Category Archives: Integrative Medicine

Pediatric neurology patients frequently use integrative medicine; however, providers may feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar with these therapies. Child neurologist attitudes toward integrative medicine and educational needs in integrative medicine have not been assessed. A national, anonymous survey was distributed to Child Neurology residents (n=294) and program directors (n=71) to assess attitudes toward specific integrative medicine modalities, practices in discussing integrative medicine with patients, and perceived need for a curriculum on integrative medicine; 61 (17%) partially and 53 (15%) fully completed the survey. Comparative analyses applied chi-square and independent tests. Qualitative content analysis was performed on free text responses. Most providers surveyed consider mind and body practices safe (93% of respondents) and effective (84%), but have concerns about the safety of chiropractic manipulation (56% felt this was harmful), and the efficacy of homeopathy (none considered this effective). Few inquire about patient integrative medicine use regularly. Child Neurology residents are interested in further education on this topic.

PubMed

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Integrative Medicine in Child Neurology: What Do Physicians Know and What Do They Want to Learn? - Physician's Weekly

On this page:BasicsComplementary TreatmentAlternative Treatment EffectivenessSide EffectsCancer Cure ScansDiet and Exercise

Youve seen the headlines about natural medicine trends, from yoga to supplements to diet and exercise fads. When it comes to cancer, you want to know what will help you safely regain your health during treatment and after. But there are loads of competing, sometimes-confusing info to sift through. What can you trust? Well, you can start with us here at HealthCentral: We went to the experts to learn all the science-based truth on complementary care for cancer.

First, lets clarify how cancer comes to be: Cancer occurs when abnormal cells anywhere in your body grow out of control, due to mutations in their DNA. Normal cells divide, age and die predictably, copying DNA as they go. Cancer cells, however, dont follow those rules. Rather than die off, they mutate, replicate, and form tumors.

Whats known as the primary site of your cancer is the spot where these cells start growing, and that organ or area determines the type of cancer you have. When cancerous cells journey through your blood or lymphatic system (the network of tissues and organs that flush out toxins, waste, and other undesirables), the areas they invade are metastatic sites.

Note that a cell can be abnormal without being cancerous (also known as malignant). It could be benign (not cancer), or precancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer). Through screening and testing, docs can determine exactly what youre dealing with.

That depends on what kind of cancer you have, what stage its in, and other factors. Treatment can include:

Doctors often try more than one treatment, spaced out over weeks and months, as they gauge how your body responds. Your doc might even start you on multiple treatments at the same time.

Youve probably heard of complementary care. Or maybe you know it as alternative care. You know a bit of what these treatments might include (youre thinking meditation, herbs, and maybe yoga?). But did you know that while complementary and alternative care are often lumped together (as CAM, Complementary and Alternative Medicine), theyre not the same?

Complementary medicine is used in addition to conventional cancer care. It can include products, practices, and healthcare systems outside of mainstream medicine. These methods dont cure cancer, but work in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments to help in a variety of ways, including pain management and emotional support. Many complementary medicine practices can be considered evidence-based medicine (scientifically studied in randomized controlled trials, the highest level of evidence that guides cancer care).

When complementary medicine works harmoniously with conventional medicine, its an approach known as integrative medicine, or integrated care, where physicians treat you holisticallymeaning caring for you as a whole patient, taking into account all facets of your cancer experience. These can include:

When integrative medicine is administered to treat cancer, its known as integrative oncology, a patient-centered, evidence-informed field of cancer care. It may include:

Alternative medicine, in contrast, is used in place of conventional medicine. Rather than going hand-in-hand with, say surgery and chemo, alternative medicine is done instead of those evidence-based cancer treatments.

A quick note: before you try any new approach during (and after) your cancer treatment journey, make sure to discuss it with your doctor.

If youve used or are considering using complementary medicine as a cancer patient, youre not alonea national survey found that 65% of respondents whod been diagnosed with cancer had used some form of it.

Theres good reason to explore complementary care if you have cancer. It can be part of your supportive carehelping where you need it, like soothing and calming your mind and body as you go through this challenging time. Indeed, research suggests that complementary medicine can assist by:

There are easily hundreds of complementary treatments for cancer, so weve selected a small sample to discuss here. Possibilities include:

Acupuncture: Theres substantial evidence that this ancient Chinese practice of using sterile needles to stimulate different areas of the body can help manage cancer treatment-related nausea and vomiting. It may also help relieve cancer pain and other symptoms, but theres not enough evidence yet to support that.

Herbs: Ginger, for instance, has been shown to help control nausea from chemotherapy when used with conventional anti-nausea medications. Just keep in mind that any supplements you consume can change your body physiologicallynothing you ingest is without the potential for adverse effects. For instance, herbs can impact blood sugar levels and the bloods ability to clot.

Massage therapy: Sure, it feels sublime, and it turns out to have additional benefits too: research suggests that massage therapy can help relieve some cancer symptoms including:

Just be careful not to have deep tissue massage near surgery sites, tumors, or any medical devices. And always tell your therapist about your cancer diagnosis.

Meditation: Mindfulness-based meditation has been shown to improve quality of life during treatment. How? Studies of cancer patients have revealed the following happiness-boosting benefits:

Supplements: Herbal supplements for cancer could potentially help manage side effects like nausea and vomiting, pain, and fatigue, but more scientific evidence is required to make safe decisions about the use of these supplements.

Yoga: Preliminary data of this ancient mind/body practice from India suggests that those who do yoga could see improvements in these areas:

Another benefit: It might help lessen fatigue in breast cancer patients and survivors. More study into the myriad benefits of yoga is needed.

Other approaches: These include hypnosis, relaxation therapy, and biofeedback, all of which might help manage cancer symptoms and treatment side effects, based on study results.

One thing to note about all of these approaches: they might not be covered by your health insurance. According to the American Cancer Society, major insurers, including Blue Cross and Medicare, are starting to cover some complementary treatments. On the list above, acupuncture is most commonly covered. Contact your insurer to see what complementary treatments, if any, are paid for. They might be able to direct you to local providers who are covered under your plan.

When the treatments we discussed earlier (and the hundreds of others that are offered) are used in place of conventional medicine, its known as an alternative treatment. Nearly 40%, or 4 out of 10 Americans, believes that cancer can be cured by alternative treatments, a 2018 survey of cancer patients and people without cancer, found. However, while research shows that complementary medicine can play an important role in conventional cancer medicine, the same hasnt been readily found for alternative treatment.

Case in point: in 2009, the Society for Integrative Oncology (the leading international organization for healthcare professionals and researchers working in the field of complementary therapies in cancer care) published guidelines for healthcare professionals when using complementary medicine.

The org reminded healthcare professionals and patients that unproven cancer treatment methods shouldnt be used in place of conventional options because delaying cancer treatment thats evidence-based and shown to work reduces the chance of remission/cure for cancer patients.

Its important to talk with your healthcare professionals about the risks of using alternative therapies so you can make an informed decision about whats best for your health.

There are definite side effects with CAM. You might think that because something is natural, its safe. But this isnt always the case. Arsenic is natural, for instance, but you wouldnt want to start taking it in large doses.

Another example: Chemotherapy has a multitude of side effects because it destroys both cancerous cells and healthy cells. Its been cited by many as harmful because its made from chemicals. But did you know, some forms of chemo come from nature? Three drugs (Vincristine, Vinblastine, and Vinorelbine) are derived from plant alkaloids and are made from the periwinkle plant (Catharanthus Rosea). Chemo drugs called taxanes (Paclitaxel and Docetaxel) come from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree (Taxus).

Know too that just because something is sold, doesnt mean its been vetted or approved for usefor safety or qualityby the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA doesnt regulate vitamins and supplements, so the onus is on us to do our best to source safe, trustworthy products.

Its vital to tell your cancer healthcare team about every treatment and therapy youre using for your cancer, whether its receiving acupuncture for nausea, going to the chiropractor for pain, adding St. Johns Wort to your supplement regime to help manage depression, or getting a massage to feel better.

If youre reluctant to be open with your doc, youre not alone: 29% of cancer patients did not disclose their CAM practices to their providers, according to one study. Secret-keeping could be downright dangerous. Lets use these four seemingly innocuous examples to illustrate why:

Being open with your doc--both before you start a complementary treatment and while youre on it--is key to helping it complement, rather than detract, from the conventional care youre receiving.

When you have cancer, you of course want a cure (as quickly and painlessly as possible, please). But that desire can leave you vulnerable to fake claims, especially in the alternative medicine space. Both the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regularly warn the public about fraudulent cancer treatments.

It can be hard to spot the signs of snake oil. Without a medical degree, how can you be wise to empty promises? Youll often see the same language used in cancer CAM scams, according to the FDA. These phrases should raise a red flag that a treatment is just too good to be true:

Heres how you can protect yourself while receiving evidence-based integrated care:

You might be wondering now: with all this talk of complementary and alternative medicine, what about food? And diet? And exercise? What role does it play in all this? Is there a cancer diet that could be a complementary treatment?

Turns out, theres a strong body of evidence that a healthy diet and regular physical activity are associated with a reduced risk of cancer. The scientific literature links nutrition to cancer prevention based on specific physiologic pathways, including reducing inflammation, regulating hormones, and preventing oxidative stress. Even after a cancer diagnosis, by making smart choices about what they put on their plate, patients can:

Food has power. To wield it, the American Institute for Cancer Research and American Cancer Society recommends you:

As for physical activity? While you should talk to your healthcare team about what kind and amount of exercise is safe during treatment, The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has issued guidelines for physical activity for cancer survivors, suggesting 150-300 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Exercise is a real magic pill, helping to:

As you can imagine, all of these benefits that come along with being active are particularly important when youre trying to put cancer behind you. Resistance training, in particular, has been proven to improve:

Exercise, like so many CAM options, can help you both feel stronger and respond to treatment better. Just as with other types of complementary treatments, youll want to talk to your doc about how to integrate it, so you can reap the maximum benefits both from your lifestyle changes and your conventional cancer treatment.

Researchers have found that a healthy diet is associated with a reduced risk of cancer. Even if you have cancer, it can help lessen the impact of side effects and improve your quality of life. Studies link nutrition to cancer prevention based on specific physiologic pathways, including reducing inflammation, regulating hormones, and preventing oxidative stress. All to say that food matters.

Heres the thing: there are therapies that can help you go into remission (the period when your signs and symptoms of cancer are reduced). And some healthcare professionals consider cancer cured if it hasnt returned after five years (also called complete remission). Treatments that achieve a complete remission/cure can include therapies that come from a natural source, like some forms of chemo, which are derived from plant alkaloids. But anyone promising a natural cure for cancer that doesnt have evidence to back up that claim is likely pedaling bunk.

As weve discussed, herbs can be excellent complementary treatment in oncology for things like nausea, but any claim of curing cancer should be tempered by evidence-based medicine results (meaning, proof to back up those claims).

The American Academy of Dermatology warns that black salve isnt as safe as you might think, stating that it has never been proven to work. An article on the AADs website cites reports of bad outcomes for people who tried to treat their cancer (including melanoma) using black salve. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against products that are touted as cures for cancer without evidence: The FDA urges consumers to steer clear of these potentially unsafe and unproven products and to always discuss cancer treatment options with their licensed health care provider.

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Alternative and Complementary Treatments for Cancer - HealthCentral.com

Creating a healthy, healing environment for our family is so important as we navigate the stress and anxiety of this time. 75% of the immune system is the result of environmental and lifestyle factors. Top Immune Health Expert, Board Certified Integrative MD Dr. Taz, shares easy ways to create a healing home by reducing toxicity and activating our senses.

HOW TO CREATE A HEALING HOME with Dr. Taz

1) Lighting: Create ambient, soft light with lots of natural light to help enhance mood and lower cortisol. Replace fluorescent bubs, led bulbs. Consider sun lamps. Natural light is the most beneficial to the body.

2) Color: Color can be healing and color influences our feelings. White color on walls, dcor and furniture leads to a feel of clean and serenity. Teal accents in a room or overall color scheme of a house are associated with purity, relaxation and calmness. If someone needs to benefit from being in a relaxing envornment considere adding teal to the room. Red embodies power, vitality, energy. Rooms that need to be productive can utilize having red incorporated into their dcor. Magenta provides emotional balance and Yellow gives off a sense cheerfulness. Depending on the room and purpose, consider color to make the most out of the space.

3) Air: Household plants reduce indoor air pollution. My favorite house plants include: Peace Lily, Ferns, Aloe, Snake Plants, and Lemongrass. All plants have different needs for growth so make sure when choose a plant it is in a place and environment where it thrives. Plants also give us a way to feel closer to nature and be connected to mother earth.

Dr. Taz Bhatia, M.D. is a board-certified integrative medicine physician and wellness expert, who gained national recognition as a best-selling author of the books, What Doctors Eat, The 21 Day Belly Fix, and Super Woman RX. Her integration of Eastern medical wisdom with modern science, along with her unique Power Type discovery, has led to featured segments on The Today Show, Dr. Oz, Live with Kelly & Ryan and eventually the premiere of own PBS special Super Woman RX with Dr. Taz.

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Create a "healing" home with lighting, color and plants - AZFamily

Photo Credit: Dr. Andrew Weil

My company isnt alone when it comes to the struggles related to COVID-19. Still, as a document management and workplace solutions company, at times it has felt especially rough. At imageOne, our revenue is heavily reliant on people physically being at an office. Fewer printed pages meant an inevitable drop in sales volume.

Once the realities of the crisis sank in, the leadership team came together for a marathon weekend of punching numbers and forecasting the potential financial impact of the pandemic. We all knew times would be tough. But we also knew that thanks to our core values and company culture that puts people first, wed get through this challenge stronger than ever.

First, we had to focus on our financial health. It's during times like these where our practice of open-book management, company-wide financial literacy, and transparency really shines. These practices both support the strength of our balance sheet plus offer the added bonus of building a team that fully understands our financials.

As a company that greatly values collaboration, this is invaluable. We asked our entire team to assist in every level of the decision-making process. Soon, we had dozens of actionable proposals, ideas, and strategies from innovative office products to untapped client basesmany of which have come to fruition and brought in new streams of income.

The team also organized fun ways to connect and support our mental and physical wellbeing while working from home. So far, weve held a lip sync battle, had a remote wine tasting, and hosted a Zoom newlywed game with a recently married team member, just to name a few things weve done together.

Were continuing to encourage everyone to keep practicing our favorite healthy life habitswhich we call the Simple Sixthrough video, online stretch breaks, and other social channels. Especially now, promoting self-care was essential.

And as an extra thanks, we wanted to bring in someone from outside of the company who had a unique perspective about these trying times. We reached out to Dr. Andrew Weil, a renowned expert of integrative medicine, a New York Times bestselling author, co-founder of True Food Kitchen and Matcha Kari, and past guest of my donothing podcast, to ask if hed chat with my team for a special Q&A.

To our surprise and delight, he said yes!

For one inspiring hour, we had the opportunity to put stress and uncertainty aside to ask this wellness legend anything that was on our minds. We heard everything from easy relaxation methods to the impact coronavirus might have on business to his favorite foods and drinks.

We got to take our minds off work, focus on something positive, and come together as one (via the internet, of course). In the end, we all left feeling more united, informed, grateful for the experience, and energized to tackle whatever came next.

With so much wisdom gleaned from Dr. Weils conversation, I thought itd be selfish not to share it. Here are some great questions from my team that Dr. Weil answered:

Just Breathe

Breathing is the only function that you can do completely consciously or completely unconsciously, says Dr. Weil. The theory of breath work...is that, by using your conscious system to impose certain rhythms on the breath, you can gradually induce those rhythms in the involuntary nervous system.

You can actually change heart rate, blood pressure, and digestive function by working with the breath.

The 4-7-8 Breathing Method

There's the 4-7-8 Breathing Method. It's very simple, and the whole family can do it together, says Dr. Weil. I recommend doing it at least twice a day. It takes about 30 seconds. I do it in the morning when I get up, in the evening, while going to bed, and then any other time during the day that I feel like doing it or I feel anxious.

He adds, [The 4-7-8 Breathing Method] is by far the most effective anti-anxiety measure that I've ever discovered.

Watch Dr. Weil demonstrate the 4-7-8 Breathing Method here.

More virtual connections

I expect that more people will work from home afterward, speculates Dr. Weil. We're becoming familiar with using Zoom and virtual teaching. In the past few years, when I've been traveling to give lectures, I was thinking, I'd much prefer to stay home and do this virtually than fly across the country.

[I think] thats probably a good thing. It seems very inefficient to physically travel...and we now have the technology to do it [virtually].

Fewer handshakes

I hear people saying that handshakes will be a thing of the past, says Dr. Weil. Before the 1918 flu pandemic, spitting was an acceptable cultural practice. Saloons had spittoons in them. After that, it was no longer culturally acceptable. Maybe things like handshakes will no longer be culturally acceptable either.

Everyone is different

There's a very broad spectrum of sensitivity to caffeine, says Dr. Weil. There are people who drink one cup of coffee in the morning and can't sleep at night. There are other people who drink a pot of coffee at night and it has no effect. You want to find out where you are on that spectrum.

I used to say I produced one miracle cure a week just by getting someone to stop drinking coffee, and that was everything from recurrent urinary tract infections to irregular heartbeats to GI problems to insomnia to anxiety. Strong coffee is a strong drug. Many people who use it are addicted and have a withdrawal syndrome if they stop.

How do I know if Im sensitive to caffeine?

You stop drinking it and see what happens, suggests Dr. Weil. It's amazing to see what happens. Typically [if youre addicted], 24 to 36 later, you get a pounding headache. You can become fatigued. I've seen people incapacitated by this, and they are relieved instantly by having anything with caffeine in it. It usually lasts 48 hours, and then you're through it.

Cut down on the news

Im really limiting my intake of newsespecially television news, says Dr. Weil. I recommend it to everyone. You must be very careful how much you let into your life. It can be a great source of anxiety, stress, and anger. It doesn't mean to not be informed, but just pay attention to the effect it has on your mood.

Try plant-based stress relievers

Valerian is a very safe sedative and has been used for centuries in Europe, says Dr. Weil. Its very good if you need to fall asleep. Cava is a good anti-anxiety agent. Theres peppermint tea for stomach distress. There's a number of things that are inexpensive, safe, and really work.

Keep up those healthy habits

Im trying to attend to my eating habits. Right now, many people are eating more than they would like to. Theyre eating foods that they probably normally wouldn't eat for some comfort and for stress relief. Be careful about that.

Have some fun

I am very delighted when friends send funny things like YouTube videos or movies to watch that make me laugh, says Dr. Weil. I think that's essential right now.

Want to learn more?Listen to theentire conversation withthe imageOne team andDr. Weil hereandlearn more aboutcommon health myths,whyintegrative medicine could change our health care system,how businesses are being affected by COVID-19,and more.You can alsowatch it hereon YouTube.

If you want to learn more about the Simple Six,download the healthy life tips hereandlisten to my recent podcastabout it. Id also love for you to follow me onLinkedInandTwitter.

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This Wellness Visionary Lifted My Teams Spirit During The COVID Crisis - Forbes

Dion Diep,1 Jasmine Ko,2 John Lan,3 Kinga T Koprowicz,3 Gordon Ko3,4

1MD Program, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 3Canadian Centre of Integrative Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada; 4Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada

Correspondence: Gordon KoClinical Adjunct Lecturer, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaTel +1416-480-4342Fax +1416-480-6885Email drgordko@rogers.com

Introduction: There is a paucity of long-term treatment benefit and safety data of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) for cervical dystonia (CD) and myofascial neck pain syndrome (MPS). Additionally, the prevalence of adjunct modality uses during this period is unknown despite evolving practices.Objective: To assess and compare treatment benefit, safety, and adjunct modality prevalences of long-term BTX-A injections between CD and MPS patients.Design: Retrospective cohort study.Setting: Private practice tertiary care clinics in Toronto.Patients: Convenience sample of 37 (52.9%) CD and 33 (47.1%) MPS patients treated for a meanSD duration of 7.2 4.3 and 8.3 4.7 years, respectively.Interventions: BTX-A injections administered at least once yearly, for a duration longer than 1 year.Main Outcome Measures: Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scales (TWSTRS) for disability and pain, Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) score, time to peak effect, duration of total response, adverse effects, and prevalence of adjunct modalities.Results: CD patients experienced improvements in TWSTRS disability (17.57 6.79 to 9.81 4.35, p< 0.001) and pain (14.61 3.08 to 9.05 3.49, p< 0.001) scores as well as PGIC score (52.00% 23.60% to 64.80% 23.60%, p=0.007). MPS patients experienced improvements in TWSTRS disability (15.86 7.70 to 10.07 7.01, p=0.01) and pain (15.25 4.09 to 10.85 4.49, p=0.01) scores. In both cohorts, there were no changes in time to peak effect and duration of total response. Adverse effects were minimal and self-limiting. Prevalences of adjunct modalities used by CD versus MPS patients were 28.13% versus 50.00% for anesthetic procedures, 23.08% versus 15.38% for image-guidance, 65.71% versus 56.25% for pectoralis minor injections, and 47.06% versus 53.13% for cannabis-use.Conclusion: There were demonstrated and comparable treatment benefit, safety, and adjunct modality prevalences. Our study is the first to demonstrate that long-term BTX-A injections for MPS, although commonly used off-label, can be effective and safe.

Keywords: botulinum toxin, cervical dystonia, myofascial pain syndrome

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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Benefits, Safety, and Adjunct Modality Prevalences of Long-Term Botuli | JPR - Dove Medical Press

Jihan Huang,1,* Yingchun He,1,* Qianmin Su,2 Juan Yang1

1Center for Drug Clinical Research, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, Peoples Republic of China; 2Department of Computer in College of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, Peoples Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Jihan Huang; Juan YangCenter for Drug Clinical Research, Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, #1200 Cailun Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai 201203, Peoples Republic of ChinaTel +86 21 51322420Email huangjihan@shutcm.edu.cn; janeyang5006@163.com

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the fundamental characteristics of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) clinical trials registered in China.Methods: COVID-19 clinical trials registered in China were analyzed from databases on ChiCTR and ClinicalTrials.gov. The study designs, samples, primary end points, and intervention measures were evaluated.Results: In total, 262 intervention clinical trials were retrieved on March 10, 2020. Overall, 181 (69.1%) trials involved two groups, 200 (76.3%) trials were randomized parallel trials, 24 (9.2%) trials were double blind, and 60.3% of trials included 100 participants. Sixty (22.9%) trials considered symptom improvement as the primary endpoint and 43 (16.4%) trials considered the rate or time at which the subjects became virus-free as the primary endpoint. Of 262 intervention studies, chemical drugs and biological products were studied in 105 (40.1%) intervention studies, of which antiviral drugs accounted for 15.3% and malaria drugs accounted for 8.4% of the studies. Among all trials, 27.9% of the studies used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 10.3% used cell therapy, and 5.0% used plasma therapy.Conclusion: This study is the first snapshot of the landscape of COVID-19 clinical trials registered in China and provided the basic features of clinical trial designs for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 to offer useful information to guide future clinical trials on COVID-19 in other countries.

Keywords: COVID-19, clinical trial, interventional, randomized, blinding

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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Characteristics of COVID-19 Clinical Trials in China Based on the Regi | DDDT - Dove Medical Press

NASHUA, N.H., June 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICAD), a global medical technology leader providing innovative cancer detection and therapy solutions, today announced it will host a free virtual roundtable event for clinicians, titled The Impact of COVID-19 on Breast Cancer Surgery and Targeted Radiation Therapy,” on June 4, 2020 at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. Event registration is available via this link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5960832272590383888.

The roundtable will feature leading specialists in breast cancer treatment, including the following experts*:

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented challenges to our health care system and specifically impacted cancer screenings and treatment in our country and worldwide. During these extraordinary times, it is imperative for clinicians to share best practices and adapt approaches to patient care. iCAD is honored to host virtual events such as this, which provide an educational forum for clinicians to enhance patient care during this global healthcare crisis and beyond,” according to Stacey Stevens, President of iCAD. In the face of this pandemic, iCAD’s technology is now more relevant than ever. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) with the Xoft® Axxent® Electronic Brachytherapy (eBx®) System® offers a viable solution that could potentially alleviate the burden to our health system, while enabling clinicians to administer high-quality care to patients who are candidates, while minimizing their potential exposure to the novel coronavirus.”

Xoft breast IORT is a single-fraction therapy option that allows select early-stage breast cancer patients to replace weeks of daily radiation with one treatment, delivered at the time of surgery. This targeted treatment option offers a full course of radiation in just one day, which could contribute to a reduction in the healthcare system resources needed for breast cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce those patients’ risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus by minimizing the number of visits required to a hospital or medical facility.

In the recent months during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital resources have become limited in many areas, and guidelines issued by a number of medical societies advise clinicians to determine how best to triage the care of cancer patients safely.1 Some breast cancer patients are choosing to delay parts of their treatment for safety concerns,” according to Sadia Khan, DO, FACS, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Keck School of Medicine, USC, Director of Integrative Breast Oncology at Hoag Breast Program. In areas where there is still a high incidence of COVID-19, some patients with breast cancer may opt to choose IORT, which offers a one-dose radiation option for patients who meet the criteria. For those who are candidates, IORT gives patients an additional option to complete their radiation in a one-time dose, which decreases their exposure to the hospital.”

Positive results from a long-term study involving Xoft breast IORT conducted at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian were published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology in 2019.2 Led by Melvin J. Silverstein, MD, Medical Director of the Hoag Breast Center, the prospective study, titled Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT): A Series of 1000 Tumors, found breast cancer recurrence rates of patients who were treated with Xoft breast IORT were comparable to those seen in the cornerstone, randomized TARGIT-A and ELIOT trials, which evaluated IORT using different technology.

A number of breast cancer patients at our facility have had their treatment delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is concerning to physicians and patients alike, as some cases could potentially progress and it could result in a considerable backlog of patients who require urgent treatment with more advanced disease,” according to Michael Howard, PhD, DABMP, RSO, Director of Oncology Services, Chief of Medical Physics, Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Parkridge Medical Center, HCA Healthcare. The concern for a second wave of COVID is very real, but IORT offers a way to help reduce this potential backlog.”

The reality is, IORT may be able to play a bigger role right now in the treatment of patients. In some cases, it may be ultimately more beneficial to offer IORT to avoid the backlog in treatment as a means of not overrunning hospitals and radiation centers once we are back up and running,” added Barry Rosen, MD, FACS, Chief of Breast Surgery, Advocate Healthcare and Managing Partner, TME. IORT is one of those exceptional interventions that I believe satisfies the triple aim in treatment: it offers benefits to patients, providers and payers alike. For patients, it offers added convenience, with better cosmetic outcomes and fewer side effects; from a physician standpoint there is an inherent efficiency, as it enables them to condense one month of daily treatments to a single dose of targeted radiation. Lastly, for payers, the overall cost of treatment is reduced as the course of treatment may be reduced from weeks of daily fractions to one concentrated dose of radiation, administered at the time of surgery.”

As clinicians, we are going to have to adapt to the COVID-19 situation as it evolves. At a certain point, delaying treatment for even early-stage breast cancer is going to come with risk. In many cases, the decision really should be made to go forward with cancer treatment; IORT offers a treatment option that may allow more women to get the treatment they need during this time,” according to Charles Wesley Hodge, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Florida Hospital Celebration Health/AdventHealth. We are facing an unprecedented challenge in healthcare, and as clinicians we need to come together and adjust to these new realities. For those of us who practice in the oncology space, it is particularly challenging because we are dealing with a potentially life-threatening illness that requires appropriate management. Now is the time for clinicians to work together, to adjust to our new reality, and to come up with an approach that will do the greatest good for our patients.”

This virtual roundtable event is a part of larger series of webinars hosted by iCAD in recent weeks, featuring leading experts in breast cancer detection and treatment. This series has examined various aspects of breast cancer care in the era of COVID-19, including risk adaptive tools and pragmatic solutions for both screening and treatment. To view the schedule, register for an upcoming free event, or view a prior event on-demand, visit https://www.icadmed.com/educational-webinars.html.

*Panelists have been compensated with an honoraria/speaking fee, but are encouraged to provide their own expert opinions and viewpoints. Dr. Patel is a member of iCAD’s Board of Directors.

About iCAD, Inc.

Headquartered in Nashua, NH, iCAD is a global medical technology leader providing innovative cancer detection and therapy solutions.

ProFound AI is a high-performing workflow solution for 2D and 3D mammography, or digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), featuring the latest in deep-learning artificial intelligence. In 2018, ProFound AI for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) became the first artificial intelligence (AI) software for DBT to be FDA-cleared; it was also CE marked and Health Canada licensed that same year. It offers clinically proven time-savings benefits to radiologists, including a reduction of reading time by 52.7 percent, thereby halving the amount of time it takes radiologists to read 3D mammography datasets. Additionally, ProFound AI for DBT improved radiologist sensitivity by 8 percent and reduced unnecessary patient recall rates by 7.2 percent.1

The Xoft System is FDA-cleared, CE marked and licensed in a growing number of countries for the treatment of cancer anywhere in the body. It uses a proprietary miniaturized x-ray source to deliver a precise, concentrated dose of radiation directly to the tumor site, while minimizing risk of damage to healthy tissue in nearby areas of the body.

For more information, visit http://www.icadmed.com and http://www.xoftinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the future prospects for the Company’s technology platforms and products. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited, to the Company’s ability to achieve business and strategic objectives, the ability of IORT to alleviate the burden to our health system and minimize a patient’s potential exposure to Covid-19, to be more beneficial for patients that traditional therapy or to be accepted by patients or clinicians, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties, uncertainty of future sales levels, to defend itself in litigation matters, protection of patents and other proprietary rights, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties, product market acceptance, possible technological obsolescence of products, increased competition, litigation and/or government regulation, changes in Medicare or other reimbursement policies, risks relating to our existing and future debt obligations, competitive factors, the effects of a decline in the economy or markets served by the Company; and other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words believe,” demonstrate,” intend,” expect,” estimate,” will,” continue,” anticipate,” likely,” seek,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. The Company is under no obligation to provide any updates to any information contained in this release. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iCAD, please see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available on the Investors section of our website at http://www.icadmed.com and on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

Contacts: Media inquiries: Jessica Burns, iCAD +1-201-423-4492 jburns@icadmed.com

Investor Relations: Jeremy Feffer, LifeSci Advisors +1-212-915-2568 jeremy@lifesciadvisors.com

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iCAD Hosts Virtual Roundtable Event on Breast Cancer Surgery and Targeted Radiation During COVID-19 | 2020-06-01 | Press Releases - Stockhouse

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With America on lockdown the past two months, many people turned to the woods for safe isolation and social distancing. And now as sections of the country reopen and summer approaches, the outdoors will be filled with hikers, campers, hunters and fishermen. It will also be filled with ticks that may be carrying the bacterial infection that spreads Lyme disease to humans and pets.

Unlike a mosquito bite where people know immediately if they have been bitten, a tick bite may go undetected; and one of the challenges with Lyme disease is that symptoms may not appear for two to six weeks. That makes it critically important to take steps to avoid catching the disease and to know its warning signs so treatment can begin early when it is most effective.

While not all deer ticks cause Lyme disease, it is still smart to avoid areas where deer ticks live, especially wooded, bushy areas with long grass, said Sean McCloy, M.D., a family medicine physician with an expertise in Lyme disease at the Integrative Health Center of Maine. You can decrease your risk of getting Lyme disease with some simple precautions, such as wearing shoes, long pants tucked into your socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat and gloves. And after spending time in vulnerable areas you should always check your clothing, yourself, your children and your pets for ticks; and remove any that you find as soon as possible with tweezers. Only a minority of tick bites leads to Lyme disease; but the longer the tick remains attached to your skin, the greater your risk of getting the disease.

For those who are bitten by an infected tick, early warning signs include fever, headache, fatigue, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, weakness in the limbs and a characteristic skin rash often in a bull's-eye pattern. If untreated, new symptoms could include neurological problems and, though less common, heart problems (such as an irregular heartbeat), eye inflammation, liver inflammation and severe fatigue.

If you think you've been bitten and have signs and symptoms of Lyme diseaseparticularly if you live in an area where Lyme disease is prevalentit is critical to get tested as treatment is more effective if begun early, said Robert Dracker, M.D., chairman of the heart, lung and cancer committee for the Medical Society of New York and medical director of Summerwood Pediatrics and Infusacare Medical Services in New York. Fortunately, new tests are available that are easy to administer and provide results faster than ever.

Leading the way in Lyme disease testing is the innovative Sofia 2 Lyme FIA test. This in-office test provides a patient as well as his or her physician with indicative results within minutes as opposed to days, which has historically been the norm. Performed in the privacy of a doctors office or local clinic, it is also the only test that can get results from a simple finger prick of blood. The test was developed by Quidel, a California-based diagnostic healthcare manufacturer and one of the nations leaders in developing rapid diagnostic health solutions.

Given that the vast majority of patients tested are negative, getting results quickly will mean discernable peace of mind and remove a significant weight off a persons shoulders, said Dr. Dracker. Not having to wait days for test results allows physicians and nurse practitioners to more rapidly treat those patients with positive results while more quickly pursuing other diagnosis and treatment for those who test negative.

Patients seeking more information are encouraged to contact their private physician to find out more about the availability of this innovative new test in their area. More information on Quidel may be obtained at quidel.com.

About Quidel Corporation

Quidel Corporation serves to enhance the health and well-being of people around the globe through the development of diagnostic solutions that can lead to improved patient outcomes and provide economic benefits to the healthcare system. Quidels products aid in the detection and diagnosis of many critical diseases and conditions including not only Lyme disease but, among others, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, strep A, herpes, pregnancy, thyroid disease and fecal occult blood. Quidels research and development engine is also developing a continuum of diagnostic solutions from advanced immunoassay to molecular diagnostic tests to further improve the quality of healthcare in physicians offices and hospital and reference laboratories. For more information about Quidel, visit quidel.com.

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Knowing Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease Is Critical for Early Detection and Treatment, Says Industry-Leading Quidel - Business Wire

Poison is lethal all on its own as are arrows but their combination is greater than the sum of their parts. A weapon that simultaneously attacks from within and without can take down even the strongest opponents, from E. coli to MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

A team of Princeton researchers reported today in the journal Cell that they have found a compound, SCH-79797, that can simultaneously puncture bacterial walls and destroy folate within their cells while being immune to antibiotic resistance.

Bacterial infections come in two flavors Gram-positive and Gram-negative named for the scientist who discovered how to distinguish them. The key difference is that Gram-negative bacteria are armored with an outer layer that shrugs off most antibiotics. In fact, no new classes of Gram-negative-killing drugs have come to market in nearly 30 years.

This is the first antibiotic that can target Gram-positives and Gram-negatives without resistance, said Zemer Gitai, Princetons Edwin Grant Conklin Professor of Biology and the senior author on the paper. From a Why its useful perspective, thats the crux. But what were most excited about as scientists is something weve discovered about how this antibiotic works attacking via two different mechanisms within one molecule that we are hoping is generalizable, leading to better antibiotics and new types of antibiotics in the future.

Gitai poses with James Martin, who led the research team and is first author on the new article about the poisoned arrow antibiotic, at Martins 2019 Ph.D. thesis defense.

The greatest weakness of antibiotics is that bacteria evolve quickly to resist them, but the Princeton team found that even with extraordinary effort, they were unable to generate any resistance to this compound. This is really promising, which is why we call the compounds derivatives Irresistin, Gitai said.

Its the holy grail of antibiotics research: an antibiotic that is effective against diseases and immune to resistance while being safe in humans (unlike rubbing alcohol or bleach, which are irresistibly fatal to human cells and bacterial cells alike).

For an antibiotics researcher, this is like discovering the formula to convert lead to gold, or riding a unicorn something everyone wants but no one really believes exists, said James Martin, a 2019 Ph.D. graduate who spent most of his graduate career working on this compound. My first challenge was convincing the lab that it was true, he said.

But irresistibility is a double-edged sword. Typical antibiotics research involves finding a molecule that can kill bacteria, breeding multiple generations until the bacteria evolve resistance to it, looking at how exactly that resistance operates, and using that to reverse-engineer how the molecule works in the first place.

But since SCH-79797 is irresistible, the researchers had nothing to reverse engineer from.

This was a real technical feat, said Gitai. No resistance is a plus from the usage side, but a challenge from the scientific side.

The research team had two huge technical challenges: Trying to prove the negative that nothing can resist SCH-79797 and then figuring out how the compound works.

To prove its resistance to resistance, Martin tried endless different assays and methods, none of which revealed a particle of resistance to the SCH compound. Finally, he tried brute force: for 25 days, he serially passaged it, meaning that he exposed bacteria to the drug over and over and over again. Since bacteria take about 20 minutes per generation, the germs had millions of chances to evolve resistance but they didnt. To check their methods, the team also serially passaged other antibiotics (novobiocin, trimethoprim, nisin and gentamicin) and quickly bred resistance to them.

Proving a negative is technically impossible, so the researchers use phrases like undetectably-low resistance frequencies and no detectable resistance, but the upshot is that SCH-79797 is irresistible hence the name they gave to its derivative compounds, Irresistin.

They also tried using it against bacterial species that are known for their antibiotic resistance, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is on the top 5 list of urgent threats published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gonorrhea poses a huge problem with respect to multidrug resistance, said Gitai. Weve run out of drugs for gonorrhea. With most common infections, the old-school generic drugs still work. When I got strep throat two years ago, I was given penicillin-G the penicillin discovered in 1928! But for N. gonorrhoeae, the standard strains that are circulating on college campuses are super drug resistant. What used to be the last line of defense, the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency drug for Neisseria, is now the front-line standard of care, and there really is no break-glass backup anymore. Thats why this one is a particularly important and exciting one that we could cure.

The researchers even got a sample of the most resistant strain of N. gonorrhoeae from the vaults of the World Health Organization a strain that is resistant to every known antibiotic and Joe showed that our guy still killed this strain, Gitai said, referring to Joseph Sheehan, a co-first-author on the paper and the lab manager for the Gitai Lab. Were pretty excited about that.

Without resistance to reverse engineer from, the researchers spent years trying to determine how the molecule kills bacteria, using a huge array of approaches, from classical techniques that have been around since the discovery of penicillin through to cutting-edge technology.

Martin called it the everything but the kitchen sink approach, and it eventually revealed that SCH-79797 uses two distinct mechanisms within one molecule, like an arrow coated in poison.

Princeton authors on the paper include Joseph Sheehan (left), Gabriel Moore (fourth from left, in blue), Sophia Hsin-Jung Li (fifth from left, in pink), James Martin (fourth from right, in baseball cap), Zemer Gitai (second from right), and Benjamin Bratton (right), seen here on a pre-social-distancing walk across the Princeton campus.

Photo courtesy of the researchers

The arrow has to be sharp to get the poison in, but the poison has to kill on its own, too, said Benjamin Bratton, an associate research scholar in molecular biology and a lecturer in the Lewis Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, who is the other co-first-author.

The arrow targets the outer membrane piercing through even the thick armor of Gram-negative bacteria while the poison shreds folate, a fundamental building block of RNA and DNA. The researchers were surprised to discover that the two mechanisms operate synergistically, combining into more than a sum of their parts.

If you just take those two halves there are commercially available drugs that can attack either of those two pathways and you just dump them into the same pot, that doesnt kill as effectively as our molecule, which has them joined together on the same body, Bratton said.

There was one problem: The original SCH-79797 killed human cells and bacterial cells at roughly similar levels, meaning that as a medicine, it ran the risk of killing the patient before it killed the infection. The derivative Irresistin-16 fixed that. It is nearly 1,000 times more potent against bacteria than human cells, making it a promising antibiotic. As a final confirmation, the researchers demonstrated that they could use Irresistin-16 to cure mice infected with N. gonorrhoeae.

This poisoned arrow paradigm could revolutionize antibiotic development, said KC Huang, a professor of bioengineering and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University who was not involved in this research.

The thing that cant be overstated is that antibiotic research has stalled over a period of many decades, Huang said. Its rare to find a scientific field which is so well studied and yet so in need of a jolt of new energy.

The poisoned arrow, the synergy between two mechanisms of attacking bacteria, can provide exactly that, said Huang, who was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton from 2004 to 2008. This compound is already so useful by itself, but also, people can start designing new compounds that are inspired by this. Thats what has made this work so exciting.

In particular, each of the two mechanisms the arrow and the poison target processes that are present in both bacteria and in mammalian cells. Folate is vital to mammals (which is why pregnant women are told to take folic acid), and of course both bacteria and mammalian cells have membranes. This gives us a lot of hope, because theres a whole class of targets that people have largely neglected because they thought, Oh, I cant target that, because then I would just kill the human as well, Gitai said.

A study like this says that we can go back and revisit what we thought were the limitations on our development of new antibiotics, Huang said. From a societal point of view, its fantastic to have new hope for the future.

Other Princetonians involved in the research include molecular biology graduate student Gabriel Moore; then-graduate students Maxwell Wilson and Sophia Hsin-Jung Li, who completed their Ph.D. degrees in 2015 and 2018 respectively; Hahn Kim, the director of the Small Molecule Screening Center in Princetons Department of Chemistry; and Joshua Rabinowitz, a professor of chemistry and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics.

A dual-mechanism antibiotic kills Gram-negative bacteria and avoids drug resistance, by James K. Martin, Joseph P. Sheehan, Benjamin P. Bratton, Gabriel M. Moore, Andre Mateus, Sophia Hsin-Jung Li, Hahn Kim, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Athanasios Typas, Mikhail M. Savitski, Maxwell Z. Wilson, and Zemer Gitai, appears in the June 25 issue of the journal Cell and was released online on June 3 (DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.005). The research was supported primarily by the National Institutes of Health (DP1AI124669 to ZG, JPS, BPB, JKM) with additional funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF PHY-1734030). Flow cytometry was performed at the Princeton University Flow Cytometry Resource Facility, supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI-CCSG P30CA072720-5921).

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Princeton team develops 'poisoned arrow' to defeat antibiotic-resistant bacteria - Princeton University

Quick and Cheap: RT-Lamp COVID-19 tests to cost up to Rs 200, give results in less than an hour, says CSIR  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi [India], May 27 (ANI): The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed an MoU with Reliance to develop a new RT-LAMP COVID-19 diagnostic kit, which is cheap and gives a quick result, said Director-General Dr Shekhar C Mande on Wednesday.

COVID-19 RT-LAMP (Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification) test is a nucleic acid-based test carried out from nasal or throat swab samples from the patients. The test has been developed and successfully demonstrated using synthetic templates.

Talking about the test, Dr Mande said that "RT-LAMP test is cheap because you don't need to have instrument cost. It's also quite quick. You can actually take it into different areas. You can very quickly take it into the rural area."

The CSIR on Tuesday had announced that the Institute of Integrative Medicine in Jammu has tied up with Reliance Industries Ltd to develop and scale-up a new RT-LAMP based COVID-19 diagnostic kit.

Dr Mande said that the new testing kit "could cost between Rs 100 and Rs 200. It will take less than an hour for a test to do. Within one hour, we can get the result."

Talking about the difference between Feluda test and RT-LAMP kit, Dr Mande said: "Technological basis of Feluda kit and RT-LAMP kit is different. Faluda is based on technique call crisper cash, while RT-LAMP is based on RT-PCR. There is isothermal PCR. So, the technology of both kits is different."

"RT PCR requires a specialised machine. The first step is a reverse transcription that is common to both RT-PCR as well as RT-LAMP. The second step is once DNA is made from RNA, the PCR quantitative to PCR machine does three cycles of temperature," added he.

The CSIR-DG said further said: "In this condition, you do something at 92 degrees; you do something at 55 degrees; you do something at 73 degrees, and you keep cycling between these three temperatures about 25 and 30 times, and in each cycle the number of DNA molecules doubles and you measure. That is in the fluorescent level. So that is a base of RT-PCR."

"But RT-PCR required this machine the fluorescent level is costly and it takes time. On the other hand, the RT-LAMP test is using only four to six primers for the amplification of DNA. It uses four and six primers and you do the amplification of DNA. First of all, it is common for converting RNA into DNA. When in the second step, you use only a single temperature something like 60-degree Celsius," he added.

Dr Mande informed that the Institute of Integrative Medicine in Jammu and Reliance Industries Ltd have agreed that they will scale up the production of the test kit.

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Quick and Cheap: RT-Lamp COVID-19 tests to cost up to Rs 200, give results in less than an hour, says CSIR - Times Now