Tag Archives: patients

Palantir Claims UK Physicians Prioritize “Ideology Over Patients’ Interests” in NHS Data Legislation

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Palantir, a U.S. data firm collaborating with the Israeli Defense Department, criticized British doctors for prioritizing “ideology over patient interests” following backlash against its contract to manage NHS data.

Louis Mosley, executive vice president of Palantir, recently addressed the British Medical Association, which labeled the £330 million agreement to create a unified platform for NHS data—covering everything from patient information to bed availability—as a potential threat to public trust in the NHS data system.

In a formal resolution, the association expressed concerns over the unclear processing of sensitive data by Palantir, a company co-founded by Trump donor Peter Thiel. They highlighted the firm’s “study on discriminatory policing software in the U.S.” and its “close ties with the U.S. government, which often overlooks international law.”

However, Mosley dismissed these critiques during his testimony to lawmakers on the Commons Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday. Palantir has also secured contracts for processing large-scale data for the Ministry of Defense, police, and local governments.


Libertarian Thiel, who named the company after “Seeing Stones” from the Lord of the Rings series, previously remarked that British citizens’ admiration for the NHS reflects “Stockholm syndrome.” However, Mosley claimed he was not speaking on behalf of Palantir.

Palantir also develops AI-driven military targeting systems and software that consolidates and analyzes data across multiple systems, including healthcare.

“It’s incorrect to accuse us of lacking transparency or that we operate in secrecy,” claimed Mosley. “I believe the BMA has chosen ideology over the interests of patients. Our software aims to enhance patient care by streamlining treatment, making it more effective, and ultimately improving the efficiency of the healthcare system.”

In 2023, the government awarded Palantir a contract to establish a new NHS “Federated Data Platform,” though some local NHS trusts have raised concerns that the system might not only be subpar compared to existing technologies but could also diminish functionality, as reported. Palantir is also among the tech companies reported by the Guardian last week, which recently led to a discussion with Attorney General Shabana Mahmood about solutions for the prison and probation crisis, including robotic support for prisoners and tracking devices.

During the session, Senator Chi Onwurah questioned the appropriateness of involving the company in the NHS while also working with the Israeli Defense Forces in military applications in Gaza.

Mosley did not disclose operational specifics regarding Palantir’s role with Israeli authorities. Their offerings include a system labeled “supporting soldiers with AI-driven kill chains and responsibly integrating target identification.”

Onwurah remarked on the necessity for cultural change within the NHS to foster acceptance of new data systems, posing the question to Mosley: “What about a unified patient record in the future?”

“Trust should depend more on our capabilities than anything else,” Mosley responded. “Are we delivering on our promises? Are we improving patient experiences by making them quicker and more efficient? If so, we should be trusted.”

Liberal Democrat Martin Wrigley expressed serious concerns about the interoperability of the data systems provided by Palantir for both health and defense, while Conservative MP Kit Malthouse inquired about the military’s potential use of Palantir’s capacity to process large datasets to target individuals based on specific characteristics. Mosley reassured: “Our software enables that type of functionality and provides extensive governance and control to organizations managing those risks.”

Malthouse remarked, “It sounds like a Savior.”

The hearing also revealed that Palantir continues to engage Global Counsel, a lobbying firm co-founded by the current U.S. ambassador. Mosley denied any claims that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Palantir’s Washington, D.C. office “through appropriate channels,” clarifying that Mandelson resigned as a global advisor “in early 2025.” According to the consultant’s website.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Gut Microbiota Alterations Associated with Fertility Challenges in PCOS Patients

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Restoring the levels of specific intestinal microorganisms may help treat fertility problems in people with PCOS

Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo

Women diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) seem to face a heightened risk of pregnancy complications linked to lower levels of gut microorganisms.

PCOS stands as the most prevalent hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of infertility. Yet, the underlying causes and effective management remain somewhat elusive. For instance, it remains unclear why women with PCOS who do conceive are more susceptible to complications such as miscarriage, premature birth, and gestational diabetes.

Aixia Liu from Z Jiang University in China and her research team tracked the pregnancy outcomes of 220 women across 44 cities, half of whom had PCOS. All were younger than 35 and provided blood samples as well as stool and tissue samples from the endometrial (internal lining of the uterus).

Despite having comparable pregnancy rates, women with PCOS exhibited nearly double the likelihood of facing pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, premature birth, gestational diabetes, and delivering babies with low birth weight. Furthermore, researchers determined that women with PCOS have roughly half the quantity of gut bacteria, particularly Parabacteroides merdae, which was more closely linked to pregnancy outcomes than in those without the condition.

P. merdae aids in converting specific nutrients, like the amino acid isoleucine, into beneficial compounds known as short-chain fatty acids, which are crucial for reproductive health. This likely accounts for the 39% higher average isoleucine levels in the blood samples of PCOS participants and their 10% lower levels of short-chain fatty acids. Additionally, high isoleucine concentrations were noted in the endometrial tissue.

In laboratory settings, when researchers cultured the participants’ endometrial cells and introduced isoleucine, they observed increased markers of cell senescence, indicating wear or damage in the cells that compromised their function. Isoleucine seemed to disrupt the processes endometrial cells typically undergo during pregnancy.

“These findings suggest age-related changes within the uterus,” Li remarked in a statement from the annual meeting of the European Breeding Association, where the data was revealed. “Our research points to high levels of isoleucine from P. merdae potentially impairing endometrial health, even in women under 35.”

Such results suggest that alterations in the gut microbiome could play a role in PCOS-related fertility challenges; however, Andrea Dunaif at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, expresses skepticism. Her studies indicate that reproductive aging in PCOS is more delayed than accelerated. “Reproductive issues often improve in your 30s,” Dunaif notes. “This leads me to doubt the significance of endometrial findings and their true responsibility for pregnancy outcomes.”

Nonetheless, these insights could pave the way for enhanced fertility treatments for women with PCOS. “Where might we intervene in the microbiome and adjust with various probiotics?” Dunaif suggests.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

CAR T-Cell Therapy Can Be Administered to Cancer Patients

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Illustration of CAR T-cell therapy targeting multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer

Nemes Laszlo/Alamy

CAR T-cell therapy has the potential to transform cancer treatment. This innovative treatment genetically alters immune cells to combat diseases but is both complex and costly. Researchers have recently achieved the ability to develop personalized therapies within the bodies of non-human animals.

This form of treatment is primarily accessible in the UK and the US for select patients with various blood cancers, such as certain leukemias, where B cells—crucial immune components—grow uncontrollably. The process entails extracting T cells from a patient’s blood, genetically modifying them to target and destroy B cells, then duplicating and reintroducing these modified cells back into the patient’s body.

Nonetheless, this method is time-intensive. “You need to take the blood and send it to the Central Manufacturing Institute before it can be returned,” explains Carl June from the University of Pennsylvania. “This makes scaling the process challenging.” Additionally, the treatment comes at a steep price: over $500,000 per patient.

In search of a more efficient method, June and his team focused on gene molecules that deliver instructions to produce proteins that target B cells. They encapsulated these molecules in fat droplets, allowing entry into T cells, where they can identify and eliminate B cells. However, this effect is temporary, as the RNA code degrades within a week.

The researchers injected cancerous human B cells and healthy T cells into mice lacking an immune system. After a week, they administered five fat droplets to these mice over a span of two weeks, with some receiving higher doses.

Three weeks later, the mice that received the highest dose displayed no detectable tumor cells and no side effects. “The level of tumor cells was as minimal as we could measure,” remarks June.

The team also administered fat droplets to 22 healthy monkeys, resulting in the production of CAR T cells within their bodies and completely eradicating all B cells within just one day. Although B cells are essential for antibody production, the treatment was well tolerated by all but one monkey, which experienced a severe inflammatory response.

“This is truly remarkable,” says Karin Straathof from University College London. This could represent a significantly easier and more affordable method for implementing CAR T-cell therapy, she asserts.

However, one downside of standard CAR T-cell therapies is their ability to provide long-lasting protection, notes Straathof. The newly developed technique temporarily produces these cells; if cancer returns, additional treatments will be necessary. Furthermore, the effectiveness and safety of this approach in humans remain unverified, pending clinical trials.

June confirms that the team is currently testing the method in healthy humans. “The first patient was treated in the past few weeks,” he states.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Reasons Patients Must Transition to Second-Line Obesity Medications

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Soon, tens of thousands of Americans will be compelled to transition from well-known obesity medications to alternatives that are likely to yield less effective weight loss, thanks to decisions made by Health’s insurance providers.

This situation exemplifies the consequences of a clandestine agreement between a pharmaceutical company and an intermediary known as a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), appointed by employers to manage prescription coverage for their workforce. While employers benefit from lower medication costs, employees find themselves restricted from accessing competitive healthcare options. This type of insurance denial has become increasingly prevalent in the last decade.

Caremark, part of CVS Health and one of the largest PBMs, has opted to eliminate coverage for Zepbound, despite research indicating its weight loss efficacy surpasses that of Wegovy.

These findings, which were first announced in December, were confirmed in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday. The study encompassed a significant clinical trial evaluating these drugs, funded by Eli Lilly, the producer of Zepbound. Previous research not funded by Eli Lilly reached similar conclusions.

Ellen Davis, a 63-year-old resident of Huntington, Massachusetts, is one of those affected by Caremark’s decision. “It’s as if the rug has been pulled out from under me,” she expressed.

After using Zepbound for a year, she lost 85 pounds and experienced significant health improvements, having retired after a 34-year tenure at Verizon.

In a letter addressed to Verizon, she stated, “This forces patients to transition to less effective medications without any justification for medical care.”

Verizon did not respond to inquiries.

Following Caremark’s announcement, word spread rapidly online. A physician’s assistant at a weight loss clinic in New Hampshire started a Change.org petition to urge the company to reconsider. As of Sunday afternoon, it had garnered over 2,700 signatures. Caremark is set to cease Zepbound coverage in July.

Doctors assert that both Wegovy, from Novo Nordisk, and Zepbound are effective medications; however, they prefer Zepbound for most patients. This shift greatly limits their ability to tailor obesity medication prescriptions to individual needs.

It remains unclear if the omission of Zepbound will enhance Caremark’s profit margins.

Executives from Novo Nordisk claim they are not attempting to obstruct Zepbound’s availability. They maintain that patients and healthcare providers should have the autonomy to select their preferred medications.

David Whitrap, a spokesperson for Caremark, stated that the firm’s objective was to reduce drug costs. He noted that the agreement would lower obesity drug prices for Caremark’s employer clients by 10-15% compared to the previous year.

“CVS Caremark has aimed to let PBMs competitors often put forth their best efforts. Our choice is to encourage competition among clinically similar products while providing the lowest net costs to our clients,” Whitrap commented.

When queried about studies highlighting Zepbound’s advantages, Whitrap indicated that both medications are highly effective, and that clinical trial outcomes frequently diverge from real-world results.

The actual pricing that employers pay for medications is usually confidential. The Health Transformation Alliance, a consortium of major employers, reports that the average monthly cost for a large employer falls between $550 and $650.

Without insurance, patients might spend approximately $500 monthly on their medications. Many recently lost cheaper alternatives when regulators halted the sale of generic versions that cost below $200 monthly.

Countless employers do not cover either Zepbound or Wegovy due to their high cost. Medicare excludes most drugs for obese patients, and the Trump administration recently declined to support the Biden administration’s proposal to expand coverage.

Caremark, along with two other PBMs, dominates 80% of the prescription market. Other players, like Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, have not implemented similar restrictions on weight loss medications.

Since 2012, major PBMs have increasingly employed strategies that disrupt patient care and complicate treatment plans. Medications have been abruptly removed from the PBM’s official list of covered drugs.

According to a drugmaker-funded analysis, the number of medications excluded from at least one PBM list surged from 50 in 2014 to 548 in 2022. This count reflects instances where patients were compelled to switch to entirely different drugs, not merely to a standard version or alternative replica.

Limitations fluctuate frequently, leaving patients uncertain about the reasons behind them. One PBM might cover a specific drug while another does not, but competing managers may do the reverse.

Exclusions are generally purported not to harm patients; in certain instances, they may even be beneficial if patients are nudged toward more effective medications.

However, some exclusions have prompted significant concern among patients and healthcare providers.

In 2022, Caremark compelled patients to switch from one widely utilized blood-thinning elixir to Xarelto, leading to anecdotal reports that patients experienced complications during their treatment change. A group of physicians criticized this move, and the company restored coverage for the elixir six months later.

Individuals with autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis, often face similar mandatory drug switches. Asthma patients are also experiencing transitions to alternate inhalers.

“We’ve witnessed numerous situations,” remarked Dr. Robin Cohen, an asthma specialist at Boston Medical Center.

Representatives on behalf of employers indicate that patients affiliated with Caremark have already reached out via calls and emails, inquiring about the potential impact on their prescriptions. While they may remain on the PBM’s drug list, they have not played an active role in shaping it.

Caremark’s changes are applicable only to specific private insurance beneficiaries whose employers selected the most prevalent drug list managed by PBMs. This movement excludes patients receiving a version of diabetes medication.

Patients can consider switching to Wegovy or three other weight loss alternatives.

Whitrap noted that Caremark provides a “case-by-case medical exception process for individuals who may require alternatives,” including patients who have previously utilized Wegovy and saw insufficient weight loss.

However, many individuals may not meet the criteria for the exemption. In a conversation, one patient expressed a desire for Zepbound specifically and was not interested in switching.

“I selected Zepbound in consultation with my physician,” stated Carl Hoode, 49, from Saugus, Massachusetts.

Some patients are contemplating using their own funds to continue Zepbound. For 28-year-old Victoria Bello of Syracuse, New York, the medication has provided significant health improvements, and she fears losing access to it.

“I wasn’t prepared for such a sudden change,” she remarked. “I’m concerned for my health and the potential setback in my progress.”

A study funded by Eli Lilly conducted direct comparisons of medications across 750 clinical trials over a span of 16 months.

Participants receiving high doses of Zepbound shed an average of 50 pounds, whereas those on Wegovy lost around 33 pounds. Though both medications are administered via injection and share side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation, the frequency of these effects was generally comparable between the two drugs. A small proportion of patients in both groups discontinued medication due to side effects.

Both drugs function similarly but have critical differences. Wegovy mimics only a single appetite-regulating hormone, while Zepbound influences two. Researchers believe that engaging more hormones leads to greater weight loss.

Dr. Jason Brett, an executive at Novo Nordisk, indicated in a recent interview that the quantity of weight lost is just one aspect of obesity treatment. Both medications are associated with improved heart health, though only Novo Nordisk has obtained regulatory approval to market the drug with that claim.

Medical professionals contend that both options must remain accessible, as Wegovy may outshine Zepbound in terms of weight loss efficacy or having milder side effects.

Healthcare providers advocate for the availability of both medications due to the diverse responses patients exhibit when using either Wegovy or Zepbound.

Supporters of Caremark argue that their decision to restrict Zepbound is merely fulfilling their responsibilities.

Benefits managers engage with pharmaceutical companies to negotiate payments known as rebates, which ultimately reduce employers’ costs for prescription drugs. These negotiations can yield substantial fees for the biggest market players. Caremark stood to gain significant revenue from weight loss medications without needing to exclude Zepbound.

The weight loss pill market is thriving, with both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly vying for market share.

Caremark engaged both drug manufacturers regarding rebate amounts associated with making their products available. However, neither Novo Nordisk nor Eli Lilly disclosed specific amounts provided. Novo Nordisk maintains that it did not advocate for or pay to inhibit Zepbound’s availability, emphasizing that the exclusion was solely Caremark’s decision.

“We believe that patients and physicians should determine what’s in the best interest of the patient,” stated Lars Flugaard Jorgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk. He elaborated to Wall Street analysts this month.

Elizabeth DeGalier, 56, of Rochester, Minnesota, shared that Zepbound had a transformative impact on her life, expressing her frustration over Caremark’s choice. “It appears they overlooked scientific evidence,” she remarked. “They were primarily motivated by financial considerations.”

She added, “I am apprehensive about the future. I rely on several other expensive medications. Will they also be discontinued?”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Immunotherapy Drugs: A Hopeful Alternative to Invasive Surgeries and Strenuous Treatments for Cancer Patients

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When individuals develop solid tumors in the stomach, esophagus, or rectum, oncologists have established treatment strategies. Yet, these treatments can significantly affect quality of life, leading to outcomes such as stomach and bladder removal, permanent colostomy bags, radiation exposure, infertility from chemotherapy, and lasting bodily harm.

In response, a research team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center utilized drugs from GSK to explore a novel approach.

They initiated the study with 103 participants, who represent a small fraction (2-3%) of cancer patients with tumors ideally suited for immunotherapy—drugs designed to bypass obstacles that prevent the immune system from attacking cancer cells.

Notably, clinical trials do not generally expect immunotherapy to replace standard treatments. Researchers, led by Dr. Lewis A. Diaz Jr. and Andrea Cerseck, opted to administer dostarlimab, an immunotherapeutic agent.

The outcomes were unexpected and offered hope for a select group of patients faced with these cancers.

In 49 patients with rectal cancer, tumors vanished and did not return after five years. Among 54 patients with other cancers—including esophageal, liver, endometrial, urinary tract, and prostate cancers—35 experienced total tumor disappearance.

Out of the 103 patients, only five experienced a recurrence of cancer. Three were given three doses of immunotherapy, while one was discontinued after the tumor reappeared in the lymph nodes. Currently, the four patients show no signs of disease, while the fifth received further immunotherapy to reduce the tumor size.

On Sunday, investigators presented their findings at the American Cancer Research Association’s Annual Meeting, with a paper featured in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Bert Vogelstein, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, termed the results “groundbreaking.”

The drug development’s early stages were conducted in his lab, where he expressed surprise at the advancements.

“The concept of treating large tumors from various organs without surgery seemed like science fiction 20 or 30 years ago,” he noted. However, he emphasized that these discoveries stemmed from decades of foundational research.

The reason immunotherapy succeeded for these significant tumors lies in their gene incompatible repair mutations, which obstruct the correction of DNA damage. This leads to tumors accumulating abnormal proteins that signal the immune system for destruction. Nevertheless, the tumors deploy a shield to fend off immune attacks, which immunotherapy can stimulate, enabling the immune system to target the tumors effectively.

For patients like those in this study, Dr. Michael Oberman, a gastrointestinal cancer specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, suggests the results point towards immunotherapy as an option free of chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery.

However, obstacles remain. The drug is priced around $11,000 per dose, requiring patients to undergo nine infusions over six months. To qualify for insurance coverage, it needs inclusion in clinical guidelines established by professional organizations.

The drug is approved for treating uterine cancer with mismatch repair mutations and is also listed in clinical guidelines for rectal cancer, based on previous small-scale studies. Yet, Dr. Diaz indicated that other cancer patients may face challenges in taking the medication. Nonetheless, Memorial Sloan Kettering continues to recruit participants for clinical trials, meaning those with eligible tumors can access the drug at no cost.

For some individuals, immunotherapy is life-transforming. Side effects can occur, with the study noting fatigue, rashes, and itching as the most common. Rare side effects included pulmonary infections and encephalitis.

Maureen Sidris, a 71-year-old from Amenia, New York, discovered she had cancer after struggling to eat a burger.

“It wouldn’t go down,” she recounted, realizing there was some blockage. Ultimately, it was identified as a tumor at the junction of her stomach and esophagus.

In 2019, she visited Sloan Kettering, where her surgeon advised that surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation were mandatory and that surgery would be complex.

However, due to her tumor’s mismatch repair mutation, she was able to join a clinical trial. Her first injection occurred on October 14 of that year, and by January, her tumor had disappeared. While Sidris experienced one side effect from the treatment requiring medication to support her kidney function, she considers it worthwhile to avoid the challenging treatments initially suggested.

“It was indeed a journey,” she remarked. However, she reasoned that she had everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying immunotherapy.

“If it didn’t succeed, I still had surgery as a backup,” she concluded.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Chinese researchers announce successful liver transplants from pigs into brain dead patients

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Chinese researchers have made progress in the field of inter-animal organ transplantation with a successful pig kidney transplant reported on Wednesday. They believe that pig liver may also prove to be useful in the future.

This Chinese patient is the third person worldwide known to be living with gene-edited pig kidneys. The research team has also successfully experimented with implanting pig liver into brain-dead individuals.

Scientists are genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more human-like in the hopes of addressing the shortage of organ transplants. While previous xenografts in the US were short-lived, two recipients of pig kidneys – an Alabama woman in November and a New Hampshire man in January – have shown promising results. Clinical trials in the US are now commencing.

Nearly three weeks after the kidney transplant, the Chinese patient is reported to be doing “very well” with the pig kidneys functioning effectively, according to Dr. Lin Wang of Xijing Hospital. The patient is a 69-year-old woman who has been suffering from kidney failure for eight years.

The next challenge for xenotransplantation is learning to transplant pig livers. In an experiment reported on Wednesday, pig liver was successfully transplanted into a brain-dead individual for 10 days. While the pig liver produced bile and albumin, essential for basic organ function, it did not perform as well as a human liver.

Dr. Wang believes that the pig liver could potentially support a failing human liver to some extent. In the US, a similar approach is being studied by pig developer Egenesis, where a pig’s liver is externally attached to support a brain-dead individual’s liver function.

In China, the team led by Dr. Wang did not remove the deceased person’s own liver but instead implanted the pig liver nearby.

Dr. Parsia Vagefi, a liver transplant surgeon, commented on the experiment, stating that while it shows promise, there are still many questions that need answers. Dr. Wang’s team plans to analyze the results of another brain-dead individual who received a pig liver transplant.

Last year, another Chinese hospital reportedly transplanted a pig liver into a living patient after removing part of their cancerous liver, but the outcome of the experiment is unclear.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

RFK Jr. supports Vitamin A treatment for select measles patients

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West Texas doctors are seeing measles patients whose illness is complicated by alternative therapy approved by vaccine skeptics, including health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Parents in Gaines County, Texas, are at the heart of the outbreak of turbulent measles, many of which have become increasingly repurposed and unproven treatments to protect children who have not been vaccinated against the virus.

One of those supplements is Vitamin A, which Kennedy advertises as a miraculous treatment for measles. Doctors at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, say they have treated a small number of children who were given so much vitamin A, which has signs of liver damage.

Dr. Summer Davis, who cares for children with acute illnesses at the hospital, said some of them had been receiving unsafe supplements for weeks to prevent measles infection.

“We were sick for just a few days, five days, five days, and five days, but we had been taking it for about three weeks,” Dr. Davis said.

Doctors may manage severe measles by administering high doses of vitamin A in hospitals, but experts do not recommend taking it without supervision from a doctor. Vitamin A is not an effective way to prevent measles. However, two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are about 97% effective.

At high doses, vitamin A can cause liver damage. Dry skin peeled skin. Hair loss; and in rare cases, seizures and com sleep. So far, doctors at a hospital in West Texas have said they have seen patients with high yellow skin and liver enzymes in both blood tests for both liver signs.

Many of these patients were in hospital due to severe measles infection. The doctor only discovered liver damage after regular lab work.

As of Tuesday, the outbreak that began in January had spread to more than 320 cases in Texas. Forty patients were hospitalized and one child died.

Nearby New Mexico County, the virus has suffered 43 illnesses and two hospitalised. Seven confirmed cases in Oklahoma are also linked to outbreaks.

Local doctors and health officials are increasingly concerned about the growing popularity of unproven treatments to prevent and treat measles. They fear that people will delay serious treatment and refuse vaccination, the only proven way to prevent measles infection.

Alternative medicine has always been popular in Gaines County. Many of the large Mennonite communities in areas where most cases are clustered are avoiding interaction with the healthcare system and adhere to a long tradition of natural therapy.

Health officials said the popularity of Vitamin A’s recent use of measles could go back to a Fox News interview with Kennedy.

in Opinion essay In the Washington Post Tuesday afternoon, Kevin Griffith, who was the communications director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until last week, wrote that he had resigned to handle Kennedy’s outbreak.

“In my last few weeks at the CDC, I saw a career infectious disease expert being tasked with spending valuable time wasting data searches to support Kennedy’s preferred treatment,” writes Griffith.

A few weeks after the interview with Fox News, Drugstore In West Texas, I had a hard time maintaining vitamin A and cod liver oil supplements on my shelf. “I didn’t hear anything about Vitamin A until he said that on TV,” said Katherine Wells, director of public health at Lubbock.

One local doctor, appointed as one of the doctors that Kennedy said in an interview with Fox News, opened a makeshift clinic in Gaines County, and began eliminating a variety of treatments, including vitamin A supplements, to treat active incorrect cases and prevent infection.

Dr. Davis said he suspected that the majority of the children she treated had taken vitamins at home.

Experts say Vitamin A can play an important role in the “advocacy care” provided by doctors to patients with severe measles infection.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, works by replenishing physical reservoirs that have been depleted by viruses that strengthen the immune system.

In hospitals, doctors only give measles children two vitamins, usually over two days, and “adjusting very carefully” the amount according to their age and weight, he said.

Dr. Schaffner emphasized that it is not a miraculous treatment of the virus, and that measles does not have antiviral drugs. Also, there is no reliable evidence that vitamin A can help prevent infection in children in the US, with extremely rare vitamin A defects.

In fact, giving children high doses of repeated vitamins is dangerous. Unlike other vitamins that are washed away from the body via urine, excess vitamin A accumulates in adipose tissue and is more likely to reach dangerous levels over time.

“I think this type of preventative use is particularly concerning,” said Dr. Lara Johnson, another doctor at Lubbock Hospital.

“When you’ve been taking it on your kids for weeks or weeks, you can have a cumulative toxicity impact.,” she added.

Dr. Johnson added that local doctors don’t always accurately reflect the amount of vitamins the label contains and are particularly concerned about parents’ dependence on over-the-counter supplements that can accept dosage recommendations from unverified sources.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Innovative Approach to Assisting Parkinson’s Patients with Walking

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Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that makes it difficult for people to regulate their voluntary movements. Parkinson's disease affects about 500,000 Americans and causes symptoms such as stiffness, slowness of movement, and a hunched back. For this reason, the way the patient walks; How to walkis one of the main ways doctors determine the quality of life of Parkinson's disease patients. Doctors have developed a variety of treatments for Parkinson's disease, but few have been able to help patients walk.

Scientists have discovered that walking problems in Parkinson's disease patients are related to brain overactivity. This hyperactivity is caused by brain wave patterns. beta bandIt is located in a specific area of ​​the brain that regulates movement, known as the . subthalamic nucleusor STN. Researchers have developed treatments that modulate STN activity, but it is not known whether changing the associated brain wave patterns can help patients walk more easily.

Previous researchers have shown that electrical stimulation of a patient's skin in different areas can stimulate nerves that regulate muscle tone and other bodily functions. vagus nerve. Scientists in Italy and the United Kingdom recently discovered that a form of electrical stimulation Transauricular vagus nerve stimulation taVNS may help people with Parkinson's disease walk.

To perform taVNS, researchers placed electrodes in the outer ears of Parkinson's disease patients to stimulate the vagus nerve. Scientists had two main questions. Does taVNS reduce STN beta-band wave activity, and does this reduction in activity allow Parkinson's disease patients to walk more easily?

Researchers enrolled 10 people with Parkinson's disease in the study. Each patient was treated with a different type of electrical stimulation to the STN. They asked participants to stop taking traditional Parkinson's medications the night before the taVNS test and turned off electrical stimulation an hour before the test.

During the taVNS test, scientists applied two types of stimulation to each patient. One stimulated the vagus nerve through the ear, and the other stimulated another area that did not affect the brain. imitative stimulus. They ran each type of simulation on the patient four times for two minutes, with one minute in between.

The researchers also measured the patients' involuntary side-to-side movements while walking. swaythe time it took to change direction mid-test, or Rotation timemeasure the total number of steps, step length variability, total walking time, and walking speed, and compare the effects of real and imitation treatments on patients. Finally, each patient's quality of life was physically assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III.

The scientists found that during taVNS, patients' STN beta-band waves were 7% weaker on the right side than during mimic stimulation. They also found that taVNS improved patients' step length variability, total walking time, and walking speed. The researchers also used statistical tests to show that participants with less active STN beta-band brainwave patterns walked faster. However, there was no significant improvement in patients' quality of life based on rating scale scores.

The researchers concluded that taVNS could help Parkinson's patients walk faster, perhaps by altering brain waves in the STN beta band. They also pointed out that taVNS is a non-invasive treatment, meaning it does not require surgery or implantation into the body, and is much more affordable than invasive treatments. The scientists acknowledged that their study was small, and future researchers will look to do more research to further understand how STN beta-band waves are related to gait in Parkinson's disease. He emphasized the need to conduct trials in large patient groups.


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Source: sciworthy.com

AI chatbots are incapable of diagnosing patients solely through conversation

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Don’t call your favorite AI “Doctor” yet

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Advanced artificial intelligence models have scored highly in professional medical examinations, but they are still challenging one of the most important doctor tasks: talking to patients, gathering relevant medical information, and providing accurate diagnoses. I am still neglecting one thing.

“Large-scale language models perform well on multiple-choice tests, but their accuracy drops significantly on dynamic conversations,” he says. Pranav Rajpurkar at Harvard University. “Models especially struggle with open-ended diagnostic inference.”

This became clear when researchers developed a method to assess the reasoning ability of clinical AI models based on simulated doctor-patient conversations. “Patients” is based on 2000 medical cases drawn primarily from the United States Medical Board Specialty Examinations.

“Simulating patient interactions allows assessment of history-taking skills, which is an important element of clinical practice that cannot be assessed through case descriptions,” he says. shreya jolialso at Harvard University. The new assessment benchmark, called CRAFT-MD, “reflects real-world scenarios where patients may not know what details are important to share and may only disclose important information if prompted by specific questions. “I do,” she says.

The CRAFT-MD benchmark itself relies on AI. OpenAI's GPT-4 model acted as a “patient AI” that conversed with the “clinical AI” being tested. GPT-4 also helped score the results by comparing the clinical AI's diagnosis with the correct answer for each case. Human medical experts reconfirmed these assessments. We also reviewed the conversations to confirm the accuracy of the patient AI and whether the clinical AI was able to gather relevant medical information.

Multiple experiments have shown that the performance of four major large-scale language models (OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, Meta's Llama-2-7b model, and Mistral AI's Mistral-v2-7b model) is performance on benchmarks was shown to be significantly lower than at the time. Makes a diagnosis based on a written summary of the case. OpenAI, Meta, and Mistral AI did not respond to requests for comment.

For example, GPT-4's diagnostic accuracy was an impressive 82 percent when a structured case summary was presented and the diagnosis could be selected from a list of multiple-choice answers, but not when a multiple-choice option was provided. However, when it had to make a diagnosis from a simulated patient conversation, its accuracy dropped to just 26%.

And GPT-4 performs best among the AI ​​models tested in this study, with GPT-3.5 often coming in second place, and Mistral AI models sometimes coming in second or third place. Meta's Llama models generally had the lowest scores.

AI models also failed to collect complete medical histories a significant proportion of the time, with the leading model, GPT-4, only able to do so in 71% of simulated patient conversations. Even if an AI model collects a patient's relevant medical history, it doesn't necessarily yield the correct diagnosis.

It says such simulated patient conversations are a “much more useful” way to assess an AI's clinical reasoning ability than medical tests. Eric Topol At the Scripps Research Institute Translational Institute in California.

Even if an AI model ultimately passes this benchmark and consistently makes accurate diagnoses based on conversations with simulated patients, it won't necessarily be better than a human doctor. says Rajpurkar. He points out that real-world medical procedures are “more troublesome” than simulations. That includes managing multiple patients, coordinating with medical teams, performing physical exams, and understanding the “complex social and systemic factors” in the local health care setting.

“While the strong performance in the benchmarks suggests that AI may be a powerful tool to support clinical practice, it does not necessarily replace the holistic judgment of experienced physicians.” says Rajpurkar.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Spinal cord stimulation aids in the recovery of stroke patients

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A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is cut off, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. Strokes are the leading cause of disability in adults over the age of 55. Despite advances in medical care and rehabilitation, 35% of stroke patients still have difficulty performing daily tasks because they have trouble walking or standing. Approximately 70% of stroke patients have problems with walking, including slower walking speed, problems with coordination, and uneven stride length.

Doctors have found that these problems often occur when the pathways that spinal cord neurons use to transmit information from the brain to the body are disrupted. By applying electrical pulses to the brains of stroke patients, doctors have attempted to reactivate the neural pathways that control movement. Researchers have shown that electrical pulses to the brain can help stroke patients regain control of fine movements, but the ability to maintain basic walking patterns relies on neural pathways in the spinal cord. So a team of scientists from the US and Russia hypothesized that targeting the spinal cord could help stroke patients recover.

To test whether spinal cord electrical stimulation could help stroke patients walk again, the team attached electrodes to the skin of the patients' spinal cord. Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation or tSCS. Researchers have previously found that tSCS can help stroke patients walk more steadily and smoothly in the short term. But the team wanted to test whether tSCS could improve nerve and muscle function and help patients walk better in the long term.

To measure how tSCS affected the walking ability and muscle function of stroke patients, the researchers recruited two groups of four people each. Both groups of participants were matched for age, time since stroke, and walking speed to minimize experimental bias. All participants were over 18 years old, had experienced a stroke at least one year ago, and were able to walk without support. The researchers conducted gait training in both groups three times a week for eight weeks to improve balance and movement. The first group, called the control group, was assigned to only gait training, while the second group, called the stimulation group, was assigned to a combination of gait training and tSCS.

The researchers assessed how well each participant walked before, immediately after, and three months after walking training. The researchers measured each participant's step symmetry using two metrics: step length and stride length. They also measured participants' walking speed and the distance they walked in a six-minute period. The researchers collected this data through a combination of observation by physical therapists and direct measurements using sensor-equipped mats.

The team found that after gait training, the stimulation group's stride symmetry improved by 64%, while the control group's stride symmetry improved by only 33%. The stimulation group also had faster walking speeds and more consistent swing times than the control group. All participants in the stimulation group and one participant in the control group walked greater distances than they had before gait training, but only one participant in each group maintained this progress after three months. The researchers interpreted these changes as meaning that combining tSCS with gait training enabled stroke patients to walk faster and longer. However, they warned that patients could lose these gains if they did not continue treatment, as only gait symmetry showed a sustained improvement.

The researchers also measured changes in the participants' muscles and neurons before and after tSCS treatment and walking training. The researchers explained that the more complex and numerous a person's muscle groups are, the better they can control leg movements when walking. So they wanted to see how the patients' muscle groups work together when walking, i.e. Muscle synergy. To investigate muscle synergy, the researchers measured the activity of the leg muscles of five participants by attaching sensors to the participants' skin to detect electrical signals when the muscles contracted. The results showed that participants in the two stimulation groups had improved muscle coordination after walking and tSCS. The researchers interpreted this result as meaning that tSCS helped participants improve muscle coordination while walking.

The researchers concluded that electrical stimulation of the spinal cord allowed some stroke patients to walk better than before. However, they suggested that the effectiveness of tSCS could be improved with individualized training and customized stimulation settings to address each patient's challenges. They also suggested that studies be conducted for a longer period of time and with a larger number of participants to better understand the lasting effects of tSCS and to apply the findings to a wider range of stroke patients.


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Source: sciworthy.com

Up to 20% of Coma Patients Could Be Conscious of Their Surroundings

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Some people in comas can imagine themselves swimming or walking

Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

As many as one in five people in a coma may be “locked in,” meaning they are aware of their surroundings but unable to communicate, and a large study has found that some people with severe brain injuries can carry out complex intellectual tasks when instructed, despite being unable to move or speak.

“It was easy to downplay this phenomenon when it was thought to be a rare event,” he said. Nicholas Schiff The study was published at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. But in light of the latest findings, “no one can ignore this.”

People with so-called disorders of consciousness are either in a comatose or vegetative state, unaware of their surroundings, or in a minimally conscious state, with occasional signs of wakefulness like opening their eyes. In 2019, researchers found that as many as one in 10 of these people may have disorders of consciousness.

To find out whether doctors are missing these patients, Schiff and his colleagues conducted behavioral and brain imaging tests on 353 people with severe brain injuries over an eight-year period at six international centers.

Participants were asked to think about performing different activities for 15 to 30 seconds — playing tennis, swimming, clenching their fists or walking around the house — then pause and think about the activity again, seven times over the course of five minutes.

In healthy people, these thoughts produce clear brain activity that can be seen on MRI scans and electroencephalograms (EEGs). Of the 353 people with brain damage, 241 showed no visible reaction to verbal commands, but 25% of these matched the brain activity of volunteers without brain damage; for those in a coma or vegetative state, the figure was 20%.

“This is an extremely demanding task — think about swimming intermittently for five minutes,” Schiff says. “We don’t know exactly what they’re going through, but the fact that they’re able to do this means they’re likely conscious.”

Schiff said estimates suggest there are 300,000 to 400,000 people worldwide who suffer from long-term consciousness disorders, and up to 100,000 who may have subconscious disorders.

This research is very important, Ranan GillonFor many people, the prospect of being kept alive while unconscious is at best futile and at worst abhorrent, says the professor, who is emeritus professor of medical ethics at Imperial College London. “But if unconsciousness is likely to be merely spurious, as these studies suggest, we might expect more people to want to be kept alive and to want to be consulted about their wishes before a decision is made to withdraw life-sustaining treatment.”

Several ethical issues, including respect for people’s autonomy and human rights, “all need to be reevaluated in light of these studies,” he says.

The results also raise questions about equity regarding access to MRIs and EEGs, he said. Erin Puckett “If non-specialized centers do not have access to these technologies, their patients may not have the same life-changing opportunities as others,” say researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could offer a way to provide two-way communication for people with impaired consciousness, but they aren’t commonly used by this group, Schiff said. It takes just 30 minutes to train a BCI to translate brain activity. Associated with attempts to dictate text onto an on-screen screen.

“Why not give it to someone who is impaired by cognitive impairment and see if we can use it to communicate with them? At worst, we’ll have two weeks of useful data, but at best, we’ll set them free.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Long-term cognitive decline found in severe COVID-19 patients years post-illness

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COVID-19 could have lasting effects on our mental and physical health

Alexander Davidov / Alamy

There is evidence that people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic still have lower than expected cognitive abilities several years later, forcing them to change jobs.

“What we found is that the average cognitive impairment is equivalent to 10 IQ points, based on what you would expect given age etc.” Maxim Take At Oxford University.

His team looked at 475 British people who had been admitted to and discharged from hospital with COVID-19 up to March 31, 2021.. All of the participants had undergone psychiatric and cognitive evaluations six months after they were discharged, as part of a separate study. Take's team asked them to be reassessed two to three years later and found that, on average, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue had worsened. “More people get worse than they get better,” Take says.

Overall, those suffering from moderate to severe depression increased from 34% at six months to 47% at the second assessment, and those suffering from moderate to severe fatigue increased from 26% at the first test to 40%. Smaller changes were seen in the proportion of those suffering from moderate to severe anxiety, increasing from 23% to 27%.

It's not clear why so many people's symptoms worsened, but the team found that people whose symptoms were more severe in the initial tests tended to get worse over time. One participant said he'd had shortness of breath for three years and it was hard for him not to fall into depression, Take said.

The team also found that more than a quarter of participants changed jobs after hospitalization, half of whom said they did so because of poor health. The researchers found a strong association between changing jobs and declining cognitive function, but not with depression, anxiety, or fatigue. This suggests that many people are changing jobs because they can no longer cope with the cognitive demands of their previous jobs, rather than for a lack of energy or interest, Take says.

He acknowledges that the study has some major limitations: Only a fifth of those invited to take part actually did so, so it's not clear how representative the study is, and because participants weren't tested before being admitted to hospital, there's no baseline to compare it to, team members say. Paul Harrison also conducted at Oxford University. Instead, the conclusion that people lost 10 IQ points on average was based on what would be expected for people of the same age, sex and education level, British Intelligence Test.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

What are the causes of brain fog in patients with long COVID?

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had long-lasting impacts on society and the health of millions of Americans who are still experiencing symptoms. Long-haul COVID-19 can result in chronic symptoms lasting for months, including weakness, palpitations, fatigue, headaches, and cognitive impairment. Scientists are still uncertain about the extent to which COVID affects brain function, leading to what is colloquially known as “brain fog.” Forgetfulness.

So, what causes brain fog in long COVID-19 patients? Researchers propose that the dysfunction of specialized cells lining the brain’s blood vessels plays a crucial role. Known as the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), this filter prevents toxins, pathogens, and large molecules from entering the brain. It is theorized that a leaky BBB could allow harmful substances to enter, disrupting normal processes and causing brain fog.

To investigate the link between a leaky BBB and COVID-related brain fog, researchers led by Matthew Campbell, PhD, and Colin P. Dougherty, PhD, examined the brains of patients previously infected with COVID. They studied a group of men and women over 18 years old, including 10 COVID survivors and 22 long-haul COVID patients (symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks), with 11 experiencing brain fog and 11 without it.

Using high-resolution MRI, the team measured BBB permeability by injecting a contrast agent into the patients’ blood to track blood flow through the BBB and into the brain. Patients with brain fog showed higher leakage rates compared to those without brain fog, suggesting a link between BBB dysfunction and persistent brain fog.

Further analysis revealed that patients with long COVID and brain fog had elevated levels of inflammatory markers in their blood, indicating brain inflammation potentially caused by a leaky BBB. The team also observed higher levels of a cell-signaling protein associated with chronic fatigue syndrome in patients with brain fog.

Investigating the immune system’s role in brain inflammation during long COVID, researchers examined gene activity in white blood cells. White blood cells from long COVID patients with brain fog showed significantly more active genes related to sustaining the immune response, suggesting ongoing inflammation causing BBB dysfunction and brain fog.

Lab experiments with brain cells exposed to patient blood samples further supported the link between inflammation, BBB dysfunction, and brain fog. Additionally, direct exposure of brain cells to COVID virus proteins resulted in increased inflammatory gene activity.

In conclusion, researchers found that BBB dysfunction during long COVID leads to chronic inflammation, contributing to brain fog. This insight may aid in understanding other long-term COVID effects and could guide future research on restoring BBB function to treat long COVID patients.


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Source: sciworthy.com

Starting Drug Treatment Early Improves Outcomes for Crohn’s Disease Patients

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Crohn’s disease can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss

Jacob Wackerhausen/iStockphoto/Getty Images/www.peopleimages.com

A one-year study of 386 people found that receiving advanced treatment soon after diagnosis of Crohn’s disease improves outcomes for patients.

This disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease; impact millions of peopleIn the world. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, and weight loss.

“These symptoms have a huge impact on people’s quality of life, education, relationships, and ability to work,” he says. Miles Parks at Cambridge University. “While there is no cure, there are ways to reduce some of these negative outcomes.”

Treatment often includes dietary changes, immunosuppressants, and steroids. In the UK, a drug called infliximab (an antibody that targets a specific protein in the body that is thought to contribute to intestinal inflammation) is given to people who regularly experience flare-ups of Crohn’s disease, or other mild symptoms. It can be prescribed to people who are not responding to. Treatment.

“This is a ‘step-up’ approach where treatment is progressively escalated in a reactive manner as the disease returns,” he says. Nurlaminnuralso at the University of Cambridge.

To see what happens if this more powerful treatment is used as early as possible, Parkes and Noor et al. studied 386 newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease patients aged 16 to 80 in the UK. Recruited people.

They were divided into two groups. One patient received infliximab immediately regardless of symptoms, and the other was treated with other Crohn’s disease drugs. If symptoms persist or continue to worsen, participants in the second group will also be prescribed infliximab, in line with a “step-up” approach.

After one year, 80 percent of patients who initially received infliximab had their symptoms under control over time, compared with only 15 percent of those who did not receive treatment immediately.

Additionally, only 0.5% of people in the group who received infliximab immediately required abdominal surgery for Crohn’s disease, compared to 4.5% in the second group.

The results of this study suggest that giving patients with Crohn’s disease intensive treatment as soon as they are diagnosed may be more effective in improving their lives, Dr. Noor said.

Parks said the extra money spent on medication would be balanced out by not having to pay for subsequent scans, colonoscopies and surgeries for people with repeated relapses.

“People with Crohn’s disease don’t want to be hospitalized or undergo surgery. They want to go out into the outside world and live their lives. Anything that speeds the path to remission. It can only be a good thing,” says Ruth Wakeman of the charity Crohn’s & Colitis UK.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Elon Musk states that Neuralink implant patients can control computer mouse with their thoughts

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The first human patient implanted with Neuralink’s brain chip appears to have made a full recovery and is now able to use his thoughts to control a computer mouse, according to Neuralink founder Elon Musk, who shared the news late Monday.

“Things are going well, the patient appears to have made a full recovery, and there are no adverse effects that we are aware of. The patient can move the mouse on the screen just by thinking,” Musk said on the social media platform during the X Spaces event.


Musk said Neuralink is currently trying to get as many mouse button clicks from patients as possible. Neuralink did not immediately respond to a request for further details.

The company successfully implanted the chip in its first human patient last month after receiving approval to recruit for a clinical trial in September.

The study will use robots to surgically place brain-computer interface implants in areas of the brain that control locomotion intentions, Neuralink said, with the initial goal of helping people use their thoughts to interact with computers. He added that the idea was to be able to control the cursor and keyboard.

Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it will facilitate rapid surgical insertion of chip devices to treat conditions such as obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

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Neuralink, valued at about $5 billion last year, has faced repeated calls for scrutiny over its safety protocols. The company was fined for violating U.S. Department of Transportation regulations regarding the movement of hazardous materials.

Source: www.theguardian.com