StemCell Therapy

Diabetes is affecting a growing population of Americans.

Almost 29 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with prevalent cases of the condition, which can cause serious health problems like vision loss, organ damage, and dangerously low levels of blood sugar.

In addition, an estimated 86 million Americans aged 20 years or older have pre-diabetes, which is a condition where blood glucose levels become higher than normal without reaching a level high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Insulin is the standard form of treatment, but a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year indicated the price of these drugs more than tripled between 2002 and 2013. The total cost rose from around $231 a year to $736 a year for each patient, according to the report.

Moreover, many patients require multiple daily injections and struggle with taking medications consistently at the same time with the same dosage. This can make treatment an arduous process.

Novel technologies may offer a solution to these challenges.

A number of tech firms and startups have emerged over the past few years with technologies such as artificial pancreas, machine learning algorithms, and implantable treatments that have the potential to help the growing population living with the disease.

R&D Magazine highlighted a few of the inventions that could redefine the treatment process for this condition.

Artificial Pancreas

This technologys proposed purpose is to help diabetes patients automatically manage their disease without needing to manually adjust their blood sugar levels.

Medtronic is leading the charge on this effort, becoming the first company to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A) last year for its own artificial pancreas. The device is named the MiniMed 670G, and operates as hybrid closed loop system, helping patients with type 1 diabetes automate the laborious process needed to check glucose and insulin levels.

The system is comprised of a glucose sensor and insulin pump that gets strapped to a patients body where it can be worn for seven days at a time. Insulin gets administered through a catheter while an algorithm powers the sensor so the component can continuously monitor baseline glucose levels. An apparatus similar to a smartphone will let users know what the levels are but some basic maintenance on the device is still required.

Medtronic may have made the most progress, but this isnt stopping other companies from planting their own stake in this market.

Senseonics, for instance, struck a development deal with TypeZero technologies to develop their own proprietary artificial pancreas.

This particular system will combine TypeZeros artificial pancreas algorithms with a durable specialized sensor that can last up to 90 days being able to automatically adjust and regulate insulin delivery.

Machine Learning Algorithms

Other firms are exploring software-oriented solutions that could help individuals deal with some of the side-effects of this condition.

Computing giants like IBM are using a mix of deep learning and visual analytics to predict and diagnose the severity of diabetic retinopathy, a condition where high blood sugar levels inflict harm on the retina.

Over 35,000 eye images were used to train the technology to pinpoint lesions and hemorrhages so it could analyze the damage to a retinas blood vessels while also predicting how severe this harm was.

Results from a clinical trial indicated the software was able to achieve an accuracy score of 86 percent when it came to categorizing the severity of the condition, which was better than previously published efforts using this same technology.

A breakthrough like this would help produce a new diagnostic technique for one of the worlds leading causes of blindness.

Other startups developing unique software platforms include DreaMed Diabetes. This venture wants to use machine learning programs to help identify the most efficient intensive insulin therapy for diabetics.

Its technology, emulates the way expert endocrinologists actually evaluate their patients, progressively refining their understanding of how a particular patient responds to insulin treatment adjustments, according to the company website.

One program called Advisor can synthesize information transmitted during daily routine home care tasks, like glucose readings, insulin dosing, and meal data, and automatically adjust insulin treatments and behavior modification recommendations in a manner akin to the way a medical professional would.

The startup also hasanother platform called Glucositter, which can perform round-the-clock monitoring of glucose levels and real-time adjustment of insulin levels as well.

Implantable Treatments

Another unique area being explored within diabetes is implantable prototypes that could continuously deliver medication to patients who need it.

One organization testing this method is ViaCyte, a privately-held regenerative medicine company.

The firm raised $10 million to help advance clinical research on two of its stem cell-based inslet replacement therapies.

One candidate named PEC-Direct works by delivering pancreatic progenitor cells through an implantable device to enable direct vascularization cells. A concomitant maintenance immune suppression therapy is used in conjunction with this experimental therapy in an effort to deliver a possible cure for type 1 diabetes patients at high risk for acute life-threating complications.

The second candidate PEC-Encap is designed to perform a similar function in terms of delivering stem cell-derived islet replacement therapies, but it is geared towards type 1 diabetes as well as type 2 diabetes patients that require insulin. It produces the progenitor cells through an immune-protected device that has demonstrated a viable safety and efficacy profile in an early preliminary clinical evaluation.

Another leader in this research field is Intarcia Therapeutics, which is a biotech startup valued at an estimated $5 billion.

The firm created a specialized technology comprised of an osmotic mini-pump component, high-temperature therapeutic stabilization features, and a mini-pump placement tool.

Its investigational product named ITCA 650 is a GLP-1 receptor agonist administered through a small injectable pump embedded within the skin. The goal is to have this device eliminate the need for daily or weekly injections, essentially boosting adherence to the medication.

The F.D.A. accepted a filing for this device in February 2017.

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Novel Tech Pushes Diabetes Treatment in New Direction - R & D Magazine

EVANSTON - There hasnt been a gold standard for how orthopaedic spine surgeons promote new bone growth in patients, but now Northwestern University scientists have designed a bioactive nanomaterial that is so good at stimulating bone regeneration it could become the method surgeons prefer.

While studied in an animal model of spinal fusion, the method for promoting new bone growth could translate readily to humans, the researchers say, where an aging but active population in the U.S. is increasingly receiving this surgery to treat pain due to disc degeneration, trauma and other back problems. Many other procedures could benefit from the nanomaterial, ranging from repair of bone trauma to treatment of bone cancer to bone growth for dental implants.

The colored region in a micro-CT image shows regenerated high-quality bone in the spine with minimal use of growthfactor.Regenerative medicine can improve quality of life by offering less invasive and more successful approaches to promoting bone growth, said Samuel I. Stupp, who developed the new nanomaterial. Our method is very flexible and could be adapted for the regeneration of other tissues, including muscle, tendons and cartilage.

Stupp is director of Northwesterns Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology and the Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering.

For the interdisciplinary study, Stupp collaborated with Dr. Wellington K. Hsu, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, and Erin L. K. Hsu, research assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, both at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The husband-and-wife team is working to improve clinically employed methods of bone regeneration.

Sugar molecules on the surface of the nanomaterial provide its regenerative power. The researchers studied in vivo the effect of the sugar-coated nanomaterial on the activity of a clinically used growth factor, called bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2). They found the amount of protein needed for a successful spinal fusion was reduced to an unprecedented level: 100 times less of BMP-2 was needed. This is very good news, because the growth factor is known to cause dangerous side effects when used in the amounts required to regenerate high-quality bone, and it is expensive as well.

The findings were published today (June 19) in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Stupps biodegradable nanomaterial functions as an artificial extracellular matrix, which mimics what cells in the body usually interact with in their surroundings. BMP-2 activates certain types of stem cells and signals them to become bone cells. The Northwestern matrix, which consists of tiny nanoscale filaments, binds the protein by molecular design in the way that natural sugars bind it in our bodies and then slowly releases it when needed, instead of in one early burst, which can contribute to side effects.

To create the nanostructures, the research team led by Stupp synthesized a specific type of sugar that closely resembles those used by nature to activate BMP-2 when cell signaling is necessary for bone growth. Rapidly moving flexible sugar molecules displayed on the surface of the nanostructures grab the protein in a specific spot that is precisely the same one used in biological systems when it is time to deploy the signal. This potentiates the bone-growing signals to a surprising level that surpasses even the naturally occurring sugar polymers in our bodies.

In nature, the sugar polymers are known as sulfated polysaccharides, which have super-complex structures impossible to synthesize at the present time with chemical techniques. Hundreds of proteins in biological systems are known to have specific domains to bind these sugar polymers in order to activate signals. Such proteins include those involved in the growth of blood vessels, cell recruitment and cell proliferation, all very important biologically in tissue regeneration. Therefore, the approach of the Stupp team could be extended to other regenerative targets.

Spinal fusion is a common surgical procedure that joins adjacent vertebra together using a bone graft and growth factors to promote new bone growth, which stabilizes the spine. The bone used in the graft can come from the patients pelvis an invasive procedure or from a bone bank.

There is a real need for a clinically efficacious, safe and cost-effective way to form bone, said Wellington Hsu, a spine surgeon. The success of this nanomaterial makes me excited that every spine surgeon may one day subscribe to this method for bone graft. Right now, if you poll an audience of spine surgeons, you will get 15 to 20 different answers on what they use for bone graft. We need to standardize choice and improve patient outcomes.

In the in vivo portion of the study, the nanomaterial was delivered to the spine using a collagen sponge. This is the way surgeons currently deliver BMP-2 clinically to promote bone growth.

The Northwestern research team plans to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration to launch a clinical trial studying the nanomaterial for bone regeneration in humans.

We surgeons are looking for optimal carriers for growth factors and cells, Wellington Hsu said. With its numerous binding sites, the long filaments of this new nanomaterial is more successful than existing carriers in releasing the growth factor when the body is ready. Timing is critical for success in bone regeneration.

In the new nanomaterial, the sugars are displayed in a scaffold built from self-assembling molecules known as peptide amphiphiles, first developed by Stupp 15 years ago. These synthetic molecules have been essential in his work on regenerative medicine.

We focused on bone regeneration to demonstrate the power of the sugar nanostructure to provide a big signaling boost, Stupp said. With small design changes, the method could be used with other growth factors for the regeneration of all kinds of tissues. One day we may be able to fully do away with the use of growth factors made by recombinant biotechnology and instead empower the natural ones in our bodies.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health (grant 5R01DE015920-10) and the Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Center for Regenerative Nanomedicine at Northwestern University provided funding for this research.

The paper is titled Sulfated Glycopeptide Nanostructures for Multipotent Protein Activation. Stupp and Wellington and Erin Hsu are senior authors of the paper, and postdoctoral fellows Sungsoo Lee and Timmy Fyrner are first authors.

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Sugar-coated nanomaterial excels at promoting bone growth - Northwestern University NewsCenter

For two years, Alyssa Hillpot didn't know the name of the man who saved her life.

His blood-forming cells work in her body, taking the place of the unhealthy cells that kept her in and out of the hospital during the prime of her life.

"We're bonded by that," she said.

She wrote him a letter through her doctor, but privacy rules prevented them from learning each others' name, email or phone number.

A year later, he wrote back. And last summer, the two agreed to share personal information and talked online through Skype.

She learned her stem cell donor, Stephan Mages, is a German medical student and aspiring neurologist who has traveled around the world. He learned she almost died from pneumonia and fought non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, multiple times.

Now, at 26, Hillpot, of Phillipsburg, N.J., has been cancer-free for about two years and wants to help other blood cancer patients find the person who can help them recover. The young cancer survivor will be leading the inaugural Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 5K Run/ Walk Saturday at Notre Dame High School in Bethlehem Township, an event organized by her doctor at St. Luke's Hospital-Warren Campus.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to make up a tenth of the cancers diagnosed in the country this year, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Money raised at Saturday's event will go to the organization, which funds research and treatment.

Dr. Eugene Decker, Hillpot's primary care doctor, said 148 people were signed up by Tuesday night. He expects that number to grow. Those attending the event also can join a bone marrow donors' registry by giving a sample of their DNA through a cheek swab.

Decker, a lifelong runner and an assistant cross-country coach at Notre Dame, got the idea from runners he met at a half-marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. The race, benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society , draws tens of thousands of people. And when stormy weather prompted organizers to cancel the race earlier this year, he felt a stronger resolve to organize his own race, he said.

"We had to complete what we started," he said.

He's inspired by Hillpot, he said, because she beat back death multiple times.

"Never give up. Always be a fighter. That's a story I can tell over and over again," he said.

In his three-decade career in medicine, Decker has had to tell dozens of patients they have blood cancer. About a quarter of them died, he said. In the hopes of helping more people survive, Decker is using the run to raise awareness of bone marrow donation, a process that he said has become less invasive. He hopes the race will continue annually.

After graduating college, Hillpot found out she had cancer two months into her job teaching preschool. Instead of working her way up in education, she was stuck in cancer treatment and watched her friends build careers, fall in love, get married and have kids.

But now she feels she can start her life.

She's looking for a job in sales, human resources or customer service. She wants to teach, but her doctors warned her against working with young children, considering her fragile immune system.

After fighting cancer, a career change isn't a big deal to Hillpot. She's optimistic about her future.

Her birthday is Jan. 23. But she celebrates another date too: April 25, 2014, the day she got the transplant.

"That's my rebirth," she said.

Bhuang@mcall.com

Twitter @Bhuang2012

610-820-6745

What: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 5K Run/Walk and one-mile children's walk

When: 9:30 a.m., Saturday.

Where: Notre Dame High School of Green Pond, 3417 Church Road, Bethlehem Township.

What else: Be The Match will be doing on-site testing to find donor matches.

Register online: pretzelcitysports.com, click on calendar

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Cancer survivor to lead inaugural Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 5K Run - Allentown Morning Call

Researchers at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development will collaborate with a team at the New York Blood Center on a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, for research and development on a river blindness vaccine.

River blindness, also known as onchocerciasis, is a skin and eye disease transmitted to humans through the bite of a blackfly, which breeds in fast-flowing rivers and streams and increases the risk of blindness to those that live nearby. The disease occurs most commonly in Africa, but also is found in six countries in Latin America and in Yemen.

The grant will support the continuation of the international initiative TOVA The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa which was established in 2015 and is comprised of 13 world-renowned scientists and research centers. The mission of TOVA is to develop recombinant protein-based vaccines that will support the efforts to eliminate river blindness in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The overall goal of the study is to advance the development of the Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2 antigens as components of a vaccine against human onchocerciasis. Through the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylors focus, led by Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, associate dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor, and Dr. Bin Zhan, associate professor of pediatrics, will be in the development of the production process for Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2 vaccine antigens. Researchers will characterize the vaccine antigens and co-develop vaccine formulations using previously developed quality-control assays.

The vaccine will fill an urgent gap in the fight against onchocerciasis and will have a strong impact on improving public health in Africa, Bottazzi said.

A vaccine to combat river blindness could greatly accelerate the timetable to eliminate river blindness in Africa, compared to current methods focused only on mass drug administration, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Other collaborators on the project include Dr. Sara Lustigman of the New York Blood Center, Dr. Ben Makepeace of the University of Liverpool and Dr. David Abraham of the Thomas Jefferson University.

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Grant funds continued research for river blindness vaccine - Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)

LE MARS, Iowa | Hours before Marty Kurth won his 500th game as a baseball coach at Gehlen Catholic High School in Le Mars, he walked through his house with a black fungo bat, the kind he's used thousands of times to hit fly balls and grounders to his players.

"I use the bat as my cane," Kurth said. "It helps me get around the house."

Coach Kurth is going blind. In layman's terms, he has suffered a stroke in each eye the past 11 months, resulting in a sudden loss of blood flow to the optic nerve. The first stroke, which afflicted his left eye, happened on July 25, 2016. The stroke to his right eye took place on June 3, just 19 days ago.

Kurth is still coaching, doing so from the dugout, not in his coaching box on the field. He relies on assistant coaches Solomon Freking and Ty Kurth (his son) and Jays players such as Cooper Davis to describe action on the field. The Jays won 10-0 at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Monday night, giving Kurth his 500th victory. With that victory level and a pair of state championships (1995 and 1999) among his six state tournament appearances, the Westmar College graduate is a lock for a spot in the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The accolades matter little right now, if they ever did. Kurth remains focused on his 2017 team, a club that began the season 0-4 and has ripped off 11 wins in the last 13 games. When he's not studying lineups or opponents, he's pondering a somewhat uncertain future, one that for the first time in his adult life doesn't include teaching or coaching full-time, as he recently resigned.

"I was at the point of my career where I thought maybe after next year I'd retire," said Kurth, a native of Remsen and a second-baseman on Remsen St. Mary's state championship baseball team in 1983. "Now what? I have no idea what the good Lord has planned for me."

Kurth hasn't been one to run from challenges in the past. A physical education teacher who was toiling as Gehlen athletic director several years ago, Kurth was charged with finding a head coach to direct the girls' basketball program. When his search turned up empty, Kurth told school officials he'd lead the team for a maximum of two years.

"I ended up coaching eight years," he said.

Not only that, Kurth piloted the 2012 Jays basketball team to the school's first state basketball tournament. And, he surpassed the 100-win total, all for a guy who was awfully "green" when it came to high school girls' basketball.

The news of his failing eyesight came as a shock to me. I didn't realize it until Barry Poe mentioned it in a Sunday story in the Journal, a wrap-up of Gehlen's title in the J-Club Tournament on Saturday. I was there that day and saw Kurth sitting in the dugout, an oddity for a hands-on coach who was always prepping the field and his players for another game.

"When I lost my vision in my left eye in July 2016, I woke up that morning and closed my right eye and could not see myself in the mirror," he said.

He began worrying at that point, not only about his left eye, but his right eye, too. Kurth's sister, Cheri Hoebelheinrich, who resides in Florida, lost vision in one eye when she was 37. She lost the vision in her other eye one decade later. Kurth's father, who died at age 56, began losing vision in one eye at age 37, too.

"We hoped that after I lost the one eye that I'd have time, like maybe 10 years," Kurth said. "But not even 11 months later, I woke up on June 3 and knew something wasn't right."

Kurth hit infield to his Jays that weekend in the CYO Classic, which played out on fields in Carroll and Glidden, Iowa. Before the second game at Glidden, a 10-0 victory over St. Edmond High School of Fort Dodge, Kurth had trouble catching a toss from his catcher as he hit ground balls. It's the kind of catch he's made a million times, second-nature.

"I couldn't see the ball," he said.

Jen and Marty Kurth visited the Truhlsen Eye Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center two days later. Doctors there identified the cause, the same affliction that struck his left eye last July: non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy, or "NAION" for short.

"There's no cure," he said. "It's what my sister had, too."

Jen said that while the condition isn't genetic, it can be familial. Researchers continue to study it. The Kurths continue to pray.

Marty Kurth tried to qualify for a "NAION" study, but his participation was ruled out because he has too many red blood cells.

"We got opinions from Duke University and Johns Hopkins Medicine and they didn't want to give me the medication in the study because they didn't know what the ramifications might be with my blood disease," he said.

Jen Kurth, who works in the business office at Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars, said that "NAION" typically affects smokers, diabetics and those with high blood pressure. Marty, she noted, fits none of those descriptors.

Marty Kurth said he can currently see a little out of the upper right hand corner of his right eye. He also has some peripheral vision in his left eye. "I told Ty that if you closed your eyes so that your eyelids were touching and you tried to see, that's kind of what it's like for me right now."

He hasn't lost his sense of humor, though, and it showed on Saturday as the Jays battled Newell-Fonda. When Gehlen pitcher Collin Buden got ahead in the count before hitting one batter and walking the next, the old head coach became anxious on Saturday: "I hollered out to the mound and said, 'Alex, don't make me come out there. You know, I will find you!'"

The players and Budden got a kick out of it, their longtime coach making the best of a difficult, life-changing predicament.

Kurth knows he's fortunate to have Jen, their children Kendra, Mitchell and Ty, and Jen's parents offering love and support, as well as a world of friends and current and former Gehlen students, players and competitors throughout Plymouth County and Northwest Iowa.

"I'm 52," the Gehlen legend said. "I feel good. The good Lord has a plan. We hope to find out what it is soon."

In the meantime, researchers will continue to work, as will the baseball players sporting the Gehlen green and gold. And the wise, old coach in the dugout? He'll lean on his fungo, listening, feeling, smelling for the optimum time to call a pitch-out or a hit-and-run. Maybe Marty Kurth is becoming visionary, in a figurative sense.

"My daughter wanted to make a shirt after Monday's victory," he said. "It was going to say, '500 wins. Not so hard. My dad did it. The last six with his eyes closed.'"

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GALLAGHER: Gehlen coach rallies while battling blindness - Sioux City Journal

A number of Offaly residents are set to walk for Fighting Blindness, a small charity with a big mission. They aim to find treatments and cures for sight loss in Ireland where over 246,000 people are affected by conditions such as age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Additionally, their Insight Counselling Centre provides a professional counselling service to people affected by sight loss and their families.

Fighting Blindness must raise 90% of their annual funding for their work, which is the reason they rely so much on the kindness and support of the community and companies nationwide. In an enormous effort to raise money Fighting Blindness are asking members of the public to join them and walkers from all over the world to discover Marbella on their VISION WALK this October.

Edenderry's JohnnyBrady, Aileen Mallon, Vinnie Leech and others will take on the walking adventure for Fighting Blindness later this year, and they are encouraging others to join them. The walk takes place from October 10-16 and the itinerary includes Aer Lingus flights, 4 Star Hotel accommodation in Marbella for 6 nights, transfers, Gala Dinner on final night and registration for the four daily walks. You can choose either a 5K, a 20K or for the very fit a 30K.

The walks take place daily through the countryside, nature trails and along the beach. It promises to be great fun, challenging and an opportunity to raise much needed funds for research into the cause of visual impairment.

If you choose to join, 50% of the money raised will go to Fighting Blindness. To book, a deposit of 200 is required and the full cost of the trip is 1,800 Euros. Fundraising ideas and sponsorship cards will be given to all those who book. Further information is available on http://www.FightingBlindness.ie or by calling Freddie on 086 8584144.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ If you have a story for us, sports news, an event happening in your area, or if you want to submit pictures or videos, contact the Offaly Express team via e-mail to justin.kelly@iconicnews.ie, or through our Facebook.

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Offaly people to walk in Spain for Fighting Blindness charity - Offaly Express

The FINANCIAL -- The University of Liverpool is part of a new $3.6 million international project to put into action a strategic plan to create a preventative vaccine for River Blindness, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the disease from Sub-Saharan Africa.

River blindness, scientifically known as onchocerciasis, is a skin and eye disease caused by Onchocerca volvulus, a parasite that can cause permanent blindness. An estimated 18 million people are still infected with O. volvulus, including 12.2 million who suffer from Onchocerca skin disease and 1.025 million people who have permanent vision loss, according to the World Health Organization and the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.

Led by the New York Blood Center (NYBC) and funded by the National Institutes of Healths (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a consortium of partners will continue their work on developing a prophylactic vaccine for the disease.

The group will test vaccine formulations in mice to identify those that induce the highest protective immunity. Formulations will then be tested in nave calves against a natural infection with O. ochengi, a closely related parasite known to mimic the immunological status of humans living in regions susceptible for O. volvulus infection. Once the optimal vaccine formulation is found, the consortium will move to clinical development and first-in-human clinical phase 1 trials by the year 2020, according to the University of Liverpool.

Dr Ben Makepeace, from the Universitys Institute of Infection and Global Health, said: I am delighted that the University of Liverpool, alongside our partners from the Cameroon Academy of Sciences, have been provided with a subcontract from NYBC of $900,000 to test a river blindness vaccine in cattle. If it works in cattle, we can be much more confident that it will be effective in humans too, contributing to elimination of this terrible disease from Africa.

Dr Sara Lustigman, who is leading the project from NYBC, said: New tools are desperately needed, particularly a prophylactic vaccine that will support the elimination of this disease rather than only controlling it by mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin, which reduces transmission but does not cure the disease.

We believe that our strategic goal should be to vaccinate children who have not yet had access to MDA with ivermectin; the vaccination will prevent infection in this vulnerable population, and also help prevent reintroduction of infection in areas where it might have been controlled through MDA. This is what these essential clinical trials will help us to prove.

Lord Alexander John Sandy Trees, Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Parasitology, University of Liverpool, and Crossbench Member of the United Kingdoms House of Lords said: It is very exciting to see that partners from United States, UK and Africa have joined forces to advance the worlds first onchocerciasis vaccine and continue on a mission I was part of. Lord Trees has made significant contributions to the field of tropical medicine, and in particular to those suffering from river blindness in West Africa.

The other collaborative partners on the NIH grant are Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Dr David Abraham of the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Dr Makepeace and the University of Liverpool are part of the international initiative TOVA The Onchocerciasis Vaccine for Africa which was established in 2015 and is comprised of 14 world-renowned scientists and research centers. Its mission is to develop recombinant protein-based vaccines that will support the efforts to eliminate River Blindness in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Major funding to advance world's first river blindness vaccine - The FINANCIAL

It is critical that humanity meet the food needs of a growing population and relieve the increasing pressures on natural systems. Environmental Defense Fund supports the coexistence of diverse farming systems to ensure a sustainable future for farmers, society, and our environment. Achieving these goals will require a comprehensive strategy that draws on a wide range of approaches and technologies, including biotechnology.

EDF recognizes the use of biotechnology as a legitimate deployment of science in the search for effective solutions, and also recognizes that past deployment of some biotechnology products has caused legitimate concerns. For that reason, we will support or oppose specific biotechnology products or processes based on transparent assessments of their health, environmental, social, and economic risks and benefits.The risks and benefits of biotechnology products will often vary by organism, geography and other variables, and need to be assessed at relevant temporal and spatial scales.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Our position on biotechnology

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Environmental Defense Fund: Sustainable farming, feeding growing population require biotechnology - Genetic Literacy Project

About Lilly's Biotechnology Center and the Company's Presence in San DiegoThe center features a new technologically-advanced laboratory and an additional 180,000 square feet of working space, which is an increase of 145 percent compared to the former facility. In addition to the center's established presence in preclinical and clinical immunology research, the new space allows for closer partnership between Lilly experts in biotechnology, discovery chemistry and research technologies while also fostering external collaborations.

"Being in the San Diego area for the last 13 years has been a game changer for us, specifically in the arena of discovering medicines for hard-to-treat autoimmune conditions," said Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D., senior vice president of biotechnology and immunology research at Lilly. "With compounds such as Taltz (ixekizumab) for psoriasis, we've not only provided patients with a new treatment option, but we've also moved the needle for advancing science."

As a pioneer in automated organic synthesis, Lilly is creating the Lilly Life Science Studio in San Diego. Building upon Lilly's Automated Synthesis Laboratory in Indianapolis, the new facility will allow researchers across the globe to remotely design, synthesize and screen investigational molecules in an unprecedented manner. Using the power of automation, the Lilly Life Sciences Studio will shape the next generation of drug discovery and expand the reach of individual scientists to test new ideas, while reducing the cost and minimizing the environmental impact of our research activities.

"Investing in drug discovery and development is critical to maintaining an ecosystem that encourages and promotes innovation. Our expansion in San Diego is a prime example of investing in a research success story," said Jan Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president for science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. "Expanding our presence in San Diego will not only help us discover and deliver innovative medicines faster, but will also help us achieve our goal of launching 20 new medicines in 10 years."

San Diego has long been an important location for Lilly. In 2004 Lilly acquired Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc. before establishing the Lilly San Diego Biotechnology Center in 2009, located near the University of California, San Diego, among other prominent biomedical research institutes. Since its establishment, the center has created more than 100 jobs with more than 200 scientists currently working in various research activities.

"Congratulations to Lilly on the expansion of its new Biotechnology Center, which will double its drug research and development in San Diego, create high-quality jobs, and encourage collaboration on groundbreaking therapies that improve patient care and lower costs," said Representative Scott Peters (D-CA 52nd Congressional District). "San Diego's life sciences industry is changing the face of medicine and companies like Lilly are driving this innovation."

About Lilly's U.S. Research and Development InvestmentNearly $250 million of Lilly's $850 million capital investments will be dedicated to supporting its research and development centers around the U.S., including the center in San Diego, in 2017. Lilly's other U.S. research centers are located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 2017, Lilly plans to spend approximately $5 billion on global R&D, nearly $4 billion of which will be invested in U.S. based programs, including projects with many of California's leading biomedical research institutions.

"This investment doesn't come without risk. America's biopharmaceutical leadership is driven by a free-market economy that rewards innovation," said Ricks. "Today, there are multiple public policy threats to our business that would discourage or reduce our investment in the U.S. and the state. We are committed to working with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure our efforts to deliver new innovative medicines to patients are not threatened."

AboutEli Lilly and CompanyLilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at http://www.lilly.com and http://www.lilly.com/newsroom/social-channels. C-LLY

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about the benefits of the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego, California and other planned capital projects, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs. However, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the processes of pharmaceutical research and development, and capital project implementation and completion. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that the projects will be completed on the anticipated timeline or at all or that Lilly will realize the expected benefits of the projects. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see Lilly's latest Forms 10-Q and 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

Nicole Hebert, hebert_nicole@lilly.com, (317) 701-9984 Jackie Shelton, sheltonj@lilly.com, (317) 719-5928

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Eli Lilly and Company Unveils Expanded Biotechnology Center in San Diego - PR Newswire (press release)

Evotec and co-investors support Dutch Facio Therapies BV with 4.8m to push development of Dux4 inhibitors to treat facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD), one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy.

With its investement alongside unnamed Australian and North American investors, Evotec enters the field of musculoskeletal diseases.

Currently there is no causative treatment for the muscle wasting disease that affects 700,000 people worldwide. In a patient cell-based screening, Evotec and Facio Therapies (Leiden) have already identified some FSHD candidate drugs, which block the overexpression of the DUX4 protein in skeletal muscle cells that causes muscle atrophy and oxidative stress, hallmarks of the disease. About 20% of people with FSHD end up in a wheelchair.

Facio announced it will use the proceeds to select pre-clinical lead candidates for further development. According to the NIH, the field of muscular dystrophies received US$80m in funding in 2017. One tenth of the amount has been channeled into FSHD research.

Some companies have already started clinical testing of candidate drugs for treating FSHD. aTyr Pharma, Inc. is in Phase I/IIa testing of the protein drug Resolaris in early onset FSHD. Acceleron Pharma, Inc. has recently started Phase II testing of ACE083, an inhibitor of proteins of the TGF-beta family.

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Evotec invests in Facio Therapies - European Biotechnology - European Biotechnology

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Gout now affects one in forty people in the UK.

It is caused by an excess of uric acid in the blood and tissues of the body, which if present for long enough, can form into needle-like crystals which can inflame your joints and cause severe pain and swelling.

Most people with gout have high levels of uric acid in their body because it hasnt been efficiently removed by the kidneys and washed out in the urine.

If crystals build up under the skin, and form small white or yellow lumps known as tophi - caused by tophaceous gout - it can be a sign the condition is serious.

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NHS Choices said: Tophi are usually painless, but they can form in awkward places, such as at the ends of your fingers and around your toes.

Sometimes they can make everyday tasks such as preparing food or getting dressed difficult.

They can also can become inflamed and produce a toothpaste-like discharge.

While it can develop anywhere on the body, the condition is most prevalent in the toes, heels, knees, fingers, ears and forearms. It can also appear on the elbows.

Some people start developing them before an attack

Experts warn it usually takes several years after the first gout attack for tophi to develop.

NHS Choices said: Some people start developing them before an attack. Theyre usually a sign of severe gout and a good reason to reduce the levels of uric acid in your body.

Some patients find they have to have the tophi surgically removed.

However, now experts have revealed a new drug could help cure tophaceous gout.

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A new study, published in the journal Wiley, has revealed a drug called lesinurad, used in combination with febuxostat was better at lowering levels of urate than febuxostat alone.

Scientists tested the cocktail on 325 patients with tophaceous gout.

They found that over 12 months, significantly more patients in the group who took both drugs, than one drug alone, achieved target levels of rate.

"Combination treatment of lesinurad and febuxostat represents a new therapeutic option for patients with severe gout who cannot achieve the serum urate treatment target with xanthine oxidase inhibitor monotherapy," said Professor Nicola Dalbeth, lead author of the Arthritis and Rheumatology trial.

Experts said people with gout can reduce symptoms of the condition by making changes to their diet.

This involves reduce the amount of food high in purines, such as beer, organ meats, red meats and seafood, including certain oily fish.

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Gout symptoms - THIS is a sign form of arthritis is severe and needs URGENT treatment - Express.co.uk

A new study has identified for the first time how a common process in cancer might be involved in the development of autoimmunediseases.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland have found that the accumulation of mutations in mature immune cells could drive rheumatoid arthritis in a similar way to how somatic mutations drive cancer. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in tumors, but this study is the first to investigate it in other diseases.

The results,published today in Nature Communications, revealed 30 mutations in CD8+ cytotoxic T cells of 5out of 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, versus a single mutation in one out of 20 healthy patients.The mutations were found in genes linked with the regulation of immunity and cell proliferation, and the clones of those cells with mutations appeared in much larger quantities that T cell clones without the mutations.

Interestingly, all the mutations were found incytotoxic CD8+ T cells, and none in helper CD4+ T cells. Given both cell types have a common origin, it was determined that the mutations appeared in mature cells and were not related to genetic defects in the stem cells that produce new immune cells every day.

Counterintuitively, none of the mutations identified were found in other 82 rheumatoid arthritis patients, indicating that rather than beingdriven by any specific genes, the process would depend on the accumulation of nonspecific mutations.

The prevalence of these types of mutations in hematopoietic cells increases with age,a process that has been extensively linked to an increased risk of cancer, and particularly blood cancer. These results indicate that the same process could also be behind a higher risk of suffering from an autoimmune disease.

For now, there is no certainty on how these mutations affect the regulation of chronic inflammations, says Professor Satu Mustjoki, one of theprojects leaders. They may be, for lack of a better word, genomic scars formed as a result of the activation of the immune defense system. In any case, this research project revealed a new connection on the molecular level between autoimmune diseases and cancer, which brings us one step closer to understanding these diseases.

After this first step, further studies with larger patients cohorts are definitely needed to confirm the results and gain a deeper insight into the mechanisms by which these mutations result in autoimmune disease. As Mustjoki stated, his group is planning to continue investigating the phenomenon in several inflammatory conditions.

Images via nobeastsofierce / Shutterstock;P Savola et al. Nature Communications 8, 15869 (2017)

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Finnish Researchers find Similar Mutation Patterns to Cancer in ... - Labiotech.eu (blog)

A new study at Tel Aviv University shows that stem cell therapy, one of the few treatments available to patients with severe and end-stage heart failure, can actually harm them unless it is done differently.

We concluded that stem cells used in cardiac therapy should be drawn from healthy donors or be better genetically engineered for the patient, said lead researcher Jonathan Leor of the universitys Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center.

Doctors use tissue or adult stem cells to replace damaged tissue, which encourages regeneration of blood vessel cells and new heart muscle tissue. But cardiac stem cells from a diseased heart can lead to a toxic interaction via a molecular pathway between the heart and the immune system, the study found.

We found that, contrary to popular belief, tissue stem cells derived from sick hearts do not contribute to heart healing after injury, Leor said. Furthermore, we found that these cells are affected by the inflammatory environment and develop inflammatory properties. The affected stem cells may even exacerbate damage to the already diseased heart muscle.

[Read the fully study here (behind paywall)]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Study says some stem cells dangerous for heart patients

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Stem cell therapy relying on patient's own unhealthy heart may be dangerous - Genetic Literacy Project

Ellen Ciurczak , American Staff Writer 4:26 p.m. CT June 20, 2017

Bellevue optometrist Megan Sumrall Lott administers vision tests to students who have failed the state's third grade reading test. Her association has found 88 percent of those students who failed had a vision problem. Ellen Ciurczak/Hattiesburg American

For the third year, the Mississippi Optometric Association and the Mississippi Vision Foundation will provide no-cost eye exams to third-graders who didn't pass the state reading assessment and do not have insurance.(Photo: Kathy Matheny, Kathy Matheny)

When Hattiesburg optometrist Megan Sumrall Lott and her colleagues heard in May 2015 that nearly 15 percent of Mississippi's third-graders had failed the state's first administration of the reading test, they were concerned. Lott said they suspected the problem wasn't the students' inability to read, but a difficulty with vision.

"We all got on a conference call and said, 'What can we do about this?'" Lott remembered. "(We said), 'Let's offer free eye exams to children with no insurance who have failed the test and give them glasses at no costif they need them.

"Almost every optometrist participated in 2015 and continues to do so."

Once again this year, members of the Mississippi Optometric Association and the Mississippi Vision Foundation, including Lott at her Bellevue Specialty Eye Care practice, are offering the free exams to third-graders who failed the test.

Hattiesburg optometrist Meagan Sumrall Lott(Photo: Special to Hattiesburg American)

It turned out Lott and her colleagues were right about why a lot of students weren't passing the third-grade reading test. Results of previous association and foundation third-grade eye exams revealed 88 percent of the students who failed the testneeded some form of visual intervention.

"Only by partnering with our schools can we begin to see change take place," said association president Mike Wheeden in a news release. "The MOA and its foundation are pleased to be a part of making a difference in the lives of students, and we are committed to identifying those students who have vision problems."

This May, 8percent of third-graders,or more than 3,000 students in the state,did not pass the test. Lott said many of them may have vision problems. She cites a 2008 study done for the Essilor Vision Foundation which discovered many students are struggling because of poor eyesight or other vision difficulties.

"One in four children had vision problems," Lott said. "(The study) looked at 9-15-year-olds. Ninety percent of children who needed glasses did not have them."

Lott said when schools perform vision screenings, typically only distance vision is tested. But most classroom activities, like reading, writing and computer work, require near vision. Therefore, other tests need to be added toscreenings.

"School exams won't identify anything but nearsightedness," Lott said.

The study foundeven when children with vision problems are identified through school examinations, 40 percent to 60 percent do not receive the recommended follow-up eye exams or glasses.

Lott, whose specialty includes children, has a checklist of 19 symptomsthat help patients identify if they have a vision problem. Some of those symptoms include reading issues like words that run together, closing one eye when reading, omitting small words when reading and poor reading comprehension.

Lott said she hopes students who failed the third-grade reading test and do not have insurance will take advantage of the no-cost eye exams.

"I would hope more and more children would come in every year as the word gets out," she said. "I want parents to know, if a child is struggling (with reading), there is help.

"There are people in the community who want to see their child succeed."

To locate a participating optometrist: Parents of eligible third-graders should go towww.msvisionfoundation.org.

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Optometric association: 88 percent of third-graders who fail reading test had vision problem - Hattiesburg American

Shayne Looper More Content Now

There are about 97 million myopic people in the U.S., according to the American Optometric Association. Im one of them. I was fitted for my first pair of corrective lenses in the second grade. Because my vision continued to deteriorate (and because I was always finding new ways to break my glasses), I saw the optometrist often.

I changed to contact lenses in my later teens, but when I started work at the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant in Lorain, Ohio, I was forced to wear safety glasses. With their coke bottle lenses, they were almost too heavy to wear.

The myopia continued to worsen and, when the optometrist added astigmatism correction to my prescription, contact lenses were no longer an option. My vision is bad enough now that without corrective lenses I cant drive, cant read the clock, and cant be certain that I know the person sitting across the table from me.

If I had lived before corrective lenses were available, I would have been in trouble. I would have gone through life Mr. Magoo-like, mistaking people, running into obstacles, and unable to join in favorite activities. It is interesting to think what it would be like to live that way for 60 years, and then to receive corrective lenses. What could be better than the gift of sight?

Christians believe that all people need a kind of vision correction. Myopia of what St. Paul calls the eyes of the heart is pandemic. Now, as he puts it, we see through a glass darkly. Humans have trouble recognizing what is important, they hurt themselves on obstacles they could have avoided, and routinely get lost in the tangles of everyday life.

The gospel writers want people to know that God restores sight, and they convey this important idea through the stories they tell about Jesus, who has come into this world, so that the blind will see... Each gospel tells stories of how Jesus gifted people with sight, rounding out the Old Testaments promise that Gods servant would bring recovery of sight for the blind.

The Gospel of Luke provides a particularly brilliant presentation of Jesus as the sight-giver. The Evangelist juxtaposes two stories, set side-by-side, representing very different kinds of blindness. To make sure we dont miss his point, he employs Greek verbs meaning to see so often a reader would have to be blind to miss them.

The first story features a blind man who sits begging on the side of the road as a noisy procession nears. The man, hearing that Jesus is in the procession, begins shouting, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Bystanders order him to be quiet, but he shouts all the louder.

Hearing him, Jesus stops and asks, What do you want me to do for you? and the blind man answers, Lord, I want to see. Jesus restores his sight, and he immediately becomes a follower of Jesus.

This story is immediately followed by another story about blindness. This time, though, the mans blindness is not physical but spiritual. His commitment to making money has blinded him, and he has injured himself in frequent run-ins with the people around him.

In both stories, the (physically and spiritually) blind men faced obstacles when they came to Jesus for vision correction. The poor beggar was treated as a persona non-grata by the crowd, and ordered to be quiet why would Jesus be interested in him? The rich man suffered similar treatment. People despised him, and refused to make room for him.

Surprisingly, the people who made it difficult for these sight-challenged men to get to Jesus were religious. Those who might be expected to facilitate a meeting with Jesus obstructed it. How often that proves to be the case. The judgmental church-goer, the holier-than-thou Bible-thumper, and the lapsed believer are blurry obstacles on the path to Jesus, and to restored vision.

John Newton famously wrote of that vision: I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. Im not sure I could go that far. What I can say is, I once was blind but I see better now, and have every reason to expect complete vision restoration in the future.

Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County (Mich.). Read more at shaynelooper.com.

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Shayne Looper: The spiritual myopia pandemic - Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch

Earlier this month, Google virtual reality head Clay Bavor discussed the companys efforts on a mind-boggling 20 megapixel screen that was currently under development. The screens would be a staggering 17x resolution improvement on displays in current generation VR systems like the Rift and Vive. They would also be totally unusable, because at the frame rates needed for VR, such displays would burn through 50-100 GBs of data per second.

The key for working this out would be utilizing a technology called foveated rendering to track where a users eyes are looking and ensure that only the area at the center of their vision is being rendered at full resolution.

While this will undoubtedly be a technology that enables the future of high-end VR, its still one that relies on expensive displays that arent even widely available yet.

A Finnish startup is positing that theyve come up with a way to bring human-eye level resolution to VR headsets through a technique that will direct a pair of insanely high-resolution displays to the center of your vision. With current technology, the company claims this will enable perceived resolutions north of 70 megapixels.

Varjo,which meansshadow in Finnish,is looking to bring this technology to higher-end business customers by next year at a price of less than $10,000 according to the company.

Why show off this tech now? Largely because the company is currently raising cash stateside and was just awarded a few patents related to these technologies last week.

I had the chance to demo a prototype of the companys technology last week using a modified Oculus Rift headset with Varjos display systems embedded.

I suppose the best testament to the companys technology was that I spent most of the demo questioning whether my eye sight had actually been improved. After being dropped into an apartment scene, I was almost disturbed by my ability to read the spines of books on bookshelves several feet away.

Comparisons in pixel density between Varjos 20/20 display and the Oculus Rift

The technology all relies on a pair of insanely high-resolution Sony MicroOLED displays which pack full HD into screens .7 inches in size diagonally. Through lens magnification these 3,000 pixels per inch displays fill up about a 20-degree field of view which is reflected off of mirrors in the headset while the wider scene is displayed on a more normal resolution display in the background.

Though this bionic display rig I tested simply utilized fixed focus displays at the center of my vision, the company is building systems that actively adjust the mirror to your gaze, ensuring that you are always seeing the most high-res image possible. Getting the latency of these mirror shifts will be a non-trivial challenge for the startup, especially given the limitations of eye tracking at the moment.

Varjo wants to take on companies like Magic Leap, Microsoft and Meta to create mixed reality headsets that build upon its display technology, though this technology isnt really suited for transparent display systems like waveguides so it would still rely on pass-through camera displays to pull of the mixed reality.

The company claims that they have no interest in licensing the patents they have been awarded and is instead looking to create an end-to-end solution, focusing primarily on business customers early-on. The first step will be a development kit of their 20/20 headset which the startup hopes to make available to hundreds of partners starting later this year.

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This startup wants to build VR headsets with 'human eye-resolution' - TechCrunch

Glaucoma, also known as the silent thief of sight, is a leading cause of preventable blindness. The most common forms of glaucoma primarily affect the middle-aged and the elderly, byt glaucoma does not discriminate and can affect people of all ages.

Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes vision loss by damaging a part of the eye called the optic nerve. This nerve is responsible for sending images from your eyes to your brain. However, when glaucoma damages your optic nerve, those images are distorted and vision becomes impaired and restricted. If not treated, glaucoma can cause permanent blindness.

According to Glaucoma Research Foundation, it is estimated that 3 million Americans have glaucoma but only half of those know they even have it. There are typically no symptoms to alert you to this disease, and sadly once vision is lost, it is irreversible.

The most common form of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma, which is one of the main causes of blindness in the United States. In the early stages of primary open-angle glaucoma, there are no symptoms. Its important for people to know that glaucoma can be detected early even before noticeable vision loss occurs.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to prevent glaucoma. However, you can slow down the progression of this disease by getting an annual dilated eye exam and receiving treatment if required. In addition to your dilated exam, your ophthalmologist might also perform a series of other painless tests such as eye pressure measurement and a peripheral vision test. These tests, in addition to an examination by your physician, assess any changes in your vision and evaluate the overall health of your eyes. This will help your physician determine if you have an issue like glaucoma and allows them to develop the best course of treatment based on their findings.

If you are diagnosed with glaucoma early enough, glaucoma can often be controlled with eye drops. If you are prescribed medication for your glaucoma, it is important that you take this medication regularly and exactly as prescribed in order to control your eye pressure. If you have allergies to eye drops or the drops fail to lower your eye pressure substantially, a laser procedure or even eye surgery may be recommended.

The laser procedure, known as selective laser trabeculoplasty or SLT, helps to open the drain inside of the eye and can lower the pressure in more than 80 percent of patients.

If required, your doctor may recommend glaucoma surgery to lower your eye pressure. This involves making an incision in the eye to create a new drain for the eye and therefore reduce eye pressure. The type and severity of your glaucoma, as well as the overall health of your eye, will help your ophthalmologist determine the type of surgery that is best for you.

Glaucoma is most common among older people and in African Americans. If you are over 60 years old, you are six times more likely to get glaucoma. Another factor that contributes to the prevalence of glaucoma is having an immediate family with glaucoma (mother, father, sister, brother). This puts you at a much higher risk. Finally, glaucoma may occur immediately after an eye injury or even years later.

Glaucoma is a very serious eye disease that can lead to vision loss and blindness if not carefully monitored. While glaucoma is not curable and vision that has been lost cannot be regained, it is treatable. With the appropriate medication and/or surgery, it is very possible to slow down the disease process and prevent further vision loss. As with any disease, annual comprehensive exams are key to protecting and maintaining healthy vision.

David Hayes, DO, is a glaucoma specialist with Clay Eye Physicians & Surgeons. He is also a member of the Duval County Medical Society.

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Doctors are In: Glaucoma is treatable if detected early - Florida Times-Union

Science is increasingly uncovering new ways toreversediabetes, achronic condition that affects the way the body processes blood sugar, and which has more than doubled in prevalence over the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists arealso increasingly aware of whos most at risk for the disease: According to a new study looking at the demographics of diabetes in this country, the highest risk can be found among racial and ethnic minorities, people with low incomes or lower educational levels, and people living in rural areas. In one scary finding, the research, which was published in theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,showedthat across the country, women with diabetes were at a higher risk of foregoing medical care.

Ifyoure among the more than 29 million Americans or8.5percent of the global population withthe disease, you absolutely can live a healthy, happy lifeif you take care of yourself and follow certain diabetes guidelines.

Whether youve just been diagnosed or have been managing the disease your whole life, this handy infographic from Vitality spells out the absolute must-dos for optimum diabetes care. Follow it exactly tominimizediabetes complications and achieveyour best quality oflife. And dont miss these simple tricks for living well with diabetesfrom people who have it.

Courtesy Tips for Living Well from Vitality

Source:Tips for Living Well from Vitality

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This Infographic Is Like the 10 Commandments of Diabetes - Reader's Digest

Posted on June 20, 2017 | 10:43 a.m.

Ocho Pasos program targets nutrition, treatment, exercise, monitoring, stress management

Jenifer Swartzentruber, l, Wendy Bevier, Mary Conneely, Ellen Goodstein of William Sansum Diabetes Center. (William Sansum Diabetes Center)

The William Sansum Diabetes Center'sOcho Pasos a la Buena Salud (Eight Steps to Better Health) was selected to be showcased in a moderated poster discussion at the recent American Diabetes Associations 77th Scientific Sessions in San Diego.

The presentation, led by WSDC diabetes educator Mary Conneely, was part of the ADA tour titled Community Strategies to Improve Care Delivery.

More than 15,000 physicians, scientists and health care professionals from around the world convene annually at the ADAs Scientific Sessions to unveil cutting-edge research, treatment recommendations and advances toward a cure for diabetes.

It was a great experience for me personally and it was just overwhelming with how much information there was at the conference, said Conneely who attended the conference for the first time this year.

During the conference Conneely said she experienced an impressive example of just how far reaching WSDCs Ocho Pasos education is across the globe.

Conneely, who is from Bolivia, met two conference attendees, also from Bolivia. When she told them about the WSDCs presentation they said they'd already downloaded WSDCs Ocho Pasos program, even before they met Conneely that day.

More than anything, it was so amazing to show other people what we are doing at William Sansum Diabetes Center and what works to better the lives of the community, Conneely said.

The moderated poster presentation detailed how Ocho Pasos is a culturally-relevant diabetes education program designed for low-income, monolingual Latino participants with or at risk for type 2 diabetes.

The eight weekly sessions focus on nutrition, treatment, monitoring, exercise and stress management. The results of Ocho Pasos were on display, highlighting the dramatic A1C reduction by taking the class.

It is incredibly empowering, energizing and awe inspiring to be around the nearly 15,000 talented and dedicated physicians, researchers, engineers, educators and others all making incredible progress in the fight against this dreadful disease," said Ellen Goodstein, WSDC executive director.

"To hear the progress being made in so many areas of diabetes research gave me genuine hope for the future. We will beat this disease, she said.

Dr. David Kerr, who attended the event, said, "The ADA showcases the best and the brightest for diabetes research and innovation, and this year the center was especially prominent because of the cutting-edge work we are involved with right now."

Diabetes affects nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States and contributes to the deaths of more than 230,000 Americans each year.

The American Diabetes Association estimates the total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. is more than $177 billion.

Published studies suggest that when additional costs for gestational diabetes, prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes are included, the total diabetes-related costs in the U.S. exceeds $322 billion annually.

William Sansum Diabetes Center attendees included: Goodstein, Conneely, Ceara Axelrod, Wendy Bevier, Jenifer Swartzentruber, Kerr, Dr. Jordan Pinsker, Laura Lindsey and Mei Mei Church.

Regina Ruiz for William Sansum Diabetes Center.

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Sansum Diabetes Program Takes Global Stage - Noozhawk

June 20, 2017 Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Heart disease is a leading cause of death worldwide and exacerbated by type 2 diabetes, yet diabetes treatment regimens tend to focus primarily on blood sugar maintenance. This common approach to type 2 diabetes management can leave patients at risk for heart attack and stroke. But results from four recent randomized clinical trials suggest that using medications that offer glucose control while reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease could improve patient outcomes.

"Strong evidence provided by the four recent trials published within the past 1.5 to 2 years in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that some of the modern available therapeutic agents that control blood glucose also help reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease," said Faramarz Ismail-Beigi, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and Endocrinologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. "Based on this evidence, we propose that we must shift from our previous paradigm with its monocular focus on control of blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c, to one of control of blood glucose plus preventing cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular causes." Hemoglobin A1c is a common test used to determine a patient's average blood sugar levels over the previous 2-3 months.

Ismail-Beigi helped conduct three of the four clinical trials, and he and his collaborators recently reviewed trial results in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The trials each tested a blood sugar-lowering medicationpioglitazone, empagliflozin, liraglutide, or semaglutidebut recruited patients with heart disease or stroke. The goal was to determine whether or not the drugs were safe, but in each study, researchers were surprised to find participants with or at risk of type 2 diabetes also experienced cardiovascular improvements.

"For the first time we have seen glucose-lowering medications that can improve cardiovascular outcomes," Ismail-Beigi said. "It is highly possible that newer agents in these classes of medications, used singly or in combination, will prove to be more efficacious in the management of type 2 diabetes and prevention of cardiovascular disease, even in patients at earlier stages of the disease process."

Previous studies focused on tight control of blood sugar have not shown major cardiovascular benefits for diabetes patients. "Strict control of blood glucose levels has shown minor, if any, positive effect on prevention of cardiovascular disease," said Ismail-Beigi. "In fact, a large NIH-funded clinical trial on type 2 diabetes management failed to show that strict control of blood glucose levels had any positive effect on cardiovascular outcomes or mortality, and in fact, may be harmful."

The new trial results could help address a major dilemma for clinicians looking for ways to control heart disease and reduce mortality, while simultaneously managing blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Said Ismail-Beigi, "Our review focuses on the need for a paradigm shift on how we should think about management of type 2 diabetes. I believe it will necessitate a rethinking of goals and approaches by guideline committees. We also hope that the FDA might consider approving new medications for management of type 2 diabetes not only based on their safety profile and their efficacy to control blood glucose, but also whether the medication reduces overall mortality and cardiovascular-related mortality."

Explore further: Major study heralds new era in treatment of type 2 diabetes

More information: Faramarz Ismail-Beigi et al, Shifting Paradigms in the Medical Management of Type 2 Diabetes: Reflections on Recent Cardiovascular Outcome Trials, Journal of General Internal Medicine (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s11606-017-4061-7

A drug that lowers blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes has also been revealed to significantly reduce the risk of both cardiovascular and kidney disease.

More work needs to be done to examine the real world effects of the commonly prescribed diabetes drug empagliflozin, new research in the journal Diabetes Therapy finds.

Researchers have shown that the glucose-lowering drug liraglutide safely and effectively decreases the overall risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death for people with type 2 diabetes. These patients are at high ...

The health risks and mortality associated with prediabetes seem to increase at the lower cut-off point for blood sugar levels recommended by some guidelines, finds a large study published in The BMJ today.

A new study shows that the drug fenofibrate might reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes who have high levels of triglycerides and low levels of "good" cholesterol, despite being treated ...

Why is heart failure not more rigorously assessed in clinical trials of antidiabetes drugs? In a Personal View, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, Professor John McMurray of The University of Glasgow ...

Heart disease is a leading cause of death worldwide and exacerbated by type 2 diabetes, yet diabetes treatment regimens tend to focus primarily on blood sugar maintenance. This common approach to type 2 diabetes management ...

A team of researchers from Sweden, the U.S. and Switzerland has found that treating rat liver cells with a compound called sulforaphane, which is found in cruciferous vegetables, reduced production of glucose. In their paper ...

(HealthDay)For many people with diabetes, low blood sugar levels are a serious health risk, but researchers report that a new nasal powder quickly reverses the effects of this dangerous condition.

An inexpensive first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes may also reduce heart disease in those with type 1 diabetes, according to a new global trial led by the University of Glasgow.

In a landmark study, UNC School of Medicine researchers have shown that blood glucose testing does not offer a significant advantage in blood sugar control or quality of life for type 2 diabetes patients who are not treated ...

Low-income Hispanics with Type 2 diabetes who received health-related text messages every day for six months saw improvements in their blood sugar levels that equaled those resulting from some glucose-lowering medications, ...

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Researchers call for paradigm shift in type 2 diabetes treatment - Medical Xpress