents have parental responsibility, overriding control is by law vested in the court exercising its independent and objective judgment in the childs best interests, the hospital said in a statement laying out its position.

Siding with the hospital were the High Court, on April 11; the Court of Appeal, on May 25; and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, on June 8.

The High Court ruled that Charlie would face significant harm if his suffering were to be prolonged without any realistic prospect of improvement. Moreover, it said the experimental treatment, known as nucleoside therapy, would not be effective.

Money is not at issue; an academic medical center in the United States has offered to provide the experimental treatment. But a neurologist at the hospital, who has offered to oversee the treatment, told the court by telephone: I can understand the opinion that he is so severely affected by encephalopathy that any attempt at therapy would be futile. I agree that it is very unlikely that he will improve with that therapy.

Neither the hospital nor the neurologist was identified in court documents, and the White House has declined to identify either.

The Court of Human Rights ruled last week that the British courts had acted appropriately in concluding that it was most likely Charlie was being exposed to continued pain, suffering and distress, and that undergoing experimental treatment with no prospects of success would offer no benefit, and continue to cause him significant harm.

The case has drawn attention to important differences in legal systems.

Claire Fenton-Glynn, a legal scholar at the University of Cambridge who studies childrens rights, said that under British law, the courts were the final arbiter in medical disputes about the treatment of children.

She noted a 2001 case of conjoined twins, Jodie and Mary, who were born sharing an aorta. Separating the twins would lead to the death of the weaker twin; if they were not separated, both would die. A court ruled that the twins should be separated against the wishes of their parents; as expected, one died.

Courts in the United States are less inclined to get involved when there are disputes between parents and doctors, said Professor Moreno of the University of Pennsylvania, stressing that it was usually left to doctors, in consultation with parents, to decide on a childs treatment.

He noted the case of Baby Jane Doe, who was born in 1983 with spina bifida and whose parents declined to approve surgery to prolong her life. That case led to a law, signed by President Ronald Reagan, that defined instances in which withholding medical treatment from infants could be considered child abuse, but also provided that in certain cases doctors and parents might choose to withhold treatment from seriously handicapped babies when such action would merely prolong dying.

G. Kevin Donovan, the director of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center and a professor of pediatrics, said that in the United States, if parents insisted on continuing life-prolonging treatment against a doctors advice, the child would simply be transferred to another institution willing to comply with the parents wishes.

It doesnt seem to be a supportable position morally or ethically, he said of the stance taken by the hospital in London, adding that what is legal and what is ethical are not always the same.

In the Schiavo case, her husband, who was her legal guardian, wanted to have her feeding tube removed, but her parents disagreed, setting off a seven-year fight that ended in 2005, after courts ruled in the husbands favor. Life support was removed from Ms. Schiavo, who died at 41.

In that case, too, the pope, then John Paul II, and the president, George W. Bush, weighed in. Mr. Bush signed an act of Congress allowing federal courts to intercede in the case. But their interventions did not ultimately affect the outcome.

There was no immediate response to Mr. Trumps statement from Charlies parents, who last week appeared to accept the finality of the courts rulings. Photographs of the couple sleeping with their sick child have circulated on social media recently.

We are really grateful for all the support from the public at this extremely difficult time, Ms. Yates said on Friday. Were making precious memories that we can treasure forever with very heavy hearts. Please respect our privacy while we prepare to say the final goodbye to our son Charlie.

There was also no immediate reaction from the hospital.

In Charlies case we have been discussing for many months how the withdrawal of treatment may work, the hospital said. There would be no rush for any action to be taken immediately. It added that it would consult the family and that discussions and planning in these situations usually take some days.

Follow Dan Bilefsky @DanBilefsky and Sewell Chan @sewellchan on Twitter.

Reporting was contributed by Aneri Pattani and Roni Caryn Rabin from New York, Michael D. Shear from Washington, and Elisabetta Povoledo from Rome.

A version of this article appears in print on July 4, 2017, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Dispute Over British Babys Fate Draws In President and Pope.

Read the original post:
Dispute Over British Baby's Fate Draws In Pope and US President - New York Times

Whole genome sequencing involves the analysis of all three billion pairs of letters in an individuals DNA and has been hailed as a technology that will usher in a new era of predicting and preventing disease.

However, the use of genome sequencing in healthy individuals is controversial because no one fully understands how many patients carry variants that put them at risk for rare genetic conditions and how theyand their doctorswill respond to learning about these risks.

Get more HMS news here

In a new paper published June 26 in the Annals of Internal Medicine by investigators at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital, along with collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine, report the results of the four-year, NIH-funded MedSeq Project, the first-ever randomized trial conducted to examine the impact of whole genome sequencing in healthy primary care patients.

In the MedSeq Project, 100 healthy individuals and their primary care physicians were enrolled and randomized so that half of the patients received whole genome sequencing and half did not.

Nearly 5,000 genes associated with rare genetic conditions were expertly analyzed in each sequenced patient, and co-investigators from many different disciplines, including clinical genetics, molecular genetics, primary care, ethicsand law, were involved in analyzing the results.

Researchers found that among the 50 healthy primary care patients who were randomized to receive genome sequencing, 11 (22 percent) carried genetic variants predicted to cause previously undiagnosed rare disease.

Two of these patients were then noted to have signs or symptoms of the underlying conditions, including one patient who had variants causing an eye disease called fundus albipunctatus, which impairs night vision.

This patient knew he had difficulty seeing in low-light conditions but had not considered the possibility that his visual problems had a genetic cause.

Another patient was found to have a genetic variant associated with variegate porphyria, which finally explained the patients and family members mysterious rashes and sun sensitivity.

The other nine participants had no evidence of the genetic diseases for which they were predicted to be at risk. For example, two patients had variants that have been associated with heart rhythm abnormalities, but their cardiology workups were normal. It is possible, but not at all certain, that they could develop heart problems in the future.

Sequencing healthy individuals will inevitably reveal new findings for that individual, only some of which will have actual health implications, said lead author Jason Vassy,an HMS assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Womens and primary care physician at the VA Boston Healthcare System.

This study provides some reassuring evidence that primary care providers can be trained to manage their patients sequencing results appropriately, and that patients who receive their results are not likely to experience anxiety connected to those results. Continued research on the outcomes of sequencing will be needed before the routine use of genome sequencing in the primary care of generally healthy adults can be medically justified, Vassy said.

Primary care physicians received six hours of training at the beginning of the study regarding how to interpret a specially designed, one-page genome testing report summarizing the laboratory analysis.

Consultation with genetic specialists was available, but not required. Primary care physicians then used their own judgment about what to do with the information, and researchers monitored the interactions for safety and tracked medical, behavioral and economic outcomes.

The researchers noted that they analyzed variants from nearly 5,000 genes associated with rare genetic diseases. These included single genes causing a significantly higher risk for rare disorders than the low-risk variants for common disorders reported by direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. No prior study has ever examined healthy individuals for pathogenic (high-risk) variants in so many rare disease genes.

We were surprised to see how many ostensibly healthy individuals are carrying a risk variant for a rare genetic disease, said Heidi Rehm, HMS associate professor of pathology at Brigham and Women's anddirector of the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine at Brigham and Women's.

We found that about one-fifth of this sample population carried pathogenic variants, and this suggests that the potential burden of rare disease risk throughout our general population could be far higher than previously suspected,said Rehm, a co-investigator on the study who directed the genome analysis.However, the penetrance, or likelihood that persons carrying one of these variants will eventually develop the disease, is not fully known.

Additionally, investigators compared the two arms of the studyand found that patients who received genome sequencing results did not show higher levels of anxiety. They did, however, undergo a greater number of medical tests and incurred an average of $350 more in health care expenses in the six months following disclosure of their results. The economic differences were not statistically significant with the small sample size in this study.

Because participants in the MedSeq Project were randomized, we could carefully examine levels of anxiety or distress in those who received genetic risk information and compare it to those who did not, said Amy McGuire,director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.

While many patients chose not to participate in the study out of concerns about what they might learn, or with fears of future insurance discrimination, those who did participate evinced no increase in distress, even when they learned they were carrying risk variants for untreatable conditions, saidMcGuire, who supervised the ethical and legal components of the MedSeq Project.

There has also been great concern in the medical community about whether primary care physicians can appropriately manage these complicated findings. But when a panel of expert geneticists reviewed how well the primary care physicians managed the patients with possible genetic risk variants, the experts determined that only two of the 11 cases were managed inappropriately and that no harm had come to these patients.

MedSeq Project investigators note that the studys findings should be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size and because the study was conducted at an academic medical center where neither the patients nor the primary care physicians are representative of the general population. They also stressed that carrying a genetic risk marker does not mean that patients have or will definitely get the disease in question. Critical questions remain about whether discovering such risk markers in healthy individuals will actually provide health benefits, or will generate unnecessary testing and subsequent procedures that could do more harm than good.

Integrating genome sequencing and other -omics technologies into the day-to-day practice of medicine is an extraordinarily exciting prospect with the potential to anticipate and prevent diseases throughout an individuals lifetime, said senior author Robert C. Green, HMSprofessor of medicineat Brigham and Womens Hospital,associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MITandleader ofthe MedSeq Project. But we will need additionalrigorously designed and well-controlled outcomes studies like the MedSeq Project with larger sample sizes and with outcomes collected over longer periods of time to demonstrate the full potential of genomic medicine.

The MedSeq Project is one of the sites in the Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium and was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The Genomes2People Research Program at Brigham and Womens Hospital, the Broad Institute and Harvard Medical School conducts empirical research in translational genomics and health outcomes. NIH-funded research within G2P seeks to understand the medical, behavioral and economic impact of using genetic risk information to inform future standards. The REVEAL Study has conducted several randomized clinical trials examining the impact of disclosing genetic risk for a frightening disease. The Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study examined the impact of direct-to-consumer genetic testing on over 1,000 consumers of two different companies. The MedSeq Project has conducted the first randomized clinical trial to measure the impact of whole genome sequencing on the practice of medicine. The BabySeq Project is recruiting families of both healthy and sick newborns into a randomized clinical trial where half will have their babys genome sequenced. Green directs the Program.

Adapted from a Brigham and Women's news release.

Link:
Genetic Testing for the Healthy - Harvard Medical School (registration)

President Trump on Monday offered to help a critically ill British child who has become a flashpoint in the United Kingdom debate over whether the government should have a say in individual matters pertaining to life and death.

Trump tweeted his support for Charlie Gard, a 10-month-old infant on life support due to complications from a mitochondrial disease. The controversy around Gard has engulfed the Vatican, which infuriated some on the right by not immediately siding entirely with the parents, who want to seek experimental medication in the U.S. or bring their child home to die.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, Trump tweeted.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.

Gards case has created an international uproar and sparked debate over whether the government should be able to mandate death with dignity over a familys wishes to seek out experimental medication for their sick child.

Gard was born with a rare genetic condition and cannot move or breathe on his own.

The Great Ormond Street Hospital where he is staying has argued the child would suffer harm because there is no prospect he will recover. The British Supreme Court is backing the hospital, opening the door for doctors there to withdraw life support for the child.

Gards parents will also not be allowed to take him home to die.

White House director of media affairs Helen Ferre said members of the administration had spoken to the Gard family in calls set up by the British government.

The president is just trying to be helpful if at all possible, Ferre said, adding that Trump had not spoken directly with the family and does not want to pressure them in any way.

Citing legal issues, the White House declined to say whether a U.S. hospital or doctor had become involved in the discussions to provide care for the child.

The Vatican has weighed in, saying we must do what advances the health of the patient, but we must also accept the limits of medicine and avoid aggressive medical procedures that are disproportionate to any expected results or excessively burdensome to the patient or the family.

Likewise, the wishes of parents must be heard and respected, but they too must be helped to understand the unique difficulty of their situation and not be left to face their painful decisions alone, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia wrote.

If the relationship between doctor and patient (or parents as in Charlies case) is interfered with, everything becomes more difficult and legal action becomes a last resort, with the accompanying risk of ideological or political manipulation, which is always to be avoided, or of media sensationalism, which can be sadly superficial.

That statement infuriated conservatives, who are questioning why the Vatican did not prioritize the life of the child over the decision of the state.

Pope Francis on Sunday weighed in, saying the parents should be allowed to "accompany and treat their child until the end."

"The Holy Father is following with affection and emotion the situation of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents," a spokesman for the pope said. "He is praying for them, in the hope that their desire to accompany and care for their own child until the end will be respected."

This story was updated at 1:25 p.m.

Read more:
Trump offers help for critically ill British child - The Hill

When humans began their slow migration out of Africa some 100,000 years ago, they carried with them the genetic seeds necessary to help survive the bitter chill of Europe and Asia.

But, unknowingly, in the same genes lurked a painful burden that afflicts millions today with a new study finding that a gene variant that helped our ancestors survive extreme climates and frostbite also increases the likelihood of developing arthritis.

According to researchers at Stanford and Harvard universities, a variant of the GDF5 gene which is associated with bone growth and joint formation has two effects on those that carry mutations of the gene: it reduces bone length (and, subsequently, height), and it can almost double the chance of osteoarthritis.

"It's clear that the genetic machinery around a gene can have a dramatic impact on how it works," says one of the researchers, human evolutionary biologist Terence Capellini, now at Harvard University.

"The variant that decreases height is lowering the activity of GDF5 in the growth plates of the bone. Interestingly, the region that harbours this variant is closely linked to other mutations that affect GDF5 activity in the joints, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis in the knee and hip."

In the new study, the team identified a previously unknown region of DNA surrounding the GDF5 gene. Within this region called GROW1 the researchers found a nucleotide change that is prevalent in Europeans and Asians, but which rarely occurs in Africans.

The thinking goes that this genetic change which is found in half of Europeans and Asians was favoured when modern humans made the trek out of Africa between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, conferring some kind of physiological benefit to the migrants on the trail.

"Because it's been positively selected, this gene variant is present in billions of people," says developmental biologist David Kingsley from Stanford University.

"So even though it only increases each person's risk by less than twofold, it's likely responsible for millions of cases of arthritis around the globe."

But how would a gene variant that reduces bone growth help our long-ago predecessors survive in colder climates anyway, especially since it's served with a side order of boosting arthritis prospects?

The hypothesis is that a more compact body structure with shorter bones may have helped curb the risk of breaking bones and incurring serious injury and that the benefits conferred from this stoutness outweighed the pain and inconvenience of sore joints.

"It's possible that climbing around in cold environments was enough of a risk factor to select for a protective variant even if it brought along an [increased] likelihood of an age-related disease like arthritis, which typically doesn't develop until late in life," Kingsley explains.

In addition to lowering the risk of broken limbs, it's also possible the reduced growth made it easier to withstand other dangers that come with colder weather, thanks to less exposed skin and extremities.

"Limb proportions in many endothermic animals follow a classic geographic pattern called Allen's rule, in which species at higher, colder latitudes evolve shorter distal appendages than do closely related species at lower, warmer latitudes," the authors explain in their paper.

"Shorter appendages conserve body heat and lessen the risk of frostbite in extremities in colder environments."

While the authors acknowledge that their hypothesis about why our ancestors favoured the GDF5 variant is speculative, there's clearly something going on here, because this genetic adaption didn't only happen once.

The migration out of Africa that took place between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago wasn't the first such journey. In earlier times, Neanderthals and Denisovans also made the migration, and an analysis of the DNA of these ancient forebears also indicated the GROW1 variant, suggesting humans have repeatedly favoured the mutation.

So, while many of us may in our lifetimes experience the pains and discomfort that come with osteoarthritis, perhaps in a small way we should be grateful.

After all, it's the legacy of an ancient and perhaps crucial survival trait and one, without which, some of us might not be here at all.

The findings are reported in Nature Genetics.

Read more:
The Mutation That Helped Ancient Humans Survive Frostbite Probably Gave Us Arthritis - ScienceAlert

UC Davis researchers say they have found a way to produce artificial cartilage that's pretty close to the real thing.

Researchers are hoping it will eventually help some people with arthritis avoid hip and knee replacements.

Cartilage is the padding between your bones that allows for movement and range of motion.

Kyriacos Athanasiou is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis.

He says previous attempts at engineered cartilage have failed to withstand the long-term pressure we put on our joints.

"To give you an idea. Every time I take a step, I can apply six times my body weight across each one of my knees," says Athanasiou.

To develop a stronger cartilage, researchers in his lab slowly stretched the tissue as it was being generated from a few natural cells.

He says their engineered tissue is six times as strong as any other.

According to the Centers For Disease Control, 30 million Americans have osteoarthritis, also referred to as joint pain due to deteriorating cartilage.

Athanasiou says osteoarthritis starts with small defects in your cartilage.

With our approach, we should be able to treat these defects before they destroy the entire joint, says Athanasiou.

His tissue has been tested in rabbits, mice, sheep and other animals for short periods of time.

The next step is testing for longer periods and eventually going through a human safety test and an FDA approval process.

Read more:
UC Davis Researchers Produce Artificial Cartilage To Help Those With Arthritis - Capital Public Radio News

A few alterations to daily habits can ease joint pain in your joints or alleviate the symptoms completely!

Photo: newenglandspineanddisc

Wear and tear, swelling and chronic pain in the joints are symptoms of what is formally dubbed as arthritis. Rheumatic and osteoarthritis are the most common forms of arthritis in Pakistan, majorly affecting women over40.

Developing arthritis is wrongly attributed as a consequence of aging. There are, in fact, a number of commonhabits that may cause the symptoms to develop and maybe exacerbate your condition. Here is a list of tips to beat joint pain andget your life back!

1)Make your kitchen joint-friendly

Disclaimer: all mums take note!Laborious lifting and movement of utensils while working in the kitchen may cause chronic pain in the joints. An interesting tip to minimise joint pain is to use aluminum utensils that weigh lighter and electronic processors that make kneading, whisking and grinding easy. Utensils with two handles also ease pressure on the joints while working in the kitchen.

WHO team to investigate chikungunya outbreak in Karachi today

2)Do notbe a couch patato

Research provesthat mild physical activity after every thirty minutes keeps the joints in shape. It is advisable to engage in mild physical activity if you have been sitting for too long. If your work requires you to sit for long stretches or you have been watching television non-stop basking on the couch, it is not a bad idea to set the alarm for a break after every half an houror maybe do push-upsduring commercial breaks! Every little goes a long way!

3)Make exercise a necessity

Some form of physical activity that races up your heartbeat for at least thirty minutes a day is imperative to your health. This could be anything from swimming, cycling to a walk in the park or doing yoga in your living room. Physical activity keeps your joints active and prevents the cartilage from swelling.

4)Keep an eye on your BMI

Studies have found a correlation between obesityand osteoarthritis. Keeping the weighing scales in check and within the range of a healthy BMI is important when it comes to steering clear of osteoarthritis. Excess weight makesmovementcumbersome for your joints and bones so keep that in mind before downing that giant cheesy burger!

5)Calcium and Vitamin D supplements

Make sure that your dailyintake of calcium and vitamin D is sufficient. It is advisable to take supplements as prescribed by your physician. Inadequate exposure to sunlight is a major cause of Vitamin D deficiency. If you want to leave no stone unturned in beating arthritis and joint pain, make sure youget your daily dose of sunshine or dhoop therapy!

6)Say YES tofish

Fish is jam-packed withomega-3s which help keep the cartilage healthy and intact, improvingthe lubrication between bones and joints. Making fish a major chunk of your weakly mealsis a way to escape arthritis before it even starts and for those of you who already inflicted by the condition, fish consumption will be a ray of hope we promise!

Mind over matter: Psychology is key to overall education, health

7)Avoid the elevator, take the stairs

Yes! Thats correct! Our metropolitan lifestyles with high-rise buildings and automobiles have minimised the amount of movementwe need. Climbing stairs is a way to retain some level of physical activity that is essential to keep us fit. So the next time you have to go to the third floor, climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator and your bones, joints and muscles will thank you!

Have something to add in the story? Share it in the comments below.

Read the rest here:
7 ridiculously simple ways to beat arthritis - The Express Tribune - The Express Tribune

GEORGIA FORRESTER

Last updated17:59, July 4 2017

123rf.com

A a female rheumatologist would be starting at Midcentral DHB in late July.

Palmerston North Hospital has employed anewrheumatologist, bringing much-needed relief to patients suffering from chronic pain.

MidCentralDistrict Health Board confirmed afemale rheumatologist would be starting in late July.

Rheumatologiststypically deal with chronic, long-term conditions,autoimmuneconditions and arthritis.

The hospital lost two rheumatologists in 2016after a longserving specialist retired in August, and the other resigned in December to moveoverseas.

READ MORE: *Concerns raised over shortage of arthritis specialists and delays in replacements *Arthritis sufferer told hospital department will close - DHB denies this

The almost eight month wait to fill the job has left some patients frustrated and forced others to seek treatment at other DHBs.

Scleroderma patient Catherine Thompson was "appalled" by the wait.

Thompson is one of a handful of patients in Manawatu with a rare condition that causes a thickening of the skin and connective tissues.

Scleroderma patients often sought help from rheumatologists, who had experience with autoimmune diseases, she said.

During the time there was no specialist in the district, some patients travelled to Wellington and one to Auckland for treatment, she said.

Palmerston North's Arthritis Support Group shared her concern.The group's secretary treasurer Anne Odogwu said one woman with particularlybad arthritis sought treatment in Wellington.

In a meeting on Tuesday, MidCentralchief executive Kathryn Cook admitted it taken "quite some time" to employ a rheumatologist.

Cook said it waschallenging to recruit people with the qualifications and skills during, at times,national and international shortages.

The hospital's workforce update report showed there were 56 full-time equivalent vacancies.

"We have less of a challenge in the nursing space and more of a challenge in the allied health and medical space for specific roles. But in saying that, our trend is worsening," Cook said.

Compared nationally, however, MidCentral was "certainly not" one of the worst performers when it came to recruitment, she said.

Hospital services operations director Lyn Horgansaidthere was a nationwide and international shortage of specialist rheumatologists.

MidCentral's rheumatology service was small, and dealt primarily with out-patients suffering arthritis, but it did also receive a small number of urgent referrals.

The arrival of the hospital's new specialist was delayed "longer than expected" due to the relocation process, she said.

In the interim, the services of a Hawke's Bay rheumatologist were used for urgent referrals and other follow-up clinic patients. Others were seen by their GPs.

-Stuff

Original post:
Palmerston North to get arthritis specialist after long wait - Stuff.co.nz

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WBTS) - It is a known way to relieve pain in people, and now the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the first in the country to try acupuncture on a giraffe.

A nearly 2,000-pound patient named Sukari suffers from arthritis. The life expectancy for the species is usually in the teens, but Sukari is 24 years old and showing signs of aging.

When she started slowing down, the animal keepers and other veterinary professionals started various medical treatments before deciding to introduce acupuncture.

There were a lot of things we had to consider, Dr. Jeremy Goodman, the zoos executive director, said. Will the giraffe tolerate it? Would it be effective? Would the keepers be able to administer it, and how safe would it be?

Officials brought in a certified veterinary medical acupuncturist who used to intern at the zoo to begin treatments in March.

She had a little bit of hesitation right at the first treatment, some of the tail flicking and swishing, said Dr. Diva Malinowski Green.

While she administers the acupuncture, the keepers feed Sukari as a way to distract her and give her positive reinforcement for standing still.

The treatment for the animal is similar to human acupuncture in that the goal is to relieve pain by hitting certain points that reduce inflammation and assist with blood flow. The needles are also the same, even though the animal patient is much bigger.

The points are very much the same across species; however, because this species is built a little bit differently, you have to adapt the points, Green said.

After 45 minutes and 14 needles focused on the area around her hips, Sukari is finished with the session. She receives the treatment every other week, and so far, those at the zoo believe it is working.

We think it really is keeping her arthritis at bay, Goodman said. We know eventually her time will come, but until that point, and we hope its not for a while, shes going to have a great life here.

See the article here:
Aging giraffe receives acupuncture for arthritis - WTHR

The Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College in Pune has a rare painting depicting a life-saving emergency surgery that Mahatma Gandhi had to undergo, 23 years before India attained Independence.

It was at the Sassoon Hospital associated with this medical college that Gandhiji went under the surgeons knife on January 12, 1924. The circumstances in which that surgery happened were quite dramatic. Gandhiji was then in Pune, serving his six year sentence in a sedition case since 1922. However, two years later he was required to undergo an emergency appendectomy to remove an inflamed appendix. The archives at the BJ Medical College state that the surgery began on the night of January 12, 1924, as a thunderstorm raged on. The surgeon who operated on Gandhiji was a Britisher by the name of Colonel Maddock. As the records state, Gandhiji thanked his surgeon profusely and they became warm friends.

It was while the surgery was in progress that the electric bulb went off. The appendectomy had then to be finished by the light of a hurricane lamp.

A Gandhi Memorial was created in the old, stone building of the hospital, around this incident and in the room where the surgery was conducted. Located in the Opthalmology Department of the hospital, a painting commemorating that incident was installed in the room. However, this museum is kept under lock and key, depriving the public of visiting the museum and paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Without any explanation, BJ Medical College Dean Ajay S. Chandanwale and the hospital superintendent Ajay Tawade were firm that the memorial is not accessible to the public.

The Sassoon Hospital was constructed in 1867 after a generous donation by Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Bombay. It was 79 years later that B.J. Medical School funded by the Parsi philanthropist Byramjee Jeejeebhoy was expanded to form a medical college.

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Pune hospital has rare painting of Mahatma Gandhi's surgery but ... - Hindustan Times

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tony Norman: The GOP's plan to make America sicker Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (It bears noting that he is a doctor who practiced opthalmology for years in Kentucky.) He considers confiscating money from taxpayers to be set aside for any old deadbeat with a medical emergency a bad thing and contrary to the principles of democracy.

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Tony Norman: The GOP's plan to make America sicker - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Scientists at the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine (ICBFM) based in Siberia have discovered that stem cells can restore blood flow in veins with clots.

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"Quite a lot of pathologies regarding veins still remain unstudied." Source: Getty Images

To help treat varicose veins, scientists need to accelerate the growth of blood vessels, which would be a crucial development for cardiac medicine. A heart attack is caused by damaged arteries, and an ischemic stroke also often results from vascular damage.

"Quite a lot of pathologies regarding veins still remain unstudied," said Igor Mayborodin, a doctor of medical sciences at the stem cell laboratory at ICBFM. "Weve looked into blood flow restoration in situations when there are blood clots. Now were trying to use stem cells to stimulate the growth of veins and bypass the diseased area."

The discovery by Siberian scientists will make it possible to successfully treat diseases of the veins and resulting complications, for example, varicosis, phlebothrombosis (the formation of a blood clot in the vein that leads to its blockage), and even some types of trophic ulcers and cerebral strokes.

Researchers conducted a number of studies on rats, injecting them with stem cells taken from their relatives. The experiment showed that within a week small vessels had formed in the rodents, and in the third week the replacement of the introduced cells with the rodents' own cells began.

The new blood vessels remained in the body but stem cells that formed walls were gradually replaced by those of the rodents. Thus, scientists showed that stem cells can restore blood flow, bypassing damaged veins. Based on the results, a series of articles will be prepared.

Also, scientists witnessed unexpected side effects. "Some of the stem cells die, and then macrophages are attracted to the site, that is, 'ingester' cells capable of actively engulfing and digesting the remains of dead cells," Mayborodin said. "This is what helps a surgical wound be rid of damaged tissue quicker and heal. This is a good result."

The scientists are continuing their state-funded research, and they have obtained a patent for their work. For the time being, however, they cant check the results in clinical tests because Russian law restricts the use of stem cells on humans.

"Wed like to utilize the obtained data in regards to humans, but this is currently not possible," Mayborodin said. "For now were refining the results of the research on cell therapy and clarifying possible complications. But wed like to test our hypothesis at least on a severe case of varicosis in clinical conditions."

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Siberian scientists say stem cells can treat varicose veins - Russia Beyond the Headlines

Takeda Pharma is positioning itself to take over stem cell production in Europe from its partner TiGenix by 2021 after Swissmedicthe Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Productssaid last weekit has accepted for review the file for an investigational drug to treat patients with Crohns disease.

The compound, which is dubbed Cx601, was granted orphan status by Swissmedic last year and is currently up for review by the European Medicines Agency to treat complex perianal fistulas in Crohns patients. Its highly anticipated Cx601 will get approved by the EU later this year.

The drug is currently being produced by Tigenix at its Madrid facility.

After a transition period for technology transfer, during which TiGenix will manufacture Cx601, Takeda will assume responsibility for manufacturing the compound, Luke Willats, a Takeda spokesman, told Fierce. We are currently exploring how Takeda can best meet this responsibility following a potential European Commission (EC) approval decision for the compound in 2017.

Willats did not say if Cx601 would continue to be produced in Madrid or at one of the Japanese pharmas production facilities located in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland and Russia.

TiGenix currently has U.S. rights to the compound, and has said it is in discussions with the FDA to work toward garnering marketing approval.

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Takeda positioning itself to assume EU stem cell production within 5 years - FiercePharma

Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research - What are Stem Cells? There has been much controversy in the press recently about the pros and cons of stem cell research. What is the controversy all about? "Stem" cells can be contrasted with "differentiated" cells. They offer much hope for medical advancement because of their ability to grow into almost any kind of cell. For instance, neural cells in the brain and spinal cord that have been damaged can be replaced by stem cells. In the treatment of cancer, cells destroyed by radiation or chemotherapy can be replaced with new healthy stem cells that adapt to the affected area, whether it be part of the brain, heart, liver, lungs, or wherever. Dead cells of almost any kind, no matter the type of injury or disease, can be replaced with new healthy cells thanks to the amazing flexibility of stem cells. As a result, billions of dollars are being poured into this new field.

Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research - Where Do They Come From? To understand the pros and cons of stem cell research, one must first understand where stem cells come from. There are three main sources for obtaining stem cells - adult cells, cord cells, and embryonic cells. Adult stem cells can be extracted either from bone marrow or from the peripheral system. Bone marrow is a rich source of stem cells. However, some painful destruction of the bone marrow results from this procedure. Peripheral stem cells can be extracted without damage to bones, but the process takes more time. And with health issues, time is often of the essence. Although difficult to extract, since they are taken from the patient's own body, adult stem cells are superior to both umbilical cord and embryonic stem cells. They are plentiful. There is always an exact DNA match so the body's immune system never rejects them. And as we might expect, results have been both profound and promising.

Stem cells taken from the umbilical cord are a second very rich source of stem cells. Umbilical cells can also offer a perfect match where a family has planned ahead. Cord cells are extracted during pregnancy and stored in cryogenic cell banks as a type of insurance policy for future use on behalf of the newborn. Cord cells can also be used by the mother, the father or others. The more distant the relationship, the more likely it is that the cells will be rejected by the immune system's antibodies. However, there are a number of common cell types just as there are common blood types so matching is always possible especially where there are numerous donors. The donation and storage process is similar to blood banking. Donation of umbilical cells is highly encouraged. Compared to adult cells and embryonic cells, the umbilical cord is by far the richest source of stem cells, and cells can be stored up in advance so they are available when needed. Further, even where there is not an exact DNA match between donor and recipient, scientists have developed methods to increase transferability and reduce risk.

Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research - Embryonic Cells The pros and cons of stem cell research come to the surface when we examine the third source of stem cells - embryonic cells. Embryonic stem cells are extracted directly from an embryo before the embryo's cells begin to differentiate. At this stage the embryo is referred to as a "blastocyst." There are about 100 cells in a blastocyst, a very large percentage of which are stem cells, which can be kept alive indefinitely, grown in cultures, where the stem cells continue to double in number every 2-3 days. A replicating set of stem cells from a single blastocyst is called a "stem cell line" because the genetic material all comes from the same fertilized human egg that started it. President Bush authorized federal funding for research on the 15 stem cell lines available in August 2001. Other stem cell lines are also available for research but without the coveted assistance of federal funding.

So what is the controversy all about? Those who value human life from the point of conception, oppose embryonic stem cell research because the extraction of stem cells from this type of an embryo requires its destruction. In other words, it requires that a human life be killed. Some believe this to be the same as murder. Against this, embryonic research advocates argue that the tiny blastocyst has no human features. Further, new stem cell lines already exist due to the common practice of in vitro fertilization. Research advocates conclude that many fertilized human cells have already been banked, but are not being made available for research. Advocates of embryonic stem cell research claim new human lives will not be created for the sole purpose of experimentation.

Others argue against such research on medical grounds. Mice treated for Parkinson's with embryonic stem cells have died from brain tumors in as much as 20% of cases.1 Embryonic stem cells stored over time have been shown to create the type of chromosomal anomalies that create cancer cells.2 Looking at it from a more pragmatic standpoint, funds devoted to embryonic stem cell research are funds being taken away from the other two more promising and less controversial types of stem cell research mentioned above.

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by DAVID JENSEN posted 06.27.2017

Californias 12-year-old stem cell research effort is expected to give away tens of millions of dollars in public this week, but its most important matters issues that deal with its survival and future likely will be discussed behind closed doors at a meeting Thursday of its governing board.

On the table is the leadership of the $3 billion organization, which is scheduled to run out of cash in just three years, which amounts to a mere tick of the clock in the world of biomedical research. Beginning next week the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known, will be minus its chief executive officer and its longtime counselor, who even predates the organizations actual creation in 2004.

CIRM has a checkered record in recruiting new presidents for a variety of reasons (seehere,hereandhere).

CIRM directors are scheduled to meet Thursday at the San Francisco Marriott hotel in Burlingame, Ca., to confirm the appointment of Maria Millan, CIRMs vice president of therapeutics, as interim president of the agency. She will assume the duties of Randy Mills, who is leaving CIRM next week to head the National Marrow Donor Progam.

Mills, who was paid $573,00 last year, also made it clear to the California Stem Cell Report in May that Millan is the appropriate person to take over the agency on a permanent basis after he leaves.

However, the decision is up to the 29-member board, which has scheduled an executive session Thursday to discuss the interim replacement for Mills. Hejoined the agency only three years ago but has left an impressive mark.

CIRM directors have also scheduled a July 17 meeting of their presidential search subcommittee to deal with the agencys leadership during what could be the last years of its life.

CIRM has a checkered record in recruiting new presidents for a variety of reasons (seehere,hereandhere). Some candidates have rejected offers. Other search efforts have been excessively prolonged.

The agency hopes to add 38 more trials over the next three years. But there are no guarantees that any will be successful.

Finding a new president from outside CIRM poses difficulties that would not have been in place, for example, five years ago. They include the tenuous future of CIRM along with the time needed for a normal executive search, plus the learning curve for a new CEO.

While CIRM is a small enterprise in some ways (less than 50 employees), it is an unusual mix of government, biotech business and academia, unlike any other state agency. The combination has raised hurdles in the past.

The clock is running out fast at the agency. Any alterations in the plan put in place by Mills, Millan and company could slow its efforts to fulfill voter expectations that the agency would actually generate a widely available therapy. CIRM is helping to finance 27 current clinical trials, which are the last stages in research prior to a product reaching the market. The agency hopes to add 38 more trials over the next three years. But there are no guarantees that any will be successful.

Millan can step in and pick up the job relatively seamlessly. Bringing in a CEO from outside could well take six months or more, including relocation. But serving as the head of an organization that could be out of business in three years may not be appealing to many and could prolong recruitment.

Looming in the background is a gossamer plan for another ballot initiative to fund CIRM beyond 2020.

If Millan is bypassed by the board, she may well leave the agency, triggering a cascade of departures as other CIRM employees also look to their own professional futures. An employee drain would hamper the agencys drive to come up with a commercial therapy.

James Harrison, the longtime counsel to the agency, is also leaving at the end of this week, returning to other pursuits at his private practice. Harrison has been a cornerstone of CIRM and has influence well beyond the not-so-simple legal matters involving the agency. He was also one of the authors of the 10,000-word ballot initiative that created the agency in 2004.

Scott Tocher, a longtime veteran of the agency, will replace Harrison. An announcement of the appointment is expected at the Thursday meeting.

Looming in the background is a gossamer plan for another ballot initiative to fund CIRM beyond 2020. Bob Klein, a Palo Alto real estate investment banker who led the campaign that created CIRM, is talking about a $5 billion bond measure on the ballot as early as November of next year. Some political observers have predicted a less-than-warm-reception for such a proposal, given that the agency has yet to measure up to its 2004 campaign promises.

Another, rival proposal is being mentioned that would, in fact, move stem cell funding away from the agency.

One stem cell scientist, Paul Knoepfler of UC Davis, wrote last week about the agencys presidential search.

Commenting on his blog, Knoepfler said that CIRM directors should pick a fantastic person to replace Mills. Knoepfler said the new president should have strong leadership skills, a big picture clinical vision and impeccable stem cell credentials, criteria that one could argue have not been met by most CIRM CEOs.

In the past, debate about presidential candidates centered on whether they should be stem cell stars or a leader who can execute an aggressive program that is already approved and in place. Given the current CIRM challenges, other criteria, such as speed and continuity, are also high.

The journal Nature this year said that the agency is in its last stage. CIRM directors may well have that admonition on their minds as they consider fresh leadership for the program. Sphere: Related Content Eds Note: DavidJensen is a retired newsman who has followed the affairs of the $3 billion California stem cell agency since 2005 via his blog, the California Stem Cell Report, where this story first appeared. He has published more than 4,000 items on California stem cell matters in the past 11 years.

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(Sentinel Photo By Allen Hamil) With players representing nearly all 31 of Marty Kurths Gehlen teams behind him, Kurth stands at home plate and looks at the trophy presented to him for his achievements including the 500 win milestone surpassed earlier this season.

LE MARS After reaching the 500-win plateau earlier this season against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, long-time Gehlen Catholic baseball coach Marty Kurth was honored prior to the Jays game against Akron-Westfield on Friday.

After announcing all the seniors and their parents, Kurth was summoned to home plate to be recognized for his achievements in his 31 years of coaching at the school. As part of the celebration dozens of alumni baseball players returned to the Riverview Complex to honor their former coach as they lined up behind him on the infield.

Im not going to lie, it was pretty cool, Kurth said. I didnt know all of those guys were behind me. When they said turn around and take a look and I saw the group of guys back there and they thought one from almost every year that I coached was back there and then some more, that was pretty special. Then to go around and tell them thank you, it meant a lot. Its hard to put that into words, but it was a pretty cool night.

One of the reasons why he didnt realize the group was behind him was the fact it was meant to be a surprise. Another reason is the fact that Kurth is suffering from diminished eyesight, nearing blindness in both of his eyes.

I lost vision in both eyes, dramatically lost vision in both eyes, Kurth said. I lost one last summer in July, but I didnt really think much of it because a lot of people lose vision in one eye and I thought Id be okay for a while. But then 11 months later, just three and a half weeks ago, I lost most of the vision in my right eye. The world got turned upside down in the matter of a day.

Kurth said it is hard to explain the current state of his vision.

In my left eye, I have vision in the far left quadrant and on my right eye I have the upper quadrant, but when I look straight ahead I dont see so good straight ahead, not much there, Kurth said. Nothings really, really clear. I cant see very far away, but in my own little area I can see to get by.

Family and Baseball

Kurth has tried to stay positive through the situation and says he has relied on two things to help him: family and baseball.

The one thing that has always been a constant has been my family and baseball, and thats where I turn to, Kurth said. These kids have done a great job. My wife is unbelievably supportive. I cant say enough about her.

(Sentinel Photo By Allen Hamil) Above, Marty Kurth stands at home plate with members of his family by his side, just outside of the batters box. Kurth said that he has relied on two things throughout his situation: his family and baseball. His son Ty (far left) has helped as an assistant coach this season, while Marty says his wife Jen (third from left) has been unbelievably supportive.

The crossroads of baseball and family meet in Martys son, Ty. A former player for his dad, Ty has stepped into a role of being an assistant coach for the team. He said he had wanted to coach with his dad before, but the situation changed this season with the further deterioration of Martys eyesight.

Its been tough, but were getting through it, Ty said. Hes still living life like he normally does. Hes still out here at the ballfield every day doing what he does. Its been tough, but were living life like before. Its been great having us both out on the field again. I got my coaching license last summer in hopes we would coach together this summer, but with me getting a job at Total (Motors), I just didnt have the time to do it. I cant thank them enough for letting me hop out of work sometimes to come out here and be with these guys and be with this team.

Also helping coach the team is another former player of Martys in Solomon Freking. Ty Kurth and Freking were classmates and members of the last Gehlen team to reach the state tournament in 2014. That familiarity has helped the team to not skip much of a beat en route to a 16-9 record at the end of June.

Freking has taken over coaching at third base, but is quick to point out that Marty is still the one in charge.

Its really huge for me to be able to really step up and be on the bases where Coach Kurth is usually at, Freking said. It is a bigger role for me, but I still have him in the dugout still telling me in my ear Lets do this or lets do that. I mean it may look like Im calling shots, but hes right there really calling the shots.

Baseball Family

Along with his personal family, Kurth has the support of his baseball family. Whether it has been from his own team or those competing against the Jays, the respect Kurth has in the coaching ranks is second to none.

Freking said Coach Kurth has always been there for him as he grew up playing sports with Ty.

Its huge for me to come back and help out because I felt hes done so much for me, so its the slightest thing that I could do, Freking said. Im just on the baselines to listen to him. He takes it as a big thing, but I think its just the smallest thing that I can do. Hes always been there for me in my downs and definitely my ups so Im glad to be here and help him out.

Akron-Westfield Head Coach Gordy Johnson presented Kurth with a gift at the pregame ceremony and said he has great respect for Marty.

(Sentinel Photo By Allen Hamil) Above, Marty Kurth accepts a gift from Akron-Westfield head baseball coach Gordy Johnson at the pregame ceremony honoring the long-time Jays coach.

Complete respect, Johnson said. Hes a quality coach and a quality man. I strive to be as good a coach as he is. Hes just a really good guy.

Dean Harpenau, co-head coach at Remsen St. Marys, worked with Marty for several years at Gehlen during the teams most successful stretch in the 1990s that included state championships in 1995 and 1999 and a runner-up finish in 1994.

Martys always done a great job at Gehlen, Harpenau said. I really enjoyed coaching with him. He believes in a lot of the same things as former coach Marv Thelen.

Thelen was head coach for both Kurth and Harpenau when they were players at Remsen St. Marys. From 1969 to 1987, Thelen compiled an impressive record of 687-265 for his career at RSM and Harpenau said Kurth fits the mold of his mentor.

Hes a Thelen disciple and he (Kurth) had a lot of great success over at Gehlen, Harpenau said. Winning the 95 and 99 state titles and then runner-up in 94. A lot of good times. I enjoyed my time there. We worked well together and it was a great combination.

According to Gehlen senior Colin Wise, Kurth is a baseball genius.

Ive never met a man that knew more about baseball than him, Wise said. Its really unfortunate what happened to him, but thats what makes our wins even more sweeter. We do it for him. He loves the game of baseball. You know he doesnt want to give it up, he never wants to give up, but unfortunately he has to. This gives us something to play for.

(Sentinel Photo By Allen Hamil) With a tip of the hat to the crowd, Gehlen's Marty Kurth is recognized by current and former players. Kurth reached 500 wins earlier this season, joining an elite group in Iowa high school history.

Playoff push

Kurth said he is focused on the team and this season as the Jays look to return to Principal Park.

To be honest, I havent really focused on much other than this season, Kurth said.

While a chance at state is possible for this team, it wont be easy. West Sioux sits on the opposite bracket in the district while Remsen St. Marys is a strong contender in the opposite district where a substate meeting could be possible.

Gehlen lost to both of those teams as part of their 0-4 stretch to start the season, but has avenged both of those losses with Wise on the mound. The teams first game of the season featured a loss to Akron-Westfield which the team avenged on Friday night, again with Wise taking the win.

This was a good game for us to get ready for that, Kurth said of the 3-1 win over the Westerners. Theyre a quality ball club and were going to see quality ball clubs down the tournament. So, if we can play with this enthusiasm and excitement and get pitching like that, who knows.

Gehlen will open with Trinity Christian on July 11 at West Sioux. From there, the future for the baseball team and that of Coach Kurth is up in the air.

Ive tried not to look ahead, because I dont know whats ahead right now, Kurth said. The good Lord probably has something in mind for me and well figure out what that is, but right now, Coach Solomon and I and my son Ty, weve got a job to do and thats to get the most out of this baseball team and if we can get what we got out of them tonight, were pretty formidable.

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Kurth honored as Gehlen coach faces failing eyesight - Le Mars Daily Sentinel

Acute loss of vision associated with pain may be due to infection (corneal ulcer, endophthalmitis); Inflammations (Iritis, optic neuritis); or acute glaucoma. Corneal Ulcer: An infection of the cornea presenting with pain, redness and cloudiness of the cornea. This may follow contact lens related injury, scratches of the cornea by a fingernail, by a branch in the garden, a foreign body hitting the eye. A corneal ulcer can lead to permanent vision impairment from corneal scarring. Scarring may require treatment by a corneal transplant operation. Infection may spread inside the eye resulting in loss of the eye. Corneal ulcers must, therefore, be seen and treated immediately by an ophthalmologist. You are at risk of developing a corneal ulcer if you suffer an injury to the eye. Treatment for the injury by the Ophthalmologist will prevent corneal infection. Severe infection of the inside of the eye (endophthalmitis) may follow eye surgery or penetrating injury. It causes blindness by damage to the retina and optic nerve (nerve of sight). Infection of the tissues behind the eye (orbital cellulitis) is more common in children. This presents with painful swelling of the eye and redness in a sick looking child with lids that are closed. This is an emergency that requires intensive treatment in hospital with injectable antibiotics. It can cause blindness by affecting the optic nerve behind the eye and also has the risk of spreading to the brain. It is therefore life threatening.

Inflammatory (non-infective) Disease of the Eye: Iritis inflammation of the coloured part of the eye causes pain, redness, blurred vision and glare sensitivity. This condition responds readily to treatment with anti-inflammatory (usually steroid) eye medications. Other medications are used to prevent complications of the inflammation which include glaucoma and cataract. Inflammation of the front of the eye may also be accompanied by inflammation of the back of the eye. This is usually not painful but may lead to impaired vision due to scarring of the retina. Iritis can follow blunt injury to the eye. Iritis is also associated with other (systemic) disease that affect other parts of the body eg. rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and inflammatory disease of the spine. Other inflammatory diseases associated with vision loss and pain affect the optic nerve (optic neuritis) blood vessels of the temple and optic nerve. This needs prompt treatment to prevent blindness. Acute angle closure glaucoma

Chronic glaucoma (the common type) leads to slow loss of vision and is painless. Acute glaucoma causes severe eye pains and headaches, associated with nausea and vomiting. There is redness of the eye and blurred vision. If not treated immediately will lead to loss of sight in the affected eye. It occurs when the drainage angle inside the front of the eye becomes blocked. This interferes with the drainage of fluid out of the eye. This fluid (not tears which is on the outside) builds up within causing the eye pressure to suddenly rise. The result is acute angle closure glaucoma which is an emergency. Acute glaucoma may also occur following eye injury, surgery and the use of certain medications used in treating epilepsy, migraine or for weight loss. Immediate treatment uses i) medications topically to the eyes, orally (by mouth) and intravenously for the acute problem and ii) the use of laser treatment or surgery to prevent recurrence. Any condition of the eye causing pain, redness and blurred vision must be treated as an emergency, by an ophthalmologist. They are sight threatening and in some cases life threatening. Presented as a public service by the Caribbean Eye Institute. Caribeyett@icloud.com

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Treating acute painful loss of vision - Trinidad & Tobago Express

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Doctors once told Walfre Lopez they could not keep his vision from fading away due to a degenerative eye disease. A revolutionary artificial-vision procedure recently done at University of Florida Health has restored sight to the 46-year-old man who has not seen his children and wife for some 20 years.

Early this year, Lopez got what he calls a bionic eye a microelectrode array implanted in the retina, according to UF.

I put the glasses on and I saw her standing in front of me, he said of his 12-year-old daughter. I got very excited. I saw her shape and the outline of her face. It was so special to see her for the first time.

The electrode takes over the function of damaged retinal cells, sending signals to a special pair of glasses that allows Lopez to see shapes and contrasting images. Lopez is the first patient to receive the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System at UF Health.

Syed Gibran Khurshid, M.D., is the first retina surgeon at UF Health to have expertise in this area.

Lopez lost his sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that destroys light-sensitive cells in the back of the eye. It affects about one in 4,000 people worldwide, according to the National Institutes of Healths National Eye Institute.

He has been living in a dark, black cave for almost all of his life, Khurshid said of his patient. Now, hes able to see and navigate around. Its a 180-degree turn in his life.

UF Health News contributed to this story.

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Florida man enjoys 'bionic eye' retinal implant - News965

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A healthy lifestyle is essential to achieving optimal wellbeing and longevity. This infographic, "11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity," gives you useful tips to help you live a long and healthy life. Use the embed code to share it on your website or visit our infographic page for the high-res version.

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When it comes to health and longevity, there is no quick fix and no fountain of youth that will help you become healthy overnight. Being fit and healthy in order to reach a ripe old age takes effort and attention this is something that I repeatedly tell my readers.

But here's the good news: there are a few simple lifestyle changes you can make to improve not only the quantity, but also the quality of your years. These changes are pretty basic, but can have a profound effect on your overall health once implemented.

One of the most basic health principles (and, sadly, the one people most often ignore) is eating a diet of whole, nutritious foods rather than unhealthy processed foods. Keep in mind that processed and junk foods are loaded with grains, sugar, and unhealthy calories that increase your insulin levels, which not only accelerates the aging process but also increases your risk of obesity and chronic disease.

I also highly advise against consuming genetically engineered (GE) foods. Not only are GE foods less nutritious than organically-grown foods, but they also pose many health risks. In fact, most processed foods today contain GE ingredients regardless of the fact that these GE components have not undergone long-term safety studies.

The best diet I would recommend for optimal health and longevity is one that's focused on whole, unprocessed foods preferably organic vegetables, grass-fed meats, raw dairy, and nuts acquired from healthy, sustainable, local sources. I also recommend consuming a good portion of your food raw, as well as adding naturally fermented foods to meals.

By implementing these basic diet changes, you can make a big leap toward longevity and optimal health.

For more useful tips in healthy eating, I advise you to follow the Mercola Nutrition Plan, which will guide you in choosing the right foods that will suit your unique biological makeup. The Mercola Nutrition Plan addresses your unique biochemical needs based on your specific genetics, allowing you to cure your health problems at the foundational level and giving you a more permanent solution for regaining your health.

Equally important to consuming a healthy diet is being physically active. According to studies, people who are sedentary are found to have a shorter lifespan. In fact, one study shows that reducing the average time you spend sitting down to less than three hours a day may increase your life expectancy by two years, and reducing the time you spend watching TV to less than two hours a day could increase it by 1.4 years.

I understand how difficult it is to avoid sitting down for prolonged periods, as computer work is very predominant today. Even I am guilty of spending a significant portion of my day sitting down. But to make up for it, I make sure that I get enough exercise daily. I also take frequent breaks every hour to stand up at my desk. I highly recommend Foundation Exercises, developed by chiropractor Dr. Eric Goodman, as well as short-burst high-intensity exercises, like Peak Fitness. You can read more about these techniques by subscribing to the Mercola daily newsletter.

Exercise also has some anti-aging effects, as proven by many studies. One study published in the American Journal of Physiology says that exercise triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, a decline of which is common in aging. This means that exercise can reverse significant age-associated declines in mitochondrial mass and, in effect, stop aging in its tracks.

Keep in mind that modifying your diet and exercising are not the only important factors of health and longevity. There are many other things that you need to implement to ensure that you will be optimally healthy.

I have created this infographic, 11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity, to summarize all the components that need to be addressed if you want to live a long and healthy life. Here, you will learn:

These guidelines form the basic tenets of optimal health. They are tried-and-tested foundational strategies that will not change, no matter what improvements modern science comes up with.

I urge you to follow these tips to significantly decrease your likelihood of disease and premature aging. Use these as the foundation of your overall wellness plan, and you will surely succeed in improving your health.

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Researchers have found a mutation in the gene for the growth hormone receptor that promotes longevity, increasing mens lifespan by an average of 10 years. This finding emerged from a new study led by Prof. Gil Atzmon of the University of Haifa. We were aware before that variants involved with genetic paths related to the growth hormone are also associated with longevity. Now we have found a specific variant whose presence or absence is directly connected to it, Prof. Atzmon explains.

Prof. Atzmon, head of the Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Aging and Longevity at the University of Haifa, and other colleagues at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have already found that dysfunction in the biological paths associated with the growth hormone and with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) contribute to longevity. Until now, however, these paths were tested in the laboratory, and few mechanism responsible for this process had been identified in the human body.

In the present study, published in the journal Science Advances from the Science group, the researchers identified for the first time a genetic variation that modify the growth hormone function and encourages longevity in men. The initial research population (established by Professor Nir Barzilai at Einstein) comprised 102 American male Jews at the age of 100. The results were then compared with three additional populations of people at the age of 100 from around the world.

In all the groups, the deletion of exon 3 from the growth hormone receptor gene was found to be significantly more common among men (and not women) at the age of 100, compared to the control group of 70-year-olds. On average, people born with this variation lived ten years longer than those without it. According to Prof. Atzmon, this variation is certainly not the only reason for longevity, and many of the participants in the study survived beyond the age of 100 without this variation. However, the presence of the variant ensured longevity with virtual certainty.

The examination of the action of the variation showed that it has an unusual impact. In nature, lower strains of the same species usually live longer. For example, ponies live longer than horses, smaller breeds of dogs live longer than larger ones, and the same phenomenon is found among various rodents and insects. In this case, the variation in the receptor allowed the cells to absorb less growth hormone, however, when the hormone absorbed the protein expression was several times higher. The result: people born with the mutation who lived for around ten years more than others were also approximately 3 cm taller than those born without the receptor.

This study nicely wraps up the connection between growth hormone function and longevity. Our goal now is really to understand the mechanism of the variation we found, so that we can implement it and enable longevity while maintaining quality of life, Prof. Atzmon concluded.

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Haifa U Researchers Find Genetic Mutation that Encourages Longevity in Men - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com