A study conducted by researchers from the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna has demonstrated for the first time that the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be significantly improved by additionally measuring the thickness of retinal layers in the eye. Use of the procedure, which is already available at the Departments of MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna, helps to detect the condition at an earlier stage and predict its progression more accurately. This can lead to a decisive increase in the chance of improved patient outcomes. The findings have been published in the journal Neurology. As part of their investigation, the research team headed by Gabriel Bsteh and Thomas Berger of the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna collaborated with colleagues from MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna’s Department of Ophthalmology and Optometrics to examine 267 MS patients over a ...
Dive Brief Medtronic has found a cybersecurity vulnerability in an optional messaging feature in its Paceart Optima cardiac device data workflow system and reported the problem to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. Medtronic has not observed any unauthorized access or patient harm related to the issue, the device maker said in an emailed statement. The company said it has notified healthcare delivery organizations about the vulnerability and has provided them with instructions to eliminate it. Dive Insight The number of data breaches in healthcare continues to climb as the industry has become a prime target for cyber criminals who seek to access its troves of patient information. As more connected medical devices make their way into patient homes, ransomware, phishing and software vulnerabilities are among the biggest challenges facing the sector. Medtronic’s Paceart Optima software application, which runs on a hospital’s Windows server, collects cardiac device data from ...
New research from Sanford Burnham Prebys has helped explain how melanoma evades the immune system and may guide the discovery of future therapies for the disease. The study found that a protein known to be active in immune cells is also active inside melanoma cells, helping promote tumor growth. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, suggest that targeting this protein with new drugs may deliver a powerful double hit to melanoma tumors. “The immune system’s control of a tumor is influenced by both internal factors within tumor cells, as well as factors from the tumor’s surroundings,” says first author Hyungsoo Kim, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys in the lab of senior author Ze’ev Ronai, Ph.D. “We found that the protein we’re studying is involved in both, which makes it an ideal target for new cancer therapies.” One of the most significant breakthroughs in cancer ...
Taking good care of your teeth may be linked to better brain health, according to a study published in the July 5, 2023, online issue of Neurology. The study found that gum disease and tooth loss were linked to brain shrinkage in the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory and Alzheimer’s disease. The study does not prove that gum disease or tooth loss causes Alzheimer’s disease; it only shows an association. “Tooth loss and gum disease, which is inflammation of the tissue around the teeth that can cause shrinkage of the gums and loosening of the teeth, are very common, so evaluating a potential link with dementia is incredibly important,” said study author Satoshi Yamaguchi, Ph.D., DDS, of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. “Our study found that these conditions may play a role in the health of the brain area that controls thinking and memory, giving people another reason ...
Regular physical activity may protect against cognitive decline as we get older, but this protective effect may be diminished for people who are not getting enough sleep, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, looked at cognitive function over 10 years in 8,958 people aged 50 and over in England. The research team investigated how different combinations of sleep and physical activity habits might affect people’s cognitive function over time. They found that people who were more physically active but had short sleeps—less than six hours on average—had faster cognitive decline overall, meaning that after 10 years their cognitive function was equivalent to peers who did less physical activity. Lead author Dr. Mikaela Bloomberg (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) said, “Our study suggests that getting sufficient sleep may be required for us to get the full cognitive benefits of ...
By Kristen Rogers, CNN Having a fluctuating cholesterol level has been linked with higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found. coldsnowstorm/iStockphoto/Getty Images Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life. CNN — The fact that having high cholesterol can cause health problems is well known. But a total cholesterol level that fluctuates a lot — either up or down within a five-year period — might also be problematic by raising the risk of later dementia, a new study found. “This study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that addressing certain modifiable risk factors and promoting healthy behaviors can reduce the risk of cognitive decline, possibly reduce the risk of dementia, and protect cognitive health,” said Christopher Weber, director of global science initiatives at the ...
Tyler Patchen News Reporter https://endpts.com/ In June, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund established Lifera, a contract developer and manufacturer in the pharmaceutical field, and now the company has secured a major client. On Wednesday, Lifera and the Saudi-based vaccine manufacturer Arab Pharmaceutical Company, or Arabio, signed a memorandum of understanding with Sanofi to boost the local vaccine production within Saudi Arabia. Under the terms of the agreement, all three companies will search for opportunities to collaborate to form a localization strategy for developing and producing vaccines. This will include Lifera acting as a contract manufacturer to Sanofi and leveraging Arabio’s distribution experience as well. According to the release, the French pharma will plan to manufacture seven vaccines that are part of the “mandatory immunization schedule” with the intention of making these vaccines more readily available in Saudi Arabia and to potentially export as well. However, the specific vaccines that will be ...
Drug shortages have been in the news for several years, but they worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, and several pharmacy, regulatory, and physician organisations, in the US and Europe, have recently issued alerts in response. In May, the American Cancer Society declared that chemotherapy drugs were among the top-five drug classes affected by shortages, and numerous oncology medications are currently in short supply according to data from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “The shortages of oncology drugs are primarily in the generic drug market,” says Dr. Kevin Shulman, a professor of medicine and clinical hospitalist at the Clinical Excellence Research Center at Stanford University. There is no financial incentive for big pharma to manufacture older generic medications that are critical to the treatment of several common cancers and very few companies invest in doing so, says Dr. Kristen Rice, medical oncologist with a practice in San Diego, California. ...
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has unveiled a new corporate plan that aims to create a faster and more predictable regulatory environment. The plan assigns the agency’s agenda to four key strategic priorities, which are further split into multiple milestones over a three-year span. This includes a focus on public trust, improved access to safe and effective products and the pursuit of new strategic partnerships, based on the 4 July announcement. As part of the corporate plan, the MHRA plans to create faster risk-proportionate regulatory pathways that will support innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, cell therapy and vaccines, per a document detailing the plan. In the first year, the MHRA aims to launch an improved regulatory management system that will streamline its services and increase the use of self-service. The agency also seeks to optimise service delivery times in priority areas in the second ...
After AstraZeneca and National Resilience made recent inroads into the United Arab Emirates, Sanofi has emerged as the next pharmaceutical giant setting its sights on the Middle East.The French pharma is linking up with Saudi drugmakers Arabio and Lifera—the latter of which is wholly owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund PIF—to bolster production of vaccines in Saudi Arabia. Under a newly minted memorandum of understanding, the companies will explore a range of potential prophylactic initiatives, including the enlistment of Lifera as a contract manufacturer to Sanofi, plus the build-out of a new manufacturing plant utilizing the latest vaccine tech. Sanofi will further share biotechnological know-how to initially manufacture seven vaccines included in Saudi Arabia’s mandatory immunization schedule, the partners said in a press release Wednesday. Arabio, for its part, will leverage its local and regional distribution strength to help supply the shots and other biopharmaceutical products to the Saudi ...
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