Healthcare: reloaded...

La chronicisation des maladies représente un défi pour la médecine du XXIe siècle. L’augmentation du nombre de patients atteints d’une affection chronique rend incontournable une réflexion sur l’enjeu social et économique que constitue leur prise en charge.

Si des études ont déjà souligné l'influence de l'épigénétique dans le développement de tumeurs, c'est la première fois qu'il est démontré que les mutations de l’ADN - qui s'accumulent au niveau du génome - ne sont pas indispensables à l'apparition des cancers. En d'autres termes, cette découverte montre que des processus pas forcément génétiques sont entièrement capables de provoquer l'apparition et le développement de tumeur, ouvrant ainsi la voie à de nouvelles pistes thérapeutiques.

Le Groupe de direction mondial sur la résistance aux antimicrobiens – antibiotiques notamment – appelle les Etats membres de l’ONU à réagir urgemment face à cette menace croissante. Sa dernière étude laisse envisager un coût humain et économique vertigineux si des mesures fortes ne sont pas rapidement prises contre la résistance aux antimicrobiens.

Why haven’t CAR-T therapies cracked into solid tumors yet? Poseida Therapeutics is trying to fill in at least one piece of the puzzle with a new analysis presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting showing that patients may need a higher dose of lymphodepletion than those with blood cancers.

In June, the FDA released a warning about the new antiobesity medications, stating it had received reports of adverse events after people self-administered semaglutide from a compounding pharmacy. The warning also states that compounding pharmacies may be selling salt forms of the active ingredient, including semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate, though the FDA is not aware of any basis for compounding a drug using semaglutide salts that would meet federal requirements.

A paradigm change in the understanding of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis has been made evident by recent research, highlighting the significance of concentrating on the soluble oligomeric form of the pathogenic amyloid beta (A-beta) protein to target its early-stage aggregation.

Bien que la COVID ait perdu son statut d’urgence, le secteur de la santé publique continue de traiter avec “des cicatrices profondes sur notre monde“. La crise a souligné d’énormes lacunes dans nos systèmes de santé, en particulier dans la capacité des responsables de la santé publique à coordonner une réponse informée et rapide. Il y a un nouvel élan pour la digitalisation rapide des systèmes de santé. Il y a une reconnaissance de l’importance de placer les personnes au-dessus des processus. Et il y a une urgence croissante à fournir des services de santé durables. Par-dessus tout, les dirigeants reconnaissent maintenant que chacun de ces objectifs dépend d’une stratégie de données, avec un accès sécurisé et simple aux données de santé.

Patient engagement in healthcare is defined as the active participation of patients in their own care, treatment decisions, and health management processes. It involves empowering patients to take an active role in managing their health and well-being by providing them with information, resources, and support to make informed decisions and participate in their care journey effectively. Patient engagement encompasses various activities and initiatives aimed at involving patients in their healthcare, promoting collaboration between patients and healthcare providers, and ultimately improving health outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Human beings are creatures of habit. Ours days have a particular rhythm to them, and behaviours we exhibit today are generally indicative of how we behaved yesterday and will behave tomorrow. Yet for how routine our lives can be, behavioural research conducted the last 50 years has found that people tend to struggle when asked to recall specific details about their day-to-day life.

Balancing the safety and efficacy of antithrombotic therapy in patients with gastrointestinal disorders is challenging because of the potential for interference with the absorption of antithrombotic drugs or for an increased risk of bleeding. Various clinical states, including malabsorption syndromes, bariatric surgery, short-bowel syndrome or enteral tube feeding, can influence the absorption and bioavailability of oral antithrombotic agents. Bleeding events are an essential prognosticator in patients with cardiovascular diseases — at times as important as thrombotic events — and using antithrombotic agents in patients at high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is very challenging. Most of the existing models to predict the risk of bleeding in patients with coronary artery disease do not estimate the risk of GIB specifically. Identifying patients at high risk of GIB, modifying the bleeding risk by using gastroprotective agents, and determining the appropriate antithrombotic therapy regimen have crucial roles in preventing GIB. After an episode of acute GIB, determining the duration of antithrombotic therapy interruption and the regimen for re-initiation requires consideration of the balance between the bleeding severity and the risk of thrombotic events.

Une publication scientifique révèle que les cas de cancer chez les personnes âgées entre 14 ans et 49 ans ont bondi de près de 80 % au cours des trois décennies à l'échelle planétaire. Les pays développés sont les plus touchés et les chercheurs estiment que le régime alimentaire et le mode de vie...

Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick recently encouraged families struggling to put food on the table to turn to cereal as their go-to dinner option. Food-as-medicine executives are none too thrilled about his comments — they argue that the remarks underscore the dire need to increase public education about affordable, healthy meal planning.

Carmat ambitionne de répondre à un enjeu majeur de santé publique lié aux maladies cardiovasculaires, l’insuffisance cardiaque, qui représente la première cause de décès dans le monde. Plus précisément, Carmat vise à apporter une solution durable au traitement de l’insuffisance cardiaque terminale, maladie pour laquelle il existe aujourd’hui très peu d’options efficaces, la principale étant la transplantation cardiaque.

Today’s hypodermic needles are hollow devices made from flat sheets of stainless steel heated to achieve pliability. Fabrication then occurs by rolling stainless steel strips into a tubular shape and using a laser to weld the two seams.

Instead of waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours for infusions into their veins, patients would spend just a few minutes being injected under the loose skin of their abdomens or thighs. Clinicians would save time and money, and patients would leave the clinic much sooner than normal. The ease of subcutaneous injections also opens up an opportunity for home treatment, a potential boon for people who don't want to spend their remaining time on hospital visits.

The expanded indication permits treatment with the chimeric antigen receptor T cells after first relapse and applies to adults who are refractory to lenalidomide and have received at least one previous line of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.

Health experts urge women not to use Ozempic or similar drugs to increase fertility, due to increased risks of birth defects and miscarriage.

“First, do no harm” is as central to the circular economic mindset as it is to the ethos of caregivers. This philosophy is making its way into boardrooms via environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and it’s prompting medical device manufacturers to rethink their approach to design, production and what happens after the sale.

A limited study of physicians in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service found that they are resistant to using algorithm-based tools, including AI-based applications. The research, which consisted of interviews with 32 physicians, identified four reasons for their reluctance. This article suggests ways their resistance can be overcome.

A recent collaboration between researchers at the University of Oregon (UO) and L’Oréal has resulted in the development of a multilayered artificial skin model, designed to resemble the complexity of real human skin closely. This achievement has implications for improving the testing of skin care products and potentially enhancing skin healing methods. Led by Associate Professor Paul Dalton from the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the UO, the research relies on Dalton’s novel 3D printing technique. Published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, this technique enables the creation of a two-layered artificial skin, with each layer separated by a membrane, mirroring the structure of natural skin.

Affected by aging, the elderly diabetes patients have many pathological characteristics different from the young people, including more complications, vascular aging, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis, and sarcopenia. This article will explore their pathogenesis and the mechanism of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) intervention, and use the method of systematic review to evaluate the clinical application of TCM in elderly diabetes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is providing an update on our ongoing evaluation of quality and performance issues related to plastic syringes made in China, and announcing additional recommendations and actions the FDA is taking to address these issues.

Experts are divided on whether or not exosomes are ready to be used as therapeutics. Theresa Whiteside, a professor of immunology at the University of Pittsburgh who studies the use of exosomes as tumor biomarkers, does not believe exosome-based therapeutics are ready for clinical study. “We have no idea what regulates [exosome biology],” Whiteside told BioSpace. “At the moment, it's a confusing picture.” In the other camp, Sharanjot Saini, an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at Augusta University, is using exosomes to deliver drugs for neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Exosomes engineered by Saini’s lab to specifically deliver two drugs to the prostate “significantly” reduced tumor growth in mouse studies. Saini told BioSpace that if initial safety and toxicity tests are conducted with rigor, there is nothing standing in the way of using exosomes as therapeutics.