StemCell Therapy

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Methotrexate is a drug taken, often over long periods of time, to limit or prevent joint damage and disability.

People who take methotrexate are often advised to abstain from alcohol as both methotrexate and alcohol are known to increase the risks of liver damage.

However, it is not known whether drinking modest amounts of alcohol is safe during methotrexate therapy.

The new study by The University of Manchester has looked at the medical records of almost 12,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis taking the drug who had a record of the levels of alcohol they drank and who had routine blood monitoring test results.

The researchers found that increased use of alcohol did indeed correspond to increased liver damage, but at 14 units or fewer there was no heightened risk.

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We know that methotrexate can be an effective drug for treating arthritis, said Dr Natalie Carter, head of Research Liaison and Evaluation at Arthritis Research UK.

As it can interact with other medicines and alcohol it is important that people with arthritis have information about their medication in order to manage their arthritis safely and effectively.

Arthritis Research UK invests in exceptional science to find treatments and information that let people push back the limits these conditions cause.

This research adds to the knowledge we have around methotrexate and its effects in people with rheumatoid arthritis, which can help people make informed decisions about their treatment.

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We know that methotrexate can be an effective drug for treating arthritis

Dr Natalie Carter

We would recommend that people who take methotrexate to speak to their rheumatologist for advice about drinking alcohol whilst on this drug.

What is rheumatoid arthritis?

Dr Jenny Humphreys, an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at The University of Manchesters Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, led the study.

She said: In the past theres not been clear guidance on what effects different amounts of alcohol have on these people, so doctors often err on the side of caution and recommend abstinence.

As a result, some people choose to decline methotrexate so they can continue to enjoy a drink, thereby missing out on the possible benefits of the medication.

Alternatively, some people may go totally without alcohol after starting methotrexate: if they like to drink in moderation, the quality of their life may be affected.

With a pint of 5.2 per cent ABV beer containing three units and a 250ml glass of 14 per cent ABV wine containing 3.5, the findings show that people can drink in moderation, while still benefitting from the drug.

The data used in the study came from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, a UK general practice database.

The researchers identified 11,839 people with rheumatoid arthritis who were taking methotrexate and had at least six liver function test results per year. Of these, 530 developed abnormal liver function tests.

Although there was no increased risk associated with drinking 14 units or less compared to people who drank no alcohol, people who drank 15-21 units had a 33 per cent increased probability of liver damage and this rose to 81 per cent in the group that drank more than 21 units.

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Professor Will Dixon, Director of the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology at The University of Manchester, believes that the results can provide important guidance for doctors who are prescribing methotrexate.

He added: This is the first study to provide estimates of risk of liver damage for different levels of alcohol consumption in this drug.

It also quantifies the risk for doctors so they can be clear about the extent to which different levels of alcohol will cause problems across a population of patients taking methotrexate.

The research was published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and funded by Arthritis Research UK.

See more here:
Rheumatoid arthritis: Taking THIS drug with too much alcohol could be dangerous cocktail - Express.co.uk

WideCells is aiming to be a major supporting player through its development of a stem cell storage business and, having only listed in London last July, its newsflow so far looks to be pointing the way

With stem cell therapies tipped to be the next great advances in the treatment of a range of ailments and conditions, shareholders in PLC () look to be in a good position to benefit.

WideCells is aiming to be a major supporting player through its development of a stem cell storage business and, having only listed in London last July, its newsflow so far looks to be pointing the way.

In the groups maiden full-year results statement today, WideCells chief executive Joao Andrade pointed out that it has made significant progress in the commercialisation of our stem cell services; the roll out of our revolutionary stem cell insurance product CellPlan has now commenced in collaboration with the UK's largest stem cell storage facility, Biovault.

He added that discussions with multiple other facilities are advancing rapidly; delivery of our first stem cell processing and storage facility in Manchester is on track for Q2 2017.

He also noted that the group recently appointed the former head of Education, Alan Greenberg, as a non-executive director and vice president of the WideAcademy to devise a strategy that makes it the thought leader in the stem cell industry.

The WideCells boss said, "Our activities during the period have ideally positioned us to start generating revenues in 2017 from all three WideCells divisions, which work together to create the world's rst end to end service solution focused on making cord blood stem cell treatment accessible and affordable globally.

Like most developing companies, the group - which raised 2mln when it floated on the main market - only had revenues of 25,000 for the full-year to December 31 2016, down from 50,644 a year earlier, while its loss for the year increased to 1.361mln, up from 213,056 a year earlier reflecting higher administration costs following flotation.

But Widecells had cash and cash equivalents of 1.149mln at the year-end, up from 33,753 a year earlier.

When the firm announced last November that its CellPlan subsidiary had signed a non-binding letter of intent to offer its stem cell treatment insurance to clients of the human tissue storage facility Biovault Technical, Andrade called the deal transformational.

Biovault has a register of over 25,000 customers which WideCells will have access to for an initial five year term.

While stem cell storage costs a few thousand pounds, the cost of the treatments that use them can run into the hundreds of thousands.

For an average premium of 150 per year, CellPlan provides insurance for up to 1mln of treatment, travel, accommodation and repatriation costs.

CellPlan is to be based in Porto, Portugal, which gives it access to the wider European stem cell market and from where licences will now be arranged for a rapid roll-out.

Aside from the CellPlan deal, WideCells opened up a second revenue stream in December when it inked a letter of intent with a California-based medical device company that could be worth up to 100,000.

Qigenix agreed to pay the sum in three stages so it can use Widecells' Institute of Stem Cell Technology (ISCT) in Manchester to undertake some research.

WideCells third revenue stream comes from its blood banking operations, for which the group inked two more outlying deals at the end of January to take it into the rapidly expanding Brazilian umbilical cord cell storage market.

Between them, the two new reputable storage and processing facilities had more than 5,000 high net worth clients on their books.

The Brazilian cord blood banking market is projected to be worth almost US$450mln by 2023, making it the largest in South Americas booming stem cell industry.

In all, there are 500 of these banks dotted around the world; however, the top ten banks store around half the samples.

These three strands provide the roots for the optimism of WideCells boss although the share price looks to have failed to respond yet to the opportunities he sees.

WideCells floated at 11p per share in July, since when the share price has fluctuated, hitting a peak of 16.25p in the middle of October, but this year it has drifted sitting at around 12.25p currently.

According to sources, there was plenty of interest in WideCells unique story at flotation, meaning the IPO was oversubscribed. Among the shareholders who came on board at float was Miton Group, which stumped up 500,000.

But it looks like the story needs to be wider known, which is probably where the appointment of the former head of Education comes in.

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Link:
Shareholders in WideCells in good position to benefit from stem cell therapy advances - Proactive Investors UK

On this episode of The 100, "God Complex," Abby and the others deal with a crushing blow, Clarke prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice, and Jaha finds new evidence that leads him and Kane in search of the Second Dawn.

Nobody on the island (with the exceptions of Emori and Murphy) feels good about experimenting on Baylis. But the killer "death" wave of radiation is due to hit in ten days. Luna's stem cells grafted successfully, and Baylis is generating Nightblood on his own, so it's now or never. Clark remains the most vocal supporter of turning the guy into a deep-fried Twinkie. Murphy reminds everyone that the black rain already killed 18 people in Arkadia, so if the Nightblood is going to help him survive the next storm, he's ready to find out.

Epic Fail

Things start out promising with Baylis showing no ill-effects, but the experiment eventually goes south with Baylis being scorched, screaming in pain and vomiting up blood. He dies in the chamber. This is a huge bummer since the Nightblood was the only plan, and they tortured and killed a man for no good reason.

From the Ashes

Back at Arkadia, the survivors of the black rain hold a memorial for the dead. Jasper remains footloose and fancy free, showing no concern about what lays ahead. He decides to ditch and go on a walkabout, and Bellamy, worried about his friend's ambivalence about possibly dying at any time, decides to tag along.

Niyah performs her own little ritual, stating "From the earth we will grow. From the ashes we will rise." Jaha overhears Niyah and asks where she heard that phrase. She tells him he'll have to ask a Flamekeeper. All she knows is that's whatGrounders sayto ready their dead for the fire.

Jaha goes to Kane. He's now convinced that the bunker Clarke, Bellamy and himself found was a decoy, meant for members of the Second Dawn who hadn't yet ascended to level 12. It was a way to prevent the real bunker from being overrun. Jaha believes there's a reason "From the ashes we will rise" became a Grounders' prayer. Just like a corporate logo became a sacred symbol.

Jaha's theory is enough of a reason for Kane to decide to reach out to Indra to try and find out Gaia's whereabouts. Jaha is eager to assemble a team, but Kane warns him Polis is a war zone, and they won't be welcome. Jaha plans to travel light, and this mission calls for thinkers, not warriors.

First Survival Then Humanity

At the lab, Jackson figures out what may have caused their experiment to fail. They can try again, but they need another test subject. Luna isn't down with going out to hunt for another Grounder, pointing out that even Baylis honored the dead by wearing the stones of his Rock Line ancestors. After putting the pieces together, Clarke realizes the man wasn't Baylis after all and asks Emori who they just killed. Emori yells to Murphy to destroy the machine and tries to flee but is held by Roan.

The others lock up Emori and Murphy, but Raven isn't okay with the prospect of putting Emori in the radiation chamber. Clarke doesn't know what else to do, and Roan says they don't have a choice. Raven believes there has to be another way to solve their problem that doesn't make them murderers, but the only thing Abby knows for sure is if they do nothing, everyone dies.

Abby orders Jackson to prep Luna for another extraction, but she refuses. She won't let her blood kill anymore innocent people. She's set to go out into the black rain so nobody can follow, but Roan won't allow her to leave. Luna questions if there's any line they won't cross in order to survive. Roan responds that survival requires sacrifice. If Emori dies saving the world, that's a good death.

Luna is wounded from the bone marrow biopsy, and Roan doesn't want to fight her, but she leaves him no choice. Luna isn't much of a match, and Roan renders her unconscious. Raven is mortified that Abby plans to strap Luna down and forcibly take her marrow and equates Clarke and the others with the scientists at Mt. Weather.

Roan gives Clarke a pep talk. She's filled with doubt about whether they're doing the right thing. Roan says that certainty is a luxury leaders can't afford. Clarke may not be a king, but she's a born leader, and she doesn't back down when things get hard. Roan is certain one day people will thank her for what she's doing on the island. Clarke doesn't think Murphy or Emori will, but Roan thinks they will if it works. Clarke worries what happens if it doesn't, but then it's kind of a moot point since they'll all be dead.

The time comes to put Emori in the chamber, and Murphy begs Clarke not to do it. When that doesn't change her mind, Murphy promises Clarke that if Emori dies, she's next. Abby can't bring herself to inject Emori with the Nightblood, leaving it up to Clarke to do her dirty work. But, instead, Clarke injects herself.

Abby refuses to let Clarke go in the chamber, telling her daughter she had a vision that Clarke would die, just like Raven's vision of the rocket. Abby destroys the chamber, smashing it so until it's useless.

It's the End of the World and Jasper Feels Fine

Bellamy and Jasper wander into the forest, and Bellamy grows tired of Jasper's jokes about the end of the world. Jasper tells Bellamy he's trying to help him. The clock has been ticking since they landed on Earth. They're all living on borrowed time. Bellamy wonders if that's what Jasper truly believes, why is he wasting it, but Jasper remains steadfast that he's not, it's Bellamy who is.

Bellamy keeps beating himself up about all the terrible things that he's done, and even if he thought he had good reasons, in the end, nobody gives a damn about Bellamy's reasons. No matter how much Bellamy punishes himself, it won't bring anyone back. Jasper says they can spend their last days wallowing, or they can do whatever they want.

Bellamy and Jasper return to Arkadia, and everybody's partying. Jasper's brought back some "magic beans" (hallucinogenic nuts) to amp up the festivities. Bellamy makes a half-hearted effort to be a buzz kill, but peer pressure wins out.

The 12th Seal

Kane, Jaha and Monty arrive in Polis and discover the black rain fell there too, leaving a number of casualties. They are also greeted by a small army ofTrikru led by Indra. Kane thanks her for meeting with him, but she punches him in the face. Indra's not interested in pleasantries, she just wants to know why Kane is in Polis. As the ally of her enemy, he and Skaikru are now her enemies as well.

Kane tries to explain that Skaikru is still trying to save everyone, but all Indra sees is that they made a truce with Azgeda, seemingly leaving Trikru to fend for themselves. Kane emphasizes that they must all work together, and he needs to see Gaia since she could be the key to saving them all.

Luckily, Gaia is in Polis, and Indra takes the men to see her. Monty spots a tattoo on her shoulder, and it's the same symbol on theseal that Jaha took from the bunker. According to Gaia and Indra, it's the holy symbol of their order. Gaia reveals the symbol adorns the crypt of the first Commander, Becca Pramheda.

The crypt is located in a temple controlled by the Azgeda. Indra is ready to fight to get in, but Kane says they have the royal seal/medallion (given to them by Roan) and don't have to, especially since Azgeda is Skaikru's ally. Indra thinks Kane is foolish to assume Azgeda will honor the medallion. The closer they get to Praimfaya, the less alliances mean.

They arrive at the temple, Kane shows themedallion and they are given permission to pass. But Indra guns down all of the guards anyway. If there is a bunker, she's determined Azgeda will never see the inside.

They head inside the temple, and Gaia shows them the symbol which is located beneath the alter. Jaha and Kane try to figure out how to open the crypt, and they don't have much time with more Azgeda returning to the temple. Monty figures out that "From the ashes we will rise" isn't just a motto, it's instructions. They drop theseal into fire, and it becomes the 12th seal. They open the crypt and find a staircase. At the bottom, there's another bunker.

Who will go into the bunker? Who will be left out? Is there still a chance Abby will find another solution? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

(Image Courtesy of The CW)

Read more:
'The 100' Recap: Jaha Searches for the Second Dawn - BuddyTV (blog)

Before I start criticizing anyone, let me start with this: I appreciate any Republican who stands up to criticize this sorry excuse for a president. Two such anti-Trump Republicans are the NYTs Ross Douthat and David Brooks. My appreciation for their efforts notwithstanding, they both managed to mangle the same topic in recent columnsAmerican national identity.

In a piece titled Who Are We? Douthat put the back of his hand to his forehead (just do it and youll see what I mean) and lamented that liberalism has crafted a narrative of the American story too focused on oppression, one that ignores the traditionally understood elementsthe heroic founders-and-settlers narrative of which it once consisted. He recognizes that that traditional story stopped making as much sense and that we needed to correct it. Douthats no extremist on this, hes not running around waving a red #MAGA cap. He says we need a unifying story that includes both heroism and the truth about what befell blacks and Indians and others in order to bury Trumpism (as opposed to just beating Trump). Clearly, Douthat supports that goal, so I take his call as a sincere one.

Similarly, just this week, David Brooks called for the revival of something weve lost, namely our unifying American story. This, he says, is the Exodus story, a narrative that unites us around a common multigenerational project, that gives an overarching sense of meaning and purpose to our history. He cited Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Reinhold Niebuhr and Langston Hughes (America never was America to me/And yet I swear this oath/America will be!) as all having embraced this narrative.

Brooks blamed the loss of our common story on radical secularists [who] expunged biblical categories and patriotic celebrations from schools, and closed by calling out for somebody who can tell us what our goal is, and offer an ideal vision of what the country and the world should be. Like Douthat, he also wants to bury Trumpism, and slammed the jingoistic chauvinists who measure Americanness by blood and want to create a Fortress America keeping the enemy out. Good on him.

Heres the thing, gentlemen. Both of you have just described the exact narrative of our history and our national identity that Barack Obama has spent the last dozen years preaching on the national stage.

First, lets talk about the individuals Brooks cited. President Obamas approach bears the strong influence of Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and Brooks knows it. In fact, he wrote two different opinion pieces about the influence of Niebuhr on Obama (here, and here). For what its worth, Douthat wrote one too. On the other people cited, Ive written extensively about the influence of Rev. King on Obama.

More broadly, Obama has repeatedly offered precisely the unifying story Douthat and Brooks assert our country needs, one that includes both the traditional heroes from the older narrative Douthat says appeals to many, as well as figures representing a much broader cast of characters, i.e., those excluded from the older narrative, and who are pretty heroic as well. The 44th president wove all their stories into a single history of a diverse, yet unified people working to realize the ideals laid out at the founding. Obamas story of America is, in fact, just what Brooks called for: a progressively realized grand narrative.

To the chagrin of some, Obamas Americarightly, in my viewrejects both the whitewashed narrative that was predominant in the 1950s and the overwhelmingly negative vision Brooks criticized, one steeped in American tales of genocide, slavery, oppression and segregation. To be sure, no one could be elected president running around talking about America in such a negative. Furthermore, anyone demanding that a progressive candidate must do so in order to earn their vote is only helping elect candidates who espouse the opposite understanding of America. Obamas narrative describes our progress as uneven, yes, but nonetheless moving toward the goal we as a people set for ourselves.

Of dozens of examples in which Obama lays out his conception of American history and national identity, here are a few that span his time on the national stage. From his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope, heres one that offers a unifying narrative paralleling what Brooks says we need:

On the night he won the 2008 Iowa caucuses:

From the first day of his second term:

In his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine African Americans murdered by a white supremacist in a Charleston, South Carolina, church:

And from his farewell address:

Maybe the blindness of writers like Douthat and Brooks isnt blindness at all, but instead strategy. Maybe they feel like theyll lose their ability to reach anti-Trump Republicans if they acknowledge that Obama has already done what they are calling for someone to do. Part of me can understand that thinking. But another part of me says that the strategic value of a Republican saying: if its a choice between Trumpism and Obamaism, Ill take Obamaism would be far better. Plus, just tell the damn truth if you know what Obama has been doing.

Giving Obama credit for putting forth a balanced, inclusive conception of national identity wouldnt mean endorsing the whole of the Democratic policy platform. Even on the national narrative itself, if Douthat and/or Brooks want to say that Obama hasnt been effective enough in selling the vision he (and they) have described, thats a point we can debate as well. But if they honestly believe that he hasnt been putting that vision out there time and again for years, well, then they just havent been listening.

See the original post:
The Blindness Of Anti-Trump Republicans - Huffington Post

Phoenix, Ariz., Mar 29, 2017 / 11:01 am (National Catholic Register).- When a Phoenix mother lost her eyesight due to a rare medical condition, she feared she would never be able to see her four children again. But then St. Charbel came to her aid.

Dafne Gutierrez suffered from benign intracranial hypertension (BIH), a condition that causes increased pressure in the brain. In 2012, the increased pressure caused her to lose vision in her right eye. Three years later, in November 2015, the Catholic mother lost sight in her left eye, as well.

Phoenixs local CBS affiliate, KPHO, quoted Gutierrezs plea to God:

For me, I was like, Please God, let me see those faces again. Let me be their mother again. Because I feel like [my kids] were watching me, taking care of me 24/7.

For more than a year, Gutierrez struggled to adjust to her disability, which now included occasional seizures, as well as blindness. Then, in January 2016, when Phoenixs St. Joseph Maronite Church announced that the relics of St. Charbel Makhlouf (also spelled Sharbel) would be visiting the church, Gutierrezs sister encouraged her to visit and to pray for the saints intercession.

Although she is not a member of the Maronite rite, Gutierrez visited the church Jan. 16, prayed before the relics, went to confession and was blessed with holy oil by the pastor, Father Wissam Akiki. Gutierrez recalled that, immediately afterward, her body felt different.

The following morning, she rose and returned to the church for Sunday Mass. Again, she experienced a different sensation.

And early in the morning Jan. 18, Gutierrez awoke with a searing pain in her eyes. She remembers how much they burned. And when her husband turned on the lights, she said the brightness hurt her eyes. She claimed, at 4 a.m., that she could see shadows; but her husband insisted that was impossible because she was blind. He later described what he called an odor of burned meat coming from her nostrils.

According to The Maronite Voice, the newsletter of the Maronite Eparchies of the U.S., That morning she called her ophthalmologist, and she was evaluated the next day. Her exam showed that she was still legally blind, with abnormal optic nerves. Two days later, she saw a different ophthalmologist, and her vision was a perfect 20/20, with completely normal optic nerves. Subsequently, she saw her original ophthalmologist one week later, and her vision was documented to be normal, with completely normal exam.

No Medical Explanation

Dr. Anne Borik, a board-certified internal medicine physician who later testified regarding Gutierrezs healing, was called in by the Church to review the case. Earlier this month, Borik a member of St. Timothys Roman Catholic parish nearby, but who attends St. Joseph Maronite frequently talked by phone with the Register about her findings. She explained that the brain condition Gutierrez suffered from causes the optic nerve to constrict. Once the optic disc the spot at which the optic nerve enters the eyeball is damaged, its too late to fix. Because, when the pressure in the brain reaches high levels, as it did in Gutierrezs case, the optic nerves become strangulated.

Unfortunately, once the blindness occurs, said Borik, its irreversible.

Images of Gutierrezs optic disc revealed significant damage: We have pictures, said Borik, to confirm that the optic disc was chronically atrophied. There was significant swelling, or papilledema.

But after Gutierrezs vision returned, Borik reported, there was no evidence of the aberrations that were evident on earlier images. In the post-healing pictures, Borik said, her optic disc is back to normal. Her vision is completely restored. She has no more seizures. That is why I, as a medical doctor, have no explanation.

A medical committee, led by Borik, undertook a thorough review of Gutierrezs medical records, as well as repeated examinations. The committee wrote, After a thorough physical exam, extensive literature search and review of all medical records, we have no medical explanation and therefore believe this to be a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Charbel.

Unexpected Healing Strengthens Faith

Borik is enthusiastic about the healing, telling the National Catholic Register, It has changed my practice! It has changed how I relate to patients. Now, she said, referring to her relationship with those entrusted to her care, prayer is such an important part of what we do.

Father Wissam Akiki, pastor of St. Joseph Maronite Church, had a devotion to St. Charbel, and he installed a large picture of the saint in the parish shortly after his arrival in 2014. Then, in 2016, he arranged to bring St. Charbels relics to his parish as part of a U.S. tour.

Father Akiki remembers when Gutierrez showed up to venerate the relics. Father Akiki approached her. I heard her confession, he told the National Catholic Register. We prayed together, and I said to her daughter, Take care of your mom, and your mom is going to see you soon. Then, in only three days, she called the church to report that she could see.

Father Akiki acknowledged that Gutierrezs healing has strengthened the faith and changed the face of St. Joseph Maronite Church. People are coming here to pray, traveling from Germany, Bolivia, Canada, Australia, Jerusalem.

Following the healing, Father Akiki planned to erect a shrine to St. Charbel at his parish, with a two-ton sculpture of the saint cut from a single stone and imported from Lebanon. The shrine will be open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Father Akiki expected that the dedication of the shrine March 26 would draw crowds, including Maronite Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted and many local dignitaries.

Bishop Zaidan attributed Gutierrezs recovery to the intercession of St. Charbel. May this healing of the sight of Dafne, he wrote in The Maronite Voice, be an inspiration for all of us to seek the spiritual sight, in order to recognize the will of God in our lives and to act accordingly.

Cristofer Pereyra, director of the Hispanic Office of the Phoenix Diocese, told Fox News that Bishop Olmsted spoke with the doctors and reviewed the case. The bishop wanted to make sure there was no scientific explanation for the miraculous recovery of Dafnes sight, Pereyra reported.

The greatest change, of course, has been for Gutierrez and her children. Since her eyesight was restored, Dafnes life has changed dramatically: She can once again check her children's homework, watch them at play with friends, and manage her household chores without extra assistance.

Her prayer was answered.

Who Was St. Charbel?

Born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf in the high mountains of northern Lebanon in 1828, St. Charbel (also spelled Sharbel) was the youngest of five children in a poor but religious family. His baptismal name was Joseph; only when he entered a monastery at the age of 23 was he given the name Charbel, after an early martyr. He studied in seminary and was ordained a priest in 1858. For 16 years, Father Charbel lived with his brother priests; theirs was a communal life of prayer and devotion to God.

In 1875, Father Charbel was granted permission to live a hermits life. In his rugged cabin, for the next 23 years, he practiced mortification and sacrifice often wearing a hair shirt, sleeping on the ground, and eating only one meal a day. The Eucharist was the focus of his life. The holy priest celebrated daily Mass at 11 a.m., spending the morning in preparation and the rest of the day in thanksgiving.

Father Charbel was 70 years old when he suffered a seizure while celebrating Mass. A priest assisting him was forced to pry the Eucharist out of his rigid hands. He never regained consciousness; and eight days later, on Christmas Eve in 1898, Father Charbel died. His body was interred in the ground without a coffin and without embalming, according to the monks custom, dressed in the full habit of the order.

For the next 45 nights, a most unusual event occurred: According to many local townspeople, an extraordinarily bright light appeared above his tomb, lighting the night sky. Finally, after the mysterious light persisted, officials at the monastery petitioned the ecclesiastical authorities for permission to exhume Charbels body. When the grave was opened four months after Charbels death, his body was found to be incorrupt. Twenty-eight years after his death, in 1928, and again in 1950, the grave was reopened, and his body was also found to be without decay.

Numerous medical researchers were permitted to examine the remains, and all confirmed that the saints body was preserved from decay. For 67 years, the body remained intact, even when left outdoors unprotected for an entire summer although it consistently gave off a liquid that had the odor of blood. Finally, though, Charbels body followed the natural course. When the tomb was again opened at the time of his beatification in 1965, it was found to be decayed, except for the skeleton, which was deep red in color.

The inexplicable restoration of Dafne Gutierrezs eyesight is not the first healing credited to St. Charbel. Dr. Anne Borik reported that there have been hundreds perhaps thousands of miracles attributed to the saint.

Pope Francis is said to have a deep devotion to St. Charbel. Last Christmas, Borik reported, the Holy Father asked to have a relic of St. Charbel sewn into the hem of his vestments.

This story was originally published at the National Catholic Register.

Link:
Phoenix mother: St. Charbel cured my blindness :: Catholic News ... - Catholic News Agency

Technology and biotechnology stocks once again top our list of momentum charts to watch.

Achaogen Inc. AKAO, +7.49% had an important snapback session on Tuesday, gaining $2.12, or 9.7%, to $23.90 on over 2 million shares traded. The move came on news that venture capitalist Robert Duggan disclosed a 5.7% stake in the late-stage biopharmaceutical company. Volume was the strongest on an up-day all year, and the stock has now bounced off rising trendline support after a 10-day pullback from the top of the channel to the bottom. If the stock can get through resistance, which is now up around Tuesdays high at $24.46, it could challenge recent highs around $26.75-$27.75 on the way to the top of the channel at over $30.

Cara Therapeutics Inc. CARA, +6.08% had a nice follow-through on Tuesday, jumping 94 cents, or 5%, to $19.09, on 7.6 million shares traded. The biotech company reported positive results in a trial of a treatment for uremic pruritus, or UP. The stock reached $20.24 intraday, the highest its been since September 2015. It came down in the afternoon and didnt close great, but from the standpoint of the daily pattern as well technicals and volume, the stock looks strong. It has climbed nicely off rising trendline support toward mid-channel in the past two weeks. The stock needs to hold lateral support at around $17.50. A move through Tuesdays high could lead to $23 short-term and $27 intermediate-term.

Kopin Corp. KOPN, -0.37% maker of wearable technologies and display products, had nice action on Tuesday, especially in the afternoon when it ran from about $3.90 to $4.19, backing off a little at the close. Net on the day, it gained 8 cents, or 2%, to $4.11 on strong volume of 643,000 shares. Volume has been strong in general in the past few weeks, indicating possible accumulation, and Tuesday saw the stock edge above its breakout point at around $4.09. Watch for $4.75 and then $5-$5.25 as targets.

Nektar Therapeutics NKTR, +1.13% had a breakout session on Tuesday, up 55 cents, or 2%, to $23.93 on 1.7 million shares. The company announced on Monday it has begun dosing in a Phase 1 study of its new biologic therapy to treat auto-immune diseases and inflammatory disorders. The move broke the stock out of a week-long consolidation zone that followed its nearly 50% gap up on March 20. The move came on only average volume. Nonetheless, watch for a run at $26 short-term.

Western Digital Corp. WDC, +1.66% is on the move. Stock in the data-storage company has been up five days in a row since its March 21 close at $73.22. Investors appear to have been encouraged by Micron Technologys MU, -0.66% strong quarterly forecast late last week, and optimism about memory and storage chip demand. On Tuesday, WDC gained $1.99, or 2.5%, to $80.56, on nearly 4 million shares traded. The stock is right at a lateral resistance level, and a pop through there could get it to $86-$87 and then the channel top near $95.

See Harrys video chart analysis on these stocks.

Harry Boxer is founder of TheTechTrader.com, a live trading room featuring his stock picks, technical market analysis, and live chart presentations.

Original post:
Harry Boxer's five technology and biotechnology stocks to watch ... - MarketWatch

Share This Article: Crowds enter the BIO exhibit hall near the California booth in 2014. Photo by Chris Jennewein

The BIO International Conventionreturns to San Diego after three years, bringing more than 16,000 to the San Diego Convention Center in June.

The event from June 19 to 22is expected to attract many of the top business and scientific leaders in the life sciences industry. There will be 1,800 exhibitors, and former British Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to give a keynote address.

BIO last held its convention in San Diego in 2008 and 2014. The 2014 event drew 15,667, including nearly 2,500 company CEOs,from all 50 states and 70 countries.

BIO is pleased to return to San Diego, one of the worlds largest and most innovative centers for biotechnology development, said Jim Greenwood, BIO President and CEO. This event provides biotech leaders with opportunities to showcase their breakthrough innovations, partner with C-level executives and network with the global biotech industry.

San Francisco was the location of last years convention, and Greenwood said its not surprising for the state to host two in a row because it remains the world leader in life sciences.

Biocom welcomes BIO 2017 to San Diego, where the sun reflects on our citys astonishing breadth and depth of life science innovation and success, said Joe Panetta, President and CEO of the trade group BIOCOM.

Discounted, advanceregistration for the conference ends on April 10.

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Read this article:
Giant Biotechnology Convention Returns to San Diego in June - Times of San Diego

A Little Vertex Goes a Long Way For Biotechnology - Barron's Barron's Healthcare stocks are the second-best performing, behind just the information technology sector year-to-date. Healthcare stocks have gained 8.3%, while the ... and more »

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A Little Vertex Goes a Long Way For Biotechnology - Barron's - Barron's

KARACHI: Pakistani agro-scientist should expedite their research activities in agro-biotechnology in order to create significant impact in enhancing agriculture production in the country.

Talking to the Daily Times, agro-biotechnology experts and agriculturists on cotton, maize, corn and other crops said Pakistan should follow the developed world and developing nations like The Philippines and India who have already made significant economic progress by adopting the latest agri-technologies.

Though Pakistan has been conducting regulatory field trials and research on ground for biotech cotton and corn but there was the need to exploit more avenues introduced in the modern agro-base technologies in the world.

The concerned government departments and ministry should also allocate more funds in this sector in the upcoming annual budget, they opined.

"Cotton has remained a vital cash crop and country needs above 16 million bales every crop season, as cotton related textile sector feeds a large number of direct and indirect employment besides textile export stands number one on five prime exporting sectors", President of Sindh Agriculture Forum, Shakeel Ahmad said.

The positive impact of biotech crops around the world is evident in reducing pesticide usage, which is subsequently a positive for the environment, he added.

Cotton, corn and wheat would continue to be important crops for our economy and farmers therefore we must continuously apply better technologies.

Water availability for agriculture is going down and while this will require major decisions, biotechnology can help in growing crops, which utilise less water and fertilizers.

Ahmad said there was dire need of biotechnology induction especially in major crops, as textile sector bore around $15-$20 billion on imports annually.

Greater velocity in research activities will help in improving rural farm incomes and bring positive economic impact to people in the traditional corn and cotton belts as well the northern parts of the country, cotton expert and patron-in-chief Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, Rana Abdul Sattar said.

Pakistan should focus on attaining sustainable higher yields and better water management to avert food shortages in the coming two decades.

An expert on Life Sciences, Punjab University described biotechnology benefits for farmers and outlined the achievements in attaining enhanced maize and corn yields by farmers.

Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) maize and corn provides excellent season-long protection against the target pests like corn borer and stalk borer.

Corn contains a natural occurring protein (Bt) that helps protect plants from specific lepidopteron insect pests. They said with a growing population it is imperative that Pakistan should focus on attaining sustainable higher yields and better water management to avert food shortages in the coming two decades.

We need to be more focused and take quick decisions. The 21st century has begun with a population of 6.2 billion and likely to increase to 9.2 billion by 2050.

Continue reading here:
Scientists asked to expedite research in agro-biotechnology - Daily Times

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Biotechnology Innovation Organization's Amicus Brief in Sandoz v. Amgen - JD Supra (press release)

Deb Constien was 13 when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects joints and sometimes blood vessels and vital organs.

Despite having the sometimes debilitating condition, for which she takes about 10 medications, Constien graduated from college, got married and with husband Tim had a son, Jacob, now 18.

Constien, 47, is active with the Arthritis Foundation. She is board chair and advocacy chair for the organizations upper Midwest region, based in Madison. She went to Washington, D.C., this month to advocate for people with arthritis. Through Arthritis Introspective, she leads a support group in Madison.

The Sun Prairie resident also volunteers with the groups CreakyJoints, Global Healthy Living Foundation and International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis.

How were you diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 13?

I went in for benign foot surgery, to remove a bunion, as a freshman in high school, and my life changed overnight. My surgery was a trigger (for the rheumatoid arthritis). Its one of the theories, and it fits. Everything swelled up. I got hit with a level of pain I had never experienced before. Everything hurt. My knees blew up like big balloons. I couldnt squat down. My fingers were swollen. My hips hurt.

I had been a very active 13-year-old. I was on the swim team. I played the flute. Most of that came to a crashing halt. My friends would ask me to do things, but I was so fatigued, I often said no. Then they stopped asking. You feel isolated. Nowadays, there are camps, like Camp MASH (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting) in the Wisconsin Dells.

What was it like to raise your son with your condition?

It was hard. I had to be protective of my joints. I had a hard time changing him. I couldnt pull a onesie off of him. My shoulders wouldnt allow that. I had to lay him down and wrestle with him. We tried for a second child, which meant being off most of my medications. But I wasnt very healthy. My rheumatologist said I needed to go back on my meds. He said I wasnt healthy enough to get pregnant again. We thought we might adopt a second child. But as my disease progressed, the thought of that became overwhelming.

What activities are difficult and what activities can you do?

I never run. I dont do stairs if I dont have to. Sometimes its hard to sleep. Its my shoulders, my hips. Im constantly rotating and trying to find comfortable positions. I garden, but my husband helps me maintain my garden. He does the tilling and a lot of the weeding. With housework, I do it until I reach my wall and Im done. My husband will finish the laundry and put everything away. I love to cook. I plan ahead and make double when Im feeling good, and I keep emergency meals in the freezer for the bad times.

What do people misunderstand most about arthritis?

They think its only an old persons disease. Its an invisible disease. When you look at me, you wouldnt guess that I have severe arthritis until you look at my hands. Growing up, I liked that. Now, some people try to offer advice. They say I just need to exercise more or get more fresh air. It gets frustrating.

What did you do in Washington, D.C., this month?

I went with two other people, from La Crosse and Milwaukee. We met with staff of both Wisconsin senators and our three representatives. We had three asks from the Arthritis Foundation: to join our caucus and become more educated about arthritis; to support a bill that would dedicate $20 million from the Department of Defense for arthritis research; and to protect several pieces of the Affordable Care Act.

Interview by David Wahlberg

Read more here:
Know Your Madisonian: Advocate seeks to help others with arthritis - Madison.com

Dealing with arthritis and how that can lead to joint replacements was the topic of the Talking Health radio interview on News Radio 1240 KQEN last week.

Talk show host Lisa Platt interviewed Candice Spence, a registered nurse at New Strides Joint Center, Dr. Cary Sanders, an orthopedic surgeon at Centennial Orthopedics, and Melissa Russell, a physical therapist at Mercy Medical Center.

The following is an edited version of the interview.

Lisa: Candice, what is arthritis?

Candice: Arthritis is not really a single disease or a single diagnosis. Its rather a symptom of a joint disease causing pain, stiffness, swelling and often times decreased range and mobility.

Lisa: What are the most common types of arthritis?

Candice: There are over a hundred types, and the most common being osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative disease causing the cartilage between the joints to wear away.

Lisa: How does someone know if they have arthritis? Are there some symptoms?

Candice: Theres pain, stiffness, swelling and decreased mobility, but you really need to have it diagnosed by a physician. You might possibly need some lab work, blood draw or imaging studies.

It is more prevalent in women than men, middle-aged with progression of the aches and pains with age.

Lisa: What are some of the options to treat arthritis?

Candice: Some of the options are anti-inflamatories, lots of low-impact exercising like walking, cycling, waterobics, and just keep that joint moving and strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint, injections provided by orthopedic surgeons, and hot and cold compresses. When all else fails there are assisted devices such as walkers, canes, crutches.

Cary: I think finding a non-operative, non-surgical treatment is a real important part because surgery is always a last resort, and I think there is a lot of value to putting that off as long as you can.

The injections are basically two types. One is a corticosteroid medication. They are powerful anti-inflamatory medications that we inject right into the knee, and they basically just cool everything down and make things feel better. Its not a permanent solution to the knee, but very often they can last a few months and several months in some cases, but theyre really good at quieting down a bad flare-up.

The second kind of injection is a hyaluronic acid, which is a substrative cartilage, and is part of the surface coating of normal cartilage and its purified and injected into the knee and it acts as a lubricating mechanism where it essentially optimizes the cartilage that you have left in your knee.

If you are someone who has a little cartilage left, but not much, its going to help you more than someone who is way advanced with bone changes and with cartilage being long gone.

Lisa: Melissa, from a physical therapists standpoint is exercise important in treating arthritis?

Melissa: Exercise does play a big impact. Any time youre strengthening the muscles around the joint, getting those muscles stretched, pulling the bones apart a little, giving the joint space a little bit more room, and overall strengthening is good.

Low-impact activities, swimming, cycling, walking, are good and I tell folks to do as much as you can, as long as you are within your tolerance, and that really helps delay getting a joint replacement.

Lisa: Can you talk about some of the surgeries and the physicians available to do the surgeries?

Cary: Basically, were looking at a scope operation, which we do on occasion, in the setting of arthritis. But more often than not, if its just arthritis pain, then were talking about joint replacement. The reason total joint replacement is often selected, is that its track record is pretty tough to beat. When you look at it and compare it to other lesser, like the scope, or other non-surgical treatments, it really beats all of them pretty easily.

As a surgeon, I try to let the patient be in the drivers seat. I feel my job is to inform them of what their options are and talk about the risks and benefits of each, and let them decide what feels right for them.

Its always important to remember that not everybody is a candidate for total joint replacement. Some peoples health is just too poor for this operation.

Lisa: Lets talk about the new program at Mercy, for patients who might need a joint replacement.

Candice: We use the Marshal Steele program, but we call it New Strides. It starts in the surgeons office where they optimize the patient, and between the two of them theyve decided to have this elective joint replacement done. Then they do a pre-op class where they get all the education they need as far as what to expect during their stay at the hospital and what we expect for them with recovery, physical therapy, in-patient and out-patient. We do home environment screening so we assess the home and make sure they have proper equipment.

Once they decide, yes this is what they want to do and they go through that class, theyre scheduled for surgery.

Lisa: Melissa, can you tell us how physical therapy plays a big role in this program?

Melissa: Some folks will have outpatient therapy, kind of preparing them for surgery and getting folks stronger. We get them educated on setting up their home for success and preparing their bodies for success. We encourage them to do the pre-op exercises to get the muscles around the joint stronger, and to learn those exercises theyll be doing after surgery.

So after surgery, we implement the same things that we tell them in the pre-op. We get folks up the day of surgery; its not uncommon for folks to be walking in the hall working on getting a nice normal walking pattern again. Were teaching them exercises and stretches to do with their hips and knees so after they have their surgery, we see them twice a day in group sessions. They also see occupational therapy to work on self-care tasks.

With all the focus on identifying what we can improve and we making those improvements, that really has decreased our length of stay from three to five days; now its one to two days. So with this group therapy, its an early mobility, rapid recovery program, and putting all these pieces together is beneficial as a recovery process to the patient.

Link:
Arthritis can lead to joint replacement - NRToday.com

GETTY

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has announced that Xeljanz, also called tofacitinib citrate - a new twice daily oral tablet to reduce inflammation in adults with rheumatoid arthritis, has been granted a license for UK use.

It can also be used as a therapy in case of intolerance to methotrexate or when treatment with methotrexate is inappropriate.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious and disabling autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue.

It affects more than 690,000 people in the UK, of which over 500,000 are women and around three-quarters are of working age.

People with rheumatoid arthritis experience a range of symptoms, including pain and swelling in the joints, tiredness and depression which can affect their daily lives, from their ability to do basic everyday tasks like buttoning a shirt,to the possibility of having to stop work as a result of their condition.

GETTY

The prognosis for people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis has been completely transfor

Alisa Bosworth

Though different treatments are available, there are still some people who may not respond to existing therapies or are intolerant to them.

Tofacitinib citrate belongs to a new class of medications known as JAK inhibitors.

JAK inhibitors directly target the signalling pathway which contributes to the inflammation of joints seen in the condition.

The prognosis for people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis has been completely transformed over the past two decades, said Ailsa Bosworth, founder and chief executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.

Getty

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GETTY

But not every patient responds to their treatment and people can still experience significant limitations to what they can do and achieve because of their condition so, in spite of fantastic progress in rheumatology, there remains a need for different treatments.

We therefore welcome any innovative new advances that can offer additional options, she added.

Tofacitinib citrate was the first of these types of inhibitors to be licensed for rheumatoid arthritis in the US and is currently licensed in over 50 countries.

It has been prescribed to more than 55,000 patients worldwide.

GETTY

There have been 19 clinical trials to date and Pfizer said it has collected eight years of safety data on the medicine.

Studies have demonstrated that tofacitinib citrate is an effective treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis.

The most common side-effects are upper respiratory tract infections, headaches, diarrhoea and nasopharyngitis.

Dr Berkeley Phillips, Pfizer UKs Medical Director, said: This medicine, which has a novel mode of action, has been two decades in the making.

The granting of marketing authorisation for tofacitinib citrate in Europe marks a huge step towards making this treatment available to patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the UK. Pfizer will now work with national reimbursement agencies on the review process towards the potential reimbursement of this new medicine on the NHS."

See the article here:
New drug could fight symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis - including joint pain and swelling - Express.co.uk

By The Mercury March 29, 2017

Linda Graham and the sales staff at Carpet One in Manhattan.

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What if someone told you that your own body could potentially help heal a physical condition affecting your everyday life? Stem cell therapy makes this possible every day at the Kansas Regenerative Medicine Center. Located in Manhattan, KRMC is the Midwest leader in adult stem cell therapy, treating over 1,000 patients to date for orthopedics, osteoarthritis, back, neck, and spine, neurological, and some autoimmune diseases.

Stem cells are your bodys natural healing cells. These tiny cells have the potential to recognize tissue injury and repair damaged cells. Trapped inside of your own body adipose fat is an extremely rich source of these stem cells.

Through a relatively painless liposuction procedure, highly trained physicians at KRMC can harvest your stem cells from your own fat and administer them into tissues, joints, or veins. Stem cell therapy is minimally invasive, requires no general anesthesia, and can potentially serve as an alternative to major surgery.

This treatment is new and upcoming, according to Kate Farley, Director of Marketing & Business Development at KRMC.

We are on the cutting edge of this innovative technology, which will be a big part of regenerative medicine in the near future, she said.

Stem cell therapy has been in practice for decades in foreign countries. In the USA, veterinarians have been using stem cell therapy on animals for a little over 10 years and some pioneering physicians for over five years.

KRMC has been open for three years this month, and is one of the largest stem cell treatment centers in the country that focuses solely on stem cell therapy. The fact that they receive a great amount of their patients from referrals shows how successful KRMC has been. Farley has witnessed this first-hand.

Stem cell therapy is a very intricate process, so you have to do it all the time to be good at it, but thats what were doing all day every day, she said. We also strive to treat each patient like family in order for them to have the best experience possible. Any patients coming from out of town, we offer a hotel room for no extra charge, just as an added gesture, she said.

At KRMC, the physicians have treated patients aging anywhere from 15 to 95. There is never a guarantee of success, but they have experienced patient satisfaction rates, around 85%, in cases related to arthritic conditions.

Although it is still unknown as to why stem cell therapy works on some people and not on others, Farley urges people with conditions affecting their everyday routine to look into this alternative treatment.

There are no guarantees, and thats something people need to know, but there are no negative side effects, she said. We help people get back to their normal routine. It is not uncommon for patients to one day realize they just did a physical activity they hadnt done in years. It just seems like the most simple tasks, but these are things that run their life, she said.

Currently, stem cell therapy is considered patient funded research and is not covered by medical insurance yet. The cost of treatment varies depending on the condition being treated. Patients who have undergone stem cell therapy and found success will tell you that every penny is worth it.

Linda Graham, 56, is one of those patients.

For about 10 years, Graham dealt with severe arthritis pain in her joints. The progression was gradual at first, and it became noticeable when she started feeling pain in her joints while doing things she normally did.

It started affecting different parts of her life, including work. Graham has owned Carpet One Floor and Home in Manhattan for decades, and the pain in her joints started interfering with how she operated the store. Youre just not able to do the things youve been able to do, like my job, she said. We move a lot of tile and stuff, and I really couldnt do that anymore.

Even lifting and bending became difficult for her.

Before turning to KRMC, Graham had attempted several things to try to improve her condition, including several spinal block injections in her back and physical therapy.

Pretty much Id done everything that had been suggested to do for it, and none of it helped at all, she said.

Things changed around seven months ago when Grahams sister-in-law told her about someone she knew who had gone to KRMC for their shoulder and had a good response to the treatment.

Graham began researching stem cell therapy, called the center, and eventually met with Dr. Lyons. After visiting with him, she decided it sounded like something she wanted to try.

They explained everything very well to me, she said. So I understood the process and knew exactly what was going to be going on.

I was excited to try it because it was something that could be done. I couldnt have any more surgeries on my back, and I was excited to use something that could possibly make me feel better that uses my own stem cells. I wasnt hesitant because I was very comfortable with the doctors and what they had to say.

The day Graham went in for the treatment, she received a total of 32 injections in her back, neck, and left hip. One might think this would be a painful procedure, but Graham said otherwise.

It wasnt painful, she said. You know, to some people it might be, but Im used to having injections and stuff in my back.

It was just three weeks later when Graham noticed a huge difference in her back. She started being able to do simple tasks that, before the treatment, had caused unbearable pain. Getting up and down out of her chair, picking things up, putting socks on, and even simply standing would cause her pain. But not anymore.

The stem cell therapy has greatly improved Grahams quality of life, especially at Carpet One, where she usually works 60 hours a week.

I think it just made me a better person here at work when youre not constantly in pain in things that you do, she said. I dont have to take Ibuprofen and that stuff constantly. I dont take pain medication. I think it just made me an overall better person to be around.

Graham is extremely appreciative of what KRMC has done for her. She hopes others with symptoms similar to hers will look into stem cell therapy and not be afraid. Duane Hund has had a similar experience with KRMC.

In 2010, Hund, who was 54 at the time, went in to his orthopedic doctor to do a scope of his left shoulder due to constant pain. After the scope, he learned he had no cartilage left in his shoulder. With the only advice he was given being try to live with it as long as possible, Hund spent the next five years struggling with the condition. He woke up every night to stabbing, searing pain in his shoulder.

It got to the point where his wife was worried about him driving because of how little sleep he would get each night.

It was real common for me to wake up multiple times during the night because of the pain, he said.

It affected other aspects of his life as well. He was limited to what he could lift while working in the cattle business, and found himself limited to what he could do at home.

It was painful for me to change a lightbulb raising that left arm all the way up, he said. I would notice that if I had an easy day, I would wake up less often at night.

He felt like he had exhausted almost every single one of his options, from physical therapy to over-the-counter drugs, and found that nothing was effective.

Then, KRMC opened.

Hund and his wife started doing research on stem cell therapy since they knew the doctors at the center that would eventually perform his procedure Lyons and Dr. Pope.

Hund reached the point where he was prepared to make serious changes. It was either the stem cell therapy or replacing his entire left shoulder.

He and his wife eventually took Hunds X-rays to the center. Lyons and Pope looked at them and told Hund they were 85% sure they could help him. After they thoroughly described the process, Hund felt very comfortable.

It made me feel like these guys are experts, he said.

After that, any hesitation regarding the treatment was gone.

Something had to change with my sleeping problem, he said. If the stem cell therapy didnt work, I knew what the alternative was.

Hund ended up going in for treatment in July of 2015. He still recalls that day very well, remembering lying down on the table where Dr. Pope gave him the practically painless stem cell injection.

The days that followed brought no change. That is, until about six weeks later, when Hund woke up one morning realizing he had not woken up a single time during the night.

The first time I slept through the night, it was like did that really happen? he said.

Since that night, he said it continued to get better as time went on. He now sleeps through the night, and can continue to live his everyday routine with minimum restriction.

As a side note, Hund mentioned that, in addition to the treatments aimed at improving his shoulder, the stem cell treatment also rid him of some symptoms associated with the early stages of P a r k i n s o n s . KRMC noted that this type of positive side effect is not uncommon. Hund is extremely grateful that his treatment from KRMC has allowed him to continue to live out his active lifestyle.

Hund and his wife Diane of 36 years both work on a farm that has been in Hunds family for five generations since 1872.

I can continue to do what I love to do in the cattle business, he said. My wife and I would have had to quit if the pain kept up.

In addition to their farm, the Hunds also have kids and grandkids. Because of the stem cell therapy, he can now physically pick up his grandkids, something he was unable to do before.

I can be a better grandpa and a better husband, and still do the things I love to do, he said. Its been a wonderful opportunity. It doesnt work for everyone, but Ive had great success with it. I thank the Lord for that every day.

See original here:
Innovative technology gives patients new beginnnings - Manhattan Mercury (subscription)

As a former NFL player, ESPNS Mike Golic is used to talking sports news and game drama on his radio show Mike and Mike in the Morning. Now, he's discussing a more serious topic, type 2 diabetes. Since being diagnosed with the disease 12 years ago, Golic has been on a mission to raise awareness and help people learn how to manage their blood sugar.

My advice to people with type 2 diabetes is get everybody involved in your life. Its not something to run from, hide from, [and] keep it a secret from everybody else. Youve been diagnosed with it, you have to deal with it, Mike Golic, now 54, told Fox News.

Golic admitted that during his time as a defensive lineman he never thought anything could be physically wrong with him other than a few bruises or tears. But in the back of his mind, he knew his father had type 2 diabetes, which raised his risk.

While it was a, Oh man there was like a Yeah, OK, my dad was right about this age when he was diagnosed, so while it was surprising it wasnt shocking, he said.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), having a parent or sibling with the disease can increase your risk. Other risk factors include being overweight, having an unhealthy diet and high blood pressure.

Growing up, Golic said his father kept his condition to himself and didnt talk about it with his family.

It was just kind of his thing to deal with, he said. But I wanted to be very proactive and involve my wife, involve my family, I have three kids [and] two boys are large football players whose grandfather had type 2 diabetes and I have type 2 diabetes, so I wanted to keep them in the loop on this and what needed to be done."

After teaming up with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Golic and his doctors came up with a game plan to keep his blood sugar levels in check. Type 2 diabetes can be treated with a variety of different medications. He turned to INVOKANA (canagliflozin), a prescription medicine his doctor recommended.

In addition to medicine, eating healthy and regularly exercising can also help manage the disease.

If left untreated, type 2 diabetes can cause serious and even deadly complications.

You can have retinopathy or eye disease, you can have kidney disease and ultimately it can lead to kidney failure and you can have neuropathy which is a disease of the nerve ending which ultimately can cause amputations, Dr. John Anderson, a board-certified Internist at Frist Clinic in Nashville, Tenn., told Fox News. Youre also a 2- to 3-fold increase risk of heart attack and stroke.

Early diagnosis should be accessible during routine exams or physicals when physicians check a patients blood sugar level. But other signs and symptoms may include thirst, frequent urination, blurred vision, fatigue and weight loss, Anderson said.

We have about 89 million people in the country with prediabetes, that means their numbers are not quite in the range that youd diagnose diabetes but theyre on their way, Anderson who is a long-time volunteer for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and has served as Chair of National Advocacy said. Thats why you need to be seeing your health care professional, getting your screenings, getting your glucoses checked, being proactive.

Today, Golic gets his A1C1 test, a blood test that measures the average level of glucose in the blood,every three-to-four months and has kept his diabetes under control.

This is a situation that can have some complications in your life if you dont treat it the right way, so why not get people involved, why not start with your doctor OK this is the game plan, and then you go to the people in your family this is the game plan my doctor gave me, this is what I need to do and I need all your help to do it, Golic said.

For more information visit ICanImagine.com.

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How ESPN's radio host Mike Golic controls his type 2 diabetes - Fox News

Tools of diabetes treatment almost always include improved diet and regular exercise.

When people ask me why I, an applied mathematician, study diabetes, I tell them that I am motivated for both scientific and human reasons.

Type 2 diabetes runs in my family. My grandfather died of complications related to the condition. My mother was diagnosed with the disease when I was 10 years old, and my Aunt Zacharoula suffered from it. I myself am pre-diabetic.

As a teen, I remember being struck by the fact that my mother and her sister received different treatments from their respective doctors. My mother never took insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels; instead, she ate a limited diet and took other oral drugs. Aunt Zacharoula, on the other hand, took several injections of insulin each day.

Though they had the same heritage, the same parental DNA and the same disease, their medical trajectories diverged. My mother died in 2009 at the age of 75 and my aunt died the same year at the age of 78, but over the course of her life dealt with many more serious side effects.

When they were diagnosed back in the 1970s, there were no data to show which medicine was most effective for a specific patient population.

Today,29 million Americansare living with diabetes. And now, in an emerging era of precision medicine, things are different.

Increased access to troves of genomic information and the rising use of electronic medical records, combined with new methods of machine learning, allow researchers to process large amounts data. This is accelerating efforts to understand genetic differences within diseases including diabetes and to develop treatments for them. The scientist in me feels a powerful desire to take part.

My students and I have developed adata-driven algorithm for personalized diabetes management that we believe has the potential to improve the health of the millions of Americans living with the illness.

It works like this: The algorithm mines patient and drug data, finds what is most relevant to a particular patient based on his or her medical history and then makes a recommendation on whether another treatment or medicine would be more effective. Human expertise provides a critical third piece of the puzzle.

After all, it is the doctors who have the education, skills and relationships with patients who make informed judgments about potential courses of treatment.

We conducted our research through a partnership with Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New England that provides care for people of lower income and uninsured people. And we used a data set that involved the electronic medical records from 1999 to 2014 of about 11,000 patients who were anonymous to us.

These patients had three or more glucose level tests on record, a prescription for at least one blood glucose regulation drug, and no recorded diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, whichusually begins in childhood. We also had access to each patients demographic data, as well their height, weight, body mass index, and prescription drug history.

Next, we developed an algorithm to mark precisely when each line of therapy ended and the next one began, according to when the combination of drugs prescribed to the patients changed in the electronic medical record data. All told, the algorithm considered 13 possible drug regimens.

For each patient, the algorithm processed the menu of available treatment options. This included the patients current treatment, as well as the treatment of his or her 30 nearest neighbors in terms of the similarity of their demographic and medical history to predict potential effects of each drug regimen. The algorithm assumed the patient would inherit the average outcome of his or her nearest neighbors.

If the algorithm spotted substantial potential for improvement, it offered a change in treatment; if not, the algorithm suggested the patient remain on his or her existing regimen. In two-thirds of the patient sample, the algorithm did not propose a change.

The patients who did receive new treatments as a result of the algorithm sawdramatic results. When the systems suggestion was different from the standard of care, anaverage beneficial changein the hemoglobin of 0.44 percent at each doctors visit was observed, compared to historical data. This is a meaningful, medically material improvement.

Based on the success of our study, we are organizing a clinical trial with Massachusetts General Hospital. We believe our algorithm could be applicable to other diseases, including cancer, Alzheimers, and cardiovascular disease.

It is professionally satisfying and personally gratifying to work on a breakthrough project like this one. By reading a persons medical history, we are able to tailor specific treatments to specific patients and provide them with more effective therapeutic and preventive strategies. Our goal is to give everyone the greatest possible opportunity for a healthier life.

Best of all, I know my mom would be proud.

Dimitris Bertsimas, Professor of Applied Mathematics, MIT Sloan School of Management

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MIT Mathematician Develops an Algorithm to Help Treat Diabetes - Smithsonian

This is Diabetes Alert Day and Iowans are being urged to take a simple, on-line survey to determine if they might be headed down a hazardous path.

Katie Jones, program manager at the Iowa Department of Public Health, says it only takes a minute to complete the test. Jones says, This is really to see if youre at risk for a condition called prediabetes which is basically where blood glucose levels or blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough yet to be considered diabetes.

The website is: DoIHavePrediabetes.org. Jones says about one in every three Iowans is prediabetic and most of them dont know it.

The test asks things like your age, because age is a big risk factor, Jones says. Simply getting older increases your risk. It also asks things like family history of diabetes, things like that. About one in 12 Iowans has diabetes and one in four has it and doesnt know it. By knowing your risk level, Jones says Iowans can make a few key lifestyle changes to stave off type 2 diabetes.

The good news is, if you do have prediabetes, you can take steps to help prevent developing type 2 diabetes and even getting rid of prediabetes, Jones says. The National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you actually curb that progression.

People with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and other serious complications. Prediabetes can often be reversed through modest weight loss 5 to 7 percent of body weight and making small changes to increase healthy eating and moderate physical activity.

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Have you checked yourself for diabetes? - Radio Iowa

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Today, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, is American Diabetes Association Alert Day. The goal is to bring awareness about a disease that affects tens of millions of Americans.

While 29 million Americans are dealing with diabetes, another 86 million have prediabetes yet only a fraction are aware of it. A doctor and a diabetic patient spoke about a part of the body that's often the first to signal you may be at risk of having the disease.

42-year-old DavidWanchisen visited his foot doctor Tuesday morning. The Scranton man didn't expect he'd end up here but it's the result of a diagnosis last year that took him by surprise. "I'm dealing with a diabetic ulcer that it's curing but it takes a lot of time and a little bit of pain."

He's wearing an orthowedge shoe to reduce pressure on that diabetic ulcer. Before he had the wound, the first physical sign he had Type 2 diabetes surfaced after a summer day at the beach. "Neuropathy on my feet caused the burning." That burning pain, weakness and numbness were a result of his diabetic condition. "I might have had it for quite some time."

Commonwealth Health Podiatrist Laura Virtue-Delayo, DPM said, "Oftentimes it's that they're getting tingling in their toes or burning." She added that many patients first learn of their diabetes by having a sore on their foot that's not getting better. "When you have a wound, the longer it's open the better chance of getting an infection in the soft tissue, in the bone, which can lead to amputation of the toes, the forefoot or even the lower leg."

Dave's treatment includes having the doctor debride, or scrape, his wound once a week while he has to apply a specialized ointment to that area every day. He's also eating healthier and lost 50 pounds in less than a year. "You have to make a lifestyle change to somewhat cure it or you know improve your lifestyle." Dr. Virtue-Delayo added, "He definitely is working on keeping his sugars in tact so they don't have to be a problem. You can be a diabetic without having foot problems or other problems that go along with diabetes."

Dr. Virtue-Delayo says a diabetic who notices a foot wound, even a blister, should call the doctor as soon as possible. She says delaying treatment even a few days could lead to amputation.

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Signs of Diabetes: Look to the Feet - PA home page

Jeff Mitchell, Community Health Reporting Project Published 4:27 p.m. PT March 28, 2017 | Updated 12 hours ago

community health reporting project logo(Photo: Provided)

Realizing that the Salinas Valley, like much of America, is about to get hit with a tsunami of pre-diabetes and diabetes cases, a handful of local healthcare organizations joined Tuesday to fight the chronic disease that shortens lives and regularly robs people of limbs through amputation and dims or extinguishes their eyesight.

The countywide initiative is a partnership among Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Community Health Innovations, Montage Health, Monterey Independent Physicians Association and Central Coast YMCA.

The announcement was made at the Salinas Valley Medical Clinic Diabetes & Endocrine Center currently under construction at the Primecare Medical offices on Abbott Street.

The Diabetes Initiative was started in 2015 by Community Hospital, SVMH, Community Health Innovations (CHI) and the Monterey Bay Independent Physician Association to move the dial on diabetes.

The driver behind todays event is the bold effort by the partners to work together to move the dial on diabetes in Monterey County," said Dr. Anthony Chavis, chief medical officer of Montage Health, parent company of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

The effort comes not a minute too soon. According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Chronic Disease Program, diabetes and pre-diabetes in Monterey County affect:

57% of the population has diabetes and pre-diabetes

28,000, or 12% of the population, have diabetes

105,000, or 45% of the population, have pre-diabetes.

In 2015, about 13.8% of Monterey County Hispanics/Latinos reported having been diagnosed with diabetes, compared to 4.8% of Whites and 4.4% Asians (CHIS).

The partners supporting the initiative have increased the number of endocrinologists serving the community. The YMCA introduced a yearlong Pre-Diabetes Program for people considered pre-diabetes or are on the verge of becoming pre-diabetic.

This year, SVMHS is opening an expanded Diabetes & Endocrine Center in Salinas with a state-of-the-art kitchen and education room. Also this year, Montage Health is opening a new medical office building at Ryan Ranch ideally suited for diabetes care.

Construction of the expanded Salinas Valley Medical Clinic Diabetes & Endocrine Center will be completed this summer. The new Diabetes & Endocrine Center will be located on the second floor of the PrimeCare office building at 355 Abbott St.in Salinas.

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Groups gather to fight diabetes - The Salinas Californian - The Salinas Californian

Yale School of Medicine metabolism researcher Sabrina Diano has been selected to receive the Helmholtz Diabetes Award during the 6th annual Helmholtz Conference Sept. 26-28, 2018 in Munich, Germany. Diano is the first woman to receive the award, which recognizes outstanding contributions by a leading scientist in the field of diabetes research. She will deliver the Heimholtz Diabetes Lecture during the conference.

Diano is a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Neuroscience, and Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Program in Integrative Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism, and director of the Reproductive Neuroscience Group at Yale School of Medicine.

Diano has published many studies in top research journals such as Cell, Nature, Cell Metabolism, Nature Medicine, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These studies have broadened understanding of how neurons in the brain that regulate appetite also affect systemic glucose levels. She has also helped to pinpoint a mechanism in part of the brain that is key to sensing glucose levels in the blood, linking it to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Dianos research has important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, disorders that are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S., and the develop

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Yale's Sabrina Diano is first woman to receive the Helmholtz Diabetes Award - Yale News