Spotting the illness that can cause sudden blindness BBC News Every year in the UK, 3,000 people's sight is damaged by a condition called giant cell arteritis. The symptoms can appear very suddenly and end in irreversible blindness. Dr Saleyha Ahsan met a group of people who've been affected and explains what to ... |
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With five U.S. patents issued and dozens more filed and pending around the world, On Target Laboratories LLC is working to advance its revolutionary fluorescent imaging technology that could help surgeons pinpoint and remove more cancerous tissues than has ever been possible while preserving more healthy tissue for patients.
Headquartered at Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, the company is developing a series of molecules, which, when administered intravenously, show promise in targeting many types of cancer cells, said Dr. Sumith Kularatne, On Targets vice president of research and development.
In addition to our current U.S. patents, we have 11 more either filed or pending in the U.S., Kularatne said. We have another 33 patents pending worldwide. These patents are very important in helping us move our discoveries to the public where they can help people.
These molecules carry a fluorescent dye and target diseased cells, including cancer, enabling surgeons to better diagnose and remove the disease while avoiding collateral damage to healthy tissue such as nerves.
OTL38 is a novel compound consisting of a folic acid-targeting molecule, or ligand, linked to a near-infrared dye. Following current clinical trial protocols, OTL38 is injected two hours before surgery and is intended to bind to diseased tissue, including several cancers, involving lung, ovarian, and renal. The goal of this technology is to allow the surgeon to see hard-to-detect, small cancer lesions or diseased lymph nodes that might otherwise be missed through the use of a NIR (near-infrared) camera. OTL ligands are designed to enhance the view in real time, and if proven successful, we believe may be an important addition to image-guided surgery.
We have a very robust portfolio of intellectual property (IP), said Martin Low, the companys chief executive officer. We believe, with this proprietary technology, we will enable surgeons in removing any solid tumor cancer.
In addition to cancer, On Target technology has shown promise in targeting infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases.
One of the patents issued for OTL38, On Targets primary molecule, is for the targeting of inflammatory diseases. Another pending patent is for the targeting of some infectious diseases.
In addition to OTL38, On Targets other molecules include: OTL78 which has four patents pending. Its shown promise for prostate, brain, liver, breast and colorectal cancers. OTL81 which has a pending patent. Its shown promise for gastric and thyroid cancers. OTL338 which has a pending patent. Its shown promise for pancreatic, colorectal and kidney cancers as well as tumors under hypoxic conditions. OTL228 which has three patents pending. Its shown promise for ovarian, lung, breast, pituitary and other cancers as well as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and atherosclerosis.
On Targets patenting process has moved very quickly due to the strength of the science involved as well as the level of communication between the science and legal teams, Kularatne said.
Normally the patenting process can take years. But our initial five patents were issued in two years, Low said. Pending completion of clinical trials, commercialization of OTL38 for ovarian cancer patients is scheduled for early 2019 and for lung cancer patients in 2021.
While we are working to protect our IP, the real goal here is to save lives, Kularatne said. Cancer may start the fight. We want to finish it.
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Flourescent biotechnology for high lighting solid cancer for more complete surgical removal - Next Big Future
Medics are using a new technique to treat the form of arthritis - which involves extending a metal nail in the shin bone using a remote-controlled magnet.
The procedure has so far been trialled on three patients.
Arthritis of the joints is known as osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition in the UK. Knee osteoarthritis specifically affects more than 4.7 million people.
In the most severe cases, it requires total replacement surgery, with around 80,000 carried out in England and Wales every year.
GETTY
Amir Ali Qureshi, a consultant knee and limb reconstruction surgeon at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, has performed intramedullary high tibial osteotomy (IM HTO) at Southampton General Hospital.
"This is potentially a fantastic development in our options for patients with early-stage arthritis of the knee as it enables us to control the amount of opening throughout the course of treatment and can fine-tune as needed, he said.
"We are seeing more younger people, from the age of 35 onwards, suffering knee pain and movement problems as a result of arthritis and all that can be done to delay a partial or total knee replacement needs to be done as they could go on to require another two or three repeat operations.
GETTY
This is potentially a fantastic development in our options for patients with early-stage arthritis of the knee as it enables us to control the amount of opening throughout the course of treatment and can fine-tune as needed
Mr Qureshi
The procedure is being used as more younger patients are suffering from the condition and in a bid to decrease the need for full joint replacement operations.
The technique involves inserting a nail, or rod, into the tibia and lengthening it externally with a magnet to relieve pressure on the damaged side of the knee.
This enables clinicians to treat the condition and delay the need for partial or total replacements of the joint.
Usually people with the early stages of the condition find the inner part of the knee is affected.
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Foods to avoid if you are suffering with Gout
GETTY
This occurs when cartilage protecting the end of the thigh and shin bones wears out and causes bowing.
Medics would normally opened up a wedge out of the tibia to straighten the leg.
This redistributes weight from the affected part of the knee.
Mr Qureshi added: While standard high tibial osteotomy using a plate enables us to avoid replacement surgery and prolong the life of the joint, the fact it is fixed means any issues with the angle of the bone requires further operations."
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Arthritis CURE - this procedure could TREAT knee pain avoid joint ... - Express.co.uk
BALTIMORE
Arthritis of the big toe can be very painful and debilitating.
But now there is a new procedure, approved by the FDA in July that has patients back on their feet, pain-free in no time. The procedure is now available at Mercy Medical Center.
For Marilyn Karr, being able to bend her big toe is a big deal. For a long time she suffered with debilitating arthritis in her big toe, but not anymore.
I love it, Karr said. I'm out of pain for the first time in several years. I've had pain for a long time.
Karr said she is free of pain thanks to a new surgical procedure using a synthetic cartilage implant called cartiva.
I saw a significant difference within hours, Karr said.
Mercy Medical Center surgeon Dr. Clifford Jeng said fusing the joints together used to be the gold standard for treating arthritis in the big toe. That procedure took away the pain, but patients lost range of motion.
Now there is cartiva, which is made out of the same material as contact lenses.
It just so happens that this material called poly-vinyl alcohol has the same mechanical properties as human cartilage, Jeng said. And we just push it in. And you can see, that keeps the arthritis surfaces apart so they don't rub and grind and cause pain, and it allows you to keep your range of motion.
Jeng said the new procedure makes for a much easier recovery.
With the fusion, you have to wear a special shoe for 12 weeks and walk on your heel, Jeng said. This one, two weeks in a little protective shoe and you're back to sneakers.
Karr said she can now take long walks again, and can even do yoga.
I'm pretty much fully functioning for an old lady, Karr said.
WEBVTT MINDY: FOR MARILYN KARR, BEINGABLE TO BEND HER BIG TOE LIKETHIS IS A BIG DEAL.FOR A LONG TIME SHE SUFFEREDWITH DEBILITATING ARTHRITIS INHER BIG SHOW.NOT ANYMORE.>> I LOVE IT.I AM OUT OF PAIN FOR THE FIRSTTIME IN SEVERAL YEARS.I HAVE HAD PUT PAIN FOR A LONGTIME.MINDY OUT OF PAIN THANKS TO A: NEW SURGICAL PROCEDURE USING ASYNTHETIC CARTILAGE IMPLANTCALLED CARTIVA.>> I SAW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCEWITHIN HOURS.MINDY: MERCY MEDICAL CENTERSURGEON DR. CLIFFORD JENG SAYSTHIS USED TO BE THE GOLDSTANDARD FOR TREATING ARTHRITISIN THE BIG TOE FUSING THE JOINTSTOGETHER.IT TOOK AWAY THE PAIN, BUTPATIENTS LOST RANGE OF MOTION.THIS IS CARTIVA, IT'S MADE OUTOF THE SAME MATERIAL AS CONTACTLENSES.>> THIS MATERIAL HAS THE SAMECHEMICAL PROPERTIES AS HUMANCARTILAGE AND WE JUST PUSH ITIN.YOU CAN SEE AND THAT KEEPS THEARTHRITIC SURFACES APART SO THEYDO NOT RUB AND GRIND AND CAUSEPAIN.IT ALLOWS YOU TO KEEP YOURMOTION.MINDY DR. JENG SAYS IT'S A MUCH: EASIER RECOVERY.>> FUSION YOU HAVE TO WEARSPECIAL SHOE AND WALK ON YOURHEEL.THIS ONE YOU ARE BACK ON SEEKERSWITH A PROTECTIVE SHIELD.MINDY MARILYN SAYS NOW SHE CAN: TAKE LONG WALKS AGAIN, CANEVEN DO YOGA.
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TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- StemedixInc., a U.S. based stem cell therapy group that specializesin the use of stem cells to treat patients with degenerative conditions, announced today that they are offering their patients a powerful treatment combination; Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and Stem Cell Therapy. According to research, the benefit of having HBOT treatments in conjunction with stem cell therapy is increasing the synthesis of nitric oxide, which signals the release of stem cells.
A recentstudyby researchers fromNeural Regeneration Researchfound results showing test subjects that underwent bothmesenchymalstem cell transplantation and HBOT had better neurological outcomes and better cognitive performance scores than subjects that endured only one type of treatment. Anotherstudyat the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, led by researcher StephenThom, MD, PhD, found that HBOT increases stem cell activity. After one treatment, the stem cell concentration doubled and after 20 treatments, they increasedeightfold.
Based on the growing interest and success, Fred Palmer, director of operations, at Stemedixsaid, "We are very proud to be working with the most recent and advanced technologies in the industry today. This combination of hyperbaric oxygen and stem cell therapies is progressively becoming the recommended treatment from our physicians and the selected treatment of our patients. Studies coupled with our own results we have seen thus far have been very impressive and supportive to our decision to offer this adjoining treatment."
Stemedix is now combining their stem cell therapy treatments with HBOT which allows for healing to occur that enables fibroblasts (tissue cells), capillaries (circulatory), osteoblasts (bone cells) andstem cellsto be stimulated. Without appropriate levels of oxygen in the tissue, healing cannot take place. With HBOT, oxygen is dissolved into all of the body's fluids, plasma, central nervous system fluids, lymph, and bone. In addition, the areas of the body that are lacking oxygen will begin to receive oxygen again.
To learn more about StemedixHBOT and stem cell therapy, contact Stemedixat 800-531-0831.
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SOURCE Stemedix, Inc.
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Cosby just doesnt get around like he used to.
We have six dogs and hes always the one thats the last to get up. The last to get out, said his owner Brian Cirillo.
And for Cirillo, its sad to see.
I hate it. Its always like he always on his tippy topes on his back legs. So its heartbreaking.
But a new trial study that is about to start at the St. Francis Pet Care Center in Tarpon Springs, could be just what Cosby needs.
Veterinarian Mike Amsberry is offering stem cell therapy for dogs.
They are seeing that its very, very safe. And very effective.
This study is focused specifically on four-legged friends with arthritis.
But in the past hes seen stem cell treatments work wonders for other ailments.
Its cells treating the body, rather than then some foreign substance. Some medication.
In this trial, the stem cells come from umbilical cords of donor dogs.
Not only can qualified pets get the treatment for free, but owners are paid too.
Cosby seems like the perfect candidate.
I think thats where everything seems to be going with regard to medicine. So to be on the leading edge of that to potential help him without having to put him on a bunch of medicine is definitely a plus, said Cirillo.
The hope is one day Cosby will be able to keep up with the rest.
And lead the way to help thousands of other dogs.
For more information on the trial study go to petstemcells.org.
Link:
Local vet taking part in stem cell therapy study for dogs - Story ... - ABC Action News
SAITAMA The health ministry on Monday ordered a Saitama clinic to stop injecting stem cells of human umbilical cord blood into patients as an anti-aging treatment.
Saitama Medical Clinic in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, was found to have been engaged in such therapy without getting permission from the ministry. The regenerative medicine safety law mandates that all hospitals and clinics submit plans for stem cell therapy and get permission from the ministry beforehand.
The ministry conducted an on-site inspection of the clinic on Friday, based on tips from an outsider, and confirmed the clinic offered the unauthorized therapy, boasting that umbilical cord cell shots would boost health and help with anti-aging.
Several men and women are believed to have undergone treatment there. The ministry has asked the clinic to report the number of cases, any health damage and the kind of stem cells used and how they were obtained.
For clinics to receive approval for medical procedures using cells of others, they need to submit a detailed plan and have it screened by a panel of experts under the health ministry. The clinic had not submitted such a plan.
New York Times | The Worst That Could Happen? Going Blind, People Say New York Times Feeling My Way Into Blindness, an essay published in The New York Times in November by Edward Hoagland, an 84-year-old nature and travel writer and novelist, expressed common fears about the effects of vision loss on quality of life. ... A recent ... |
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The Worst That Could Happen? Going Blind, People Say - New York Times
A
s oncologists race forward with new treatments verging on science fiction and biotech companies press onwith drugs for once-hopeless rare disorders, one of the worlds most pervasive diseases looks like its been left behind.
There are few new drugs on the horizon for diabetes, which affects about 29 million Americans. Most of the treatments in late-stage development are simply improved versions of whats out there taken weekly versus daily, or orally instead of by injection.
So has pharma run out of ideas in diabetes?
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Not exactly. But whether its ideas will ever get to market is another question. Theres plenty of promising science in the early stages of research. Available drugs, however, work pretty well. Given the cost of development and a high bar for approval, pharma can only afford to advance true-blue breakthroughs, and those are hard to come by.
There are unmet needs, but its going to take a really good drug, said Dr. John Buse, director of the Diabetes Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Its not like 10 years ago where you could market acarbose, a drug you have to take three times a day that makes you fart. Now that profile would never make it into Phase 2.
The risky bet behind the first artificial pancreas for diabetes patients
And the economics can be unforgiving. Oral insulin has long been considered a Holy Grail in diabetes research, potentially freeing patients from routine injections in favor of an easy-to-take pill. But late last year, Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk backed away from such a project not because it failed in clinical trials, but because developing it would be too expensive to get a sure return on investment.
That logic frustrates patients and their advocates.
My wish would be that people thinking like that would spend time with the people who face the challenges of Type 1 diabetes, said Derek Rapp, CEO of JDRF, which funds and advocates for research in the field.
But diabetes has become a tough and crowded market. Industry leaders Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly have all issued grim sales forecasts in recent years, as pricing pressure makes their past discoveries less and less lucrative.Novo Nordisks CEO abruptly decided to resign last year amid a surprise dip in projected revenue.
Clearly the bar has gone up, said Dr. Philip Larsen, Sanofis head of diabetes research. The larger companies are now in what you could call a thinking-outside-the box mode.
A Novo Nordisk diabetes drug may save lives, but Wall Street shrugs
That means betting on early-stage efforts that could truly move the needle, albeit withhigh odds of failure.
Scientists at Sanofi, for instance, noted that gastric bypass surgery can have remarkable effects on Type 2 diabetes, even sending some patients into remission. Their question: Can that be replicated with a drug? Theyve got a drug, now in mid-stage development, that seeks to copy the cocktail of endocrine events that happens in the aftermath of surgery, Larsen said. The goal:create an injection that spares the need for a knife.
Drug makers are also at work on so-called smart insulin, which would switch on when blood glucose is too high and then harmlessly switch off once it had normalized, reducing the risk of hypoglycemia. Others are digging into the gut microbiome, a network of trillions of microbes, in hopes of finding a way to ameliorate diabetes.
We dont want to add new classes just to have new classes, said Dr. Ruth Gimeno, vice president of diabetes research at Eli Lilly. We want to really make a difference. Were giving ourselves a little more time rather than saying lets just fill the pipeline with incremental things.
And pharma has gradually widened its aperture to include novel technology, examining how wearable devices, glucose monitors, and advanced insulin pumps can work alongside drugs to improve patients lives.
There are some exciting and promising things that are being looked at, but I think the scope of diabetes management is getting a bit wider to be not strictly pharmaceuticals, said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief medical officer of Harvard Universitys Joslin Diabetes Center. Devices are becoming increasingly important.
For some doctors, the key isnt more new products. Its education to teach themhow to use whats already on the market
Drugs called GLP-1 agonists, introduced more than a decade ago, have proved both to lower patients blood sugar and cut the risk of long-term cardiovascular problems. The same goes for SGLT2 inhibitors, introduced in 2013, which have been shown to reduce the risk of death by 32 percent for Type 2 diabetics.
And yet theyre not being widely used.
Thats in part because most primary care physicians dont know how to use them, said Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas, who leads the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute in California. The other issue is paperwork: Doctors have to go through a ridiculous number of steps to get patients health plans to cover those new drugs, Philis-Tsimikas said.
Its not like were desperate for something that is additionally innovative, she said. Were not using what we have.
Damian Garde can be reached at damian.garde@statnews.com Follow Damian on Twitter @damiangarde
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Where are all the new diabetes drugs? - STAT News - STAT
BBC News | Investigations after boy missing without diabetes medication dies BBC News Two investigations have been launched after a 13-year-old boy who went missing in Edinburgh without his diabetes medication fell ill and died. Blake Ross, who was in care, was reported missing from Howdenhall at 15:15 on Saturday. He was found unwell ... |
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Investigations after boy missing without diabetes medication dies - BBC News
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The Wilkes-Barre and Greater Scranton YMCAs are launching a free diabetes prevention program.
The two nonprofits are starting to sign people up now for these free classes that begin on March 15.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey visited the Wilkes-Barre YMCA on Monday tolearn more about the program and how you can signup.
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Several other YMCAs across northeastern and central Pennsylvania have already started similar programs or plan to in the months to come including the YMCA in Carbondale.
If you don't live in the Wilkes-Barre or Scranton area, you're encouraged to call your local YMCA to see if the facility is offering the program.
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To find learn more about the yearlong program, how to signup, and to take the test to see if you're at risk for type II diabetes, head here!
For furtherquestions, contact Shadia Lahlou, the Senior Director of Chronic Disease Programs. Her email is slahlou@greaterscrantonymca.org and her phone is570-342-8115.
Take a look at this live Q & A about the program from Ryan Leckey's Facebook page.
41.244989 -75.885976
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Watching Your Sugar: Area YMCAs Launch Free Diabetes Prevention Program - wnep.com
By Marlene Cimons By Marlene Cimons February 19
Women typically dont develop heart disease or high blood pressure, one of its major risk factors until after menopause. But if you have diabetes, that rule no longer applies, says Christine Maric-Bilkan, a program officer in the vascular biology and hypertension branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Diabetes dramatically increases the risk of heart disease at any age overall, people with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke as are other people and its impact tends to be greater in women than in men, she says. Diabetes, a disease in which the body either doesnt produce enough insulin (Type 1) or cannot use it properly (Type 2), can cause spikes in blood sugar. Over time, these spikes can damage nerves and blood vessels, putting diabetics at elevated risk of heart disease and stroke.
Uncontrolled diabetes also contributes to vision loss, kidney failure and amputations, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
[What you need to know about those new, deadly heart-surgery infections]
People with diabetes are up to four times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as are people who do not have diabetes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Women with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer a second heart attack and four times as likely to suffer heart failure as are women who do not have the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association.
The risk of developing hypertension doubles in men and quadruples in women if you have diabetes, Maric-Bilkan says. (Hypertension is a major contributor to heart disease.)
There is something about diabetes that takes away the protective factor against heart disease that premenopausal women seem to have, something probably related to estrogen, she says. Women are not impacted by heart disease as much as men at younger ages, but once they have diabetes, that protection is lost and diabetes has an overall greater impact on women, compared with men, at all ages.
In 2011, Maric-Bilkan tested a small group of premenopausal Finnish women with Type 1 diabetes and found that they all had lower-than-normal estrogen levels.
[Diabetes was once a problem of the rich. Now it belongs to the poor.]
I dont know if they got diabetes because their estrogen levels were reduced, or the reverse, she says. One thought is that its the estrogen that gives protection, but men with diabetes, who also have a greater risk of heart disease, have high estrogen and low testosterone, the opposite of women. So the high estrogen doesnt protect men. Diabetic women have more testosterone than non-diabetic women, so it may have to do with the balance of hormones.
She stresses that the risk of death from heart disease is exceptionally high in women with early-onset [Type 1] diabetes compared with women in the general population, according to a study she authored.
Women with diabetes need to understand that the risk of getting heart disease is significant, and they need to be aware of it, she says.
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Women with diabetes are especially prone to developing heart ... - Washington Post
There are a lot of barriers standing between the average youth soccer player and a career as a professional. Theres competition, fitness, skills, bad coaching. Jordan Morris had one more barrier to deal with. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was nine.
You dont see a ton of professional soccer players with diabetes, Morris tells Sounder at Heart. My dad recently told me he didnt even think Id be able to play soccer in college.
Having Type 1 diabetes means that Morris pancreas doesnt produce insulin. After eating, sugar and other nutrients enter the blood stream, and insulin helps the body absorb that sugar and turn it into energy. Morris wears an insulin pump, a cell phone-sized device that gives him a steady stream of insulin throughout the day, and more whenever he eats.
Zach Galifianakis surrounded by math in the Hangover
A lot of being a diabetic is trying to keep the amount of sugar in the blood within a specific range. That requires constantly paying attention to insulin, exercise, and food intake. It can feel a bit like living in that gif of Zach Galifianakis enshrouded in a swirling cloud of calculations. Insulin lowers blood sugars. With some exceptions, exercise also lowers them and food has the opposite effect.
Even for diabetics with the best control, the disease is a major health issue. Low blood sugars can make a diabetic feel lightheaded or blur their vision. Serious low blood sugars, although rare, can cause loss of consciousness. On the other hand, high blood sugars can mean headaches or nausea and, if left untreated, can lead to comas.
When I was newly diagnosed, it was scary, Morris says. It was tough. There were a lot of questions going through my mind.
Morris profusely credits his parents (his dad is the Sounders team doctor, and his mom was a nurse) for helping him early on. He had to learn to check his blood sugar multiple times a day: when he eats, exercises, wakes up, goes to bed, or just feels off. Before meals he has to count how many carbs hes going to have, so that he knows how much insulin to give himself, because the body converts most carbs into sugar. He carries a backpack around with diabetes supplies he might need in an emergency.
In his journey from high school to college to Major League Soccer, he has gotten better at dealing with the disease, largely because of how well he has gotten to know his body. Things like how sensitive a diabetic is to insulin (in other words, how much insulin they give themselves for how many carbs they eat, or how much their blood sugar is off), can change based on things as simple as the time of day. So knowing your body helps. Morris has a specific food that he knows works well when he has low blood sugar: fruit snacks. Nowadays, most of his diabetes management is up to him.
Its pretty much all me doing it, Morris says. [The Sounders] obviously do normal dietary stuff with athletes, but in terms of my diabetes, its me kind of having to deal with it, because I know my body best.
Even with all the knowledge that he has stored up, with all he knows about how his body reacts to different stimuli, dealing with the diabetes is still difficult. He has to deal with the fact that no matter how much calculation he does, things can still go wrong.
I think the toughest part about diabetes is its so unpredictable, he says. You can eat the same things, do the same work out a couple days in a row and your blood sugar will turn out differently at the end. Its just different days lead to different blood sugars.
And being a professional adds new difficulties too. Adrenaline raises blood sugars, meaning that on gameday, when hes looking up from the turf at a sea of screaming fans, the same thing that energizes him to play his best is also going to cause a spike in his blood sugars if he doesnt counter it with the exact right amount of insulin.
He fine-tuned how he deals with the adrenaline over the 2016 season. During a game against Portland, his blood sugar went low and he had to scramble over to the sidelines to eat some gummies. He said that during the MLS Cup final in Toronto he came into the locker room feeling sick, checked his blood sugar, and found out it was high. That was annoying.
If things arent right with your blood sugar, youre not going to be as efficient on the field, he said. Obviously as a professional athlete everything should be focused on the game, and not on your diabetes.
Dave Tenney, the Sounders High Performance Director, is impressed with Morris diabetes management. Whatever Jordan says, I trust him, because I know what hes been through and that hes learned to listen to his body better than the average (21)-year-old, Tenney told the Seattle Times last October.
Morris says hes proud of how he has dealt with his diabetes, and of course for making it to MLS, too. Now that hes a Sounder, he says hes trying to be a role model for younger kids. Diabetic athletes Jay Cutler and Adam Morrison gave him hope growing up, and he likes giving that same hope to a new generation of young diabetics.
When I was a kid, I told myself I wasnt going to let it hold me back, and now that my dreams become a reality, its pretty special to see that thats happened. I think it taught me how to be responsible at such a young age. I had to deal with this disease that you have to be constantly aware of. I definitely dont think Id be the person I am today without it.
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Type 1 diabetes didn't stop Jordan Morris - Sounder At Heart - Sounder At Heart
February 20, 2017 by Jos Cibelli, The Conversation More Dollies, cloned from the same cell line. Credit: Kevin Sinclair, University of Nottingham, CC BY-ND
In 1997 Dolly the sheep was introduced to the world by biologists Keith Campbell, Ian Wilmut and colleagues. Not just any lamb, Dolly was a clone. Rather than being made from a sperm and an egg, she originated from a mammary gland cell of another, no-longer-living, six-year-old Fynn Dorset ewe.
With her birth, a scientific and societal revolution was also born.
Some prominent scientists raised doubts; it was too good to be true. But more animals were cloned: first the laboratory mouse, then cows, goats, pigs, horses, even dogs, ferrets and camels. By early 2000, the issue was settled: Dolly was real and cloning adults was possible.
The implications of cloning animals in our society were self-evident from the start. Our advancing ability to reprogram adult, already specialized cells and start them over as something new may one day be the key to creating cells and organs that match the immune system of each individual patient in need of replacements.
But what somehow got lost was the fact that a clone was born at day zero created from the cell of another animal that was six years old. Researchers have spent the past 20 years trying to untangle the mysteries of how clones age. How old, biologically, are these animals born from other adult animals' cells?
Decades of cloning research
Dolly became an international celebrity, but she was not the first vertebrate to be cloned from a cell taken from the body of another animal. In 1962, developmental biologist John Gurdon cloned the first adult animal by taking a cell from the intestine of one frog and injecting it into an egg of another. Gurdon's work did not go unnoticed he went on to share the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. But it was Dolly who had captured our imagination. Was it because she was a warm-blooded animal, a mammal, much closer to human? If you could do it in a sheep, you could do it on us!
Dolly, along with Gurdon's frogs from 35 years earlier and all the other experiments in between, redirected our scientific studies. It was amazing to see a differentiated cell an adult cell specialized to do its particular job transform into an embryonic one that could go on to give rise to all the other cells of a normal body. We researchers wondered if we could go further: Could we in the lab make an adult cell once again undifferentiated, without needing to make a cloned embryo?
A decade after Dolly was announced, stem cell researcher Shynia Yamanaka's team did just that. He went on to be the Nobel corecipient with Gurdon for showing that mature cells could be reprogrammed to become pluripotent: able to develop into any specialized adult cell.
Now we have the possibility of making individualized replacement cells potentially any kind to replace tissue damaged due to injury, genetic disorders and degeneration. Not only cells; we may soon be able to have our own organs grown in a nonhuman host, ready to be transplanted when needed.
If Dolly was responsible for unleashing the events that culminate with new methods of making fully compatible cells and organs, then her legacy would be to improve the health of practically all human beings on this planet. And yet, I am convinced that there are even better things to come.
Dolly's secrets still unfolding
In the winter of 2013, I found myself driving on the wrong side of the road through the Nottingham countryside. In contrast to the luscious landscape, I was in a state gloom; I was on my way to see Keith Campbell's family after his sudden death a few weeks earlier. Keith was a smart, fun, loving friend who, along with Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, had brought us Dolly 15 years earlier. We had met at a conference in the early 1990s, when we were both budding scientists playing around with cloning, Keith with sheep, me with cows. An extrovert by nature, he quickly dazzled me with his wit, self-deprecating humor and nonstop chat, all delivered in a thick West Midlands accent. Our friendship that began then continued until his death.
When I knocked at the door of his quaint farmhouse, my plan was to stay just a few minutes, pay my respects to his wife and leave. Five hours and several Guinnesses later, I left feeling grateful. Keith could do that to you, but this time it wasn't him, it was his latest work speaking for him. That's because his wife very generously told me the project Keith was working on at the time of his death. I couldn't hide my excitement: Could it be possible that after 20 years, the most striking aspect of Dolly's legacy was not yet revealed?
See, when Dolly was cloned, she was created using a cell from a six-year-old sheep. And she died at age six and a half, a premature death for a breed that lives an average of nine years or more. People assumed that an offspring cloned from an adult was starting at an age disadvantage; rather than truly being a "newborn," it seemed like a clone's internal age would be more advanced that the length of its own life would suggest. Thus the notion that clones' biological age and their chronological one were out of sync, and that "cloned animals will die young."
Some of us were convinced that if the cloning procedure was done properly, the biological clock should be reset a newborn clone would truly start at zero. We worked very hard to prove our point. We were not convinced by a single DNA analysis done in Dolly showing slightly shorter telomeres the repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that "count" how many times a cell divides. We presented strong scientific evidence showing that cloned cows had all the same molecular signs of aging as a nonclone, predicting a normal lifespan. Others showed the same in cloned mice. But we couldn't ignore reports from colleagues interpreting biological signs in cloned animals that they attributed to incomplete resetting of the biological clock. So the jury was out.
Aging studies are very hard to do because there are only two data points that really count: date of birth and date of death. If you want to know the lifespan of an individual you have to wait until its natural death. Little did I know, that is what Keith was doing back in 2012.
That Saturday afternoon I spent in Keith's house in Nottingham, I saw a photo of the animals in Keith's latest study: several cloned Dollies, all much older than Dolly at the time she had died, and they looked terrific. I was in awe.
The data were confidential, so I had to remain silent until late last year when the work was posthumously published. Keith's coauthors humbly said: "For those clones that survive beyond the perinatal period [] the emerging consensus, supported by the current data, is that they are healthy and seem to age normally."
These findings became even more relevant when last December researchers at the Scripps Research Institute found that induced pluripotent stem cells reprogrammed using the "Yamanaka factors" retain the aging epigenetic signature of the donor individual. In other words, using these four genes to attempt to reprogram the cells does not seem to reset the biological clock.
The new Dollies are now telling us that if we take a cell from an animal of any age, and we introduce its nucleus into a nonfertilized mature egg, we can have an individual born with its lifespan fully restored. They confirmed that all signs of biological and chronological age matched between cloned and noncloned sheep.
There seems to be a natural built-in mechanism in the eggs that can rejuvenate a cell. We don't know what it is yet, but it is there. Our group as well as others are hard at work, and as soon as someone finds it, the most astonishing legacy of Dolly will be realized.
Explore further: How much do you know about Dolly the Sheep?
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
This week marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of arguably the most famous sheep that ever chewed grass. Dolly was created at The Roslin Institute, Scotland, which receives long-term strategic funding from BBSRC.
It's now 20 years since the birth of Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned. This groundbreaking scientific achievement was accompanied by warnings that Dolly might age prematurely because she had been cloned from ...
(AP)Keith Campbell, a prominent biologist who worked on cloning Dolly the sheep, has died at 58, the University of Nottingham said Thursday.
Three weeks after the scientific world marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep new research, published by The University of Nottingham, in the academic journal Nature Communications has shown that four ...
There's a three- or four-way dispute among British scientists about who deserves the credit for Dolly, the first cloned sheep.
A petition has called on Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to take away the knighthood she bestowed on Ian Wilmut for his cloning of the sheep Dolly.
The winter habits of Britain's basking sharks have been revealed for the first time.
What looks like a caterpillar chewing on a leaf or a beetle consuming fruit is likely a three-way battle that benefits most, if not all of the players involved, according to a Penn State entomologist.
By tagging individual bumblebees with microchips, biologists have gained insights into the daily life of a colony of bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) in unprecedented detail. The team found that while most bees are generalists ...
Climate change from political and ecological standpoints is a constant in the media and with good reason, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist, but proof of its impact is sometimes found in unlikely places.
At what point on the journey along the branches of the evolutionary tree does a population become its own, unique species? And is a species still distinct, if it mates with a different, but closely related species? Evolutionary ...
New research involving Monash University biologists has debunked the view thatmalesjust pass on genetic materialand not much else to their offspring. Instead, it found a father's diet can affect their son's ability ...
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More lessons from Dolly the sheepis a clone really born at age zero? - Phys.Org
WATERBURY, Vt. A nonprofit group co-founded by a University of Utah professor working to cure blindness in Nepal and other developing countries is one of eight semifinalists for a $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The Himalayan Cataract Project, based out of a rented office in a church parsonage in Vermont, has been working for years to train local health care providers to perform cataract and laser surgery in Nepal and other countries.
The organization was co-founded in 1995 by Nepalese Dr. Sanduk Ruit and Dr. Geoff Tabin, formerly of the University of Vermont Medical Center and now at the University of Utah.
"They had a shared motivation that the right to sight is a human right and that no one anywhere in the world should receive care of a different or lower quality," said Job Heintz, chief executive officer of the nonprofit formed in 2003 to carry out the doctors' vision. It now has 10 employees and an annual budget of about $9 million.
The organization has provided eye care for thousands of patients over the years by training health care providers and providing equipment and other infrastructure.
"The quality of eye health care has dramatically risen, nowhere better than in Nepal," Heintz said.
The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation recently announced that the Cataract Project was chosen as semifinalist from among 1,904 proposals for the $100 million grant program. The foundation says the competition is for "proposals promising real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time in any field or any location."
The winner would receive the entire $100 million.
Other semifinalists include Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, which is working to change the way children are cared for in orphanages; and the Carter Center in Atlanta, which is working to eliminate river blindness in Nigeria.
The winner will be chosen in December.
The Cataract Project got its start at the Tilganga Eye Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal, which performed its first outpatient cataract surgery in 1994. Ruit and Tabin started the Cataract Project a year later.
The Tilganga Centre now sees about 1,000 patients a day for a variety of eye care needs.
Tabin worked at what is now the University of Vermont Medical Center from 1995 to 2005. The project opened Vermont offices in Waterbury and Norwich in 2003.
The Cataract Project already has expanded its operations to a number of other countries, but the grant would be to expand operations in Nepal, Ethiopia and Ghana.
If it wins the grant, the organization would increase the work it currently does, such as training doctors and support staff in their home countries and at other locations, including the United States.
"We know what we would do with every dollar," Heintz said.
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Nonprofit seeking to cure blindness up for $100M grant - Deseret News
February 20, 2017 6:42am NASDAQ:IBB
The biotech sector has gotten a lot of attention lately both in the financial markets and in Washington. The sector, which was one of the worst performing areas of the market in 2016 posting a loss of more than 20%, has started posting gains again and is looking like the rally may be poised to continue.
The biggest play in the sector, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB), is up more than 10% on the year (its smaller equal weight counterpart, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), is up over 17%).
The sector has alternatively gotten good and bad news from the White House. For many months, there has been talk of lowering drug prices through open competition or price caps putting pressure on the big drug manufacturers. On the other hand, President Trump spoke recently of his desire to reform the entire drug approval process in order to speed the approval of life-saving medications and cutting the red tape at the FDA. That notion was welcomed by the equity markets even though it received a tepid response from big pharma companies.
One thing working in favor of biotech right now is M&A and the big prize could be Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). A StreetInsider article from this week called the company in play and listed Roche (RHHBY), Novartis (NVS), Gilead (GILD) and Pfizer (PFE) all as potential buyers. Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) could also be up for grabs with Biogen (BIBB) rumored to be a possible bidder. In its quarterly analyst meeting, Amgens (AMGN) CEO Bob Bradway discussed how his company was going to be on the lookout for acquisitions both big and small.
Even Gilead, the big biotech that just caught Wall Street off guard when it significantly lowered 2017 revenue guidance due to weak sales in its hepatitis C drugs, even provided some reason for optimism. The stock dropped roughly 10% on its weak forecast, from a pre-earnings level of around $73 down to a post-announcement low in the $65 area. Since then, however, it has, somewhat surprisingly, begun rallying anew. The stock closed Friday at $70, gaining back nearly of what was lost. Does this signal something of a capitulation point and indicate that buyers are ready to return?
From a technical standpoint, the fund just broke out to the upside from a wedge pattern that has been forming over the past several months.
I wrote earlier this month that I felt the Biotech ETF could close out February above $300 if it could break through the resistance level around $285. It has and now it feels like that $300 level is well within reach.
Despite its rally so far this year, the fund is still about 13% off of its 2016 highs and 26% off of its all-time highs. Valuations in the sector look very reasonable right now as well. Thomson Reuters estimates put the forward P/E of the sector at less than 13, a level it hasnt seen in several years.
Gileads results notwithstanding, the Q4 earnings season has been pretty good for biotech. Big players such as Amgen, Celgene (CELG), Illumina (ILMN) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) all top 10 holdings in the fund popped strongly after announcing earnings. If the sector can continue posting generally good revenue and earnings results and get a little help from the White House along the way, this could be a nice spot to add a few shares.
The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) closed at $294.35 on Friday, up $1.37 (+0.47%). Year-to-date, IBB has gained 10.92%, versus a 5.17% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
IBB currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #2 of 36 ETFs in the Health & Biotech ETFs category.
About the Author: David Dierking
David Dierking is a freelance writer focusing primarily on ETFs, mutual funds, dividend income strategies and retirement planning. He has spent more than 20 years in the financial services industry and his background includes experience in investment management, portfolio analytics and asset/liability management at both BMO Financial Group and Strong Capital Management.
He has written for Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, ETF Trends and Investopedia and was also included in the panel for ETFReference.coms 101 ETF Investing Tips from the Experts. He has a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University and lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two daughters.
You can connect with David on Twitter and LinkedIn. Also be sure to visit his new website, ETFFocus.com.
Tags: biotech david dierking NASDAQ:IBB
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This Biotech ETF Looks Primed To Rally Again - ETF Daily News (blog)
Cardiovascular disease describes a set of conditions which affect the heart or blood vessels - which includes life-threatening problems such as heart attacks and stroke.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints and mainly affects the hands feet and wrists.
The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) - has set out to help people with rheumatoid arthritis to understand why they are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease - and the impact the condition can have on the heart.
Dr Holly John, consultant rheumatologist, said: The increased risk of CVD for RA sufferers has the same level of severity as those who suffer with type 2 diabetes.
GETTY
Its astonishing how many people with RA don't know that their condition could be detrimental to their heart.
The NRAS has launched a programme Love Your Heart, developed in partnership with Dr Holly John.
The organisation is making the programme widely available to everyone with this serious autoimmune condition so that they have the opportunity to lower their CVD risk.
Dr John said: Once aware, its very easy to manage risk factors from home with a healthier lifestyle, so Love Your Heart will be able to significantly raise awareness of this and help to address this major co-morbidity which can shorten the lives of those with RA.
GETTY
Its astonishing how many people with rheumatoid arthritis don't know that their condition could be detrimental to their heart
Dr Holly John
While experts said it is not clear exactly why people with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk, experts suggest people can reduce their risk of the condition by making sure arthritis is well controlled and even stopping smoking, eating more healthily and exercising regularly.
People with diabetes also have a higher chance of developing diabetes.
Blood vessels are damaged by high blood glucose levels, high blood pressure, smoking or high levels of cholesterol.
This is why it is important for people with diabetes to manage these levels by making lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, taking part in regular activity, reducing weight if you are overweight and stopping smoking.
Getty
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Top 10 foods for better heart health
GETTY
The online programme will help sufferers understand why RA increases risk, calculate a score as to why rheumatoid arthritis increases risk and learn how to reduce the risk of CVD.
Ailsa Bosworth, Founder of NRAS said: In spite of the numbers of people with rheumatoid arthritis in the UK - 690,000- it does not have the public awareness of diseases such as Parkinsons and Multiple Sclerosis.
"It is still a relatively misunderstood and invisible disease.
Getting to a diagnosis can therefore often be challenging as people dont recognise the symptoms as a medical emergency. Equally, the increased risk of CVD is relatively unknown andso Im really excited to be working with Dr. John and hope that the Love your Heart programme will help all those with RA, like myself, to lead a longer and healthier life by addressing those risk factors that are within our own control.
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Diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis - conditions put YOU at greater risk of THIS disease - Express.co.uk
Home General Health Weekly health news roundup: Arthritis treatment, diabetic kidney disease, numbness, and tingling in legs
In case you missed it, here is Bel Marra Healths weekly health news roundup, featuring information on arthritis treatment, diabetic kidney disease, and numbness and tingling in the legs.
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis are developing a new treatment for arthritis that can ease symptoms and make existing medications more effective. Injuries such as a twisted ankle, broken hip, and torn knee cartilage can have long-term side effects including arthritis, joint degeneration, osteoarthritis, and inflammation that could result in chronic pain. The team, led by professor Lori Setton, have found that silk particles can aid in the delivery of existing medications to affected areas that are sometimes hard to reach. Continue reading
Diabetic kidney disease is very difficult to treat, though a new study from Karolinska Institutet has shown promising results in preventing this disease from worsening.
The disease is also referred to as diabetic kidney failure, and is the biggest reason patients undergo dialysissometimes, they may even require kidney transplantation. It is often detected through the leakage of plasma proteins into the urine, as well as through issues in the filtration of waste from the blood and reduced urine production. Patients withdiabetic kidney diseasehave a buildup of lipid droplets in the kidneys, though previous research had not been able to determine the reason for this or whether it accelerated the deterioration of the kidneys. Continue reading
Numbness and tingling can occur in one or both legs and comes with a variety of symptoms. Continue reading to learn why this sensation occurs, potential complications that may arise, and when you should notify your doctor, as well as some common remedies to treat your pain. Continue reading
As we age, bone health becomes a big concern. The older we get, the more susceptible we become to bone diseases likeosteoporosis. The loss of bone density puts our bones at risk for fractures and breaks, which can negatively impact the quality of our life.
Developing a disability in old age as a result of broken bones can leave us bed-ridden, which has been linked to aggravation of existing health conditions or even contributing to the development of new problems. Old-age disability is also associated with a loss of autonomy, as we are no longer able to do things for ourselves and have to rely on the help of others. Breaking a bone is even linked to mental health issues, as a bed-ridden patient is more likely to become depressed or anxious. Continue reading
Menopause is a natural part of aging for women, beginning on average at the age of 51. The period that is often referred to as menopause is actually called perimenopause, one of the three stages of menopause. Perimenopause is the time when a womans body begins to transition into menopause, and it is marked by hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. This lasts until the last menstrual period, which is typically three to five years after perimenopause begins. Perimenopause often begins in the 40s, but some women can even enter it in their 30s, and it can last for up to 10 years.
There are a few reasons for early perimenopause, the biggest being smoking, having never been pregnant, and living at high altitudes. Also, if you have your ovaries removed, your menopause will appear suddenly. Continue reading
Related: New research links Crohns disease to arthritis
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Osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis): Causes, symptoms, and treatment
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Weekly health news roundup: Arthritis treatment, diabetic kidney ... - Bel Marra Health
Chronological aging shows the natural life cycle of the cells as opposed to cells that have been unnaturally replicated multiple times or otherwise manipulated in a lab.
In order to preserve the cells in their natural state, Penn researchers developed a system to collect and store them without manipulating them, making them available for this study. They found stem cells collected directly from human fat -- called adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) -- can make more proteins than originally thought. This gives them the ability to replicate and maintain their stability, a finding that held true in cells collected from patients of all ages.
Our study shows these cells are very robust, even when they are collected from older patients, said Ivona Percec, MD, director of Basic Science Research in the Center for Human Appearance and the studys lead author. It also shows these cells can be potentially used safely in the future, because they require minimal manipulation and maintenance.
Stem cells are currently used in a variety of anti-aging treatments and are commonly collected from a variety of tissues. But Percecs team specifically found ASCs to be more stable than other cells, a finding that can potentially open the door to new therapies for the prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases.
Unlike other adult human stem cells, the rate at which these ASCs multiply stays consistent with age, Percec said.
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Stem Cell therapy is future of anti-ageing - Bangalore Mirror
USA TODAY | AJ Foyt planning to undergo stem cell therapy USA TODAY Foyt, 82, told IndyCar.com Saturday during a Verizon IndyCar Series test at Phoenix International Raceway that he plans to undergo stem cell therapy, likely in Cancun, Mexico, with injections into both ankles and shoulders as well as his blood. Foyt ... New Nanofiber Stem Cell Therapy Developed By Kyoto University Local Physician Offers Latest in Stem Cell Therapy Stem Cell Therapy Market Is Expected to Reach USD 60.94 Billion by 2022 |
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AJ Foyt planning to undergo stem cell therapy - USA TODAY