Tag Archives: disease

Is It Lyme Disease or Something Else?

Lyme disease affects an estimated 300,000 people in the United States each year. Despite its increasing prevalence, there are many lingering myths about this tick-borne illness. Also known as the “great imitator,” Lyme disease often affects more than one system in the body and can trigger a wide range of symptoms that may mimic other… Read More »

Heart Disease Risk Reduced With One Cup of Leafy Green Veggies a Day

Research has found that individuals can significantly reduce their risk of heart disease by eating just 1 cup of nitrate-rich vegetables every day. The research looked at whether individuals who regularly ate higher quantities of nitrate-rich vegetables, such as beetroot and leafy greens, had reduced blood pressure, and it also looked at whether these same… Read More »

Aduhelm and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Medicare Budget-Buster Puts A Blazing Light on Health Care Costs and Innovation

The FDA’s approval of the first therapy to treat Alzheimer’s Disease in over twenty years brought attention to a not-yet-convened debate of U.S. health care costs and spending, innovation, and return-on-the-investment (as well as “for whom” do the returns accrue). In my latest post for Medecision, I explore different angles on the Aduhelm and Alzheimer’s… Read More »

Differences in human, mouse brain cells have important implications for disease research

A UCLA-led study comparing brain cells known as astrocytes in humans and mice found that mouse astrocytes are more resilient to oxidative stress, a damaging imbalance that is a mechanism behind many neurological disorders. A lack of oxygen triggers molecular repair mechanisms in these mouse astrocytes but not in human astrocytes. In contrast, inflammation activates… Read More »

Rapid Diagnosis of Infectious Disease at Point of Care: Interview with Shawn Marcel, CEO of Torus Biosystems

Torus Biosystems, a medtech startup that spun out of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, has developed the Synestia system, a point of care diagnostic tool for infectious disease. The system aims to provide rapid, point-of-care identification of pathogens, and incorporates microarray and qPCR technology.    The company reports that the system allows a… Read More »

‘Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell’ founders are raising awareness for the disease

Loading the player… Velvet Brown-Watts, MSW-ADM, CM., and Jeremiah Watts are at the forefront of raising awareness on sickle cell in their Oklahoma community and providing resources to those impacted by the disease. The couple is not only advocates but knows what it’s like firsthand to be supportive of someone living with the disease. Their… Read More »