StemCell Therapy

The CDC estimates that sickle cell disease affects well over 100,000 Americans, with the disease occurring most often in African Americans. September has been designated as National Sickle Cell Awareness month designed to focus attention on the ongoing research in this field and the need for new treatments. The sector can certainly point to the significant progress that has taken place during the past few years, with new medicines reaching the market and several novel therapeutics with new mechanisms of action advancing in the pipeline.

Ted Love, president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. (GBT), said 2019 was a landmark year with the FDA approval of two new novel therapies to treat sickle cell disease. He was speaking at the virtual annual Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Therapeutics Conference this week. His company, together with the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, was hosting the one-day event featuring discussions on the latest advances and future trends.

Approvals

The key manifestation of the inherited blood disorder is that red blood cells (RBCs) are abnormally shaped (crescent), which restricts their flow in blood vessels and limits oxygen delivery to the bodys tissues, leading to severe pain and organ damage. The condition is also characterized by severe chronic inflammation that results in vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) where patients experience episodes of extreme pain and organ damage.

Late November, GBT gained accelerated approval for its Oxbryta (voxelotor) tablets for the treatment SCD in adults and pediatric patients 12 and older. The agencys green light came less than two weeks after it gave the go-ahead to Novartis AG for Adakveo (crizanlizumab) to reduce the frequency of VOCs in adult and pediatric patients ages 16 and older with SCD.

According to Love, Oxbryta is a new class of therapy binding to hemoglobin and stabilizing RBCs in an oxygenated state and inhibiting deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin polymerization, making cells less likely to bind together and form the distinctive sickle shape.

The launch of the drug has gone well since it was approved, he said in the companys second-quarter financial report and business update, despite the impact of COVID-19. Net sales in the period reached $31.5 million, well ahead of the Streets expectations. Going forward, the company is planning to expand the potential use of Oxbryta for the treatment of SCD in children as young as 4 years old and also seek marketing authorization in Europe for Oxbryta to treat hemolytic anemia in SCD patients ages 12 and older with a marketing authorization application being submitted to the EMA by the middle of next year.

Pipeline progress

Cambridge, Mass.-based Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. is working on mitapivat (AG-348), an investigational, oral, small-molecule allosteric activator of wild-type and a variety of mutated pyruvate kinase-R (PKR) enzymes, in patients with SCD. The compound has been shown to decrease 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) and increase adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and through that mechanism, it may reduce hemoglobin (Hb) S polymerization and red blood cell sickling. In June, the company reported that clinical proof of concept had been established based on a preliminary analysis in a phase I trial being conducted in collaboration with the U.S. NIH as part of a cooperative research and development agreement.

The ongoing study had enrolled nine patients, with eight completing all planned dose levels of mitapivat. Seven of eight patients who completed all dose levels experienced a Hb increase, with five of eight patients (63%) achieving a hemoglobin increase of 1 g/dL from baseline (range 1-2.7 g/dL). All five patients who achieved a hemoglobin increase of 1 g/dL did so at doses of 50 mg BID or lower. Decreases in 2,3-DPG and increases in ATP levels were observed, consistent with the proposed mechanism of action and comparable to that observed in healthy volunteer studies with mitapivat.

The company said it expects to report data from ACTIVATE and ACTIVATE-T, its two global pivotal trials for mitapivat in adults with pyruvate kinase deficiency, between the end of 2020 and mid-2021.

Watertown, Mass.-based Forma Therapeutics Holdings Inc., which made its public debut this year, also has a selective RBC pyruvate kinase-R activator in its pipeline for treating SCD. FT-4202 is being evaluated in a phase I trial in SCD patients ages 12 and older and has been granted fast track, rare pediatric and orphan drug designations. The compound is a potent activator of pyruvate kinase-R designed to improve RBC metabolism, function and survival by decreasing 2,3 DPG and increasing ATP, potentially resulting in both increased hemoglobin levels and reduced VOCs.

Olinciguat, an oral guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator, being developed by Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc., has completed the treatment period in its STRONG-SCD study with a total of 70 patients randomized. The placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study is designed to evaluate safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics, as well as to explore effects on daily symptoms and biomarkers of disease activity when dosed over a 12-week treatment period. Top-line results are expected this year. Olinciguat is a compound that aims to stimulate sGC production, leading to the production of a signaling molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). High levels of cGMP help reduce inflammation in blood vessels, decrease adhesion between RBCs, and allow for improved blood flow by increasing the availability of nitric oxide.

Boston-based Imara Inc. is developing IMR-687, a small-molecule inhibitor of PDE9 that degrades cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), an active signaling molecule that plays a role in vascular biology. The company said that lower levels of cGMP are often found in people with SCD and beta-thalassemia and are associated with impaired blood flow, increased inflammation, greater cell adhesion and reduced nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation. Blocking PDE9 acts to increase cGMP levels, which are associated with reactivation of fetal hemoglobin.

In August, the company dosed the first patient in its Ardent phase IIb trial of IMR-687 for adult patients with SCD. The planned primary efficacy objective is to evaluate the proportion of all patients with fetal hemoglobin (HbF) response, defined as an increase of 3% in HbF from baseline to week 24, compared to placebo.

Gene therapy/gene editing

Since SCD is a monogenic disease condition, researchers believe that it would be a good candidate for gene therapy therapeutic approaches. For example, significant progress is being made by Cambridge, Mass.-based Bluebird Bio Inc. with lentiglobin, its lentiviral-based gene therapy that inserts an anti-sickling beta-globin variant into CD34-positive cells, progenitors of red blood cells.

At the virtual European Hematology Association (EHA) meeting in June, it reported new data from its ongoing phase I/II study involving adult and adolescent patients with SCD that showed a near-complete reduction of serious VOCs and acute chest syndrome. The company expects to submit a BLA to the FDA for the gene therapy next year.

Crispr Therapeutics AG and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. are progressing CTX-001, an investigational, autologous, CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited hematopoietic stem cell therapy being evaluated for patients suffering from severe hemoglobinopathies. At EHA, the companies reported that in the phase I/II Climb-121 study, at nine months after CTX-001 infusion, the first treated patient was free of VOCs, was transfusion independent and had total hemoglobin levels of 11.8 g/dL, 46.1% fetal hemoglobin and F-cells (erythrocytes expressing fetal hemoglobin) of 99.7%.

Last month, Cambridge, Mass.-based Editas Medicine Inc., a genome editing company, reported that the FDA had granted rare pediatric disease designation for EDIT-301, an experimental, autologous cell medicine, being developed as a potentially best-in-class, durable medicine for SCD. The company plans to file an investigational new drug application for EDIT-301 by the end of this year. EDIT-301 comprises sickle patient CD34+ cells genetically modified using a hCRISPR/Cas12a (also known as Cpf1) ribonucleoprotein to edit the HBG1/2 promoter region in the beta-globin locus. Red blood cells derived from EDIT-301 CD34+ cells demonstrate a sustained increase in fetal hemoglobin (HbF) production.

In its second-quarter financial report and business update, Beam Therapeutics Inc. announced the nomination of its first two adenine base editing development candidates, BEAM-101, targeting patients with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin, and BEAM-102 (Makassar variant), both aimed at correcting SCD.

New Initiative

The NIH, which reports it spends approximately $100 million on sickle cell disease research, announced that is has launched The Cure Sickle Cell Initiative designed to speed the development of cures for the disease. It will take advantage of the latest genetic discoveries and technological advances to progress the most promising genetic-based curative therapies safely into clinical trials within five to 10 years.

Aided by research partners, the initiative will establish a national data warehouse of genetic therapies for sickle cell disease and conduct comparative analyses of therapeutic approaches to assess both clinical and cost effectiveness. National networks will also be created to make it easier for patients and providers to interact with the research, clinical trials, and other activities.

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New medicines in the pipeline to treat sickle cell disease - BioWorld Online

With September being Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month, Loma Linda University Childrens Health wants to help educate the community about SCD one of the most common yet overlooked genetic disorders in the world.

Each year, approximately 1,000 babies in the U.S. and 500,000 worldwide are born with the disease, according to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

Akshat Jain, MD, MPH, a global sickle cell disease expert at Childrens Hospital, is passionate about establishing awareness and proper care for children suffering from SCD and Sickle Cell Trait, especially the diverse patient population in San Bernardino County.

There are many barriers to receiving care for those with SCD in our community, Jain says. One barrier specifically is lack of awareness surrounding the disease coupled with lack of awareness surrounding the treatment options available at Childrens Hospital.

In sickle cell disease, a persons red blood cells have an irregular cell shape, Jain says. Instead of round discs, theyre in a crescent or sickle shape.

Due to their shape, texture and inflexibility, the cells become clumped together. This grouping causes a blockage in a childs blood vessels, hindering blood-flow. This blockage may cause varying levels of pain and potentially organ damage long-term.

Jain says some of the signs and symptoms of SCD include:

Jain says that many children with SCD develop symptoms in their first year of life. SCD is commonly diagnosed during newborn screening tests, which check for the abnormal hemoglobin found in SCD. Additionally, if both parents of a child are known carriers of a SCD trait, their child will have a 25% chance of having the disease, Jain says.

Some of the emergent issues needing immediate medical care in kids with SCD disease include:

Treatments for SCD include pain medicines for pain management, adequate hydration, blood transfusions, vaccines and antibiotics, and some medicines. Currently, stem cell transplant from bone marrow is the recognized cure for SCD.

Childrens Hospital, with Jain working as a lead on the team, performed the institutions first stem cell transplant in 2019, curing a then 11-year-old girl who had suffered from SCD since birth. Since then, the team has successfully performed the transplant on several pediatric patients.

Patients with SCD at Childrens Hospital are placed into a treatment and care program where Jain and his team offer non-traditional services such as individualized patient treatment plans and direct access to the care team in case of an emergent event. Additionally, the program is working toward offering curative gene therapy for both sickle cell and hemophilia patients.

The bottom line is children and families suffering from this disease need to know that theyre not alone, Jain says. Here at Childrens Hospital, we are here to manage and fight this disease alongside of you.

Learn more about our treatments for sickle cell disease at our Specialty Team Centers.

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Here's what to know about Sickle Cell Disease in kids - Loma Linda University Health

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of a two-day virtual Investor Day, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) provided an extensive overview of pipeline advances and shared updates on the Companys efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple fronts, including new data on the BNT162b2 vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with BioNTech SE. The pipeline updates contribute to the Companys expectation of at least a 6% revenue CAGR over the next five years, as well as delivery of longer-term topline growth beyond that period.

Pfizers goal of delivering up to 25 breakthroughs to patients by the year 2025 has 38 such opportunities to draw from as of today, including the companys 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate (20vPnC). On a non-risk adjusted basis, these opportunities collectively represent more than $15 billion (excluding 20vPnC) in potential incremental revenue for Pfizer from 2020 to 2025, as well as aggregate peak annual sales potential of $35 billion to $40 billion (including 20vPnC). If successful, the Companys COVID-19 programs would be incremental to these estimates.

Pfizers purpose Breakthroughs that change patients lives has never been more relevant, and our R&D pipeline has never been more dynamic, said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. I am proud of the truly transformational science that our research and clinical teams are bringing to the fight against disease, as well as the unprecedented speed with which we are advancing our clinical programs in the battle against COVID-19. In the coming months and years, I look forward to the new Pfizer continuing to demonstrate the agility and innovative spirit of a biotech combined with the scale of Big Pharma. With the depth and breadth of our current portfolio, the tremendous potential of our pipeline and scientific engine, and the power of our culture of innovation, we are poised to continue delivering meaningful value to patients by addressing some of the worlds most difficult health challenges.

UPDATES ON COVID-19 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Pfizer announced several key advances in its efforts to protect humankind from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare the pharmaceutical industry to better respond to future global health crises.

BNT162 mRNA-based Vaccine Program

Pfizer and BioNTech shared several updates from their BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine program against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, including:

Protease Inhibitor Program

The company announced the initiation of its Phase 1b clinical trial to evaluate the safety of a novel investigational therapeutic for COVID-19, PF-07304814. Of note,

THERAPEUTIC AREAS OF FOCUS

Pfizer shared significant research advances across its various therapeutic areas including candidates with blockbuster potential expected to launch by 2025.

Vaccines

In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine program, Pfizer aims to deliver five innovative vaccines by 2025, subject to clinical success and regulatory approval. Updates on these late-stage clinical development programs include:

Rare Disease

Pfizers Rare Disease late-stage pipeline currently includes three gene therapy programs that, if successful, are expected to gain regulatory approval by the end of 2023, with an additional pipeline of 10 preclinical initiatives that are at various stages of maturity. Key updates include:

Oncology

Pfizers Oncology pipeline has the potential to deliver up to 14 approvals expected by the end of 2025 and the potential for 24 new molecular entities in the clinic by the end of 2021. Key updates included, for the first time, early-stage opportunities obtained from the 2019 acquisition of Array BioPharma:

Inflammation and Immunology

The Inflammation & Immunology pipeline is focused on patients with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases across rheumatology, gastroenterology and dermatology, with five distinct immuno-kinases, in oral and topical formulations, studied for potential treatment of 10 diseases, and three additional novel biologics in Phase 2 studies. Key updates included:

Internal Medicine

The Internal Medicine pipeline addresses the increasing global burden of cardiometabolic disease, with nine investigational medicines in active clinical studies and additional therapies in the pre-clinical pipeline. Key updates included:

To access a replay of the webcast, including audio, video and presentation slides, visit our web site at http://www.pfizer.com/investors.

About Pfizer: Breakthroughs That Change Patients Lives

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at http://www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on http://www.Pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

Disclosure Notice: The information contained in this release is as of September 15, 2020. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release or the webcast as the result of new information or future events or developments.

This release and the webcast contain forward-looking information about Pfizers anticipated operating and financial performance, business plans and prospects, Pfizers pipeline portfolio (including anticipated regulatory submissions, data read-outs, study starts, approvals, revenue contributions and market opportunities), and our efforts to respond to COVID-19, including our investigational vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 and our investigational protease inhibitor, including their potential benefits, among other things, that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for our clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; risks associated with interim and preliminary data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from our clinical studies; whether and when any drug applications, biologics license applications and/or emergency use authorization applications may be filed in any jurisdictions for any potential indication for Pfizers product candidates; whether and when any such applications that may be filed for any of Pfizers product candidates may be approved by regulatory authorities, which will depend on myriad factors, including making a determination as to whether the product's benefits outweigh its known risks and determination of the product's efficacy and, if approved, whether any such product candidates will be commercially successful; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Pfizers product candidates, including development of products or therapies by other companies; manufacturing capabilities or capacity; uncertainties regarding the ability to obtain recommendations from vaccine technical committees and other public health authorities and uncertainties regarding the commercial impact of any such recommendations; uncertainties regarding the impact of COVID-19 on Pfizers business, operations and financial results; and competitive developments.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizers Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results, as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at http://www.sec.gov and http://www.pfizer.com.

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Pfizer Investor Day Features Significant Number of Pipeline Advances for COVID-19 Programs and Across Numerous Therapeutic Areas - Business Wire

Here are the top biotech companies you will find in Oxford, a city with an old scientific tradition and an enormous output of biotech applications.

Oxford is well known for its university, one of the oldest in Europe and considered to be one of the best in the world. Recently, the University of Oxford has been the center of attention thanks to an experimental Covid-19 vaccine that the university is developing in partnership with big pharmaceutical companies. If successful, the vaccine, already in phase III testing, could be one of the first to get approval for this new disease.

The University of Oxford has hosted thousands of bright minds over the years. Thanks to its emphasis on technology transfer, the university has also helped a large number of them turn their ideas into successful spinout companies. The environment created around the university has also attracted many talents and businesses to the city, making it the ideal melting pot for new and promising ideas.

Biotech is one of the fortes of the innovation seen in the city of Oxford. So we consulted with local experts to put together a list of the most remarkable companies in the city, be it for their size, innovation, or influence in the sector.

Founded in 2008, Immunocore is one of just a few private biotech companies in Europe that are estimated to be worth over 1B. The company is tackling multiple forms of cancer as well as infectious and autoimmune diseases using T-cell receptor (TCR) technology. TCRs are proteins on the surface of immune T cells that are responsible for identifying a threat that must be destroyed, such as cancerous or infected cells. Immunocore aims to patients with engineered TCRs to circumvent the mechanisms by which these threats evade the immune system, restoring its ability to fight disease.

The company is collaborating on several projects with Genentech, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, and GSK. Its most advanced program is a treatment for uveal melanoma that is currently in phase III trials. Other programs target solid tumors, hepatitis, HIV, and type 1 diabetes.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics was founded at the same time as Immunocore with the goal of exploiting TCR technology in the form of T-cell therapy. The company engineers the TCRs naturally present on the patients own immune T cells to improve their ability to identify cancerous cells.

Adaptimmune is now getting ready to start late-stage clinical trials in multiple cancer types. Thanks to a deal with Astellas Pharma, the company is also gearing up to start clinical testing of a version of its T-cell therapy that doesnt require engineering each dose individually for each patient, using donor cells instead. Adaptimmune also has several partnerships with companies including GSK, Noile-Immune Biotech, and Alpine Immune Sciences.

Oxford Biodynamics was spun out of Oxford University in 2007 with the goal of developing liquid biopsy tests that can perform a diagnosis from just a drop of blood. The company specializes in epigenetics, that is changes to the structure of our DNA that determines which genes are switched on or off.

Oxford Biodynamics works in a wide range of indications, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis among many others. The tests are not only designed to diagnose a disease; they can also be made to determine which patients are going to benefit the most from a specific drug, and how likely the disease is to progress faster or relapse.

With these tests, the company is supporting the development of personalized medicine approaches and helping drug developers increase their chances of succeeding in clinical trials. Partners include big pharma such as Pfizer and EMD, as well as universities and research institutes.

Chronos Therapeutics started out in 2009 as a spinout of the University of Oxford with the goal of developing drugs for age-related conditions. The companys lead program targets amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common motor neuron disease, for which there are no treatments able to stop its progression.

Over time, the company has expanded its portfolio into other indications, particularly those that affect the brain, by acquiring assets from third parties. They include programs targeting fatigue caused by multiple sclerosis, addictive behaviors such as binge eating and alcohol use disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Evox Therapeutics is developing a drug delivery technology based on exosomes nanoparticles that our bodies naturally use to transport molecules. The company engineers exosomes to carry different types of drugs, such as proteins, RNA, or small drugs. The key advantage is that these natural carriers are able to reach targets that conventional drug delivery systems cant, such as the brain.

Founded in 2016, the company has signed big deals with Takeda and Eli Lilly. Its programs are all in preclinical testing and mostly target rare diseases. One of them targets the rare liver disorder argininosuccinic aciduria and is scheduled to enter clinical trials in 2021.

Exscientia is a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery. The company uses AI to identify potential drug candidates and optimize their structure to maximize their chances of success in clinical trials. The goal is to speed up and reduce the costs of the drug discovery process.

Earlier this year, the companys drug candidate for obsessive-compulsive disorder became one of the first AI-designed drugs to enter clinical trials. While a drug typically takes five years from identification until clinical trials, this one did so in just a year.

Exscientia is partnered with Bayer, BMS, Sanofi, and GSk among others. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company set out to go through a database of 15,000 approved and investigational drugs that had already passed safety testing to find candidates that can then be fast-tracked to clinical testing in Covid-19 patients.

Oxford Biomedica was set up in 1995 as a developer and provider of lentiviral vectors for gene and cell therapy. These vectors allow the permanent introduction of a desired DNA sequence into a target cell, be it in the test tube or directly in the patients body.

The technology of Oxford Biomedica is regularly used by companies such as Novartis, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Imperial Innovations, and Orchard Therapeutics. Notably, the vectors developed by the company are used in Novartis Kymriah, the first CAR T-cell therapy approved in Europe and the US as a cancer treatment.

Oxford Biomedica also has a preclinical pipeline of proprietary programs in a wide range of applications, including cancer, eye disease, ALS, and liver disease. Last year, the company struck a deal with Microsoft to reduce the complexity and costs of gene and cell therapy manufacturing using artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2016, Arctoris aims to bring the benefits of automation to cancer research. Through the companys services, a researcher could just order an experiment online and spend their valuable time designing experiments and analyzing results rather than performing the repetitive tasks needed to complete them.

Arctoris aims to contribute to reducing the costs of drug discovery, which are increasing every year as treatments become personalized and results more difficult to replicate. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Arctoris has established assays that allow scientists the possibility of running Covid-19 experiments remotely.

Founded in 2015, Orbit Discovery is a drug discovery company focusing on the identification of peptide drugs. The company has developed a technology that significantly improves on conventional methods of drug screening such as phage display or mRNA display.

The technology consists of fusing peptides to the DNA sequence encoding them and presenting them to live cells. This method allows the screening of peptide targets that were previously missed by other technologies, and to study their effect on live cells to better predict their function.

The company has already identified several candidates in the areas of cardiology, immunology, and cancer, and is working with partners such as Zealand Pharma in their preclinical development.

OxStem is a drug discovery company with an unusual approach to stem cell treatments. Instead of using stem cells as a therapy, the firm focuses on developing small molecule drugs that can reprogram the patients own stem cells to treat a wide range of diseases related to aging, including cancer and diabetes as well as neurological, cardiovascular, and ocular conditions.

Founded in 2013, the strategy of OxStem is to spin out companies that specialize in each disease area to focus on the development of the drugs found by the parent company, with five subsidiaries set up so far.

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The Top 10 Biotech Companies Brewing at... - Labiotech.eu

"Hey, baby!" my wife Caron said, smiling her way into the room. "The Health Departmentis doing free COVID tests on the church parking lot! Would you like to get one?"

What I thought:Isn't the best place to catch COVID a test site where people go to see if they have COIVD and be tested by people who test people for COVID all day? I'd rather attend a Trump rally in Alabamawearing my Huey P. Newton T-shirt and carrying a Black Lives Matter picket sign.

What I said:"I mean, we don't have any symptoms. I don't really wanna be around a bunch of people. But we can go if you want, baby."

"We'll go early on Friday!" she said, exiting with the same smile.

The old me would never voluntarily go and get a COVID test when I felt fine. I'd wait until my body performed each and every symptom across the board,from the feverand the shortness of breathto the inability to taste food. One or two symptoms wouldn't be good enough, either I'd have to have them allat the same time. Only then would I seek treatment.

This is how I was raised.I come from the school of you don't go to the hospital unless you're dying, even if you do have insurance. You could getshot, break a leg, or have your index finger swallowed by a lawnmower, doesn't matter: just drink some water or some ginger ale, take a nap and you'll be good in the morning.But I'm trying to be better now, and I'm encouraging the men around me to do the same.

By trying, I mean I havea primary care physician so I'm no longer playing Russian Roulette in the ER when I feel bad. I getannual physicals. Iaim to hit the dentist twice a year, when the pandemic isn't stopping me. And I actually listen to what these professionals say, keeping all of my self-diagnoses and Googled explanations for what's happing to my body to myself.

I also ride about 13 miles a day on my Peloton bike. I'm all in:wearingmy Peloton T-shirt, learning from my instructors, adopting their breathing techniques andpositive outlooks, reciting their motivational quotes with religious intensity.When confronted with life's annoying hurdles like systemic racism, I tell myself,"if you can conquer this 45-minute Hip Hop Arms and Intervals ride, you can conquer anything!"

I have not been perfect. I need to do better;we all do.But when news of Chadwick Boseman's death flashed across thescreen,I dropped my phone. The "Black Panther" star a manliterally built like a superhero was only 43, at the height of his career, and gone in the blink of an eye due to colon cancer.

Obviously thePeloton lifestyleisn't going to prevent me from getting coloncancer. But most of the men I know aren't being tested regularly, if they're even going in for check-ups at all. For men who were raised not to seek professional treatmenteven when they can feel or see something's wrong, preventative medicine often isn't even on the radar.We don't evenget the opportunity to fight these deadly illnesses before it's too late.

* * *

On the way to the testing site I thought about the ways I would respond if I tested positive for COVID or if my wife did. What if our baby was sick? What would that nightmare look like?The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go.A test had the power to make a hypotheticalreal. Images of infants strapped to ventilators spiraled through my head as we pulled into the parking lot. I tried to calmmyself by remembering that we had no symptoms, even though there are asymptomatic people out right now spreading the virus around the world.

"Let me go first?" I asked my wife. "You can stay in the car with the baby. I'll get a feel for the test and tell you if it's weird or not."

She agreed. I put on my mask, flooded my hands and forearms with enough sanitizer to sting, exited our truck and took my place on line with the rest of the COVID-curious.

* * *

My distrust of medicine didn't come out of left field. I know how Black people have been treated since the beginning of American medicine. We'vebeen used as guinea pigs throughout its history, from Dr. James Marion Sims' brutal treatment ofenslaved womenduringthe invention of the vaginal speculum and the neonatal tetanus experiments he performedon enslaved babies, in which he beat holes into their heads with a shoemaker's awl,to the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male," in which white scientists lied to Black men saying that they were treating them for"bad blood" when they were actually watching them suffer. I carry that history with me into every exam room.

Many Black people see going to be tested or treated for COVID-19 as a death sentence, since conditions like asthma, which we are most likely to have because the air quality in our neighborhoods is poorer, and diabetes, which we are more likely to have because Black Americanshistorically have not had equal access tohealthy food, puts us more at risk for developing potentially fatal cases.

My college friend Cliff often posted on Facebook about poverty, inequality, and how Black people are treated in America. Cliff died from COVID-19."In poverty, there is a lack of access," Cliff wrote in response to a friend the day before he passed. "I grew up and live in West Baltimore. How many hospitals do we have? Two. Think of that. Two hospitals (Sinai and Bon Secours) for the ENTIRE West Baltimore. So, when you look at things like testing and treatment and combine them with things like access, you can clearly see how poverty plays a factor into who gets treated and who doesn't."

The increased likelihood ofcomplicating health factors and a systemic lack of access to quality care make Black people especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. But somany can't just chill in quarantine and #StayAtHome because they have to go to work in jobs designatedas "essential," which comes with an increasedlikelihood of contact with the virus. (The irony here is that America certainly doesn't treat Black people like we are "essential," as in "worth protecting.")All of the mail carriers, Amazon delivery drivers, and app courierswhose services help me stay at home to ride my Peloton and worry about my missed dentist appointment are Black.As usual, Black people are on the frontlines fighting for a country that kills us in multiple ways.

* * *

"Sir, fill this form out, front and back," a bubbly woman dressed in scrubs said, passing me a pen and a clipboard.

The line moved fast, with only about fivepeople in front of me. By the time I finished completing the form, another woman wearing a different color of scrubs walked toward me with a long Q-tipaimed at my nostril. Slowly, she inserted the Q-tip deep into my nose, swabbed around, then placed it into a bag and told me to have a good day. I watched her walk off because I wanted to see what she did with my sample. The woman laughed her way over to a sample collector insidea huge van that looked like a clinic on wheels, and then I watched her prepare for testing the next person by pouring hand sanitizer on her hands without removing the gloves she wore while testing me.

I flippedout.

It's called hand sanitizer, not latex glove sanitizer!I panicked.All of the residual distrust of medicine and health care and doctors and hospitals flooded back into my brain.She probably just gave me COVID!

I wanted to walk over to her and yell, "That is the nastiest, most unsanitary display of carelessness I ever saw in my life!"

But I remembered my breathing techniques, my positive outlook.I tapped into the new healthy me.

"Shut ya mouth, D. Watkins,"I mumbled instead on the way back to our truck. "Asking her why she didn't change gloves and not getting a satisfying response will only ruin your day."

The new healthy me had taken COVID-19 more seriously than anyone I knew. "Prepare for a lockdown! Load up on canned goods and Lysol wipes!" I had ranted to my friends and family like a maniacas quarantine approached.I just knew we were headed straight toward crazy times.

Before coronavirus, we had family and friends over daily.But six months ago we shut everything down anddecided to stay away from everyone. My daughter Cross was only three months old at the time, which means she can't say "my chest hurts" or "I'velost my sense of taste," so we took every precaution in our household, even breaking family members' hearts by telling them they couldn't see the baby until this is over.

Happy-go-lucky neighbors who intruded our six-foot imaginary bubble were told to get the f**k back.Groceries and other packages were disinfected as soon as they hit our doorsteps. We left the house only to take car rides.No meet-ups, no house parties, no quick visits to anywhere. And now I can't even trust the results of a test I didn't want to go take.

"What's wrong with you?" my wife asked. "Why you'd stand there like that?"

I inhaled, then exhaled, and calmly said, "CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT CHANGING THEIR $*%& GLOVES!"

"The health department is in charge of this," my wife said.

Was that supposed to make me feel better or worse?

"They should know better!" she said.

Then Caron morphed into full Karen mode. She was going to take the test, investigate, check their glove strategy, make sure they were clean and doing their jobs. And if they failed to meet what she thought the standard should be, then she was going to deliver the most devastating blow an agency could face from a person like her: My wife was going to write a letter.

She hopped out of the truck and marched toward the testing site. I looked at Crosssitting snug in her car seat and said, "Mommy is on a mission. They're in trouble now!"

Caron marched back to the truck about five minutes later looking as unhappy as I was. "The woman told me that they sanitize their gloves, and then double-glove for extra safety."

Double-glove?! I took a huge 45-minute Hip Hop Cycling inhale anda smooth 20-minute Rhythm & Blues exhale.

Then I directed my anger toward the health departmentfor allowing such sloppy practices at a community testing site. And thought about Cliff, and the new healthy me, all of my work-outs andsalads and dental appointments, and how we live in a country that claims it's a superpower even though our so-called leader shows no remorse for the 190,000 people who died of COVIDunder his watch. I thought of those 190,000 people too. Maybe a new healthy me doesn't even matter maybe my race and social context have already sealed my fate, my family'sfate.

I imagine Caron was already drafting the letter inside of her head as we headed home.

"I'm not worried," I reassured her. "You shouldn't be worried.We don't have any symptoms.I'm fine, you're fine, the baby will be fine. We will not let them ruin our weekend."

And it didn't. We had a pretty good weekend Idid my daily digital bike ride and forgot about the test until the following Monday.

We were having a classic clichd Black American Labor Day:Caron on the deck grilling, baby Cross in her tiny inflatable pool, and me eating crabs with my parents, trying to explain to my mom why Jay-Z's music is so much better and more important than all of the Luther Vandrossand Mahalia Jacksonsongs together.

Then Caron got the call from an unfamiliar number that turned out to be the health department. "Call us back," the voicemail said."We have very important information about your health."

When we filled out our forms, we elected to be notified by text for negative results, not letter or phone call. If they were calling us on a holiday, it had to be bad news.

"What do you think we should do?" Caron asked.

Then I noticed I had a missed call, too. Same number, same woman's voice, same message. I dialed it back and the call went straight to voicemail. I called back, then again, and again I might have redialed like 16 times only to get the same result.

"Should we ask your parents to leave?" Caron asked me. "This is really anxiety provoking."

Both of my parents are high-risk for COVID.They fitinto those preexisting conditions categories, especially my dad who recently received a kidney transplant. Before that, hehad his gallbladder removed, and before that, a piece of his liver removed, and something was done to his spleen before that all while juggling high blood pressure and diabetes.

But myparents weren't worried.We continued with our day, even though that terrible message from the health department festered inside both of our heads for the rest of the night. We receivedanother round of voicemails later that evening, too, putting us both on edgeuntil the next morningwhenwe finally got the health department on the phone and were informed that we had both tested negative.

Emotions soared. I thanked God and Peloton.

"Why did you decide to get a Covid test, Mr. Watkins?" the woman from the Health Department asked me.

I hung up on her.

Caron was already working on her letter.

Apparently my precautions areworking,so I'll continue to mask up,wash my hands every two minutes and encourage others to do the same. Realizing that I can calm myself down and work to keep my coolthrough this stressful period has been an unexpected reward.I can't imagine what my reaction would have been if we had tested positive, but I hope it would have been to keep doing what's right. The new healthy me is worthless if I only focus on my body and ignore my mindset, my outlook on life and the way that I treat other people, especially in times of crisis.

Continue reading here:
The new healthy me is still Black in COVID's America - Salon

With a lack of certainty surrounding the future, being and feeling healthy may help bring the security that you need during these unpredictable times.

When it comes to your health, there is a direct relationship between nutrition and physical activity that play an enormous part in physical, mental, and social well-being. As COVID-19 continues to impact almost every aspect of our lives, the uncertainty of the future may seem looming. Sometimes improvisation is necessary, and understanding how to stay healthy and fit can significantly help you manage your well-being during these times.

Gyms, group fitness studios, trainers, and professionals can help you to lay out a plan that will either keep you on track through all of the changes and restrictions or help you to get back on the ball so that all of your health objectives are met.

Most facilities and providers are setting plans to provide for their clients and customers to accommodate the unpredictable future. The key to remaining consistent is to have solid plans in place. This means setting a plan A, plan B, and perhaps even a plan C. An enormous amount is on the table for this coming fall and winter; if your gym closes again, what is your plan? If outdoor exercising is not an option due to the weather, what is your plan? Leaving things to chance will significantly increase your chances of falling off of your regimen and will make consistency a big problem.

The key to remaining consistent is to have solid plans in place. This means setting a plan A, plan B, and perhaps even a plan C.

The rise of stress and anxiety as a result of the uncertainty around COVID-19 has affected everyone in some way. Staying active by exercising helps alleviate stress by releasing chemicals like serotonin and endorphins in your brain. In turn, these released chemicals can help improve your mood and even reduce risk of depression and cognitive decline. Additionally, physical activity can help boost your immune system and provide long term health benefits.

With the new work-from-home norm, it can be easy to bypass how much time you are spending sedentary. Be aware of your sitting time and balance it with activity. Struggling to find ways to stay active? Start simple with activities like going for a walk outside, doing a few reps in exchange for extra Netflix time, or even setting an alarm to move during your workday.

If you, like many others during the pandemic shift, have taken some time off of your normal fitness routine, don't push yourself to dive in head first, as this may lead to burnout, injury, and soreness. Plan to start at 50 percent of the volume and intensity of prior workouts when you return to the gym. Inactivity eats away at muscle mass, so rather than focusing on cardio, head to the weights or resistance bands and work on rebuilding your strength.

Be aware of your sitting time and balance it with activity.

In a study published earlier this year, researchers found drug-resistant bacteria, the flu virus, and other pathogens on about 25 percent of the surfaces they tested in multiple athletic training facilities. Even with heightened gym cleaning procedures in place for many facilities, if you are returning to the gym, ensuring that you disinfect any surfaces before and after using them is key.

When spraying disinfectant, wait a few minutes to kill the germs before wiping down the equipment. Also, don't forget to wash your hands frequently. In an enclosed space where many people are breathing heavier than usual, this can allow for a possible increase in virus droplets, so make sure to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Staying in the know and preparing for new gym policies will make it easy to return to these types of facilities as protocols and mutual respect can be agreed upon.

From work to working out, many routines have faltered during the COVID pandemic. If getting back into the routine seems daunting, investing in a new exercise machine, trainer, or small gadget can help to motivate you. Whether it's a larger investment such as a Peloton, a smaller device such as a Fitbit, or simply a great trainer, something new and fresh is always a great stimulus and motivator.

Make sure that when you do wake up well-rested, you are getting out of your pajamas and starting your day with a morning routine.

Just because you are working from home with a computer available 24/7 doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your entire day to work. Setting work hours, just as you would in the office, can help you to stay focused and productive.

A good night's sleep is also integral to obtaining and maintaining a healthy and effective routine. Adults need seven or more hours of sleep per night for their best health and wellbeing, so prioritizing your sleep schedule can drastically improve your day and is an important factor to staying healthy. Make sure that when you do wake up well-rested, you are getting out of your pajamas and starting your day with a morning routine. This can help the rest of your day feel normal while the uncertainty of working from home continues.

In addition to having a well-rounded daily routine, eating at scheduled times throughout the day can help decrease poor food choices and unhealthy cravings. Understanding the nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy can help you stay more alert, but they do vary from person to person. If you are unsure of your suggested nutritional intake, check out a nutrition calculator.

If you are someone that prefers smaller meals and more snacks throughout the day, make sure you have plenty of healthy options, like fruits, vegetables and lean proteins available (an apple a day keeps the hospital away). While you may spend most of your time from home, meal prepping and planning can make your day flow easier without having to take a break to make an entire meal in the middle of your work day. Most importantly, stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

While focusing on daily habits and routines to improve your physical health is important, it is also a great time to turn inward and check in with yourself. Perhaps your anxiety has increased and it's impacting your work or day-to-day life. Determining the cause and taking proactive steps toward mitigating these occurrences are important.

For example, with the increase in handwashing, this can also be a great time to practice mini meditation sessions by focusing on taking deep breaths. This can reduce anxiety and even lower your blood pressure. Keeping a journal and writing out your daily thoughts or worries can also help manage stress during unpredictable times, too.

While the future of COVI9-19 and our lives may be unpredictable, you can manage your personal uncertainties by focusing on improving the lifestyle factors you can controlfrom staying active to having a routine and focusing on your mental healthto make sure that you emerge from this pandemic as your same old self or maybe even better.

See the rest here:
5 Most Desirable Medical Specialities Around the Globe - SWAAY

Doctors and experts say that improved medical tactics and earlier treatment are helping improve the outcomes for very sick patients, said Andrew Badley, head of Mayo Clinics Covid Research Task Force.

Health-care preparedness today is much better than it was in February and March, Badley said in an interview. We have better and more rapid access to diagnosis. We have more knowledge about what drugs to use and what drugs not to use. We have more experimental treatments available. All of those contribute to possible improvements in the mortality rate.

One study looked at 4,689 Covid-19 hospitalizations from March to June in New York, adjusting patients mortality rate for factors such as age, race, obesity and any underlying illnesses they might have had. In the first half of March, the mortality rate for hospitalized patients was 23%. By June, it had fallen to 8%. The research hasnt yet been peer-reviewed, a process through which other experts examine the work.

Despite the gains, the U.S. will soon pass 200,000 deaths, and tens of thousands of Americans are confirmed infected each day. The number killed by the disease is still in large part a factor of how many are infected in the first place -- the more people who get sick, the more die. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has emphasized that a mask is still the best available protection from the virus for most people. And experts warn that the virus is still very dangerous and can kill even seemingly healthy individuals.

Even with these improvements, this is not a benign disease, said Leora Horwitz, an associate professor of population health and medicine at New York Universitys Grossman School of Medicine who conducted the New York study of Covid-19 hospitalizations. This does not mean that coronavirus is now a non-dangerous disease. It remains a very serious threat to public health.

Public-health officials, epidemiologists, amateur observers and others have watched as the pandemic has unfolded, looking for how to measure the viruss deadliness. Tallying deaths as a percentage of the greater population sheds light on the scope of the pandemic. Excess mortality compares fatalities to what the death rate is expected to be. But neither method offers insight into whether the virus is becoming more or less deadly for an individual with a severe case.

Even looking at deaths per the number of confirmed cases can be misleading as the result is largely a function of testing, experts say. If many mild or asymptomatic cases are captured, mortality rates will be skewed lower. In Europe, for example, there are anecdotal signs of a similar trend, though much of the lower death rate may be because of more cases being found in younger, healthier people. More infections in young people are being found in the U.S., as well.

You have to understand who youre testing and then what the real fatality rate is for that demographic, said Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital.

There is even a hypothesis that public health-measures like mask-wearing and distancing can help decrease the amount of virus people are getting infected with, leading to less severe cases because the body isnt overwhelmed with a large dose of virus at once.

Even though theyre getting infected with the virus, perhaps they are getting less of a dose of the virus and so theyre just getting less sick from it, Horwitz said.

In New York, the first major U.S. city hit hard by the virus, knowledge among doctors was limited as cases poured into emergency rooms this spring. There have been more than 27,000 confirmed and probable Covid-19 deaths in the city, the bulk of them at the peak of the outbreak there in March and April.

As the outbreak moved on to other parts of the country, such as Texas, health-care workers had more time to prepare and learn what works.

We kind of had a play book before we even started seeing any patients in Texas, said Robert Hancock president of Texas College of Emergency Physicians. We understand the things that work at this point with Covid much better.

Since March, doctors have learned valuable lessons, not only about how to ensure hospitals dont run out of ICU beds and ventilators, but also that flipping a patient onto their stomach, known as prone positioning, can help. Giving patients steroids early on and treating them with blood thinners can also improve someones prognosis.

Now that we know that we might need to start these patients on blood thinners and Heparin pretty quickly, thats helping, said Diana L. Fite, president of the Texas Medical Association. A lot of these deaths from Covid are because of the blood coagulation; the blood clots ruin their organs.

Though there is still no cure for the coronavirus, all of the improvements in treatment and preventative measures combined contributes toward an improved prognosis for patients, Fite said. In Texas, there have been at least 14,590 deaths from the virus, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Even if these things arent cures, they help a small percentage do better, Fite said. You add several of those things up and youve got a better outcome overall.

Original post:
COVID-19 grows less deadly as doctors gain practice and drugs improve - The Boston Globe

Eli Lilly said it planned to discuss with regulators the possible emergency use of baricitinib for hospitalized patients. Other news is about early research on an antibody that might neutralize COVID and how the virus controls the brain, as well.

AP:Anti-Inflammatory Drug May Shorten COVID-19 Recovery TimeA drug company says that adding an anti-inflammatory medicine to a drug already widely used for hospitalized COVID-19 patients shortens their time to recovery by an additional day. Eli Lilly announced the results Monday from a 1,000-person study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study tested baricitinib, a pill that Indianapolis-based Lilly already sells as Olumiant to treat rheumatoid arthritis. (Marchione, 9/14)

The Hill:Drugmaker Says Anti-Inflamatory Medicine May Shorten COVID-19 Recovery TimeThe use of Baricitinib, arheumatoidarthritis drug from Eli Lilly, led to a one-day reduction in recovery time for patients when combined with Remdesivir compared to patients who only took Remdesivir, according to a trial. The finding was statistically significant, Eli Lilly said in a statement. The company did not release the full results of the study but stated the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is expected to publish full results in peer-review studies and that additional analyses are ongoing to understand clinical outcome data, including safety and morbidity data. (9/14)

In other scientific developments

Fox News:University Of Pittsburgh Scientists Discover Antibody That 'neutralizes' Virus That Causes CoronavirusScientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have isolated the smallest biological molecule that completely and specifically neutralizes SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus. The antibody component is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody, and has been used to create the drug Ab8, shared in the report published by the researchers in the journal Cell on Monday. The drug is seen as a potential preventative against SARS-CoV-2. (Deabler, 9/14)

Fox News:Coronavirus Can 'Hijack' Brain Cells To Replicate Itself, Yale Researchers DiscoverThe coronavirus can affect the brain and hijack brain cells to replicate itself, Yale University researchers have discovered. A new study from Yale University, on BioRXiv, which is awaiting peer review, found that the brain is another organ susceptible to an attack by the novel coronavirus. (McGorry, 9/14)

Stat:23andMe Research Finds Possible Link Between Blood Type And Covid-19A forthcoming study from genetic testing giant 23andMe shows that a persons genetic code could be connected to how likely they are to catch Covid-19 and how severely they could experience the disease if they catch it. Its an important confirmation of earlier work on the subject. People whose blood group is O seemed to test positive for Covid-19 less often than expected when compared to people with any other blood group, according to 23andMes data; people who tested positive and had a specific variant of another gene also seemed to be more likely to have serious respiratory symptoms. (Sheridan, 9/14)

Originally posted here:
Drug Company Touts Anti-Inflammatory Drug's Role In Shortening COVID Recovery - Kaiser Health News

Interview by Nicole Aschoff

For the better part of a year the world has battled SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus that has killed nearly a million people and sickened tens of millions. In the United States the virus has wreaked havoc, particularly on older members of the population. Americans aged fifty-five and older account for more than 90 percent of the nearly two hundred thousand US COVID-19 deaths, while roughly 0.2 percent were people under twenty-five.

Efforts to quell the virus have brought additional pain. As of late August, roughly nineteen million Americans were out of work as a result of the pandemic, and food and housing insecurity has increased dramatically. But the pain caused by lockdowns has not been shared equally.

Elites have seen their stock portfolios balloon in value, and many professionals have been able to keep their jobs by working from home. It is the countrys poor and working-class households, particularly those with children, who have borne a disproportionate share of the burden. Lower-income Americans were much more likely to be forced to work in unsafe conditions, to have lost their livelihoods due to business and school shutdowns, or to be unable to learn remotely.

Jacobin editorial board member Nicole Aschoff sat down with two public health experts to discuss the challenge of keeping Americans safe without forcing working people to bear the lions share of pain and risk.

Katherine Yih is a biologist and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School where she specializes in infectious disease epidemiology, immunization, and post-licensure vaccine safety surveillance. Yih is also a founding member of the New World Agriculture and Ecology Group, a former and current member of Science for the People, and a long-time activist in farm labor and anti-imperialist struggles.

Martin Kulldorff is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Kulldorff has developed methods for the detection and monitoring of infectious disease outbreaks which are used by public health departments around the world. Since April, he has been an active participant in the COVID-19 strategy debate in the United States, his native Sweden, and elsewhere. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Read more here:
We Need a Radically Different Approach to the Pandemic and Our Economy as a Whole - Jacobin magazine

Global Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment Market Analysis

Persistence Market Research, in a recently published market study, offers valuable insights related to the overall dynamics of the Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment market in the current scenario. Further, the report assesses the future prospects of the Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment by analyzing the various market elements including the current trends, opportunities, restraints, and market drivers. The COVID-19 analysis section within the report offers timely insights regarding the impact of the global pandemic on the market. The presented study also offers data regarding the business and supply chain continuity strategies that are likely to assist stakeholders in the long-run.

As per the report, the Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment market is set to grow at a CAGR of ~XX% over the forecast period (2019-2029) and exceed a value of ~US$ XX by the end of 2029. Some of the leading factors that are expected to drive the growth of the market include, focus towards research and development, innovations, and evolving consumer preferences among others.

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The report scrutinizes the prospects of the Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment market in different geographical regions. The scope of innovation, consumer behavior, and regulatory framework of each region is thoroughly analyzed in the presented study.

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Product Adoption Analysis

key players in Cardiac autonomic neuropathy treatment market are Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding AG, Novartis, Amgen Inc., Privi Pharma Limited, Silverline Chemicals Limited, Anthem Biopharma, Praxis Pharmaceutical.

The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry.

The report covers exhaust analysis on:

The regional analysis includes:

The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macroeconomic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.

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Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Treatment Market Is Expected To Experience An Impressive CAGR Growth Of XX% Through 2017 2025 - The Daily Chronicle

DEAR DR. ROACH: My father is 91 years old, and I am concerned that his elevated blood pressure isn't being properly addressed. Recently, it seems to run in the mid-170s to mid-80s (176/86). He has a number of health issues, such as a kidney stent every three months, diabetic neuropathy and a transient ischemic attack. He takes metoprolol (25 mg in the morning and evening). I sent a note to his doctor suggesting his blood pressure meds need to be reevaluated, and the doctor's response was to check his blood pressure several times daily for a month then let him know the average. He said the goal was an average blood pressure below 160/90 more than half the time.

I think a goal of 160 is too high and that four weeks is too long to wait before deciding if his meds need to be adjusted. I would like your opinion. -- L.F.

ANSWER: Your father's doctor may not want to use too many blood pressure medicines and cause symptoms that could affect your father's quality of life at age 91. On the other hand, a goal of 160/90 is not optimal, especially for someone who has already had a TIA (transient ischemic attack, which is often a predictor of a stroke). I think it's likely that your father could take medicines that control the blood pressure better but don't cause much if anything in terms of side effects.

A person with diabetes and high blood pressure, especially one who already has a complication like neuropathy, is at high risk for developing kidney disease from diabetes. ACE inhibitor drugs help reduce that risk as well as reduce the risk of heart attack, so I am very surprised he is not taking one. A beta blocker alone, like metoprolol, is not likely to be effective.

There remains some controversy about the ideal blood pressure goal for a person in your father's position. One recent study would suggest a goal of 120 is better than the older goal of less than 140. However, the blood pressure goal needs to be individualized. Side effects from blood pressure medications need to be carefully managed and may sometimes keep a person from reaching their goal. Still, blood pressure above 160 is not adequate control.

As far as timing, it's best to get as much data as possible before making a change in blood pressure medication. Four weeks is usually reasonable, but with your father's too-high blood pressure, two weeks should be enough time to confirm high blood pressures at home.

DEAR DR. ROACH: Do you think we will get sick from 5G towers? I have read that we will, but also that we won't. -- T.K.

ANSWER: Many studies have been done to look at health risks of radiation from cellphones and towers. After much research, there have been no health risks confirmed.

The main difference between 5G and previous cellphone radiation is the higher frequency of the electromagnetic radiation. Higher frequency may sound scary, but there is less penetration into the body than a lower frequency. This type of energy is non-ionizing and simply doesn't have the energy to damage DNA.

Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu. (c) 2020 North America Syndicate Inc.

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Roach: Optimal blood pressure goal needs to be individualized - LubbockOnline.com

This report additionally covers the effect of COVID-19 on the worldwide market. The pandemic brought about by Coronavirus (COVID-19) has influenced each part of life all inclusive, including the business segment. This has brought along a several changes in economic situations.

The Optic Neuropathy Drug market report provides a detailed analysis of global market size, regional and country-level market size, segmentation market growth, market share, competitive Landscape, sales analysis, impact of domestic and global market players, value chain optimization, trade regulations, recent developments, opportunities analysis, strategic market growth analysis, product launches, area marketplace expanding, and technological innovations.

It incorporates Optic Neuropathy Drug market evolution study, involving the current scenario, growth rate (CAGR), and SWOT analysis. Important the study on Optic Neuropathy Drug market takes a closer look at the top market performers and monitors the strategies that have enabled them to occupy a strong foothold in the market. Apart from this, the research brings to light real-time data about opportunities that will completely transform the trajectory of the business environment in the coming years to 2025. Some of the key players in the global Optic Neuropathy Drug market is cccc

Download Sample Copy of the Report to understand the structure of the complete report (Including Full TOC, Table & Figures) @ http://marketresearchbazaar.com/requestSample/29324

The global Optic Neuropathy Drug market size is estimated at xxx million USD with a CAGR xx% from 2015-2019 and is expected to reach xxx Million USD in 2020 with a CAGR xx% from 2020 to 2025. The report begins from overview of Industry Chain structure, and describes industry environment, then analyses market size and forecast of Optic Neuropathy Drug by product, region and application, in addition, this report introduces market competition situation among the vendors and company profile, besides, market price analysis and value chain features are covered in this report.

Product Type Coverage (Market Size Forecast, Major Company of Product Type etc.):

BA-240

IWP-953

LM-22A4

Others

Company Coverage (Company Profile, Sales Revenue, Price, Gross Margin, Main Products etc.):

Amgen Inc

BioAxone BioSciences Inc

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc

Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc

Regenera Pharma Ltd

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc

Application Coverage (Market Size Forecast, Different Demand Market by Region, Main Consumer Profile etc.):

Clinic

Hospital

Homecare

Region Coverage (Regional Production, Demand Forecast by Countries etc.):

North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Spain etc.)

Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Southeast Asia etc.)

South America (Brazil, Argentina etc.)

Middle East Africa (Saudi Arabia, South Africa etc.)

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Major Point of TOC:

Chapter One: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Overview

Chapter Two: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Segment Analysis by Player

Chapter Three: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Segment Analysis by Type

Chapter Four: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Segment Analysis by Application

Chapter Five: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Segment Analysis by Sales Channel

Chapter Six: Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Segment Analysis by Region

Chapter Seven: Profile of Leading Optic Neuropathy Drug Players

Chapter Eight: Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Optic Neuropathy Drug

Chapter Nine: Development Trend of Optic Neuropathy Drug (2020-2029)

Chapter Ten: Appendix

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Optic Neuropathy Drug Market Size Is Rising Tremendously Due To Increasing Need of Healthcare Services Centralization Till 2025 - The Daily Chronicle

DetailsCategory: AntibodiesPublished on Sunday, 20 September 2020 11:31Hits: 76

Trodelvy achieves a 27 percent overall response rate and a 5.9-month median duration of response in heavily-pretreated patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC)

sBLA submission for accelerated approval expected in fourth quarter 2020, pending FDA final guidance

Phase 3 TROPiCS-04 study in third-line mUC underway

Company to host conference call and webcast today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ, USA I September 19, 2020 I Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) (Immunomedics or the Company), a leading biopharmaceutical company in the area of antibody-drug conjugates, today announced positive results from cohort 1 of cisplatin-eligible patients in the pivotal Phase 2 TROPHY U-01 study of Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy) in metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). Results confirm the interim findings and prior Phase 1/2 study results showing Trodelvy has significant activity and is safe in patients with heavily-pretreated mUC who progressed on both platinum-based chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors (CPI).

Given that only about 10 percent of patients with mUC who have cancer progression after platinum-based and CPI therapy are expected to respond to single-agent chemotherapy with approximately two to three months of median progression-free survival, todays compelling results with sacituzumab govitecan offer patients and families new hope, commented Yohann Loriot, MD, PhD, Institut de Cancrologie Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, who gave the late-breaking oral presentation of the pivotal study at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress 2020.

Results for cohort 1 of TROPHY U-01 are summarized in the table below. As of data cutoff on May 18, 2020, eight of the 31 responders have an ongoing response and remain on treatment. Trodelvy has received Fast Track Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this indication.

* Based on blinded independent central assessment per RECIST v1.1

We believe that Trodelvy may offer a new treatment option for patients with mUC based on the successful data readout today, remarked Dr. Loretta M. Itri, Chief Medical Officer of Immunomedics. While we are seeking guidance from the FDA on the registrational pathway, the new Phase 3 TROPiCS-04 study in third-line mUC has been reviewed by FDA, is under review by the European Medicines Agency, and is currently in initiation phase.

Trodelvy continued to demonstrate a tolerable and predictable safety profile consistent with previous observations in mUC and other tumor types. Treatment-related Grade 3 and 4 adverse events were mostly hematologic and gastrointestinal related, including neutropenia (34%) and diarrhea (10%). Seven patients (6%) discontinued treatment due to adverse events, three of whom due to neutropenia or its complications. There was one treatment-related death from sepsis due to febrile neutropenia. There were no grade 2 or above events of neuropathy or rash, and no cases of interstitial lung disease reported.

About Immunomedics

Immunomedics is a leader in next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology, committed to help transform the lives of people with hard-to-treat cancers. Our proprietary ADC platform centers on using a novel linker that does not require an enzyme to release the payload to deliver an active drug inside the tumor cell and the tumor microenvironment, thereby producing a bystander effect. Trodelvy, our lead ADC, is the first ADC the FDA has approved for the treatment of people with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and is also the first FDA-approved anti-Trop-2 ADC. For additional information on the Company, please visit its website at https://immunomedics.com/. The information on its website does not, however, form a part of this press release.

SOURCE: Immunomedics

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Immunomedics Announces Positive Results from Pivotal Phase 2 TROPHY U-01 Study of Trodelvy in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer | Antibodies | News...

On my 21st birthday, as I was attempting to renew my drivers license, I found out that I was going blind.

After botching the eye exam, I went to an optometrist for what I presumed would be a typical prescription for glasses. As it turned out, my eyes were on their way to being about as useless as my expired license.

To make a long explanation short, I was diagnosed with a degenerative cornea disorder called keratoconus, which warped my vision. After further tests, I was told that there was no way of knowing how fast my eyesight would deteriorate or how bad it would get only that it would get worse.

It was one hell of a birthday gift.

My vision in my left eye plummeted fast while the right eased into blurriness more gradually. At first, that just meant a bit of difficulty reading without my new glasses. However, within a year, it would become dangerous for me to drive at night.

I was working as a pizza delivery driver at the time, so it seemed increasingly likely that I would eventually harm myself or others while hauling someones extra-large meat-lovers supreme.

The main issue for me was always color and light distortion. Because of the bulge in my cornea, every single light source was refracted into a dozen or so separate light points, and each of these light points was surrounded by a washed-out halo.

So imagine what it was like to drive at night around Christmas time with zillions of multicolored lights everywhere. And, as I was living in rainy Washington State, the rain on my windshield further distorted the lights, making matters even worse.

By the time I eventually got rid of my car at the age of 24, driving had become like moving through a formless melting plasma of light and color. There were times when I literally had no idea what was in front of me, and I only made it where I was going by pure luck.

The sole solution to my condition involved getting a cornea transplant for the worse of the two eyes an expensive procedure that was far beyond my means. Over a decade would pass before I would finally have medical insurance to cover it (thanks Obama truly).

By that time, my vision was terrible, I had a dramatic lazy eye, and I often wore an eye patch over the other. Just call me Nick Fury. People did.

My surgery was relatively fast and entirely painless, though I did wake up near the end to watch them stitch my new cornea into place.

I was told that I could remove my bandages the next day, but when I did, I found that I was so sensitive to light that I could barely open my eyes. So for 3 days, I restlessly paced my apartment in almost total darkness, listening to one audiobook after another.

Once the pain and sensitivity subsided and I could open the eye well enough to take a proper look around, I immediately noticed that the sea of color and light that had obscured my vision for nearly a decade was gone. I still had a ways to go before everything was completely corrected, but this was a tear-jerkingly positive start.

Over the coming months my vision steadily grew sharper, and after a few progress checkups, I was given the OK to resume normal activities (more or less).

While the day to day differences were immediately noticeable, it wasnt until I traveled to Spain a few months later that the profundity of the change really hit me.

I was at the Prado in Madrid attending a special exhibition of Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. The first room of the exhibit was mostly rough sketches, so I wasnt initially struck by anything unusual. Then I walked into the next hall.

While I had seen many of the Picassos hanging there before, my immediate realization was that I had, in fact, never really seen them. The Forced Embrace, The Frugal Meal, Woman from Majorca, The Serenade, and so on never before had I looked at a painting and seen so much.

The clarity, the depth of field, the colors all in their intended places, rather than washed together in a chaotic mess. Was this what everyone else had been seeing all along?

I moved through the remainder of the exhibition in a daze. Everyone else seemed to be experiencing emotions ranging from mild boredom to tepid interest, but from moment to moment, I wasnt sure if Id burst out laughing or crying.

Outside, behind the museum it was pure autumn multicolored leaves cast in soft light and once again I was struck with the sense that I was seeing it for the very first time.

Did you know that the crown of a tree consists of hundreds of separate leaves? I didnt. Or at least Id forgotten that it was possible to see them as anything more than one large smudge.

We take too many things for granted our eyesight, the clarity of a painting, the leaves of a tree forgetting how fragile it all really is. There are times when we can regain what weve lost, but those are a precious few. The best we can hope for is to make do in our reality with our best.

Ive learned to not only appreciate what I have while I have it but to celebrate it to the fullest.

That means enjoying all the paintings and sunsets I can get my eyes on.

Nick Hilden is a travel, fitness, arts, and fiction writer whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Mens Health, Thrillist, Vice, and more. You can follow his travels and connect with him via Instagram or Twitter.

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How Losing and Regaining My Eyesight Changed How I See the World - Greatist

The first indication that autism can accompany blindness more often than expected came in a 1956 study of 60 children with retinopathy of prematurity, a condition in which the light-capturing tissue at the back of the eye does not develop properly. Five of these children turned out to be autistic a dramatic result at a time when fewer than 1 in 1,000 children had an autism diagnosis, and high even in light of todays prevalence of about 1 to 2 percent in most countries.

Since then, studies in multiple countries have documented a double-digit prevalence of autism among blind children: 12 percent in Turkey, 17 percent in Sweden and 50 percent of the students whom Jure examined at the school for the blind Gigena attended in Argentina.

These studies are small, each involving only a few dozen to a few hundred people. But a much larger study published this year also links autism and a lack of sight. Researchers in Scotland approached the question from the opposite direction: They combed through national census data on 5.3 million people to show that blindness is about three times as common in autistic children as in their typical peers, and it occurs in autistic adults at 1.5 times the typical frequency.

None of the studies explain the statistics. Do autism and blindness stem from the same biological roots? Some research suggests that autism is closely tied to specific causes of blindness for instance, optic nerve hypoplasia (Gigenas condition), retinopathy of prematurity and anophthalmia (in which one or both eyes fail to develop). The causes of these vision problems may also contribute to autism, experts say.

Lilita wasnt reaching [milestones]. She wasnt making friends, and she didnt communicate well. Lilian Funes

Another possibility is that blindness contributes to autism traits, particularly when a child is born blind, because vision is thought to be critical to the early development of social skills. Young children learn that other people have distinct points of view and emotions by seeing how others react to the world around them. They also learn about social cause and effect through visual relationships, such as when a toddler grabs a toy and pulls it to himself while saying, Mine.

What you have here is something absolutely pivotal for human development, says Peter Hobson, emeritus professor of developmental psychopathology at University College London in the United Kingdom. Children with acquired blindness can still tap this knowledge after they have lost their sight, Hobson says. But those who are born blind may have trouble gaining it in the first place.

This theory is borne out by research showing an association between congenital blindness and autism. For example, 18 of 25 students with congenital blindness at Gigenas school met the criteria for autism in Jures 2016 study, compared with only 1 of 13 with partial or acquired blindness. A similar pattern emerged when he analyzed pooled data from 12 published studies of blindness and autism. The presence of total congenital blindness was the main factor by far that produced autism, he says. Blindness acquired after the first year of life and partial vision were associated with autism less frequently.

In a 1997 study of British schools for the blind, Hobson and his colleagues found that 9 of 24 congenitally blind children without obvious neurological impairments met the criteria for autism; many others had autism traits. Those findings jibe with Jures clinical experience: Within families, children who are completely blind tend to be autistic, whereas their seeing or partially sighted siblings, even identical twins, are not, he says. Im completely convinced that blindness itself conveys a huge possibility of autism.

Researchers who work with blind children have also noticed similarities between their behavior and that of autistic children. In her 1977 book, Insights From the Blind, child psychoanalyst Selma Fraiberg described a girl named Kathie who had been blind since birth. Although bright and socially engaged, Kathie did not engage in imaginative play. And she tended to confuse the pronouns I and you, as well as other terms, such as here and there, come and go, and this and that. Such linguistic reversals, especially of pronouns, are common in young children with autism. Other autism-like behaviors often seen in blind children include repetitive movements, such as rocking back and forth; resistance to change; and echolalia, or repeating another persons words. Fraiberg termed such behaviors blindisms.

Some experts, including Michael Brambring, an emeritus psychologist at Bielefeld University in Germany, have argued that autism traits in blind children are just manifestations of blindness, not autism. What look like the same behaviors may sometimes stem from different prompts. As an example, one mother describes in an essay how her blind daughter would rock back and forth in a way that looked like an autism-like repetitive behavior until she realized her daughter was listening for squeaks in the floorboards. The girl had a different sensory world than a sighted person, and she was just exploring that.

This sort of misperception is widespread, says Pawan Sinha, a vision and autism expert and computational neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2005, Sinha founded an organization, staffed by surgeons, to restore sight in people with treatable causes of blindness in rural India. He says that many of the blind children he sees are shy at first, though sociable with familiar people. They also have some behaviors reminiscent of autism, such as echolalia. Having met with literally thousands of blind children, blind adults, I simply dont see the signs of high incidences of autism in that population, Sinha says. But he plans to look more closely by surveying autism characteristics in at least 1,000 blind adolescents in India.

Hobson and Jure maintain that autism traits should be seen as signs of autism even if they result from blindness. If you define the syndrome based on the behavior, [then] if you have the behavior, you have to call it autism too, Jure says. Whats more, automatically labeling autism-like behaviors blindisms could lead some clinicians to miss autism in blind children, he adds.

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Eyeing the connection between autism and vision - Spectrum

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Waste from the food chain could hold the clue to treating eye infections worldwide

A new laboratory model that can be used to test treatments for preventing and curing eye infections caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses while also reducing the number of animals used in medical research has been developed by researchers, including from India, at the University of Sheffield in the UK. The breakthrough, which will be used to develop novel alternatives to antibiotics to reduce the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, has been made by engineers and scientists working together at the University of Sheffields Collaboratorium for Antimicrobial Resistance and Biofilms (SCARAB).

In some developing countries, eye infections pose a significant threat resulting in vision impairment or even blindness. Currently, around 285 million people globally are visually impaired and seven million people lose their eyesight each year. Over 90 percent of people affected are from developing countries, according to a press release from the university.

In approximately 80 per cent of these people, the loss of eyesight can be easily avoided with bespoke healthcare solutions that fit with the unique socio-economic conditions prevalent in developing countries.

Using the ex vivo porcine eye model - the eyes of pigs which are deemed as waste by the food industry - researchers can mimic infection in human eyes.

The cornea is the transparent portion in the front of the eye that allows us to see.

Using the ex vivo porcine models researchers were able to study ulcer formation and the development of opacity which leads to the loss of vision in humans.

The new model, which is being developed by PhD researcher Katarzyna Okurowska, gives a better prediction of how effective the newly developed treatments are likely to be in humans.

Such data is currently obtained from expensive and highly-regulated animal research, which must precede any human clinical trials before the treatment can be made available to patients.

The availability of the model will immediately help to reduce and refine the use of animals in medical research, and may one day help to completely replace the use of animals in this kind of study.

The added advantage of the ex vivo porcine eye model is that it uses waste from the food chain.

As the eyes are a waste product, no animals are specifically bred for the study, helping to reduce the numbers of animals needed to conduct research.

Project lead, Professor Peter Monk from the University of Sheffields Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, said: Eye infections are a major cause of vision loss worldwide.

Loss of vision leads to a reduction in the quality of life and impairs the economic productivity of the individual and the nation.

There is a need for effective and affordable treatments that can prevent its occurrence, and so we established this model to enable the treatments that we and others are developing to reach the clinic rapidly.

Dr Esther Karunakaran, Co-Director of SCARAB from the University of Sheffields Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said: The model has been developed as part of a larger multidisciplinary project funded by the Medical Research Council Global Challenge Research Fund (MRC-GCRF), to develop a novel treatment to prevent eye infections in the developing world.

"We are also working with the LV Prasad Eye Institute in India," she said.

Fight against Coronavirus: Full coverage

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Waste from the food chain could hold the clue to treating eye infections worldwide - India TV News

Space travel cause motor skill and impaired vision

A comparatively permanent change in the capability to perform a skill as an outcome of practice or experience is called motor learning. Showing in the performance is an act of executing a motor skill. Therefore a motor skill is a learned ability to cause a predetermined movement outcome with maximum assurance. The goal of motor skill is to optimize the ability to perform the skill at the rate of success, precision, and to reduce the energy consumption required for performance. Continuous practice of a specific motor skill will answer in greatly improved performance, but not all movements are motor skills. Motor skills are something most of us do without even thinking about them. According to Glencoe McGraw-Hill Education motor skills are related to fitness is liveliness, sense of balancing, bringing together, authority, response time, and speed. These six components include standing, walking, going up and downstairs, running, swimming, and other activities that use the large muscles of the arms, legs, and torso.

Normally, vision impairment means eye diseases such as macular degeneration, cataract and glaucoma create eye disorders which are caused because of eye injuries or birth defects. Whereas the person who travels space station will suffer from vision impairment problems. Therefore if the persons eyesight which is not been corrected to a normal level is said as impaired vision. This vision impairment may be because of loss of visual acuity which means the eye does not see objects as clearly as usual.

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human space flight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or by civilian space agencies. The word cosmonaut is originally derived from Russian space travellers more over the word cosmonaut mean a sailor of the universe which is derived from the Greek word kosmos meaning universe and nautes meaning sailor. Therefore Cosmonaut Brain acquired some kind of new motor skill, like riding a bike,

A study published examined that the researcher who returned from a lengthy mission of seven months in international space station discover that the brain of eight male Russian researchers have the minor changes in the cosmonauts brain that suggested the men were more dexterous but had slightly weaker visions. The researcher used a type of MRI Magnetic resonance imaging which is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body where a 3D image of the cosmonauts brains is produced. The scan showed an increased amount of tissue in the cerebellum the part of the brain responsible for balance, coordination, and posture. But the scans also showed that the people living in space could wind up with trouble seeing up-close. Both of those changes could potentially be long-lasting. Thus, researchers expected to see temporary changes in the cosmonauts brains, but they were surprised to discover that the proved motor skills were still there several months after they would return to earth. Anyway, nothing on the earth is being comparative; it is possible when they go to their next mission that they can adapt more quickly. Thus it is proved that there will be a brain shift in space, which potentially resulting in blurred vision. Cosmonauts on the International Space Station typically exercise more than two hours a day to combat this process. They can also feel disoriented or motion sick while their body adjusts to a weightless environment. One important difference between life in space and on earth is that our blood and bodily fluids normally move against the downward tug of gravity, whereas in space, astronauts bodily fluids shift upwards.

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A new study on cosmonauts brains with space traveler will lead to new motor skills with slightly we ... - Stanford Arts Review

Latest updates on Corneal Implants market, a comprehensive study enumerating the latest price trends and pivotal drivers rendering a positive impact on the industry landscape. Further, the report is inclusive of the competitive terrain of this vertical in addition to the market share analysis and the contribution of the prominent contenders toward the overall industry.

Increasing demand for minimally invasive eye surgical procedures globally has positively influenced corneal implants industry growth during forecast years. Conventional treatment options for corneal diseases have proven to be risky due to complexity involved. To cater to this problem, researchers have developed innovative techniques that involves placing of donor tissue from second layer of cornea. Newly introduced techniques of corneal implants strengthened and flattened the cornea thereby, improving eye sight of the patients suffering from keratoconus. As recently manufactured artificial corneal implants are utilized in these minimally invasive procedures, the corneal implants industry will offer numerous growth opportunities.

Growing elderly population base in developed economies is one of the major factors driving industry growth as majority of them suffer from eye disorders. According to National Eye Institute, around 2.1 million elderly Americans have age-related macular degeneration. In countries such as the U.S. and Germany, geriatric population suffering from diabetes has high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy. This scenario proves beneficial for corneal implants market growth as it substantially augments demand of corneal implants. However, shortage of human donor material will affect the industry growth to some extent in coming years.

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Corneal Implants Market will exceed USD 500 million by 2025; as per a new research report.

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Penetrating keratoplasty segment accounted for 47% in 2018. Demand for penetrating keratoplasty is projected to grow gradually in the near future. This procedure is completed in one or two hours and performed on outpatient basis. Thus, patients are able to resume to daily activities in few hours. As recovery time is less its demand is expected to grow over forecast period. Also, plastic shield utilized in these procedures protects eye and enhances healing process that further propels its demand.

Keratoconus segment is projected to have more than 6% growth during analysis timeframe. This condition is predicted to damage cornea and affect vision. Mostly, the patients suffering from keratoconus disease experience distortion of vision causing obstruction in performing daily tasks. This raises the demand for corneal transplant procedures thereby, positively impacting the segmental growth in forthcoming years.

Artificial corneal implants segment witnessed around 10% CAGR throughout the analysis period. Recently developed artificial corneal implants are considered as a substitute for patients that cannot tolerate human donor cornea. According to Cornea Research Foundation of America, around 10 million people suffer from corneal blindness globally out of which only 100,000 corneal implant procedures get access to human donor tissue. Thus, crisis of human donor tissue has boosted the demand for artificial corneal implants, thereby escalating the segment growth.

Eye clinics segment was valued over USD 49 million in 2018 and is projected to have significant growth throughout the analysis timeframe. Eye clinics have expertise that help in diagnosing the eye disease. However, some of these clinics are not self-sufficient to perform surgeries and non-invasive transplant procedures due to budget constraints. Physicians and eye specialists working at eye clinics refer patients to hospitals that are well-equipped and perform surgical procedures.

Major Highlights from Table of contents are listed below for quick lookup into Corneal Implants Market report

Chapter 1. Competitive Landscape

Chapter 2. Company Profiles

Chapter 3. Methodology & Scope

Chapter 4. Executive Summary

Chapter 5. Corneal Implants industryInsights

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Corneal Implants Market Detailed Analysis of Current Industry Figures with Forecasts Growth By 2025 - The Research Process

The Eyesight Test Equipment Marketanalysis summary is a thorough study of the current trends leading to this vertical trend in various regions. Research summarizes important details related to market share, market size, applications, statistics and sales. In addition, this study emphasizes thorough competition analysis on market prospects, especially growth strategies that market experts claim.

The latest report is prepared keeping in mind the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected various market segments regionally and globally. The report includes a comprehensive market study based on the post-COVID-19 market scenario for the market. The report not only describes the current and future effects of the pandemic on the global market, but also highlights the more effective products and services which have been developed by the industry participants and thus form the basis of the competitive landscape of the market.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Competitive Analysis:

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The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the major market players in the market along with their business overview, expansion plans, and strategies. The main players examined in the report are:

The global Eyesight Test Equipment market has been segmented on the basis of technology, product type, application, distribution channel, end-user, and industry vertical, along with the geography, delivering valuable insights.

Type Coverage in the Market are:Portable andStationary

Market Segment by Applications, covers:Children,Adults andThe older

Global Eyesight Test Equipment Market: Regional Segments

The chapter on regional segmentation details the regional aspects of the global Eyesight Test Equipment market. This chapter explains the regulatory framework that is likely to impact the overall market. It highlights the political scenario in the market and the anticipates its influence on the global Eyesight Test Equipment market.

Major factors covered in the report:

Report Overview:It includes six chapters, viz. research scope, major manufacturers covered, market segments by type, Eyesight Test Equipment market segments by application, study objectives, and years considered.

Global Growth Trends:There are three chapters included in this section, i.e. industry trends, the growth rate of key producers, and production analysis.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Share by Manufacturer:Here, production, revenue, and price analysis by the manufacturer are included along with other chapters such as expansion plans and merger and acquisition, products offered by key manufacturers, and areas served and headquarters distribution.

Market Size by Type:It includes analysis of price, production value market share, and production market share by type.

Market Size by Application:This section includes Eyesight Test Equipment market consumption analysis by application.

Profiles of Manufacturers:Here, leading players of the global Eyesight Test Equipment market are studied based on sales area, key products, gross margin, revenue, price, and production.

Eyesight Test Equipment Market Value Chain and Sales Channel Analysis:It includes customer, distributor, Eyesight Test Equipment market value chain, and sales channel analysis.

Market Forecast Production Side: In this part of the report, the authors have focused on production and production value forecast, key producers forecast, and production and production value forecast by type.

The analysis objectives of the report are:

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Eyesight Test Equipment Market Analysis And Demand With Forecast Overview To 20 - News by aeresearch

The good work done on a daily basis by The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ is celebrated throughout the Pacific.

But what is less well-known is the cutting-edge financial and operational strategies in place within the organisation, facilitated by a chartered accountant with the knowledge and expertise needed to ensure the charity's ongoing success.

Visionary work to restore eyesight

Aregistered charity that carries on the work of famous Kiwi eye surgeon Professor Fred Hollows and his vision to end avoidable blindness, The Foundation's chairman Craig Fisher FCA, says their mission remains vital.

"Tragically four out of five people who are blind in the developing world don't need to be, and this can be addressed often with cataract surgery and if there is access to trained doctors and nurses,"he says. "The New Zealand Foundation exists to address this issue in the Pacific."

SUPPLIED

Jessie Napong, (pictured middle) is a patient of the Fred Hollows outreach clinic, Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Business strategies vital to governance

Fisher, a Chartered Accountant, was asked to join the governance team of The Foundation nine years ago - at a time when they had "less experienced in-house accounting capacity."

"While some good hard working well-meaning people had been employed, they were not of the level of an experienced chartered accountant.

"The appeal of me joining was my knowledge of financial and other systems," Fisher says.

Chartered accountants are well trained and experienced in financial systems, and are able to provide input that ensures appropriate strategies are put in place to significantly assist the organisations they work with.

Transforming for a digital era

Fisher says that a large part of his role as chairman has been to progressively improve the professionalism, effectiveness and impact of the organisation.

To this end, he identified the need for an experiencedchartered accountant to help bring the organisation into the digital age, and up-to-speed with the changing regulatory environment, which demanded much more accountability from the not-for-profit sector.

Enter Sharon Orr. A Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in senior finance roles in the commercial sector. Whilst she had not worked for a not-for-profit before coming on board as finance andoperations director in early 2017, she quickly made her mark at The Foundation by incorporating many of the protocols and disciplines adopted in a commercial environment.

She says "I realised early on that while many charities focussed on minimising administration costs, it often came at the expense of under-resourcing their finance teams who were charged with ensuring the charity met the vast array of compliance, regulatory and statutory reporting requirements. In the case of The Foundation, these spanned multiple countries with complex and often confusing taxation systems."

One of the more challenging achievements was meeting the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance requirements as the standards dictated that the thousands of credit card details processed by The Foundation, had to meet the strict processing standards and privacy requirements.

"Charities such as The Foundation, who operate across multiple countries also have the added complexity of managing their foreign currency exposure especially when dealing in volatile currencies. Often significant grant funding is received from overseas institutional donors in foreign currencies and the finance team is tasked with managing the foreign currency risk."

SUPPLIED

Sharon Orr CA is the acting chief executive of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ, she is also a Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in senior finance roles.

Instilling confidence in donation allocation

One of Orr's systemic changes was putting in placesystems that provided for integrated reporting of financial and non-financial information.

"Key considerations for all donors are the ability to see where their donations have been spent, the impact that the charity has made in meeting its vision and that the utilisation of donor funding is maximised. Charities must also have appropriate forecasting systems to manage cash flows and ensure that future revenues will be sufficient to meet forecasted expenditure on programme activity."

Chartered accountants offer a big picture approach

With Orr's appointment, the operational and financial arms of the organisation were brought together, allowing for a "big picture" approach that would take in the entire organisation.

"I found travelling to our managed clinics, in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, gave me a real sense of the issues and challenges faced by our in-country finance teams. It armed me with the information I needed to be able to support and guide them to success with issues such as achieving a smooth audit process, strengthening internal controls and implementing cloud based digital platforms," says Orr.

Andrew Bell, former CEO for The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ, says that he wasn't aware that chartered accountants could work across both sides of an organisation so effectively; and that Orr's depth of knowledge allowed her to tackle multiple issues facing the charity.

"There have been significant changes to the Charities Act, which meant we had to undertake the same level of reporting as a company. Alongside this, there has been a rise in cybercrime, particularly targeting charities; and we needed to use our digital accounting software more efficiently."

SUPPLIED

The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ operate across multiple countries also have the added complexity of managing their foreign currency exposure.

Improving security through tech changes

Bell says Orr led from the front; maximising the efficiency of the accounting system (Xero), ensuring the organisation's digital components were ironclad and safe from external threats; helping train and mentor more junior staff (giving them more responsibility and freeing up her time), and shoring accounting and privacy issues ahead of regulatory changes.

"This is the level of trust the board has in her abilities," he says. "As a chartered accountant, she's part of a breed of finance professionalsshe's active, up front, and everyone knows who she is."

Fisher agrees"She has helped our organisation to be more resilient and sustainable, which are two key drivers for me in my governance. "[Very quickly] she became a key member of our senior leadership team and her thoughtful methodological accountant's approach is greatly appreciated by others here."

To see how a CA can make a difference to your business, or to find one in your area visit http://www.cadifferencemakers.com.

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What does restoring a person's sight and an accountant have in common? - Stuff.co.nz