Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is just one of those unexpected HPV-driven conditions. RRP is not a sexually transmitted disease and patients are not contagious. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people in the United States and more than 125,000 globally have RRP. This burdensome disease takes several forms and impacts people’s upper or lower respiratory tracts or presents as recurrent lesions on the vocal cords or adjacent tissues that require endless corrective surgeries. The treatment often results in permanent damage to a person’s voice.

RRP falls into two demographic subtypes: juvenile-onset (even toddlers) RRP and adult-onset RRP. Each presents unique medical management and lifestyle difficulties, and in addressing these challenges, patient advocacy—raising awareness and building a supportive community—is critically important.

Since it has no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- approved treatment or cure, patients and scientists devote energy and resources to ensuring people with RRP have access to information. They are in the loop about clinical possibilities for this rare disease. No cure doesn’t mean there is no action!

Beyond the physical challenges of dealing with the disease – and the missed life events and career detours resulting from repeated surgeries, patients also face significant and demoralizing administrative challenges, such as battling payers to cover care using drugs not indicated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for RRP or deemed “not sufficiently proven.”

The lack of treatment does not mean the RRP community is without hope. They are resilient and courageous and are making meaningful connections through the patient advocacy efforts of the Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Foundation. They are reaching and inspiring researchers at the National Institutes of Health to pursue breakthrough research and oversee clinical trials. They also connect with scientists advancing possible therapies at discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies like Precigen and encourage them to move forward by enrolling in clinical trials.

Collaboration Accelerates Change

When people unite, their presence creates energy. The Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Foundation, biotech company Precigen, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and RRP patients and their caregivers met on June 11th at the National Press Club for the Inaugural International Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Awareness Day. This was an inflection point for those who follow the rare disease category.

The gathering wasn’t about hype or baseless optimism; it was a meeting that brought people together, prepared and ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. It was a day that reaffirmed a commitment to transparency and a truthful assessment of the current situation and path forward.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner, chair of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, which oversees cybersecurity efforts that are key to healthcare and innovation data protection, kicked off RRP Awareness Day by expressing his support for people with rare diseases and his desire to help RRP patients find their voice. Senator Warner stated his desire to advance research and innovation and ensure access to care, an expression of determination that reflected his long-standing record on behalf of people seeking treatment options and improved outcomes.   

RRP Foundation President Kim McClellan also spoke as an advocate for the RRP community and as a patient. “We are here to raise awareness about RRP and bring together critical stakeholders in a dialogue on important aspects impacting individuals living with RRP,” she said. “We invite and encourage anyone living with RRP, either as a patient, family member or caregiver, to join us in spreading the word about RRP and participate in clinical trials and advocacy efforts.”

The date of this groundbreaking gathering has special meaning for the RRP community. June 11th (6/11) corresponds to HPV variants 6 and 11 associated with RRP. As the date symbolizes, the gathering united people with the disease, their family members, congressional leaders, and researchers from government agencies and corporate partners in a community united in a common cause.

The opportunity to share and hear multiple perspectives enriched discussions and underscored the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to tackling this condition. Panels of experts and patients sharing personal stories about their journeys gave attendees an unmatched opportunity to delve into the intricacies and impacts of RRP.

Helen Sabzevari, PhD, President and CEO of Precigen, expressed that she and her company were “proud to join forces with the RRP Foundation to establish the first global RRP Awareness Day to bring visibility to the many challenges experienced by RRP patients and to help forge connections among patients, clinicians and government officials.”

A former NCI team leader, Dr. Sabzevari’s commitment to RRP awareness and patient well-being as an animating principle is a model biopharma company C-Suite executives would be wise to emulate. For her and her Precigen colleagues, patients are the focal point of every decision, action, and investment.

RRP Awareness Day was an inspiring platform for discussing struggle, stigma, and science. Lunch was optional, but tissues were required as attendees in the filled-to-capacity room listened to a patient panel on how RRP impacts people and their families. They learned how some individuals living with RRP have needed hundreds of surgeries over the years, beginning when they were toddlers or young children in primary school.

Culture Drives Clinical Performance

Therapeutic innovations are needed to ensure that future generations living with RRP have options reviewed and indicated by the FDA for treating this viral condition.

During the event, a panel of representatives from advocacy and research reflected on how their collaborative approach centering around patients – from the design of clinical trials to allocating resources that have enabled patients to participate in those trials – has been vital in accelerating the R&D process toward identifying and developing viable treatments. The panel included James Gulley, MD., PhD., NIH, Senior Investigator, Center for Immuno-Oncology, Acting Co-Director, National Cancer Institute/Center for Cancer Research; Scott M. Norberg, DO., NIH, Associate Research Physician, Center for Immuno-Oncology; Helen Sabzevari, PhD, CEO, Precigen; and Kim McClellan, President, RRP Foundation.

Dr. Gulley, who is part of the NCI team and has been instrumental in advancing research on RRP and its connection to HPV, emphasized the pressing need for innovative therapies. In his panel comments, Dr. Gulley highlighted the importance of collaborative research efforts to explore potential immunotherapeutic approaches that could offer new hope for patients suffering from this debilitating condition.

No Disagreement – Harmony

Panelists Gulley, Norberg, and Sabzevari applauded the patient community, acknowledging the courage of their readiness to volunteer to participate in clinical trials to speed possible therapeutics forward. It was a reassuring presence and a reminder that public-private collaborations, particularly for rare diseases, do more than spark hope; they spur action. The patient-panel takeaways were: (1) Connect with the RRP Foundation, (2) Support ongoing clinical trial efforts, (3) Prevention through HPV vaccination is key.

While there is still no FDA-approved treatment to manage RRP, this community remains resilient and upbeat, inspiring everyone facing the challenge of rare conditions. The RRP Foundation, Precigen, and NCI are on the same page—science is essential. People living with RRP can remain hopeful that this collaboration will continue until actions result in better options for this patient community.

The post HPV Urban Legends – From Contagion to Symptoms to Risks to Prevention – There Are More Rare Concerns that Deserve Our Attention appeared first on Medika Life.

But the impact of smoking is all around us, even if we don’t see it. Statistics rarely tell a provocative story to compel people to action. The numbers behind the global smoking epidemic are so stark, however, they are almost incomprehensible. Behind every data point, a real person, family or community is impacted.

Let’s start with the challenge: More than 1.3 billion people – 17 percent of the global population – smoke cigarettes or consumes other tobacco products. Since the first World No Tobacco Day in 1987, nearly 300 million people have died from smoking-related illnesses, including tens of millions who died or suffered respiratory or cognitive impairment from second-hand smoke. If the average day is any gauge, thousands of children took up smoking yesterday, including the fastest rising of all groups: teenage girls. Beyond the impact of lives lost or harmed, smoking costs the global economy roughly $2 trillion in economic damage every year.

With that money, with those lives lost, what could be done to improve the world? A lot, as it turns out. That sum would fund the attainment of many of humanity’s most ambitious sustainability and poverty alleviation goals. We could facilitate an equitable transfer to cleaner energy technologies for industrialized and emerging markets. And to be blunt, we would have an honest shot at dramatically reducing cancer rates and chronic disease when a massive chunk of the world’s people isn’t inhaling products that contain more than 7,000 different chemicals with each puff.

Perhaps eliminating smoking is a pipe dream. Governments have imposed stiff taxes against tobacco products; research is being used to counter cigarette advertising; social stigma has built in many countries and health systems have made smoking habits increasingly punitive. But that hasn’t slowed the epidemic. We need better tools.

Around 60 percent of smokers globally – 780 million people – say they want to quit, but only 30 percent have access to resources to help them achieve that goal. That represents a massive market opportunity for the right solutions. Education and support networks are essential. However, smokers need access to more powerful cessation products to deliver a knockout punch. Fortunately, there is some good news on that front.

While smoking cessation products have been available for nearly two decades, they can have serious side effects and rebound rates. Last week, results for a confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial – ORCA-3 – showed statistically significant results over six and 12 weeks. The study features a new cessation treatment called cytisinicline, a plant-derived alkaloid.

Most of the trial’s participants have been smoking for more than 30 years and have tried to quit on average four times. In the study, cytisinicline demonstrated a six-fold increase in the odds of maintaining continuous smoking cessation at six months compared to the placebo.

The new cessation treatment also produces far fewer side effects than routinely reported by people using other smoking cessation products. This is particularly important since compliance with treatment is a significant barrier that keeps millions of people from following through with their goal of quitting.

Cytisinicline opens a new front in the war to end smoking. The task is to ensure it and other tools reach the people who need it most. Advocacy groups and government agencies can help with this important next step by breaking down the barriers to access that frequently inhibit people from acting on the dream of kicking their smoking habit. It’s time to lend them a hand.

The post It’s Time for New Tools to Overcome Smoking appeared first on Medika Life.

On Monday night, I watched as Damar Hamlin had cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the football field. Medical personnel quickly shocked his heart back into a normal rhythm. Meanwhile, distraught players openly cried, and the National Football League (NFL) suspended the game.

In an early morning statement the following day, the Buffalo Bills organization reported that Hamlin’s “heartbeat was restored on the field” and that the football player was under sedation at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Just over three days later, Hamlin awakens and shows his brain function is intact:

Doctors: Hamlin shows’ substantial improvement buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is beginning to awaken.

Bills safety Damar Hamlin is beginning to awaken.

www.espn.com.

While the American football player is recovering, Dr. Timothy Pritts reminds us that Hamlin is critically ill. Thankfully, his neurological function appears to be intact. The 24-year-old is moving his hands and feet and communicates by writing (while unable to speak — he is still on a mechanical ventilator).

Hamlin’s first written communication upon awakening from his deep sedation-induced multiday sleep? He offered a note with this question: “Did we win?”

I love Dr. Pritts’ response: “The answer is yes, Damar, you won. You won the game of life.”

Cardiac arrest remains a public health crisis.

Sudden cardiac arrest is not uncommon and remains a public health crisis. The American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Statistics — 2022 Update shows the following:

There are more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) annually in the U.S., nearly 90 percent of them fatal. That translates to nearly 1,000 individuals daily.

The survival to hospital discharge after emergency medical services (EMS)-treated cardiac arrest languishes at an unimpressive 10 percent.

Sports-related sudden cardiac arrest

Sports-related sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) represents the following percentages of SCA by age in Portland, Oregon (USA):

Two other important observations:

• The sudden cardiac death incidence during youth sport participation is approximately 1.83 deaths per 10 million athlete years.
• Pre-participation screening of 5,169 middle and high school students (with an average age of 13) from 2010 showed high-risk cardiovascular conditions in approximately 1.5 percent.
• Recent research indicates the incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children in the USA is 23,514.

Covid-19 pandemic and cardiac events

You may wonder how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac events. In New York City, the incidence of OHCA attended by emergency medical services tripled in 2020 compared with a year earlier.

In addition, the pandemic brought increased delays in starting CPR for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Despite no chance in the frequency of bystander CPR, there was a drop in the frequency of shockable rhythms, bystander AED (Automated External Defibrillator for shocking the heart back to a normal rhythm) use, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in public locations.

Timely, quality CPR is key to survival

Within seconds of the nationally televised event, medical personnel from Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium initiated high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Damar Hamlin. Soon, an ambulance came onto the field to rush Damar Hamlin.

The quick medical response likely saved Hamlin’s life. A doctor appeared by Hamlin’s side within one minute of his collapsing and immediately determined that the player had no pulse. CPR immediately began.

Cardiac arrest, CPR, awareness, and treatment

About one in six (18 percent) individuals in the United States report recent CPR training. Nearly two in three reports having had CPR training at some point.

CPR training rates appear lower in older people, those with less formal education, lower income groups, and Hispanic/Latino individuals. That’s according to a survey of over 9,000 people in the USA in 2015.

Here are the leaders in laypeople-initiated CPR for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA):

Non-medical professionals used the “shocking device” (AED) in six percent of events, delivering a shock in 1.3 percent.

Laypeople used AEDs in nine percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. States with higher use rates include Nebraska (16 percent), Alaska (10 percent), Minnesota (9 percent), Oregon (13.5 percent), Washington (11 percent), Pennsylvania (10 percent), North Carolina (9.5 percent), and Utah (9.5 percent).

Cardiac arrest — My take

First, learn CPR. It is important for all of us, especially those with sport-playing children. A kid can get hit in the chest by a baseball or basketball. A cardiac arrest can occur if the strike is in the wrong chest location at precisely the wrong time in the heart’s electrical cycle.

Second, please advocate for AEDs everywhere that is reasonable. All malls, schools, and other well-traveled public spaces should have them.

Third, never be afraid to use the AED. The machine tells you exactly what to do and will not ask you to deliver a shock unless needed.

I took a CPR refresher course last week. You should consider taking one, too.

The post Football Player Hamlin’s On-field Collapse Reminds Me to Know CPR appeared first on Medika Life.

His wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, says, “it’s just one of these things that had been brewing for years, and for whatever reason, it happened at this point.” She explained the findings on “CBS Mornings” in her first interview since her husband’s passing.

Grant Wahl’s wife reveals the cause of death in the first interview since he died at World Cup in Qatar.

www.cbsnews.com

Following an autopsy performed by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, we learned that he died from “the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium.”

Dr. Gounder explains that “the chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him.”

Grant Wahl’s remarkable life

Born in Mission, Kansas (USA ) in 1973, Wahl graduated from Princeton University. During his first year, he covered Princeton’s men’s soccer team, then coached by Bob Bradley, who would go on to manage professional soccer teams.

Bradley opened the door for Wahl to study abroad in Argentina. Wahl spent time with the Boca Juniors before returning to the United States for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Wahl volunteered that his experiences with the veteran coach catalyzed his love of soccer.

Wahl began his journalism career with the Miami Herald as an intern in 1996. He joined Sports Illustrated in November 1996, covering college basketball and soccer. Here are some of his reporting career highlights:

• 12 NCAA basketball tournaments
• Eight FIF Men’s World Cups
• Four FIFA Women’s World Cups
• Five Olympic games

Wahl first gained critical acclaim for his Sports Illustrated cover story “Where’s Daddy?” a look at the growing number of illegitimate children born to professional athletes.

MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Speaker | Grant Wahl

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Grant Wahl is one of the world’s leading soccer journalists. Comfortable writing long…

www.sloansportsconference.com

Notable among his stories was a 2002 one with high school student and future basketball superstar LeBron James. Here is James speaking about Wahl:

“He was always pretty cool to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron. Whenever his name comes up, I’ll always think back to me as a teenager having Grant in our building down at St. V’s. It’s a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was. I wish his family the best. May he rest in paradise.

In October 2009, while covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, Wahl was robbed of his phone and wallet at gunpoint in broad daylight in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; earlier in the day, he had interviewed interim Honduran president Roberto Micheletti, who later apologized to Wahl over the incident.

Meet the President, Get Robbed: Just Another Day in Honduras | Grant Wahl’s Blog | FanNation.com

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — For a few minutes on Friday night, Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti sounded happy…

web.archive.org

Wahl and aneurysm

An aortic aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in the aorta, the body’s largest artery — “sort of the trunk of all the blood vessels,” explains Wahl’s wife, Dr. Gounder. She is an infectious disease specialist and CBS News medical contributor. An aortic aneurysm can “dissect” or — as in Wahl’s case — rupture.

Aortic aneurysms can dissect or rupture:

• The force of blood pumping can split the artery wall’s layers, allowing blood to leak between them. This process is called a dissection.
• The aneurysm can burst completely, causing bleeding inside the body. This phenomenon is a rupture.
• Dissections and ruptures are the cause of most deaths from aortic aneurysms.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, aortic aneurysms or dissections caused about 10,000 deaths in 2019. Approximately three in five were among men. A history of smoking accounts for about 75 percent of all abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm

Grant Wahl had a thoracic (in the chest) aortic aneurysm burst. Men and women are equally likely to get thoracic aortic aneurysms. The condition becomes more common with increasing age.

Thoracic aneurysms are typically caused by high blood pressure or sudden trauma. Some inherited conditions, including Marfan syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, are associated with a higher incidence of the condition.

The CDC offers these symptoms of thoracic aortic aneurysm:

• Sharp, sudden pain in the chest or upper back
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

An abdominal aortic aneurysm occurs below the chest. Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are more common than thoracic aortic aneurysms. AAAs are more common in men and those 65 and older. White individuals are more likely to have them (compared with Black people).

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are usually the product of atherosclerosis (hardened arteries), but infection or injury can also cause them. Unfortunately, AAAs often don’t have associated symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they can include groin, buttocks, or leg pain. Some have throbbing or deep pain in the side or back.

Other aneurysm types

Aneurysms can occur in other body sites. For example, a ruptured brain aneurysm can cause a stroke. Aneurysms may be discovered in the neck, groin, or behind the knees. Such aneurysms are less likely to dissect or rupture but can be associated with clots. The clots sometimes break away ad block blood flow through an artery.

Aortic aneurysm risk factors

The leading risk factor for an aortic aneurysm is smoking. Other risk factors include high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, and hardened arteries (atherosclerosis). Here are some potential risk-reducing maneuvers you may wish to consider:

• If possible, keep your blood pressure below 130/80 mm Hg.
• Don’t smoke.
• Have a healthy diet.
• Get regular physical activity.
• If you have an aneurysm discovered by screening (or chance), please see a specialist who can monitor your condition. Monitoring may include periodic imaging (for some, a procedure to lower the rupture risk).

Inherited connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, can also increase your aortic aneurysm risk. A family history of aortic aneurysm is also linked to a higher risk.

Finally, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends an ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms in men between the ages of 65 and 75 who have smoked.

I will end with the words of his wife, Dr. Céline Gounder:

“I want people to remember [Grant] as this kind, generous person who was really dedicated to social justice.”

Thank you for joining me for this brief look at the life of Grant Wahl and aneurysm risk reduction.

The post Soccer Journalist Dies of an Aneurysm – Five Ways to Reduce Risk appeared first on Medika Life.

The headlines have been jarring:

“Screening Procedure Fails to Prevent Colon Cancer Deaths in Large Study,” offered Bloomberg.

“In a Gold-Standard Trial, an Invitation to Colonoscopy Reduced Cancer Incidence but Not Death,” observed Statnews.

“Colonoscopy Fails to Reduce Rate of Cancer Deaths in Trial” volunteers realclearscience.com.

Have you heard about the 10-year follow-up of the large, multicenter, randomized Northern-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (NordICC) trial?

Researchers recruited healthy individuals in Poland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands between 2009 and 2014. Most came from Poland (54,258), followed by Norway (26,411) and Sweden (3,646). The study authors did not include data from the Netherlands because of data protection law.

Should we ditch colon cancer screening?

Let’s get right to the recent report published in the New England Journal of Medicine:

The real-world risk of colorectal cancer and associated death rates appeared lower among people who had a single screening colonoscopy (compared with those not having the procedure), although only modestly so.

The researchers determined that the number needed to invite to undergo screening to prevent one case of colorectal cancer is 455. This number gives us an estimate of the effect of screening colonoscopy in the general population. Or does it?

The researchers determined outcomes based on intention-to-screen. In other words, they compared all subjects invited to have a colonoscopy screening with those who received no invitation or screening.

Here are some other study outcomes:

• The 10-year colorectal cancer risk was 0.98 percent for the screened individuals, compared with 1.2 percent for the unscreened subjects. While this 18 percent risk reduction sounds great, the absolute difference is small.
• The risk of death appeared similar in the invited group (0.28 percent) versus 0.31 percent in the usual care drop. Again, a nice relative drop (10 percent) but not particularly different in absolute numbers.
• The risk of death from any cause appeared similar in the invited and usual-care group members, at 11.03 percent and 11.04 percent, respectively.

My take — Colon cancer screening

The colonoscopy benefits would have been greater had more individuals had colorectal screening. Only 42 percent of those invited had a colonoscopy.

When the scientists adjusted for this low participation level, they discovered this:

Had all those invited to undergo screening had it, the 10-year risk of colorectal cancer would have dropped from 1.22 percent to 0.84 percent, and the risk of colorectal cancer–related death would have fallen from 0.30 percent to 0.15.

The NordICC is the first randomized trial to quantify the possible benefits of colonoscopy screening on the risk of colorectal cancer and related death.

Longer follow-up is needed to understand better whether colonoscopy is effective in this real-world analysis. Drs. Jason Dominitz and Douglas Robertson comment on the possible reasons for the low reduction in incident cancer and deaths observed in the NordICC study.

In an editorial that accompanied the study publication, they note that other studies suggest an approximate halving (40 to 69 percent) in the incidence of colorectal cancer and an up to seven-eighths (29 to 88 percent) decrease in the risk of death with colonoscopy.

We must take such observations in context: Historical non-randomized studies likely overestimate the real-world effectiveness of colonoscopy, given a lack of adjustment for incomplete adherence to testing. In addition, there is a tendency for healthier individuals to seek preventative care.

In the United States, colonoscopy is the main screening tool for colorectal cancer. In other places, participation rates may be quite different. In this sense, the real-world results in the USA may be closer to the results seen in the per-protocol analysis of this study.

I look forward to seeing if greater improvements in outcome emerge when the NordICC state has a 15-year follow-up. Finally, if the modest effectiveness of screening colonoscopy is real, can we afford to use this expensive screening tool? Or should we turn to less-invasive tactics such as FIT (fecal immunochemical testing)?

But Dr. Maas said that “around half of the patients in the study did not undergo colonoscopy, which may have negatively impacted the results. I will end with this observation about this study: Colonoscopy cannot possibly work if an individual does not have it. We need more evidence to guide us about the use of colonoscopy.

Thank you for joining me in the exploration of the effectiveness of colonoscopy.

The post Is Colonoscopy Effective? A New Study Raises Questions appeared first on Medika Life.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland and NEW JERSEY—September 20, 2022—Cumulus Neuroscience (Cumulus; the Company), a global digital health company developing multi-domain digital biomarkers for the brain, today appointed Aman Bhatti, MD, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dr. Bhatti, a noted digital health executive with experience launching and scaling world-renowned consumer healthcare brands, joins Cumulus as the Company shifts toward healthcare and expands biopharma partnerships in its next growth phase. Dr. Bhatti’s appointment follows the recent award of a £1.5M UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) grant to Cumulus and its academic research partners, using the Cumulus platform to improve early dementia diagnosis.

“Neurological disorders are a global health issue, and digital biomarkers – which require integrated, multi-domain assessment technologies – are key to supporting faster drug development, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic solutions,” said Ruth McKernan, PhD, co-founder & executive chair, Cumulus. “Dr. Bhatti’s proven track record of implementing strategies that achieve significant revenue growth in both the biopharma and healthcare industries, combined with his unique understanding of healthcare system priorities and patient, physician, biopharma and payer needs, makes him the ideal match to lead Cumulus in its next chapter. With Dr. Bhatti at the helm, Cumulus is poised to accelerate our BioPharma and Healthcare commercialization strategies – to help solve the biggest healthcare challenges in neurodegeneration and psychiatry.”

“My passion is finding the intersection of technological innovation, scientific understanding, and patient care, to make better health possible – and Cumulus technology is poised to do just that, by enabling better understanding and faster identification of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases,” said Bhatti. “Our technology already plays a key role in helping biopharma partners accelerate drug development, and soon, the same technology will be deployed to physicians to lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other CNS diseases. I look forward to expanding those opportunities for our biopharma partners and patients, and to building toward the launch of our Cumulus platform to clinicians in the US. I’m also particularly energized to continue leading the industry in its evolution from paper-based, single-timepoint and single-domain assessments to using repeatable, multi-domain, AI-based clinical insights that are changing the face of drug development and patient management,” he added.

Brian Murphy, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer, commented: “Current solutions to measuring brain function don’t satisfy patients, doctors or the scientists who are working to develop new life-changing therapies. Our machine-learning enabled platform directly measures how a disease affects thinking capability, sleep, mood, language and other aspects of a patient’s daily life. With Aman on-board, the team is excited to bring this easy-to-use solution to bear in global health-care systems.”

Before joining Cumulus, Dr. Bhatti was senior vice president of AliveCor BioPharma, where he led a team focused on establishing partnerships with CROs and biopharma companies, drawing upon more than 15 years of experience in prior executive roles at Sanofi, GSK, Novartis and Reckitt. A pioneer in forging technology-based alliances, he was part of efforts to launch and scale well known global consumer brands such as Mucinex, Theraflu, Flonase, Nicorette, and most recently, KardiaMobile.

Focused on transforming diagnosis and patient care for Alzheimer’s dementia and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, Cumulus is backed by a strategic investment led by the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), a specialist venture capital fund which includes leading pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Lilly, Biogen, J&J, GSK, and Takeda. Its science is validated by recent data demonstrating that an easy-to-use, task-driven electroencephalogram (EEG) can yield clinical-grade data in large-scale, real-world investigations in neuroscience with extremely high adherence rates (Front. Digit. Health, 29 July 2022) – providing drug development partners with advanced diagnostic tools that generate insights into neurological activity, and better serve patients.

To learn more, visit www.cumulusnero.com.

About Cumulus Neuroscience

With a mission to generate the data and insights required to accelerate diagnosis and management of central nervous system (CNS) disorders for millions of patients and caregivers around the world, Cumulus Neuroscience is advancing an AI-based, multi-domain digital biomarker platform to enable better, faster decision making in neurology and neuropsychiatry clinical trials and patient care, beginning with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Designed to provide an industry-wide standard for real-world measurement of disease progression, Cumulus combines patented technology, in-house expertise and key industry partnerships to capture large amounts of real-world, clinical data repeated over time, across multiple behavioral and physiological domains in the patient’s home – all by a certified medical device package. Together with machine learning (ML) analytics and an extensive real-world database of annotated, longitudinal, matched data, Cumulus simplifies and improves the robustness of neuroscience clinical trials to provide the best and most cost-effective assessment of CNS treatment outcomes.

The Company is supported by highly experienced specialized investors, DDF/SV Health Investors, LifeArc and Future Fund, and a world-class Scientific and Technical Advisory Board.

The post Cumulus Neuroscience Appoints Digital Health and Pharma Executive Aman Bhatti, MD as Chief Executive Officer appeared first on Medika Life.

It’s a popular phrase in cutting-edge pain science. I would put an extra emphasis on the word “social.”⁠

In my work as a chronic pain recovery therapist and coach — and in my recovery journey — I see social dynamics as central to chronic pain patterns.

Codependency is one of the most common social dynamics I see in chronic pain clients (and I can totally relate!)

Codependency is about an unequal exchange of energy. When we relate to others codependently, our energy gets drained rather than replenished.

And when our energy is depleted, our nervous system may send out an “energy tank empty!” emergency signal in the form of a pain flare.

Chronic pain can indicate that we’ve got a “leaky energy tank”…

And that we need to patch the holes with energetic boundaries.

This is why learning to say “no” clearly and cleanly is so essential to chronic pain recovery!

Saying “no” may be challenging at first, especially if you’ve been conditioned to say “yes” by parents, teachers, bosses, leaders, culture, etc.

When I was growing up, I never heard about the concept of boundaries. It’s only recently that this word has started to enter the collective conversation in a big way. And in my opinion, boundaries are sooo important to healing — both personally and collectively.⁠

But new concepts take time and patience to acclimate ourselves to. We can catch onto them intellectually pretty quickly, but if the idea of boundaries is at odds with our early life social conditioning, it can take our nervous system time, patience, and practice to get used to this idea.⁠

So please be compassionate and patient with yourself as you recondition yourself to set healthy boundaries! It’s bound to be a messy process, but you — and your energy and wellbeing — are so worth it.

This isn’t just a personal journey, it’s one that we’re on together as an evolving society. I’m cheering for you and evolving right alongside you. 🙌

With love, warmth, and unconditional support,

Anna

The post Chronic Pain and Codependency Go Together appeared first on Medika Life.

Before we get to the importance of single-leg standing, I have to share with you a stork quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson:

But to measure cause and effect, you must ensure that a simple correlation, however tempting it may be, is not mistaken for a cause. In the 1990s, the stork population of Germany increased, and the German at-home birth rate rose as well. Shall we credit storks for airlifting the babies?

Physicians use many tests to determine the risk of dying early. Got coronary artery disease? Abnormal cholesterol or high blood pressure (hypertension)? You may have a higher risk of early mortality.

But a new study suggests that it may be even riskier for survival if you cannot complete the ten-second one-leg standing test.

Balance and aging

Many of us do not think about balance until we fall. Did you know that balance begins to decline between ages 40 to 50 years? Or that one in three individuals over age 65 suffer a fall yearly?

In the Harvard Health Letter, writers explain that balance is “the ability to distribute your weight that allows you to stand or move without falling, or recover if you trip.”

To balance well, we need to coordinate several body parts, including the inner ear, muscles, eyes, joints, bones, and central nervous system. Problems with any of these can affect your balance.

Medical conditions can also affect balance. For example, conditions impacting balance include:

• Central nervous system disorders: Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and others
• Inner ear conditions: Ménière’s disease is an example of a condition that can cause dizziness and vertigo
• Conditions causing vision distortion: Examples include glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration
• Problems causing weakness in major muscles (especially in the back, abdomen, or thighs)
• Nerve damage in the legs and feet (peripheral neuropathy) can cause us trouble sensing the ground on which we stand or walk.

Other contributors to imbalance include medications (ranging from pain medicines to anxiety medications; others include sleeping pills, antihistamines, and some heart and blood pressure medicines).

Finally, alcohol can affect balance, coordination, and reaction time. Here’s a reminder of the influence of alcohol consumption on balance:How Booze Screws Up Your BalanceMedia Platforms Design Team Sure, you knew it did a number on your liver, not to mention your waistline. But heavy…www.menshealth.com

The Stork Test: Predicting Early Mortality

Researchers from Rio de Janeiro recently reported the results of a study of over 1,700 subjects. The research participants ranged in age from 51 to 75 years (average 61 years), with two-thirds being men.

The researchers asked individuals to stand on one leg, with the front of the free leg resting on the back of the opposite leg. The subjects’ arms dangled by their sides as the subjects gazed straight ahead.

Each subject had up to three chances and could use either leg. Here are the results: About one in five could not complete the task. The stand-on-one-leg failure rate increased with age:

Age 51 to 55 — Five percent failed

Age 56 to 60 — Eight percent failed

Age 61 to 65 — 18 percent failed

Age 66 to 70 — 37 percent failed

Age 71 to 75 — 54 percent failed

After adjusting for age, sex, and underlying health,

The inability to balance on one leg for ten seconds appeared associated with an 84 percent heightened risk of dying over a median follow-up time of seven years.

The Stork test: Practical observations

Writing on Healthline.com, Dr. Anat Lubetzky of the New York University Department of Physical Therapy offers that “balance should be included when [caregivers] check for vital signs. Balance is one indicator of general health.

Dr. Lubetzky gives us some practical guidance, explaining that “typically, a person in their 50s should be able to balance on one leg for around 40 seconds. Someone in their 60s is looking at 20 seconds, and someone in their 70s is around ten seconds.”

The study illustrates an association between balance troubles and early mortality; however, the research does not establish a causal relationship.

Among those that failed the balance test, there appeared to be a higher proportion of individuals with heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure (hypertension), or unhealthy blood fat profiles. Moreover, the poor balance group had triple the rate of diabetes.

Did you try the Stork test (One tip: Gaze at a fixed point in the distance)? If so, how did you fare? Thank you for joining me in this look at balance, the so-called Stork test, and health. Oh, one more thing:

Improving your balance

Easy ways to improve your balance:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/easy-ways-to-improve-your-balance

The post 10 Seconds to Predict Your Mortality appeared first on Medika Life.

To varying degrees, everyone experiences stressors in life. Yet many people seem to be able to tolerate life’s stressors without showing symptoms of stress — symptoms like anxiety, depression, heightened emotions and/or chronic pain.

So, if you’re someone who seems to be highly sensitized to stress, you might get the impression that there’s something “wrong” with you. (Spoiler alert: there’s not.)

We live in a culture that pathologizes emotional sensitivity and normalizes emotional numbness.

But the truth is, numbness and heightened sensitivity are both symptoms of emotional repression. On the surface, they look different. But they’re two sides of the same coin.

Repressed emotions are compressed energy. And compressed energy can take on multiple forms:⁠

• Compressed energy can stay contained for a while, like a pot of boiling water with the lid jammed on.⁠ But eventually it explodes.
• In some people, the lid stays jammed on most of the time. You might not even be able to tell that there’s boiling water under the surface, and they appear to be “doing just fine,” meaning: they’re conforming to the standards of our societal norms.⁠
• In some people, the pot of water looks like it’s always on the verge of bursting … and from time to time it does.⁠
• In other people, the pot seems to be constantly bubbling over, with the lid nowhere to be found.⁠

All of these are symptoms of a culture that encourages us to reject our own emotions. “Under-expressed” emotions are simply more convenient to patriarchy than “over-expressed” emotions, so blunted sensitivity is considered normal while heightened sensitivity is pathologized.

All this to say, it may seem like others are “doing just fine” while you seem to be “overly sensitive” — physically and/or emotionally. And you may be asking yourself “why me?”

But the truth is that we are all impacted by living in a culture of emotional repression — even if that impact looks different from person to person. And we would all benefit from a shift in culture toward allowing, accepting and honoring emotions. (If you’re reading this, I have a feeling you’re already taking part in this collective culture shift.)

Instead of seeing your sensitivities as something “wrong,” what if you were to view them as your superpowers? Your finely attuned antennae letting you know that there’s actually a kinder, more wholesome, respectful and nurturing way of being that we could all be moving toward? What if your emotions are the guiding stars pointing us all in the direction of a healthier and more loving human culture?

What if you aren’t broken at all, just reacting to a world that’s aching for positive change?

With love and warmth,

💖 Anna

The post Being Sensitive Doesn’t Mean You’re Broken appeared first on Medika Life.

Many of the most common side effects, such as hot flashes and night sweats, for example, are caused by hormonal fluctuations and thus appear primarily during perimenopause; these symptoms usually decrease and eventually disappear at some point after a woman reaches menopause (defined as the absence of menses for more than one year). However, some of the symptoms caused by lower levels of estrogen and progesterone may continue.

One of these longer-term side effects may be menopause-related weight gain.

Some studies suggest that weight gain during menopause is due primarily to the normal aging process rather than the menopausal transition specifically, and many women do not gain weight at all. But menopause does cause a number of physiological changes that can affect weight, including increased fat mass (total body fat and especially visceral fat), decreased muscle mass, and reduced energy expenditure (up to an 8% decrease in resting metabolic rate).

These changes in body composition and metabolism can represent an unwelcome new reality for some women who never before had a tendency to gain excess weight. And for those already struggling with their weight, especially women with obesity, these additional challenges can further increase the risk of weight-associated health conditions.

Hormone- and weight-related physiological changes

Menopause leads to a decrease in the body’s production of both estrogen and progesterone. While the loss of progesterone affects weight partially through increased water retention, the decrease in estrogen levels has more widespread and lasting effects. For example, loss of estrogen can weaken the brain’s “fullness” signals, increase susceptibility to binge eating and reduce energy expenditure (calories burned both at rest and during activity).

“Normal” hormone-related metabolic slowing during menopause is sometimes compounded by the presence of subclinical hypothyroidism, which also decreases energy expenditure. Estrogen and thyroid hormones interact and affect each other in a variety of ways, and subclinical hypothyroidism often remains undiagnosed because many of the symptoms (such as fatigue, sleep disturbances and mood swings, for instance) are instead attributed to the menopausal transition. One study found subclinical hypothyroidism to be present in 18% of perimenopausal women. According to my endocrinologist colleague, Dr. Leon I. Igel, “Immediate treatment might not be warranted, but thyroid levels should be monitored closely, as subclinical hypothyroidism may be a precursor to overt hypothyroidism.”

Menopause-related hormonal changes are also associated with insulin resistance, which leads to higher levels of blood sugar and increased fat storage. This creates something of a vicious circle, as visceral fat promotes further insulin resistance — which in turn raises the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, two of the most widespread and serious weight-related health issues.

Treatment options

So how do we treat menopause-related weight gain? Perhaps counterintuitively, hormone replacement therapy, one of the most common treatments for many menopause symptoms, has not been shown to affect weight significantly (causing neither gain nor loss). We do have other options, however, and weight gain is not inevitable.

Diet and physical activity are bedrock components of any weight management program, but to overcome the body’s resistance to weight loss — particularly when it comes to treating people with obesity — these lifestyle elements must be part of a comprehensive approach. This means not only providing ongoing support and assistance to foster sustainable lifestyle change, but considering the full range of underlying factors and potential treatment tactics, including medical interventions.

Insulin resistance can be counteracted with a wide variety of eating plans; low-carb and Mediterranean diets, for example, have proven effective. The most important strategy is to find a way of eating that is sustainable, so it becomes part of a long-term healthy lifestyle change rather than a temporary measure that will be abandoned at the first sign of difficulty. This means the food must be both tasty and satisfying, and the plan can’t feel too restrictive or rigid.

Physical activity also helps reduce insulin resistance and support weight loss. The ideal activity plan combines aerobic exercise, which burns calories and improves cardiovascular health, with resistance training, which builds muscle and reduces fat. Again, sustainability is key: physical activity should be enjoyable and fit in with the individual’s lifestyle and schedule constraints — it doesn’t necessarily need to involve traditional “exercise” or going to the gym.

Women whose weight doesn’t respond to changes in diet and physical activity and who have a BMI over 30 kg/m² or over 27 kg/m² with comorbidities may benefit from anti-obesity pharmacotherapy. On- or off-label medications — such as metformin, liraglutide, phentermine/topiramate, naltrexone/bupropion, and semaglutide — can help counteract the effects of insulin resistance. As an adjunct to lifestyle modifications, these medications can help surmount some of the hormonal, metabolic and neurobehavioral mechanisms (manifested as plateauing or the development of cravings, for example) the body has evolved to prevent weight loss.

________

This important contribution by Medika author Dr. Saunders was co-authored by Leon I. Igel, MD, FACP, FTOS, DABOM. Dr. Igel is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and an Attending Endocrinologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He is Director of the West Side division of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center, as well as the former Program Director for Weill Cornell’s Obesity Medicine and Obesity Medicine/Bariatric Endoscopy fellowships. Dr. Igel is board certified in Internal Medicine, Obesity Medicine, and Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism.

The post Managing Menopause-Related Weight Gain appeared first on Medika Life.