Tag Archives: Research

Health

The benefactors made an ‘important difference’ in the coronavirus crisis | Instant News


The scientific battle against COVID-19 is accelerating thanks to charitable donations, wrote President Alice Gast in the Financial Times.

Philanthropic prizes can open many approaches, sometimes radical, when we race to understand coronavirus, he argued in the newspaper.

“In a crisis, you need flexibility and lateral thinking. The benefactors offer this when every practicum time is important, “he said.

Like that The prize has helped Professor Robin Shattock when he developed the vaccine: “Professor Shattock spent days with valuable laboratory time applying, lobbying and persuading for funding to advance the vaccine. Fortunately, donors stepped in to bridge the funding gap before The British government contributed a further £ 22.5 million last month to take the vaccine through phase II trials. “

More than £ 4 million in philanthropic support help advance this work. “Even now, with this significant government investment, benefactors can make an important difference. If Prof. Shattock’s team can run parallel trials abroad, they will get results faster, receive faster approval from regulators and can expand manufacturing worldwide. “

Hundreds of supporters Imperial-COVID-19 Response Fund “Made it possible fast and rolling distribution of grants for high-potential research, including a low cost open source ventilator fund lab-free coronavirus test which produces about an hour. “

Community Jameel: global impact

Professor Gast highlights the contribution of global philanthropy Jameel Community which was established J-IDEA, Abdul Latif Jameel’s Institute for Disease and Emergency Analysis, led by Professor Neil Ferguson, one of the most influential epidemiologists in the world.

Professor Gast writes: “A few months ago, the night before us launched that Jameel Institute for Emergency Analysis and Disease (J-IDEA) at Imperial’s School of Public Health, leaders of other academic groups supported by Community Jameel, this one in Massachusetts – the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, J-PAL, at MIT – announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. That is an accurate acknowledgment of the impact J-PAL has had on poverty reduction for millions of people around the world. It is also an award that deserves Mohammed Jameel, a philanthropist who supports academic projects that might not have developed in other ways. “

A piece of full opinion can be read Financial Times today.

/ Public release. See fully here.

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Research on UC physicians’ impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer, cancer history | Instant News


Doctors and researchers from the University of Cincinnati have joined 100 cancer centers that are investigating the effects of COVID-19 on cancer patients and those who have beaten cancer. They hope this research can help alert patients early and find better treatments. Doctors say the aim is to uncover if patients in this category have worse outcomes and to identify what they can do. “It really forces us to reconsider everything we do,” Dr. Trisha Wise-Draper .ise-Draper leads two trial clinics at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. Studies are focused on how people with cancer or who have beaten cancer are affected by COVID-19. “It has been shown by others that, yes, if you have comorbidities and, also, if you have cancer, like in China, the results are worse. Of course, the question is why, and we should give them the same treatment as the one we usually do, “said Wise-Draper. Wise-Draper, UC Health’s oncologist, essence colleague at UC and medical director of the UC Cancer Center’s Office of Clinical Trials, said the registry allowed doctors to document demographics, results and complications. He hopes the data will help warn patients more vulnerable to complications. Sunday night, WLWT introduced you to Jamie Rausch, a leukemia sufferer who is also 34 weeks pregnant, and has tested positive for COVID-19. He is waiting for the results of blood tests to help explain low levels. “At this point, I hope and pray that the blood problem is just iron deficiency and that’s it,” Rausch said. Drise-Draper said they also examined how alternative medicine might be a better choice for patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment, or if therapy had to be postponed. “If we show that some of our treatments are actually beneficial in general to fight the virus, then we might can apply it to patients who don’t have cancer, “said Wise-Draper. He said only less than 1,000 patients had been enrolled in the study. o far. Wise Draper said doctors would also work in laboratories for other studies that used blood samples to find out if patients might be more susceptible to certain treatments. The doctor said the first analysis of the registry will be presented at the end of the month. They say data is being compiled from sites in the United States as well as Canada and Europe.

RING –

Doctors and researchers from the University of Cincinnati have joined 100 cancer centers that are investigating the effects of COVID-19 on cancer patients and those who have beaten cancer.

They hope this study can help warn patients beforehand and find better care.

Doctors say the aim is to uncover if patients in this category have worse outcomes and to identify what they can do.

“It really forces us to reconsider everything we do,” Dr. Trisha Wise-Draper.

Wise-Draper led two clinical trials at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center.

Studies are focused on how people with cancer or who have beaten cancer are affected by COVID-19.

“It has been shown by others that, yes, if you have comorbidities and, also, if you have cancer, like in China, that you have worse outcomes. Of course, the question is why, and we must give them the same “The care we usually do,” said Wise-Draper.

Wise-Draper, UC Health’s oncologist, associate professor at UC and medical director of the UC Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office, said a list allows doctors to document demographics, results and complications.

He hopes the data will help warn patients more vulnerable to complications.

Sunday night, WLWT introduced you to Jamie Rausch, a leukemia sufferer who is also 34 weeks pregnant, and has tested positive for COVID-19.

He is waiting for the results of blood tests to help explain low levels.

“At this point, I hope and pray that the blood problem is just iron deficiency and that’s it,” Rausch said.

Wise-Draper said they also examined how alternative medicine might be a better choice for patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment, or if therapy had to be delayed.

“If we show that some of our treatments are actually useful in general to fight the virus, then we might be able to apply it to patients who don’t have cancer,” said Wise-Draper.

He said only less than 1,000 patients were enrolled in the study so far.

Wise-Draper said doctors would also work in laboratories for other studies using blood samples to find out if patients might be more susceptible to certain treatments.

The doctor said the first analysis of the registry will be presented at the end of the month.

They say data is being compiled from sites in the United States as well as Canada and Europe.

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Health

The use of anti-malaria drugs for COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias | Instant News


Checked by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.May 3, 2020

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Concern for Global Interests on January 30, more than one million tested positive for illness in the United States, and more than 62,000 have died. In the absence of FDA-approved treatments to date, the anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, has emerged as a potential therapy for pneumonia associated with COVID-19, with or without the antibiotic azithromycin.

In a short report published today at JAMA Cardiology, a team of pharmacists and doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, found evidence that showed patients who received hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 were at an increased risk of electrical changes in the heart and cardiac arrhythmias. The combination of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin is associated with greater changes compared to hydroxychloroquine alone.

While hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are generally well-tolerated drugs, increased use in the context of COVID-19 is likely to increase the frequency of adverse drug events (ADE). This is particularly concerning given that patients with underlying cardiac comorbidities appear to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and that the virus itself can damage the heart. “

Nicholas J. Mercuro, PharmD, first co-author, pharmaceutical specialist in infectious diseases at BIDMC

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can respectively cause electrical disturbances in the heart known as QTc extension, shown by a longer distance between certain peaks on the electrocardiogram. The extension of QTc indicates that the heart muscle takes milliseconds longer than usual to refill between beats. Delay can cause cardiac arrhythmia, which in turn increases the chance of a heart attack, stroke, or death.

In this observational, retrospective, single center study, Mercuro and colleagues evaluated 90 adults with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at BIDMC between March 1 and April 7, 2020, and received at least one day of hydroxychloroquine. More than half of these patients also have high blood pressure, and more than 30 percent have diabetes.

Seven patients (19 percent) who received hydroxychloroquine alone developed QTc lasting 500 milliseconds or more, and three patients experienced changes in QTc of 60 milliseconds or more. Of the 53 patients who also received azithromycin, 21 percent had QTc that lasted 500 milliseconds or more, and 13 percent experienced a change in QTc of 60 milliseconds or more.

In our study, patients who were hospitalized and received hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 often experienced extended QTc and adverse drug events. One participant who used a combination of drugs experienced a potentially lethal tachycardia called torsades de pointes, which to our knowledge has not been reported elsewhere in the COVID-19 literature reviewed by peers. “

Christina F. Yen, MD, first co-author, BIDMC Medical Department

In 2003, preliminary data showed that hydroxychloroquine might be effective against SARS-CoV-1, a fatal but difficult-to-transmit respiratory virus associated with coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Recently, a small study of patients with COVID-19 appears to benefit from anti-malaria drugs. However, subsequent studies failed to confirm both of these findings. Regarding their data, Gold and his colleagues urge caution and careful consideration before giving hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.

“When considering the use of hydroxychloroquine, specifically combined with azithromycin, doctors must carefully weigh the risks and benefits, and monitor QTc – especially considering the patient’s co-morbidity and concurrent drug use,” said senior author Howard S. Gold, MD, a specialist infectious disease at BIDMC and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Based on our current knowledge, hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 may have to be limited to clinical trials.”

Source:

Diak Beth Beth Israel Medical Center

Journal reference:

Mercuro, N.J., et al. (2020) The risk of prolongation of the QT interval associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine with or without concurrent azithromycin among inpatients who tested positive for Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiology. doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2020.1834.

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Research reveals the mechanism underlying Parkinson’s dyskinesia | Instant News


Many people with Parkinson’s disease eventually develop a debilitating movement called dyskinesia, a side effect of the highly needed dopamine replacement drug. The mechanism underlying these undesirable side effects has not been known, until now. An international collaboration led by Scripps Research, Florida has found a major cause, and with that, potentially, new routes to provide assistance.

Dopamine replacement therapy makes Parkinson’s symptoms much better in the beginning, but in the end the treatment gives way to choked body movements. But why? New research shows that underlying this development is an accidental protein boost therapy called Ras-guanine nucleotide-releasing factor 1, or in short RasGRP1. This increase in RasGRP1 results in a cascade of effects that lead to abnormal and unconscious movements known as LID, or L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia, said co-author Srinivasa Subramaniam, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research, Florida.

Encouragingly, this collaboration found that in mice that ran out of dopamine and other animal models, inhibiting RasGRP1 production in the brain during dopamine replacement reduced unconscious movements without negating the useful effects of dopamine therapy.

Together, this research offers a new way to reduce Parkinson’s dyskinesia while allowing maintenance of dopamine replacement therapy, Subramaniam said.

Subramaniam’s group has long been interested in cellular signaling in the brain that underlies motor movement, and how it is affected by brain diseases, including Huntington and Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s patients describe dyskinesias induced by treatment as one of their most debilitating features of the disease. These studies show that if we can reduce RasGRP1 signaling before dopamine replacement, we have the opportunity to greatly improve their quality of life. “

Srinivasa Subramaniam, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research, Florida

This study, “RasGRP1 is a causative factor in the development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease,” published in the journal Progress of Science May 1. Besides Subramaniam, the lead author is Alessandro Usiello, Ph.D., from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy, and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory at Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Naples, Italy.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a key role in movement, learning, memory, motivation, and emotions. Parkinson’s develops when dopamine-producing neurons in the midbrain region called substantia nigra stop working or die. This is a brain region associated with initiation of movement and appreciation, so that the disorder causes a variety of symptoms, including stiffness, balance problems, difficulty walking, tremors, depression, and memory problems.

Doctors treat Parkinson’s with dopamine replacement therapy, often a drug called levodopa. The brain converts levodopa to dopamine, and at the right dosage, this leads to resolution of symptoms. But as the dosage and duration increase, a side effect called dyskinesia can occur. After a decade, about 95 percent of Parkinson’s patients will experience some degree of accidental dyskinesia, Subramaniam said.

Dyskinesia is different from tremor, according to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

“It can look like restlessness, wiggling, wiggling, head bobbing or body swaying,” the foundation explained. “Many people say they prefer dyskinesias rather than stiffness or decreased mobility. However, others have painful dyskinesias or movements that interfere with exercise or social or daily activities.”

The reason for its development has avoided scientists. Subramaniam and his team have studied this problem over the past decade, which finally led them to the discovery that RasGRP1 signaling was the main cause.

“There is an urgent need for new therapeutic targets to stop LID, or dyskinesias induced L-DOPA in Parkinson’s disease,” Subramaniam said. “Treatment now available works poorly and has many additional unwanted side effects. We believe this is an important step towards better choices for people with Parkinson’s.”

The next step in this research is to find the best route to selectively reduce RasGRP1 expression in the striatum while not affecting its expression in other areas of the body, Subramaniam said.

“The good news is that in mice, the total lack of RasGRP1 is not deadly, so we think that blocking RasGRP1 with drugs, or even with gene therapy, may have little or no major side effects,” Subramaniam said.

“Rarely there are non-profit organizations that have drug chemistry and drug development expertise needed to identify and develop such therapies, but we have them at Scripps Research,” Subramaniam said. “Our next task is to develop suitable compounds that can block RasGRP1 in the striatum.”

Source:

Scripps Research Institute

Journal reference:

Eshraghi, M., et al. (2020) RasGRP1 is a causative factor in the development of l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease. Progress of Science. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz7001.

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Health

The COVID-19 pandemic will cause additional cancer deaths | Instant News


The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, the World Health Organization said. At a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Director General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this.

“We continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test and handle all cases and track every contact to ensure this downward trend continues. But the pandemic is far from over. The DKR continues to worry about the rising trend in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries “, he said.

With more than 3.25 million people infected, the health care system of even the most developed countries is overwhelmed. Cancer patients and survivors, for example, are very vulnerable during this epidemic and not only because of the increasing state of their susceptibility to the immune system, which makes them vulnerable to infection. They also risk losing essential cancer care because of the unavailability of resources.

Coronavirus (blue) is biologically simple, but complicated in how it infects hosts. CDC / Hannah A Bullock; Azaibi Tamin

18,000 cancer patients

A new study It has been shown that 18,000 additional cancer patients in the UK will lose their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly because hospitals that treat these patients have to delay and postpone treatment because they are from NHS care. According to chief UK medical advisor Prof. Chris Witty, this is one of the “indirect” costs of a coronavirus pandemic.

Lateness

This new study from University College London (UCL), in collaboration with Data-Can, was one of the first to look at the impact of delays in cancer care provided by the NHS during this pandemic situation. Data-Can is a health data research laboratory that records cancer diagnoses and treatment data from patients throughout the UK.

This study looks at the potential impact of delaying diagnostic tests, screening tests, surgery, and chemo and radiation therapy by the NHS. Also taken into account is the patient’s fear of infection from visiting health facilities. This database includes more than 3.5 million patients in the UK, and from there, results have been obtained.

What was found?

The researchers note that there will be 17,915 additional deaths from cancer and indirectly due to pandemics during this time. Some deaths can be caused by late diagnosis or delayed treatment for cancer.

They note that 6,270 people in the UK, newly diagnosed with cancer, are expected to lose their lives over the next 12 months due to suspension, delays and disruption of their treatment schedule. An additional 17,915 deaths are a 20 percent increase from 89,576 deaths seen each year from cancer in the UK, the report said.

The study also showed that there were 21,678 deaths due to coronavirus infection, and more than 4,300 people had died in care homes over the past two weeks. The NHS has called for continuing care given to seriously ill patients and cancer patients. However, over the past few months since February, cancer referral tests from general practitioners have fallen 76 percent, and there has been a 60 percent decrease in appointments for chemotherapy sessions. However, the NHS has repeatedly urged cancer treatments to “remain unaffected.”

Conclusions and impact

The researchers concluded, “Our data have highlighted how cancer patients with multimorbidity are a very risky group during the current pandemic. To ensure an effective cancer policy and avoid excessive death, both during and after an emergency COVID-19, it is very important to ensure the reporting of specific excess mortality that almost happens in real time, urgent cancer referrals, and treatment statistics, so as to inform the delivery of the most optimal care in this very vulnerable group of patients. “

This study shows that there is a widespread impact of this pandemic that is not only related to coronavirus infection. Cancer Support Macmillan calls this the “forgotten C” of the corona pandemic crisis and has expressed concern over the findings of this study. The study concludes that 80 percent of additional deaths at this time will be caused by newly detected cancers among those who already have other diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or obesity.

Dr. Alvina Lal, lead author of the study, a lecturer in health data analysis at the UCL health information institute, said in a statement, “Our findings indicate serious potential for unintended consequences of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, which could have a negative impact on patients with cancer and other underlying health conditions. “He added that the NHS needs to identify patients who have cancer and are vulnerable at this critical time. Their care must be prioritized so that risks to their health are reduced, he said.

Mark Lawler, lead author of Queen’s University Belfast and Data-Can, said, “The results are alarming. We believe countries need to understand how emergencies affect cancer outcomes quickly, otherwise we risk adding to cancer and other basic health.” conditions with increasing numbers of Covid-19 pandemic deaths. “

Expert

NHS England is spreading awareness among the general public to report and ask for help if there are alarming symptoms or serious health problems. They have asked people to call 999 or visit A&E or GP without delay. The NHS hopes that cancer-related operations will resume soon and hopes to cover the savings suffered during the past few months because patients delay hospital visits and operations.

Peter Johnson, an oncologist from NHS England, also said there were serious implications of late diagnosis and treatment of cancer. He urged people to get a suspicious lump or mole as soon as possible. He said there were “COVID-free cancer centers” in 19 regions in the UK, and this service could be used for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Harry Hemingway, senior author of the paper and director of the UCL health information institute, said in a statement, “The overall impact of the Covid-19 emergency on death in cancer patients can be enormous. There are many factors operating here, including rapid changes in diagnosis and protocols. care, social distance measures, changes in people’s behavior in seeking medical attention, and [the] the economic impact of Covid-19, and death due to Covid-19 infection. “

Lynda Thomas, Macmillan’s chief executive, added, “This study shows the possibility of direct damage and guarantees caused by coronaviruses on the health of our nation and the lives of people living with conditions such as cancer. newly diagnosed with cancer, we call on all governments to stop cancer from being forgotten C and immediately ensure that cancer services get everything they need to recover and pursue as quickly as possible from a pandemic disorder, which means having the right staff, protective equipment, and testing to provide safe care. “

NHS UK chief executive Simon Stevens has called on the general public to seek health care when needed, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock also announced this week that health services will be normalized and restored as soon as possible.

Journal reference:

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