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EAST HANOVER, N.J., Oct. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis is inviting patient advocacy organizations to submit proposals for programs that offer to expand and improve understanding of biomarker testing among the cancer community through one of its signature patient advocacy initiatives, the Solutions to Empower Patients (STEP) Program. The STEP Program will provide funding to as many as four patient advocacy organizations of up to $75,000 each.

Through the advancement of personalized medicine, cancer treatment has greatly evolved to include more customized treatment options based on a patient's type of cancer determined through biomarker and other forms of testing. The hope is that treatments will one day be tailored to each person's cancer.1 Though biomarker testing has become one of the cornerstones of personalized medicine within oncology, there remain significant challenges when it comes to education, access and reimbursement.2,3,4

"Biomarker testing has the potential to transform the treatment strategy for people living with certain types of cancer, but it is not yet part of routine care for all tumor types," said Ameet Mallik, Executive Vice President and Head, US, Novartis Oncology. "By supporting patient advocacy organizations that empower patients and their care teams to make informed decisions about their health, the STEP Program can help create a path to better care."

Novartis created the annual STEP Program to inspire solutions from US-based nonprofit organizations that help to address some of the most significant gaps in health care. Since 2017, the STEP Program has provided support to eight organizations across the country for their impactful patient-focused initiatives.

Application Details for Interested Patient Advocacy Organizations Any national, US-based, 501(c)(3) patient advocacy organization is welcome to submit a STEP Program proposal for consideration. Suggested proposals should focus on at least one of the following criteria in cancer biomarker testing:

Proposals will be evaluated by an external review committee consisting of experts in a variety of fields. The committee will review the applications and identify as many as four proposals that have the potential to make the greatest positive impact on the cancer community.

Organizations that wish to apply for funding from the program should complete the required submission form available on https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/stories/education-awareness/step-program-supporting-solutions-patient-advocacy-organizations. All submissions must be received by 11:59pm ET on November 4, 2019.

For more information about STEP Program, including submission details, please visit the Novartis US website, STEP Program page.

About NovartisNovartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 108,000 people of nearly 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a US affiliate of Novartis, is located in East Hanover, NJ. Find out more at http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis or follow @NovartisNews for the latest News & Media Updates at https://twitter.com/novartisnewsFor Novartis multimedia content, please visit http://www.novartis.com/news/media-libraryFor questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com

References

Novartis Media Relations

Central media line: +41 61 324 2200

E-mail:media.relations@novartis.com

Eric Althoff

Kristen Klasey

Novartis US External Communications

Novartis US Communications

+1 646 438 4335 (direct)

+1 862 778 4763 (direct)

eric.althoff@novartis.com

+1 862 754 1732 (mobile)

kristen.klasey@novartis.com

Novartis Investor Relations

Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944

E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com

Central

North America

Samir Shah

+41 61 324 7944

Sloan Simpson

+1 212 830 2417

Pierre-Michel Bringer

+41 61 324 1065

Cory Twining

+1 862 278 3258

Thomas Hungerbuehler

+41 61 324 8425

Isabella Zinck

+41 61 324 7188

SOURCE Novartis

http://www.novartis.com

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Novartis STEP Program now accepting submissions for proposals that address unmet patient needs in cancer biomarker testing - PRNewswire

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Genomics Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application And Technology (Pathway Analysis, Functional Genomics), By Deliverables (Instruments, Consumables, Services), By End Use, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5807259/?utm_source=PRN

The global genomics market size is expected to reach USD 27.61 billion by 2025. It is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period. The past decades have witnessed significant changes in disease management processes due to simultaneous advancements in genomics and personalized medicine. There has been a gradual growth in the usage of genomic studies in clinical practices, which is reflected by the growing trend of targeted therapies.

Results from genomic studies enable a better understanding of diseases and the underlying mechanisms for researchers, physicians, and consumers.This facilitates evidence-based decision-making, and hence, helps improve personalized treatment regime.

In addition, technological advancements in data analysis tools have motivated healthcare community to create precision-based therapies from surplus, available DNA data.

Ability of the medical community to make use of the available genomic information in personalized medicine is anticipated to significantly impact the genomics market.Furthermore, plummeting cost of sequencing has enabled the whole genome sequencing at very less price.

Scientists are combining the sequencing generated data with diagnostics which has proven its effectiveness in enhancing personalized treatment landscape.

The companies are involved in strategic alliances with global as well as local entities to boost their revenue generation and enhance their market share. For instance, in March 2017, Foundation Medicine collaborated with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, as a result of which Bristol-Myers Squibb could deploy Foundation Medicine's molecular information solutions and comprehensive genomic profiling for identification of predictive biomarkers, such as Microsatellite Instability (MSI) and Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB), to accelerate its immunotherapy clinical trials.

NGS-based services held a major market share in the services segment due to its rapid adoption of whole genome sequencing and application of sequence databases for disease screening and prognosis.The demand would remain strong with the expansion of the customer base from limited to academic and research centers to CROs, biotech and pharma players.

As patients are focusing on their health, Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) laboratory testing is increasingly being employed. DTC genetic tests enable consumers to access information about their genetics without necessarily including healthcare professionals in the process.

Further key findings from the report suggest: High demand in terms of volume coupled with the high cost of specific reagents contribute to substantial revenue share. Companies are embracing the trend of offering varied reagents that simplify workflow process Use of predictive biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring take cancer eradication a step further. Moreover, organizations and programs such as the National Biomarker Development Alliance (NBDA) are actively participating in development of novel biomarkers for cancer diagnosis Growing interest of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in genomics is expected to drive growth of the genomics market in the forthcoming years Asia Pacific is anticipated to display the maximum potential and an become an emerging market for genomics. It is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 10.4% over the forecast period Major players include BGI; Agilent Technologies; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.; Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc; Foundation Medicine, Inc, 23andMe, Inc, Danaher, Illumina, Inc; Pacific Biosciences; Oxford Nanopore Technologies.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and Myriad Genetics, Inc.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5807259/?utm_source=PRN

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For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: sarah@reportbuyer.com Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904 Website: http://www.reportbuyer.com

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-global-genomics-market-size-is-expected-to-reach-usd-27-61-billion-by-2025--300932801.html

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The global genomics market size is expected to reach USD 27.61 billion by 2025 - P&T Community

Happy Friday! Yours truly is back from beautiful Vietnam and it seems I missed one or two ahem minor news events while traipsing around.

I come bearing no souvenirs but rather two health reminders (one via Sen. Bernie Sanders). Firstly, dont forget your flu shot Australia has had an unusually early and severe season, which rarely bodes well for our own. The second comes in the form of a hard-earned lesson from a 2020 candidate: Dont ignore those heart attack warning signs! (This is especially directed at women, who are dying unnecessarily from cardiac events.)

Now enough mother-henning. (You missed me, didnt you?) On to the news of the week!

The Supremes are back in action, and a look at the high courts docket reveals a potentially doozy of a politically charged term (with rulings expected to land as the general election heats up in 2020).

In the health care sphere, a big case to watch is the Louisiana abortion suit. An essentially identical Texas law which requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals was ruled unconstitutional by the court in 2016, but that means little with two new justices appointed by President Donald Trump weighing in.

The New York Times: As the Supreme Court Gets Back to Work, Five Big Cases to Watch

Oral arguments in two other health-related cases were held this week. The justices grappled with the moral and legal complexities of the insanity defense. The case prompted questions such as this one from Justice Stephen Breyer: One defendant kills a victim he thinks is a dog. The second defendant knows its a person but thinks the dog told him to do it, Breyer said. They are both crazy. And why does Kansas say one is guilty, the other is not guilty?

The New York Times: Supreme Court Opens New Term With Argument on Insanity Defense

Tuesday was all about LGBTQ rights. Although most of the justices were divided along ideological lines on whether federal civil rights legislation applies to sexual orientation and gender identification, Justice Neil Gorsuch hinted his vote might be in play. As an avowed believer in textualism, he suggested that the words of Title VII are really close, really close to barring employment discrimination for those workers. But dont go placing bets on the outcome yet. He also noted that he was worried about the massive social upheaval that would follow such a Supreme Court ruling.

The New York Times: Supreme Court Considers Whether Civil Rights Act Protects L.G.B.T. Workers

On that note, the 2020 Democratic candidates participated in an LGBTQ forum on the eve of National Coming Out Day. There were a handful of notable moments through the night (including a zinger from Sen. Elizabeth Warren that was met with loud applause), but much of the spotlight was on protesters who demanded the candidates pay attention to violence against black transgender women. We are hunted, said one member of the audience.

CNN: Protesters Interrupt CNN LGBTQ Town Hall to Highlight Plight of Black Transgender Women

Elsewhere on the campaign trail this week, controversy over a pregnancy discrimination talking point from Warrens stump speech prompted women including Warren rival Sen. Amy Klobuchar to speak out on social media about their own and their mothers experiences.

NBC News: Women Rally in Support of Elizabeth Warren by Sharing Their Own Pregnancy Discrimination Stories

Sanders campaign confirmed that the health scare from last week was indeed a heart attack. The 2020 candidate who promised to return full blast to the race said he hopes people learn from his dumb mistake of ignoring the warning signs. In true politician-running-for-office style, he also was able to use the scare as a way to emphasize the importance of his signature policy proposal, Medicare for All.

Reuters: Democratic Presidential Hopeful Sanders Says He Was Dumb to Ignore Health Warnings

In a sign of whats to come for Big Pharma, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, one of the fields more moderate candidates, released a drug pricing plan that is decidedly not moderate. The move falls in line with a broader sense that theres an ever-growing appetite among even middle-ground Dems for action to rein in drugmakers.

Stat: Buttigieg Unveils an Aggressive Plan for Lowering Drug Prices

And for you political wonks out there, this was an interesting read on the shifting political dynamics of doctors, who once used to be a sure thing for the GOP.

The Wall Street Journal: Doctors, Once GOP Stalwarts, Now More Likely to Be Democrats

A key ruling on the health law is expected in the next few weeks, but officials (on condition of anonymity, mind you) said that if the ruling is against the ACA, the Trump administration will ask the court to put any changes on hold possibly until after the election. The reports further support the idea that the law, which has been, uh, politically fraught (to say the very least) over its entire life span, is at the moment viewed as an Achilles heel for Republicans.

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Plans to Delay Any Changes If the ACA Loses in Court

Two other major news items out of the administration this week to pay attention to:

The Associated Press: Trump Signs Proclamation Restricting Visas for Uninsured

The Associated Press: Overhaul Is Proposed for Decades-Old Medicare Fraud Rules

The first teenagers death in the outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses drove home this week public health officials message that young people are playing with their lives when they partake. The number of cases jumped to 1,299 as of Oct. 8, with the number of deaths rising to 26.

The Wall Street Journal: New York Citys First Vaping-Related Death Is a Bronx Teen

Reuters: U.S. Vaping-Related Deaths Rise to 26, Illnesses to 1,299

Although Juul is facing a barrage of lawsuits, one filed this week was notable. It was believed to be the first from school districts, which claim that fighting the vaping epidemic has been a drag on their resources. While some legal experts are dubious about whether the school districts can establish their standing, others arent ruling it out.

The New York Times: Juul Is Sued by School Districts That Say Vaping Is a Dangerous Drain on Their Resources

And the ripple effect of the crisis is spreading to life insurance prices.

Bloomberg: Prudential Plans to Boost Life Insurance Prices for Vapers

Time for you to flex your ethical muscles for the week: Should there be boundaries to highly personalized medicine? A pricey drug designed and named for! just one patient sparked questions this week about how far researchers should go in the name of curing a single person. Especially when there are thousands of patients out there with rare diseases. Would only the wealthiest subset be given cures? Who would decide which patients deserve limited research hours over others?

The New York Times: Scientists Designed a Drug for Just One Patient. Her Name Is Mila.

And ProPublica shines a light on the practice of drug companies using flashy Facebook ads, cash incentives and other marketing techniques to woo Mexican residents over the border to donate plasma. Its not as innocuous as it might seem donating too much plasma can compromise the immune system. (Selling plasma has been banned in Mexico since 1987.)

ProPublica: Pharmaceutical Companies Are Luring Mexicans Across the U.S. Border to Donate Blood Plasma

In the miscellaneous file for the week:

The New York Times: One Doctor. 25 Deaths. How Could It Have Happened?

Los Angeles Times: Americans Increasingly Fear Violence From People Who Are Mentally Ill

The New York Times: When a Steady Paycheck Is Good Medicine for Communities

Stat: Sesame Street Launches Initiative to Help Explain Parental Addiction to Kids

The Associated Press: US Official: Research Finds Uranium in Navajo Women, Babies

The Washington Post: Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Discovery of How Cells Sense Oxygen

Thats it from me! Its good to be back with you guys, and I hope you have a great weekend!

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Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes - Kaiser Health News

Executive Summary

As care becomes more centered on the patient and the number of touchpoints and data inputs increases, care teams need a single pane view of the entire patient journey. In response, many health systems have begun to partner with a variety of CRM platforms such as Salesforce that have developed workflows and capabilities to meet the unique challenges of patient engagement and enable system-wide care traffic control. Bringing together data from parer apps and services, the platform gives the organization a shared view of the patient including medical history, insurance, scheduled appointments, preferences all in one place.

Hardly a day goes by without another new entrant declaring its foray into healthcare. Through a series of strategic acquisitions, Best Buy expanded from selling electronics and deploying its Geek Squad for repairs to providing home health services and remote monitoring. As the companys president suggested, achieving the goal of reducing healthcares spiraling costs will require some interesting new bedfellows.

Among these bedfellows is Lyft, which launched a healthcare-specific offering to reduce costly no-shows and remove transportation barriers for patients, especially those with chronic disease. Care teams can now order a ride in the same workflow as they do blood tests and, under some plans, have it covered by insurance. Then theres the explosion of apps, virtual consults and health chat bots making up the telemedicine market, which is expected to grow to $64 billion in the U.S. over the next five years.

What these trends point to is a dramatic expansion over the coming years of healthcares front door as the locus of care shifts from the hospital or clinic to patients themselves at work, home, or wherever their smartphones take them. Paired with a shift to value-based care and alignment of incentives to outcomes, this burst of innovation offers the promise of a more personalized approach to medicine focused on keeping patients well and out of the hospital, reducing overall cost of care. But it also brings with it some significant challenges that demand new approaches and safeguards.

Care traffic control

As care becomes more centered on the patient and the number of touchpoints and data inputs increases, care teams need a single pane view of the entire patient journey what John Halamka, executive director of the Health Technology Exploration Center of Beth Israel Lahey Health, has cleverly termed care traffic control. Orchestrating care and integrating data across an increasingly diverse and potentially virtualized care team requires new tools and what Halamka has called a new paradigm for team-based communication and wellness. Just as the retail industry has embraced knowledge sharing and omni-channel engagement through CRM platforms, so is healthcare recognizing the need for a coordinated approach to managing patient relationships.

In response, many health systems have begun to partner with a variety of CRM platforms that have developed workflows and capabilities to meet the unique challenges of patient engagement and enable system-wide care traffic control. For example, Piedmont Healthcare, a health system serving more than 2 million people across Georgia, partnered with Salesforce to help them deliver, engage and personalize care at scale. Bringing together data from partner apps and services, the platform gives the organization a shared view of the patient including medical history, insurance, scheduled appointments, preferences all in one place.

Piedmont care teams can get a more complete view of the patient by seeing medical history alongside information on employment, socioeconomic status, and other social determinants of health. In-home providers can access the same patient profiles to flag gaps around things like healthy food access or transportation that could land patients with chronic conditions back in the hospital. Armed with this data and the insights generated, outreach teams can send reminders or run targeted campaigns around things like nutrition classes to engage patients in more personalized ways. The ultimate goal is to deliver a more coordinated, tailored patient experience at a lower total cost of care.

While some might argue that EHRs can and should play this role of a unifying platform, most were never designed around patients and their full journey of care beyond the walls of a hospital or health system. Also, the average health system is challenged with integrating data and coordinating care across 18 different EHR systems across its various affiliated providers. A patient-relationship platform that sits atop these otherwise disconnected systems can provide a coordinated view of the patient journey thats otherwise sorely lacking.

Achieving the goal of truly personalized, patient-centered care still runs up against chronic and systemic interoperability challenges. But the expansion of digital health and the entry of Big Tech players such as Apple, Amazon and others have gradually shifted the calculus and created incentives for legacy EHR vendors and health systems to embrace a more open exchange of data. The rapid move across the industry to data-sharing via APIs using FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards is a positive sign that the industrys information silos may finally be breaking down.

Navigating the healthcare data tsunami

Even with the right tools in place, coordinating patient care across an expanded and more diverse ecosystem will only get more challenging with the tsunami of data coming from these new sources. A recent International Data Corporation report predicts a 36% growth rate for healthcare data over the next five years, faster than in any other industry. With every month that passes, new smart medical devices appear and more app-using patients begin to monitor their health, expecting the resulting data to be sent to their doctors and EHRs. Early in 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responded with a proposed rule calling on the healthcare industry to take steps to give patients safe, secure access to, and control over, their healthcare data.

But what does this actually mean? With no certification process in place for medical apps, how are newly empowered patients to choose which are trustworthy and effective? Likewise, what criteria are providers to use for prescribing apps or accepting and validating the data coming from them? As John Torous, MD, director of digital psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has demonstrated, we have yet to figure out how to conduct randomized trials for apps the way we do for drugs. Thus, its hard to distinguish apps with therapeutic benefit from those that are just marketing hype. Along with questions of validation come equally important questions of usability. For the data from a validated app or device to be usable, rules need to be written to separate a signal from the noise for example, what heart rate patterns from a remotely monitored CHF patient get ignored and which trigger an alert to the EHR. Much more work is needed to wrestle with these thorny issues in order to effectively translate clinical skills into digital care delivery.

Finally, as empowering as it sounds to give patients control over their data, we know all too well from recent breaches and scandals how this opens up their data to exploitation. A recent study of 24 of the top medical apps available on the market found that 79% shared user data in ways that might compromise privacy. As data moves into patient hands, the traditional role of the physician as trusted gatekeeper begins to break down. If you share health information with your physician, she has privacy obligations. If you share it with Alexa or Google Home, the same privacy rules dont apply. We need to educate patients to the risk versus reward of these technologies and evolve data privacy regulations to match new realities.

Healthcare is at an inflection point, awkwardly poised between traditional care delivery models with their benefits and well-documented shortcomings and a wave of new, exciting but largely untested offerings and interventions. A healthy dose of skepticism and vigilance is needed as companies and investors look to ride the wave and seize near-term rewards. But the promise of more personalized, patient-centered and outcomes-based healthcare is real, worthy, and within reach.

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How New Health Care Platforms Will Improve Patient Care - Harvard Business Review

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quantzig, a leading analytics advisory firm that delivers customized analytics solutions, has announced the completion of their article that lists the pros and cons of predictive analytics in healthcare.

With the healthcare sector beginning to leverage advanced technologies such as predictive analytics and AI, healthcare organizations, health care agencies, and primary healthcare service providers must be aware of its benefits and risks. But to analyze the benefits of predictive analytics in healthcare, healthcare organizations must acknowledge the myriad ways through which they can benefit from this discipline.

Predictive analytics in healthcare plays a crucial role in improving operational management including the overall improvement of business operations and the personalization of drug therapies. Request a free brochure of our analytics solutions to learn more about its benefits.

Predictive Analytics in Healthcare: What are the benefits?

1. Improving operational efficiency of business processes

Predictive analytics in healthcare plays an important role in enhancing the efficiency of business processes by scrutinizing patient data sets to determine admission and readmission rates, while also helping businesses to monitor and analyze staff performance in real-time.

Gain limited-time complimentary access to our analytics platform and discover the true potential of predictive analytics in healthcare.

2. Accuracy of diagnosis and treatment through personalized medicine & drug therapies

Predictive analytics in healthcare plays a key role at the individual level by helping healthcare service providers leverage prognostic analytics and big data to find cures for certain unfamiliar diseases. These insights can then be used by healthcare organizations to dynamically adjust their strategies in line with the discoveries and familiarize themselves with new conditions.

Talk to our analytics experts and learn how we can help you harness the true potential of analytics to drive healthcare outcomes.

3. In-depth insights to enhance cohort treatment

Digitization has enabled healthcare service providers to easily access patient data sets to make crucial decisions. Predictive analytics in healthcare includes population studies that use huge volumes of patient data to generate profiles of community and other cohort health patterns to create early interventions that aim to reduce the financial and resource load healthcare organizations.

Want comprehensive insights on the role of predictive analytics in healthcare decision making? Get in touch and learn more about our solutions.

Recent Articles:

About Quantzig

Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on our engagement policies and pricing plans, visit: https://www.quantzig.com/request-for-proposal

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Pros and Cons of Predictive Analytics in Healthcare | Quantzig's Latest Article Offers Expert Insights - Business Wire

Genomind opted to create the focused report in response to the recent UnitedHealthcare (UHC) decision to cover PGx testing for a subset of depression and anxiety patients. Genomind began offering its CORE Anxiety and Depression Report, in conjunction with UHCs coverage initiation for Genominds test for certain patients, on October 1, 2019. Consistent with the format of the full 24-gene report, Genomind will not include medication references on the CORE reports that are available to patients.

Mental healthcare in the U.S. is in crisis, with costs skyrocketing and suicide rates continuing to climb. Genomind remains committed to being part of the solution by providing innovative tools that are supported by literature and recognized by patients, clinicians, and health plans, said Shawn Patrick OBrien, Chief Executive Officer at Genomind. We have worked with UnitedHealthcare to bring our PGx service in line with their policy and laud their decision to support patients and embrace innovative, effective solutions in mental health. We look forward to working with other health plans to make these important tools more accessible to patients who continue to struggle with unmet medical needs in mental health.

In an August 2019 network bulletin, UHC issued a positive coverage decision for the use of multi-gene PGx testing, which uses no more than 15 relevant genes, in patients who have:

In issuing its decision, UHC cited the cost savings demonstrated in several studies examining PGx-guided therapy versus treatment without, including the Perlis et al. study, which used Genominds test. This study demonstrated that, compared to similar patients who did not use PGx-guided treatment, patients using Genominds test demonstrated an estimated $1,948 cost reduction in the first six months, 40% fewer emergency room visits for any reason, and 58% fewer hospitalizations for any cause.i

According to UHCs 2019 annual report, its health plans cover 27 million individuals. Given the estimated $1.4 billion market for depression and anxiety treatment, Genomind believes that many patients will be able to benefit from this policy decision. If the cost and resource savings described in the Perlis et al. study are applied to the patient population with depression and anxiety, we believe that the overall savings to the healthcare system would be in the billions, continued OBrien.

I watched my daughter struggle for years and we had many moments of despair as she spiraled into the depths of anxiety and depression. We wondered if wed ever find treatments for her that would work, said Jennifer Connelly, mother of a patient whose clinician prescribed Genominds PGx test as part of her mental healthcare program. Using Genominds test has been a lifesaving part of my daughters treatment. The information it gave our doctor enabled him to choose a medication more likely to work for her body, which I believe allowed the other pieces like cognitive therapy and wellness habits to take root. I am beyond grateful for Genominds test, which was such a key part of her healing process, and I hope that more patients are able to use this important tool in their mental health journey.

Genominds new CORE Anxiety and Depression Report is the most advanced and comprehensive depression and anxiety-focused service available in the mental health PGx market. It analyzes 15 genes that Genomind selected due to their documented utility in anxiety and depression treatment. As part of the Genomind Professional PGx Express suite of services, it provides 99.9% accuracy and a turnaround time of less than three days from receipt of the patient sample in Genominds lab. UHC patients and physicians receiving the CORE report can also enroll for free in NeuroFlow a digital platform of behavioral health smart phone apps that help the care teams and patients better track compliance with treatment plans and enable remote monitoring and measurement-based care.

Clinicians will still be able to order Genomind Professional PGx Express with the full 24-gene panel, which covers a broader range of mental health conditions, including substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder, upon request.

Clinicians can learn more about Genomind Professional PGx Express and the UHC coverage details at Genomind.com or by contacting Genominds customer service at 877-895-8658 or customerservice@genomind.com.

About Genomind Professional PGx Express (PGx Express)

Genomind Professional PGx Express is the most advanced and comprehensive mental health pharmacogenomic service available, bundling the results of a patients individual genetic profile with a set of services to support the patient and clinician in improving treatment outcomes. With a genetic profile obtained via a safe and painless cheek swab, Genomind offers two versions of its report. The full report analyzes potential variants on 24 pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic genes selected for inclusion based on guidelines from expert consortia and review of hundreds of peer-reviewed studies. Results include genetic information relevant for the treatment of conditions including depression, anxiety, autism, schizophrenia, chronic pain, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse. In addition, Genomind Professional PGx Express offers a CORE Anxiety and Depression Report, which focuses on a subset panel of the 15 genes most relevant to anxiety and depression, and which is currently covered by UnitedHealthcare for certain patients. For both the full and CORE reports, Genomind will provide medication specific results for the clinician report only.

In addition to the genetic profile, PGx Express offers:

About Genomind

Genomind is the leading mental healthcare company, delivering the genetic testing tools that empower clinicians to make more informed treatment decisions and create better outcomes for patients with mental illnesses. As the scientific leader in genetic testing, Genominds flagship offering is Genomind Professional PGx Express the most advanced and comprehensive mental health genetic service available. Supported by a world-class genetics lab and unique consultative approach, Genomind is advancing a new paradigm of personalized medicine in mental health care. Learn more at http://www.genomind.com.

i 1. Perlis R et al. Pharmacogenetic testing among patients with mood and anxiety disorders is associated with decreased utilization and cost: A propensityscore matched study. Depression and Anxiety, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22742

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191008005279/en/

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Genomind Supports New Reimbursement Initiatives and Patient Access to Mental Health Pharmacogenomic Tests with PGx Report Focused on Anxiety and...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Do you have back pains and headaches and cant figure out why? The cause could be as simple as your posture.

CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez says our bodies were meant to be used a certain way to support our weight, but modern devices and workplaces tend to sabotage that design.

In a few weeks, when its time for finals, students at the New York Institute of Technology will get to work. Theyre members of the schools posture patrol.

Its basically something people dont pay attention to a lot of the times, said physical therapy student Philip Hennings.

(Credit: CBS2)

Thats why theyll be handing out brochures to students and faculty.

Just correcting them with their posture and helping them become aware, I realize that it makes such a huge difference and is what we consider preventative medicine, Hennings said.

RELATED STORY: Is Sitting The New Smoking? Doctors Say Long Days And Poor Posture Can Cause Widespread Harm

Whether were sitting at our desks, staring at our devices or just walking around, posture is a big part of our day.

Dr. Mark Gugliotti is an associate professor of physical therapy. He says poor posture can lead to different types of pain.

The neck, the head, the shoulders, the elbow, hips, low back, knees, feet and ankles, the whole body is subject to any sort of postural dysfunctions, he said.

(Credit: CBS2)

Gugliotti and his students demonstrated the right way to sit at a desk. To start, your feet should be flat on the floor.

Im going to lower the chair to a position that helps accentuate a 90-degree angle between the trunk and the hip, as well as a 90-degree angle between the upper leg and the lower leg, he said.

Shoulders and elbows should also be at 90 degrees. Your computer screen should be an arms length away and positioned so your eyes are looking at the top third of the screen without moving your neck up or down.

Then theres what may be the biggest offenders; phones and other mobile devices can impact the back and especially neck.

Having your phone more towards the front of your face would be the best scenario, Gugliotti said.

Dont forget about your posture when youre walking. Keep your back straight, not slumped, and try to pull your belly button in towards the spine.

If left untreated, poor posture can lead to nerve compression in the back of the neck, which can lead to headaches. Poor posture can even impact the lungs of patients with asthma, COPD and emphysema.

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Bad Posture Could Be The Cause Of Your Back Pain & Headaches - CBS New York

Hippocrates conceived one of the most revolutionary health concepts, Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, around 400 BC, yet modern society has yet to capitalize on this concept. The worlds pharmaceutical market, worth $934.8 billion in 2017, is projected to reach a staggering $1170 billion by 2021, while the average American lifespan has decreased over the past few years. This is due, in large part, to a dramatic increase in the early onset and acceleration of chronic diseases that are perpetuated by poor nutrition and lack of exercise, such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers and diabetes.

Nutrition businesses, under soft food regulations, are vested in exploiting our palates with high-carb, high-protein and cheap, unhealthy high-fat products.The consequent surge of chronic diseases has furthered the sick care model of medicine to create a multi-pill-a-day standard of care that has prolonged the sick part of our lives rather than our healthspan, i.e. the healthy part of our lives.

The U.S. healthcare system is at risk of bankruptcy unless we invest in the economic potential of lifestyle improvements, with food as medicine as a top priority. Food is the only product we ingest every day, multiple times a day, so it has the potential to be the most powerful medicine or poison. A nutrition-tech company can use the same research and scientific standards when developing its nutrition programs and/or products that the biotech industry uses.

As a physician and the CEO of a leading nutrition-tech company developing products based on clinical research from the USC Longevity Institute, I believe evidence-based nutrition formulations have the potential to greatly increase our healthspan. Realizing the potential of this emerging industry will require several paradigm shifts for patients, healthcare providers, consumers, corporations, regulatory systems and payers policies. Here a few key considerations.

Food As Powerful Medicine

Recent scientific evidence shows that, at the cornerstone of all major chronic diseases, lie common metabolic factors driven by unhealthy lifestyle factors, specifically nutrition. It is along these lines that some are calling Alzheimers Type 3 Diabetes. One strategy for maintaining optimal health is to eat less, less frequently. Various recent pre-clinical trials are showing how the stress induced to the body by fasting activates the bodys own defense mechanisms against multiple cancers, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

According to the International Food Information Council Foundations annual survey, intermittent fasting (IF) was the U.S.s most popular diet in 2018 and a close runner-up to clean eating in 2019. While intermittent fasting helps improve weight loss and certain metabolic markers, prolonged fasting for several consecutive days is showing additional rejuvenating effects by enhancing the bodys own protective capabilities. Intermittent fasting and diets that can mimic prolonged fasting are becoming new interventions besides pharmaceuticals for doctors and health practitioners to effectively recommend.

Health Care Before Sick Care

Another paradigm shift that supports the proliferation of nutrition-tech is a growing emphasis on true health care instead of sick care. Preventative medicine is cheaper and more effective, while empowering people to assume more responsibility for their own health outcomes. Insurance companies are increasingly incentivizing patient-driven preventative medicine efforts, offering gym membership reimbursement, for example. The U.S. health coach market, worth $6.14 billion in 2017, is projected to reach $7.85 billion by 2022, while a reported 60% of Americans say they want health coaching. A certified health coach could be the nurse of the new healthcare model.

Similarly, the demand for increased nutrition education for medical practitioners reflects a growing consensus that health practitioners should prescribe food as medicine. Indeed, first line therapy for the reversal of prediabetes and early diabetes lies in better nutrition and lifestyle drug therapy could be used thereafter. According to David Eisenberg, an adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, most U.S. medical students currently receive fewer than 25 hours of nutrition education and less than 20% of American medical schools mandate a course in basic nutrition.

Todays physicians have little faith in food as medicine, because the standard food industry has cut corners to sell diets based on taste and profits rather than health value and evidence-based protocols. However, the tide is turning with the burgeoning nutrition-tech industry.

Food Regulation And Payer Policy Reform

A large part of reshaping the way we think about food as medicine lies with the FDA. Currently, the FDA classifies medical foods as intended for people who have a disease or condition that results in a distinctive nutritional need which cannot be met by a diet of regular food, but is met by the medical food. Put simply, a medical food supplements a nutritional lack or deficiency, e.g. a potassium deficiency. The FDA has a great chance to expand this definition to include foods that impact the progression or the treatment of common diseases such as diabetes, cancer and Alzheimers.

However, there is currently no clear pathway for classification of foods to treat or better manage mainstream chronic diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimers and autoimmune diseases. The FDA could relax the interpretation of this definition to include foods that have strong scientific evidence and a degree of novelty with respect to alleviating or reversing mainstream chronic diseases.

Finally, insurance companies, driven by financial pressure, are slowly shifting to embrace reimbursement of certain nutrition plans. This year, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, announced that Medicare Advantage will begin reimbursing some social determinants for health, such as home-delivered meals a milestone step in the right direction for increasing access to nutrition-tech products and creating a predictable, therefore investable, nutrition-tech market. Similar Medicaid policies could encourage the poor to use food stamps for nutritious or fasting-mimicking food products instead of cheap fast food. If this true healthcare model were realized, the benefits to individuals and society could be enormous.

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How Nutrition-Tech Could Save Our Healthcare System And Billions Of Lives Around The World - Forbes

RENSSELAER For the second year, the Jasper and Newton County Extension offices have joined to bring information and wellness testing to the Jasper County Fairgrounds for the elderly population of both counties. The senior expo, on Oct. 9, brought a variety of senior living residences, medicine and other agencies together for seniors to browse, gather some freebies and learn about the choices they have as they grow into their golden years, and all of it was free.

Franciscan Health Rensselaer brought nurses offering free screenings in bone density, cholesterol and glucose testing as well as Medicare information. Tim Ventrello, an RN who runs the Heartland Vascular Screening program for Franciscan Health was there to tell seniors about the new testing program and to discuss the hospitals new 3D mammography machine, making it easier for radiologists to see more clearly what is inside a breast and the ability to find something unusual that may not have been seen by regular mammography.

The machine gauges the persons body type and adjusts itself to each individuals body, making it more comfortable for the patient.

The new screening programs offer different heart, lung and vascular screenings for a flat fee without going through insurance or the need to have a doctors referral. A heart risk assessment is included in each screening. The screenings are by appointment and the office is open Monday and Thursday, 7 a.m. to noon, but appointments can be made outside of those hours for patients convenience.

Ventrello said the screenings are meant for young healthy people to find where they are in their health and to follow up each year as a wellness check rather than waiting for something to happen as they age. It is preventative medicine, he said.

Sherri Van Buren discusses information and Medicare options for seniors on Medicare health insurance in Rensselaer, Lafayette and Crawfordsville. She was on-hand Wednesday morning to help any seniors who stopped to talk about their healthcare coverage.

Josephine Mikuly, of DeMotte, said she came to the expo last year and enjoyed the information she received and was happy to return again this year. Ive gotten good information, she said.

The new senior living facility in Rensselaer, Autumn Trace, had representatives available to talk about their facility. It is three/quarters full and they receive inquiries daily regarding availability, Kristi Ritter said.

There was also a table for Parkview Haven in Francesville, the Rensselaer Care Center, Oak Grove Christian Retirement Village in DeMotte and George Ade Memorial Health Care in Brook. Ashland Place Senior Apartments in Goodland was also there to discuss its independent living apartments with the visitors.

Birthright of Rensselaer was there looking for senior volunteers to help answer the phone and do other volunteer work. Brook Library and the Jasper County Library had large print books to give away as well as information on services the libraries have to offer. Both community services from the two counties gave seniors information on the services they offer seniors as well.

Walgreens was offering free flu shots and pneumonia shots to the seniors as well.

Although attendance was down from last year, the expo went well, and those who went were glad they did.

Northwest Indiana Community Action promoted a free Living Healthy workshop that began on Thursday, Oct. 10 and continues each Thursday through Nov. 14, at 3:30 p.m. at the Community Church in Roselawn. The address is 10498 N 450 E, DeMotte/Roselawn. Seniors will need to register for the program by calling 800-826-7871, ext. 2203.

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Senior Expo provides information and wellness testing for Newton and Jasper - Newsbug.info

UNC School of Medicine researcher Rob Tarran, PhD, led a review of all published scientific literature on the effects of e-cigarette use on the respiratory system. The team of four authors strongly recommend tighter regulation of e-cigarette products.

Rob Tarran, PhD

Four scientists from four leading universities in the United States conducted a comprehensive review of all e-cigarette/vaping peer-reviewed scientific papers that pertain to the lungs and published their findings Sept. 30, 2019, in the British Medical Journal.

Corresponding author Rob Tarran, PhD, professor of cell biology and physiology and member of the UNC Marsico Lung Institute, said, Studies show measurable adverse biologic effects on lung health and cells in humans, in animals, and in tissue samples studied in the lab. The effects of e-cigarettes have similarities to those seen in traditional cigarettes and important differences.

Doctors know that the development of chronic, life-threatening diseases related to cigarette smoking, such as lung cancer and emphysema, take decades to develop. Also, it took decades to scientifically prove that smoking cigarettes caused cancer. Vaping has been popular for about 10 years. Scientists have been studying the effects of e-cigarettes for about five years. What theyve found suggests that vaping is not without effects. It is not safe.

The scientific communitys current knowledge is insufficient to determine whether the respiratory health effects of e-cigarettes are less than the now obvious health effects of combustible tobacco products, said Tarran, who is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The other authors of the BMJ paper are Jeffrey Gotts, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, Sven-Eric Jordt, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology at Duke University with an adjunct appointment at Yale University, and Rob McConnell, MD, professor of preventative medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Gotts is a pulmonologist/intensive care clinician, Jordt is a toxicologist, McConnell is an epidemiologist, and Tarran is a cell biologist and physiologist.

The paper can be read in full. Below are a number of their key findings:

A number of epidemiological studies showed increased respiratory symptoms in adolescent vapers, such as increased bronchitis-like symptoms, increased asthma, shortness of breath, etc.

The researchers found a number of studies that showed effects of vaping on the whole lung, including possible lung damage (such as damage to the lungs blood supply), and identified case reports from around the world indicating lipoid pneumonia that is similar to what is seen with the current epidemic in the United States.

The researchers reported on a number of animal studies which typically found increased risk of lung damage and immunosuppression, such as increased susceptibility to bacterial or viral infections.

We also evaluated the effects of vaping on cells in the laboratory (in vitro studies), Tarran said. Most studies found that e-liquid exposure to pulmonary cells had effects including general cytotoxicity and impaired specialized functions, such as secretion and phagocytosis, which are important for proper lung function.

The researchers reviewed the possible health effects of e-liquid constituents including nicotine, propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin, and flavors. All have been shown to have adverse effects in animal and lab based studies at some concentrations. However, given the range of vaping behaviors in the real world, it is impossible to know the exact concentrations vapers are exposed to over any given timeframe.

Interestingly, when we looked at all the published papers on primary pulmonary cells straight from the lungs of people to the lab the only reports that did not see an effect of vaping on these cells were studies funded by the tobacco industry, Tarran said.

The researchers also provided recommendations for clinicians and for future regulation of e-cigarettes. For heavy smokers, e-cigarettes should be prescribed cautiously as a smoking alternative, and should only be recommended as a cessation devise along with counseling and other therapies to help quit nicotine-product use permanently.

We recommend that vape products be regulated more stringently along the lines of pharmaceutical products that go through a well-defined series of pre-clinical and human studies before they are released on the market, Tarran said.

The researchers also highlighted the challenges facing researchers in the field and provided recommendations for future research, such as the need to research the potential detrimental effects of vaping on adolescent lung development.

Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

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Researchers publish comprehensive review on respiratory effects of vaping - Taylorsville Times

California's largest inland lake, the Salton Sea, lies in the Imperial and Coachella valleys. The lake, which is more than 50 percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean, is becoming more salt than water because it's essentially evaporating. The lake and the area that surrounds it once hotspots for tourism and wildlife have essentially become ghost towns.

But while people no longer visit, the lake's evaporation still has consequences for both humans and animals. Rates of asthma there are disproportionately high and are thought to be caused by dust blown up from the dry lakebed. Meanwhile fish populations are plummeting as are populations of migratory birds. So, what is happening at the Salton Sea and is anything being done about it?

First, a little backstory. The Salton Sea has existed in many forms over millennia, depending on changing flows of water from the nearby Colorado River. It's located in the Salton Basin near the Mexican border, and geologic evidence shows it has alternated between mostly freshwater, mostly saltwater and nearly dry.

The sea was in a dry phase when in 1905, the Colorado River overflowed, and, due to human error, breached its levees, flooding the desert valley for two years. This created the 400-square-mile (1,036-square-kilometer) inland lake, which was larger than Lake Tahoe.

In the 1920s, locals decided to divert agricultural irrigation runoff to the lake, which kept it alive longer than it probably would have on its own, given it's located in a desert where temperatures frequently soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).

This accidental lake turned out to be a boon for wildlife, though. Birds flocked to the area and fish seemed to thrive there, as well. In 1930, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created the Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge to protect the ducks, geese and shore birds attracted to the lake. Since its establishment, millions of birds, including 400 different species, have been spotted along the shores.

The area continued to thrive in the 1940s and '50s. Tourism grew, and developers branded it the "Salton Riviera," building hotels, homes and yacht clubs. Salton Sea State Park opened in 1955, then the second largest state park in California. The California Department of Fish and Game bred saltwater fish in the lake and they flourished and fed large populations of migratory birds.

But this desert paradise's days were numbered and by the 1970s, the "Salton Riviera" was headed for trouble.

Because of the lake's desert location, it has never gotten much precipitation. Plus, most of the surrounding activity was agricultural, so the lake experienced high levels of pesticide and fertilizer runoff. And because the lake has no outlet, the poisoned water had nowhere to go.

This caused a process called eutrophication, which results in increased algae and bacteria known as dead zones. This perfect storm of conditions caused the lake to become saltier. The high salinity, along with the eutrophication, caused massive fish die-offs.

By the 1990s, the shores of lake were littered with dead fish. And 150,000 eared grebes (small waterbirds) died on the Salton Sea between December 1991 and April 1992. Another 20,000 died in 1994. By 1996, type C avian botulism killed more than 10,000 white and brown pelicans and nearly 10,000 other fish-eating birds. More than 1,000 endangered brown pelicans died in the largest reported die-off of an endangered species. Eight million tilapia died in one day in the summer of 1999.

But back at the Salton Sea, tourism dropped off. The lake level dropped, too, due in part to evaporation and in part, ironically, to a reduction in the same agricultural runoff that had caused so many problems in the first place.

Then in 2003, things became even more dire. Southern California's water districts finally sign off on the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) that had been in negotiation for years. It called for a large portion of the Colorado River water that had gone to the Imperial Valley for farming irrigation to be redirected to urban areas in the Coachella Valley and San Diego for residential use.

To make up for that water loss, the agreement designated a water restoration plan for the Salton Sea for 15 years. It also paid farmers in the Imperial Valley to leave some of their land fallow and so the water they would have used for agriculture would go the Salton Sea instead. But that deal ran out in Dec. 31, 2017, so the lake continued to dry up.

But even before the QSA deal expired, the Salton Sea ran into problems. In 2012, a sulfurous smell wafted across hundreds of miles of Southern California. The odor turned out to be from the lake's rotting fish carcasses. In addition, the dried-up lake bed left large swaths of dirt that was once covered by water exposed like a massive beach.

"That [exposed dirt] has the potential to be moved by wind and increase the amount of dust that's in the air," says Jill Johnston, Ph.D., an assistant professor of preventative medicine at the University of Southern California. "This dust can get in your lungs and adversely affect respiratory health, cardiovascular health and cause learning issues."

Johnston is currently working on a long-term research project, "The Salton Sea and Children's Health: Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment," with partner Shohreh Farzan, Ph.D. The project follows elementary school children near the Salton Sea to look at changes in their respiratory health because of exposure to particulate matter.

There has already been evidence of high rates of asthma is the area. Still, correlation is not causation, which is why Johnston's study is so important. "The aim is trying to answer the question if Salton Sea dust is impacting the health of the community," she says.

Over the years, there have been several remediation proposals that promised to deal with the problems at the Salton Sea. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times from March 2019 blames the government's lack of urgency, at least in part, on the lake's location: It's far away from the urban centers that policymakers in the state tend to focus on. In addition, it is close to the Mexican border and smack dab on the southern tip of the San Andreas Fault.

But there have been even more promises made and promises broken. Congress passed the Salton Sea Reclamation Act directing the Secretary of Interior to prepare a feasibility study and submit it to Congress by Jan. 1, 2000. It never did. In 2003, then-governor Gray Davis signed the Salton Sea Restoration Act and Salton Sea Restoration Fund. But neither was funded.

Later in 2007, Sen. Barbara Boxer authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to spend up to $30 million on Salton Sea projects. But money was never appropriated until 2015, when the Obama administration included a measly $200,000 for yet another study.

By 2008, California's Legislative Analyst's Office refused to endorse the $8.9-billion Salton Sea plan prepared and released by the state in 2007. Later in 2008, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill meant to accelerate the distribution of money for Salton Sea restoration. But ultimately the $8.9-billion plan failed, too.

It wasn't until January 2016 that the California legislature approved $80 million for the Salton Sea the state's largest-ever allocation. And in February the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it would increase its annual spending from $300,000 to $3 million. These announcements both came on the heels of California's Little Hoover Commission report, which urged state officials to "take immediate action on the Salton Sea" because of it was a "public health catastrophe."

But this money is just a drop in the bucket. California has since released another 10-year Salton Sea plan, which it expects will cost at least $383 million. The state is no longer focused on restoring the Salton Sea. It's too late for that. The plan now is to mitigate damage to the habitat and the people, birds and other animals living near and around it. But that will only happen if the plan is fully funded. And if the past is any indicator of the future, what's to become of the Salton Sea doesn't look so bright.

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How the Salton Sea Became an Eco Wasteland - HowStuffWorks

On Friday afternoon, multiple Rowan clubs, departments, sports teams and others in the Rowan community convened at the Intramural Field to hold the inaugural Fitness Festival in support of ALS awareness, as well as to promote fitness as part of a healthy life.

The event was also held to commemorate the life of Dr. Theresa Cone, a former Rowan Health and Exercise Science professor, who was battling ALS.

Cone passed away Sept. 27 but had planned on attending the event. Her family, including her husband (Dr. Stephen Cone, who is also a former Rowan professor), her mother and a few more of her relatives attended the event.

The Fitness Festival consisted of stations for participants to do various exercises, such as throwing medicine balls, pushing sleds and doing push-ups.

All equipment was provided by Appenzeller Training Systems, a gym located in West Berlin and owned by Rowan alumnus CJ Appenzeller. Appenzeller facilitated the opening warm-up for participants.

The festival had a high turnout of Rowan sports teams, faculty, alumni and others in the Rowan community.

The goal of the fitness part of the event was to show people that exercising is essential to being healthy, as well as something that can be fun instead of doing boring timeworn exercises like going on a treadmill or lifting weights.

William Samalonis, a sophomore human performance in clinical settings major and the president of Exercise is Medicine, spearheaded the planning of the event and emphasized the role of exercise in our lives.

The overall goal of this event, for Exercise is Medicine, is to get people excited to get active and healthy, Samalonis said. Exercise is the best preventative medicine out there; it prevents pretty much everything you can think of on the chronic spectrum of disease.

On the other hand, the event sought to raise awareness for ALS.

Also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, ALS is a disease that attacks motor neurons. Neurons control muscle movement, and as the disease progresses, those who suffer from it are unable to move their bodies.

As of now, there isnt a cure for ALS. However, the event helped to fund research to find a cure by donating 50% of the proceeds to the ALS Association, as well as helped raise awareness for the disease.

One of the participants, Claire McKissick, attended as part of a bonding activity for the swimming and diving team. Though she had become aware of the disease originally through the Ice Bucket Challenge that overtook the internet five years ago, McKissick heightened her awareness by attending the festival.

I think this definitely helps [bring awareness] because I think a lot of the attention has kind of died down a little bit with the challenge, but I think this is a really great way of reminding people that its still an issue, its still out there and its still something that we can come together and help fix, said McKissick, a senior Radio, Television and Film major.

Dr. Theresa Cone dedicated most of her life to teaching health and physical education, both in public schools and at Rowan. She focused much of her attention on promoting funding for those with disabilities.

Cone had an immense impact on those with whom she came into contact.

Dr. Gregory Biren, a health and exercise science professor and coordinator of exercise science at Rowan, was one of those people.

[She was] energetic beyond belief, compassionate beyond beliefshes the greatest teacher Ive ever met in my life, Biren said. She looks at you, she talks to you, shes patient with you, and she just has nothing but goodness to give to people to help them overcome their issues.

In light of his wifes passing, Dr. Stephen Cone had a few words to say as a reminder to everyone at the event.

Its a little sappy, he said, but Im going to say it: Love those who are close to you, bring those who are further away from you close to you. Dont waste a day; dont waste a moment.

For comments/questions about this story, emailfeatures@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.

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Rowan community hosts first annual Fitness Festival to promote fitness and ALS awareness - The Whit Online

Medical device manufacturers can now supply patients with devices that are tailored specifically to their physiology. As the nature of patient care evolves, so do global regulations governing the manufacture and supply chain for these personalized medical devices. These devices require more consistent monitoring and service and thus demand greater traceability. In the current complex environment, medical device organizations are turning to cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to enable them to better manage their devices. The ability to maintain visibility at a global scale requires a solution that has the capacity to reach across oceans and borders while maintaining compliance. Medical device manufacturers require ERP solutions that can analyze vast volumes of data that can be used to enhance the patient experience and the quality of treatment. Cloud-based ERP gives medical device manufacturers the software and the tools they need to effectively manage personalized patient devices.

ERP solutions have evolved from being installed on-premise at a manufacturers facility to living in the cloud in order to adapt and solve the challenges posed by distance. Organizations operate on a global scale, and as their footprint expands throughout the world, so do the regulatory and compliance complexities governing their operations in various regions. Cloud-based ERP has enabled medical device manufacturers to develop more agile and responsive solutions that allow their organization to keep up with the changing nature of the industry. Regional governing bodies, like FDA, Health Canada, and European Medicines Agency, modify regional regulations and compliance expectations regularly. Recent regulation changes, such as the transition from the Medical Device Directives (MDD) and Active Implantable Medical Device Directive (AIMDD) to the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), have a direct impact on medical device management. The introduction of Unique Device Identification (UDI) allows for increased traceability of medical devices. In order for medical device manufacturers to continue operations globally, they must comply with regional requirements in each of the countries in which they operate. The cloud has allowed medtech companies to shed the one-size-fits-all approach that previously hindered the effectiveness of their ERP solutions.

Medical device manufacturers are finding that one of the most beneficial aspects of cloud-based ERP comes from the ease of gathering and sharing data and the improved decision making enabled through better analysis. Organizations can eliminate constraints posed by traditional on-premise solutions enabling businesses to operate in a more real-time capacity.

ERP solutions are feature-rich now more than ever and continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of the industry. The use of advanced technology in conjunction with an organizations ERP solution critically impacts the relationship between the manufacturing organization and its customers. ERP companies are investigating how they can utilize IoT, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), data lakes, and blockchain to enhance how their cloud software can improve patient outcomes.

Of these, Internet of Things (IoT) has been a primary focus for medical device manufacturers. Many medical devices are now paired with sensor technology to deliver real-time monitoring and transmission of patient information. This has allowed healthcare providers and medical device manufacturers to partner closely in providing thorough treatment to their patients across the globe. Traceability of the device gives the healthcare provider and manufacturer the opportunity to continuously and strategically monitor their devices. Manufacturers can trace a device to a particular customer and in turn analyze this patient information throughout the life span of the device to develop a comprehensive picture of the patients care. These sensors can signal when the device is malfunctioning and give the care provider an opportunity to respond quickly to preserve patient care. An ERP solution can record these malfunctions, adjustments, and repair as part of the complaint, non-conformance, and Corrective and Preventative Action (CAPA) process allowing the manufacturer to retain a comprehensive real-time Device History Record (DHR). The medical device manufacturer can gather significant data from a substantial sample of patients and analyze this data to advance R&D and develop more reliable products and treatments.

For instance, medical devices like the pacemaker can be uniquely configured to the patient and their physiology to help control the rate at which the patients heartbeats. These pacemakers have become so sophisticated that healthcare providers can now monitor and make real-time adjustments to a device inside a patients body. They monitor the patients heartbeat and relay the information, which allows the healthcare provider to develop a comprehensive healthcare plan. Patient mobility is no longer constrained, and cloud-based ERP allows real-time data to be gathered and analyzed regardless of the devices location.

Medical device management has moved beyond the confines of the walls of the hospital or doctors office. The search for improved patient outcomes has led to the emergence of personalized medicine. The strict tracking of critical device and patient information has become integral to achieving more efficient and effective care. The maturity of cloud-based ERP, through the integration of advanced technology and improved data gathering and analysis, has helped to facilitate a boom in patient-centric care.

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Medical Device Management in the World of Personalized Medicine - Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry

If your doctor told you she was going to give you a pill camera to swallow so she could see inside your intestines, would you be afraid? Already by 2008 pill cameras had been used in more than two million procedures since they were approved by the FDA in 2001, and they are becoming more common every day. When faced with the choice between a scope and swallowing a tiny pill, which sounds like a more pleasant experience? Nanotechnology in medicine is making procedures that once required anesthesia and hospital stays as simple as swallowing a pill. So whats next for nanotechnology in medicine?

Wound care is probably one of the most interesting advancements in the world of nanotechnology. There are bandages that can detect infection and dispense antibiotics right to the point of infection, both preventing the overuse of antibiotics as a preventative measure and also ensuring patients dont need constant monitoring during the healing process.

Nanotechnology can also be used to track the dosing and compliance of medications, ensuring patients who are already feeling poorly can get their medications at the right doses at the right times without forgetting whether they took it or not. Treatment non-adherence costs $290 billion in the United States from subsequent medical issues, and smart pills can help to curb those costs.

There are a wide variety of smart pills that solve a multitude of problems in a minimally invasive way, from clearing blockages to testing the gut microbiome. The question now is when will these technologies become affordable enough to be used en masse? There are also ethical concerns with certain types of technology being able to track patients or leading to vulnerabilities from hackers. Whats more, some tracking devices can enhance and confirm feelings of persecution from patients with certain types of mental health disorders.

Are you ready for the world of minimally invasive nanotechnology in medicine? Learn more about the future of nanotechnology in medicine below!

Last Updated on October 11, 2019

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Infographic: Is nanotechnology the future of medicine? - Techaeris

Riverton athletic trainer Ross Anderson met with the Worland coaches before their game on Sept. 27 to see which Warrior players had any special interests or medical histories. Thats part of his job since Worland is currently without a dedicated athletic trainer. Both sidelines have their own policies, some overlapping, when dealing with potential injuries. So they discussed those policies, knowing theyre not often implemented.

Both teams discovered policy importance and the importance of medical professionals that night.

When a Worland player was unresponsive after going to the turf, his sideline quickly signaled to the official and the referees signaled to Anderson, who came onto the field. He helped stabilize the Worland player and performed CPR on the field. The ambulance came on and the player was transported for further medical attention.

That was just one instance of a high school athlete in Wyoming undergoing a frightening medical episode. As possible head injuries across sports but especially in football continue to occur, Wyoming high schools have faced the reality of seeing those policies put into practice.

Riverton knew the value in having a dedicated medical professional, thats why they brought in Anderson. Anderson instructs CPR classes. He says regardless of that, his response came from his time at the University of Wyoming being taught by Bill Lyons, the universitys former head athletic trainer.

Its a standard of care. Any medical professional would have reacted in the same exact way and the more that we can, in our state, get athletic trainers and physicians on sidelines, the more that will help, Anderson said. When you get there you evaluate the situation as much as possible and keep a clear head as much as you can. You wonder how youll handle the situation each time but you kind of just react on training.

Anderson enacts policy set forth by Fremont County School District No. 25. They looked at the national recommendations made by the National Federation of High Schools and enacted policies adopted by the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

Communication has proven to be the key, for them, because coaches and parents alike stress the importance of athletes being forthright with possible symptoms. Riverton uses a 1-10 grade system and has literature available that instructs parents on what symptoms to watch for at each level.

With the evaluation all the way through, it helps everybody being on the same page, Anderson said. Everyone understands what we need to do.

***

Communication also proved critical in Rock Springs back in August. While Sweetwater County School District No. 1 refused to share results of its investigation into the injury that led to sophomore Jaciel Granados being life flighted to Salt Lake City, a district spokesperson did say that their results would not result in any changes to district policy when dealing with potential head injuries.

Rock Springs activities director Tom Jassman couldnt share many details with the Star-Tribune, but did stress his confidence in how the injury was handled. He was absolutely satisfied by the proactive measures taken by coaches, who pulled Granados out of a scrimmage before summoning emergency medical treatment.

Jassman stressed the key of communication when addressing potential player injury. Not only is their policy set forth by district personnel, but the communication loop keeps district officials involved. That adds the potential for more resources than limiting response between player, coach, parent and medical professional.

All Class 4A teams, like Rock Springs, and most Class 3A teams at this point, like Riverton, have designated medical professionals on-hand. Rock Springs goes through a priority checklist to ensure its athletic trainer, Jami Wiseman, is at the event where shes the most irreplaceable.

Schools below that 3A level can also attest to the importance of medical professionals, while also representing communities that dont necessarily have them readily available.

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Moorcroft, for instances, contracts a designated professional through Gillette Physical Therapy. Activities director Dusty Petz has already found benefits of that agreement, now in its fifth year. Together theyve implemented a Return to Play protocol. That starts with the universal impact testing done on each athlete in the preseason, which has become the baseline for nearly every program nationally. Then, when a possible concussion occurs, Moorcroft conducts another impact test within 24 hours of that impact, taking the player out of action if a concussion is diagnosed. All of that is essentially ordinary among programs state-wide, but its importance cannot be overstated.

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How Wyoming high schools have enacted on head injury policy - Casper Star-Tribune Online

While trauma, divorce and bereavement can send anyone into a downward spiral of depression, there are some surprising, everyday, factors that also heighten our risk for mental illness.

A leading pharmaceutical firm concerned about SAs high use of antidepressant medication has launched an education campaign to shed light on the ordinary, often unsuspecting things that could have an impact on the publics mental well-being.

Abdurahman Kenny, Central Nervous System Portfolio Manager at Pharma Dynamics says the growing incidence of depression and anxiety worldwide implies that there are other factors too that make modern-day society more vulnerable to mental illness.

Research shows that spending too much time indoors, being stuck in traffic, heavy social media use, lack of movement and even slouching could all be triggers, he says.

According to research done by Harvards Medical School, staying cooped up indoors is not only bad for our physical health, but mental health too. These days most of us spend the majority of our days inside denying our bodies of much-needed vitamin D, which may provide some protection against depression.

Kenny says exposure to sunlight increases the brains production of serotonin a hormone associated with an elevated mood. By just spending 10 to 15 minutes outside with our arms and legs exposed to the sun (without sunscreen), is enough for our bodies to produce the required amount of vitamin D.

READ:SADAG urges men to seek mental health treatment

Our indoor lifestyle has led to more than a billion people across the glove being Vitamin D deficient even in the sunnier parts of the world, such as Australia, more than a third are deficient. Evidence shows that a lack of vitamin D increases the likelihood of depression by up to 14% and suicide by 50%, so be sure to make safe sun exposure either in the morning or late afternoons a habit, he remarks.

Life satisfaction and happiness also takes a dip among those who have to suffer through long commutes to work and back. A report by the UKs National Office of Statistics showed that people who commute for longer than half an hour to work each way (regardless of the mode of transport) have greater levels of stress and anxiety.

Kenny says the average South African spends almost three hours a day in traffic, which doesnt do our mood any good. He suggests speaking to employers about working flexi-hours or from home if the type of job you do allows for this arrangement. Alternatively, put on your favourite tunes or listen to motivational or interesting podcasts to keep you positive.

Heavy social media use equal to two or more hours a day has also been associated with poor mental health. Researchers from Ottawa Public Health found that those who spend more than two hours a day on social networking sites are more likely to suffer from psychological distress and suicidal thoughts than those who spend less time online.

READ:4 ways walking can boost your mental health

Based on the latest Global Digital Yearbook published by 'We Are Social' and 'Hootsuite', South Africans already spend almost three hours a day trawling Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms about half an hour more than the average global user which can take a toll on our mental well-being.

While social media isnt all bad, its important to set boundaries, as too much time on networking sites can have damaging consequences. Commit to not checking social media at meal times and when spending time with family and friends. Also, schedule regular breaks from social media. Studies have shown that week-long breaks from Facebook can lower your stress levels and lead to higher life satisfaction. Review your social media habits and instead of spending an exhaustive 30 to 45 minutes at a time on social media, rather limit it to five minutes in the morning, afternoon and early evening.

Sitting too long also makes us anxious! According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine which tracked almost 9 000 women over a ten-year period. Researchers grouped them based on how much time they spent sitting each day (four or less hours a day or four to seven hours a day, or more than seven hours a day). Researchers found that those who were sedentary for more than seven hours a day were 47% more at risk of developing depression than those who sat for four or fewer hours a day. Women who didnt exercise at all, were 99% at risk of depressive symptoms, compared with those who exercised regularly.

Kenny says its no wonder that depression rates are on the increase when one considers that almost 40% of SA adults (men and women) are inactive based on the latest WHO statistics. Make a point of including exercise into your daily routine. Find something that you enjoy and stick to it. Exercise has shown to improve mood and forms part of a holistic treatment regime to help prevent the onset of depression.

Surprisingly, a bad posture and slouching in ones chair have also been linked to an increase in depressive symptoms.

San Francisco State University found that those who slouched felt more negative about themselves and had lower energy levels. Kenny points out that the way we sit or stand not only has an emotional effect on ourselves, but also on the way others view and treat us. So next time, pay special attention to how you sit and take notice of how you feel and how others treat you.

He also encourages the public to follow a healthy, balanced diet, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol intake, spending quality time with friends and family, and making time for hobbies and interests, which all contribute to a healthy mental outlook.

In the past decade, depression rates have risen by nearly 20%, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are affected and at its worst, could lead to suicide. In South Africa, an estimated 20% will experience a depressive disorder at least once in their lifetime.

This message comes in the wake of Mental Health Awareness Month this October and aims to curb climbing depression rates in the country.

If you have felt unusually down and depressed for a prolonged period and dont know who to turn to, contact Pharma Dynamics toll-free helpline on 0800 205 026, which is manned by trained counsellors who are on call from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. For additional support, visit http://www.letstalkmh.co.za.

READ:Dont ignore mental health problem warning signs

Article source:Meropa Communications on behalf of Pharma Dynamics

Image courtesy of iStock/Srdjanns74

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Shocking every day factors that can cause mental illness - East Coast Radio

Photo by Alec Douglas on Unsplash.

While trauma, divorce and bereavement can send anyone into a downward spiral of depression, there are some surprising everyday factors that also heighten the risk for mental illness.

A pharmaceutical firm, concerned about SAs high use of antidepressant medication, has launched an education campaign to shed light on the ordinary, often unsuspecting things that could have an impact on the publics mental well-being.

Abdurahman Kenny, central nervous system portfolio manager at Pharma Dynamics, stated that the growing incidence of depression and anxiety worldwide implies that there are other factors too that make modern-day society more vulnerable to mental illness.

Research shows that spending too much time indoors, being stuck in traffic, heavy social media use, lack of movement and even slouching could all be triggers, he explained.

According to research done by Harvards Medical School, staying cooped up indoors is not only bad for our physical health, but mental health too.

These days most of us spend the majority of our days inside denying our bodies of much-needed vitamin D, which may provide some protection against depression. Exposure to sunlight increases the brains production of serotonin- a hormone associated with an elevated mood. By just spending 10 to 15 minutes outside with our arms and legs exposed to the sun (without sunscreen), is enough for our bodies to produce the required amount of vitamin D, he shared.

An indoor lifestyle has led to more than a billion people across the glove being vitamin D deficient- even in the sunnier parts of the world, such as Australia, more than a third are deficient.

Evidence shows that a lack of vitamin D increases the likelihood of depression by up to 14 percent and suicide by 50 percent, so be sure to make safe sun exposure either in the morning or late afternoons a habit.

Life satisfaction and happiness also takes a dip among those who have to suffer through long commutes to work and back.

A report by the UKs National Office of Statistics showed that people, who commute for longer than half an hour to work each day(regardless of the mode of transport), have greater levels of stress and anxiety.

Kenny said the average South African spends almost three hours a day in traffic, which doesnt do moods any good.

He suggested speaking to employers about working flexi-hours or from home if the type of job you do allows for this arrangement.

Alternatively, put on your favourite tunes or listen to motivational or interesting podcasts to keep you positive, he advised.

Heavy social media use, equal to two or more hours a day, has also been associated with poor mental health.

While social media isnt all bad, its important to set boundaries, as too much time on networking sites can have damaging consequences. Commit to not checking social media at meal times and when spending time with family and friends. Also schedule regular breaks from social media, he added.

Sitting too long also makes you anxious! According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine which tracked almost 9, 000 women over a 10-year period.

Researchers grouped them based on how much time they spent sitting each day (four or less hours a day or four to seven hours a day, or more than seven hours a day). Researchers found that those, who were sedentary for more than seven hours a day, were 47 percent more at risk of developing depression than those who sat for four or fewer hours a day.

Women, who didnt exercise at all, were 99 percent at risk of depressive symptoms, compared with those, who exercised regularly.

Kenny explained that its no wonder that depression rates are on the increase when one considers that almost 40 percent of SA adults (men and women) are inactive based on the latest WHO statistics.

Make a point of including exercise into your daily routine. Find something that you enjoy and stick to it. Exercise has shown to improve mood and forms part of a holistic treatment regime to help prevent the onset of depression, he suggested.

Surprisingly, a bad posture and slouching in ones chair have also been linked to an increase in depressive symptoms.

So next time, pay special attention to how you sit and take notice of how you feel and how others treat you, he stated.

He also encouraged the public to follow a healthy, balanced diet, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol intake, spending quality time with friends and family, and making time for hobbies and interests, which all contribute to a healthy mental outlook.

In the past decade, depression rates have risen by nearly 20 percent, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are affected and at its worst, could lead to suicide. In South Africa, an estimated 20 percent will experience a depressive disorder at least once in their lifetime.

This message comes in the wake of Mental Health Awareness Month this October and aims to curb climbing depression rates in the country.

Read the original here:
Surprising 'everyday' factors that affect mental health - Rising Sun Chatsworth

Incidence of vincristine-induced neuropathy does not appear to be associated with nutritional deficiencies, according to research published in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.

Vincristine, a vinca alkaloid chemotherapy drug, is commonly used in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) but can lead to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, an important dose-limiting toxicity. However, little research has been conducted in patients with possible concomitant nutritional deficiencies.

Therefore, researchers conducted a prospective observational study over a period of 2 years at a childrens hospital in India. They evaluated 30 children with newly diagnosed ALL, 28 (93.3%) of whom had B-cell ALL and 2 (6.7%) of whom had T-cell ALL. Vitamin B12, folate, and serum ferritin levels were measured for all patients.

Over 4 weeks of observation, clinical peripheral neuropathy developed in 12 patients. Autonomic nervous system involvement was the most common, but involvement of the sensory and motor systems occurred as well. Electrophysiologic testing found that 15 patients (50%) had neuropathy.

Undernutrition, defined using criteria from the World Health Organization, was identified in 14 patients (46.7%). No difference was found in incidence of vincristine-induced neuropathy between patients with undernutrition (7 patients) and patients without undernutrition (8 patients). Additionally, the researchers found no correlation between presence of undernutrition and development of neuropathy (P =1.0). Levels of vitamin B12, folate, and serum ferritin were similar in children with and without neuropathy.

The researchers concluded that although optimal nerve function is dependent on a constant supply of macronutrients and micronutrients, nutritional deficiencies may not influence development of neuropathy in Indian children with ALL. However, they acknowledged that their study had some limitations, such as the inability to measure expression of CYP3A5 (an enzyme responsible for vincristine metabolism) and serum albumin and the use of ferritin to assess iron deficiency. They noted that further research is warranted to evaluate the role of micronutrient deficiencies in the development of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy in childhood ALL.

Reference

Dudeja S, Gupta S, Sharma S, et al. Incidence of vincristine induced neurotoxicity in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its correlation with nutritional deficiencies [published online September 13, 2019]. Pediatr Hematol Oncol.

This article originally appeared on Hematology Advisor

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No Link Between Nutritional Deficiencies, Vincristine-Induced Neuropathy in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Cancer Therapy Advisor

SAN FRANCISCO Aspirin does not appear to reduce the risk of nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy development in men, according to data presented at the 2019 American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Using multivariate Cox regression models, the researchers sought to determine the relationship between certain factors (ie, age, race, BMI, diabetes, smoking status, Charlson comorbidity index, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease; aspirin, statin, warfarin, clopidogrel, sildenafil use) and a new diagnosis of nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy using data from the California Mens Health Study.

Results showed that among 45,281 participants who completed surveys between 2002 and 2006, 130 individuals developed nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy between 2002 and 2015. Factors that were associated with a new diagnosis of nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy included age (>60 years; hazard ratio [HR] 3.74; 95% CI 1.50 to 9.31) and long-term use of aspirin (HR 1.68; 95% CI 1.09 to 2.61).

Aspirin did not protect against a first episode of [nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy], the researchers concluded, adding that Aspirin users had a higher incidence of [nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy], most likely due to unaccounted-for confounders.

Reference

Modjtahedi, B S, et al. The Relationship Between Aspirin Use and NAION in Men. Poster number: PO252. The American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting; October 12-15 2019.

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Does Aspirin Protect Against Nonarteritic Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Development in Men? - Monthly Prescribing Reference

Declines in global health status and quality of life, physical functioning, fatigue, and pain begin to appear 2 to 3 months before progression of the underlying malignant disease, multiple myeloma researchers said in a new study.

Whereas previous studies have focused on response rate, the quality of the response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS), increased attention is being paid to QOL issues, as patients live longer and there is a greater emphasis placed on shared decision making and a greater focus being placed on QOL data, noted the authors.

This median age of the 90 patients with relapsed/refractory MM in this study was 67 years; 41% were stage I, 33% were stage II, and 26% were stage III.

Researchers found significant impairment in health-related QOL, physical, role, and social functioning and several other dimensions, as well as more pain and fatigue, compared with the general population. Induction therapy resulted in significant improvement of pain and worsening of neuropathy, with no significant change in other categories. During maintenance treatment, health-related QOL, physical functioning, and pain improved, but neuropathy did not.

Time to deterioration (10 or more score points) of health-related QOL, physical functioning, pain, and neuropathy was distinctly shorter than time to progression. Health-related QOL and physical functioning at baseline correlated with OS.

Previous studies have shown that physicians often underestimate the impact of cancer-associated symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, or pain on patients well-being, and they presume that PFS and good QOL go hand-in-hand; that is, that as long as patients maintain their response without progressing, that they are enjoying a good QoL.

That is not supported by the evidence in this study, the researchers said, which showed that global health-status/QOL, physical functioning, fatigue, and pain begin to deteriorate 2 to 3 months before progression of the underlying malignant disease.

However, better health-related QOL was associated with increased PFS, and both higher health-related QOL and physical functioning were associated with prolonged survival. Patient-reported outcome assessments are vital for understanding "individual needs and impairments, for prognostication, and for elucidating the impact of therapy on the various dimensions of QOL," the authors said.

Reference

Ludwig H, Pnisch W, Knop S, et al.Quality of life in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma during ixazomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone induction and ixazomib maintenance therapy and comparison to the general population [published online September 26, 2019].Leuk. Lymphoma. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2019.1666381.

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Quality of Life Declines for Patients With Relapsed or Refractory MM Before Progression Appears - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network