Category Archives: Preventative Medicine

Jul 11, 2024 11:14:00

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Large-scale clinical trials in South Africa and Uganda have shown that a new PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) drug called lenacapavir, given as an injection once every six months, can 100% prevent HIV infection. Professor Linda Gayle Becker, deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, explains lenacapavir and its clinical trials.

HIV breakthrough: drug trial shows injection twice a year is 100% effective against infection https://theconversation.com/hiv-breakthrough-drug-trial-shows-injection-twice-a-year-is-100-effective-against-infection-233295

HIV is a retrovirus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV infects and destroys T cells and macrophages, which are responsible for the immune system, resulting in the loss of cell-mediated immunity.

It is estimated that 1.3 million people worldwide will be newly infected with HIV in 2023 alone, and if things continue as they are, the goal of eradicating AIDS by 2030 will not be achieved. On the other hand, PrEP drugs are not a surefire preventative treatment, and they have a high hurdle in that they must be taken every day to be effective.

In order for the virus to grow, it must inject its genetic information into the chromosomes of the cell after infecting it. At this time, the genetic information is wrapped in a protein shell called a capsid. Lenacapavir, developed by the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has a different mechanism of action from conventional PrEP, and by inhibiting the production of this capsid, it has the effect of suppressing the growth of HIV.

Lenacapavir is taken orally or by subcutaneous injection. Subcutaneous injection is said to be effective even if taken once every six months, which is an advantage over conventional PrEP drugs.

The clinical trial, conducted by the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, involved 5,000 female subjects aged 16 to 25 at three sites in Uganda and 25 sites in South Africa. According to the research team, young women in eastern and southern Africa are particularly at the forefront of HIV infection and are often unable to take PrEP medication daily for social reasons.

by Prachatai

The results of the clinical trial showed that none of the 2,134 people taking lenacapavir became infected with HIV, confirming 100% efficacy, compared with 16 of 1,068 people taking Truvada and 39 of 2,136 people taking Descovy who became infected with HIV.

Twice-yearly HIV prevention drug 'Lenacapavir' shows 100% efficacy in HIV prevention in Phase III clinical trial - GIGAZINE

'We hope that this new drug will be adopted into WHO and national guidelines, and that it will begin to be tested in more studies to better understand how to implement it in real-world situations,' said Professor Becker.

In addition, the subjects in this clinical trial were only women, but the research team said that further trials are required to investigate whether the effect differs depending on the style of sexual intercourse that is the route of infection.

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What is Lenacapavir, the new HIV prevention drug that showed 100% efficacy in clinical trials? - GIGAZINE

The past century brought profound advances in the understanding and treatment of cardiovascular disease, leading to dramatic reductions in deaths linked to heart disease and stroke. But what will the next 100 years bring?

While no one can say for certain, experts point to three areas they expect may play a crucial role in the decades ahead: a push to halt the rise of cardiovascular risk factors using the knowledge gained in previous decades; the continued development of innovative technologies; and a heightened focus on the root causes of health disparities to prevent them from widening as the U.S. population grows more diverse.

Prevention: Putting knowledge gains to use

Over the past century, an enormous body of research emerged surrounding the factors and behaviors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association compiled this knowledge into eight key measures that, if properly managed, could help to substantially lower the risk for heart disease, stroke and other major health problems. These include physical activity, diet, tobacco use, body weight, sleep duration and blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels.

"The challenge is how to translate that knowledge into health actions," said Dr. Adrian Hernandez, executive director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and vice dean of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. "That's where we have to do a lot more."

Research shows the rates of many cardiovascular risk factors have been rising in the U.S. and are projected to keep doing so. High blood pressure, diabetes and obesity rates are expected to continue to climb over the next 30 years, along with coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke and atrial fibrillation. Similar increases are projected among children.

A recent AHA presidential advisory estimates that by 2050, high blood pressure and obesity will affect more than half the population overall and more than 80% of some subgroups, such as Black and older adults. This is expected to have a direct impact on heart disease and stroke rates.

Most strokes could be prevented if these risk factors were reduced, said Dr. Hugo Aparicio, an associate professor of neurology at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University.

"There are some risk factors we've been better at reducing," like smoking, he said. "But there are other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and obesity, with a stubborn increase, especially among younger adults."

Better education about how to manage those risks delivered early in life will be critical, said Dr. Alex Crystal, chief of cardiology at Mackenzie Health and director of Lawrence Park Cardiology, both in Toronto.

"There appears to be a gap in current public health education efforts regarding preventative health care measures for young people," he said. "This is particularly concerning for chronic diseases like obesity, where early intervention can significantly improve long-term health outcomes."

Teens and young adults don't understand those long-term health risks, such as the development of diabetes or cardiovascular disease early in life, he said. "Prioritizing educational initiatives targeting adolescents and young adults to emphasize the importance of healthy lifestyle choices, including regular exercise, proper nutrition and preventive screenings, and investing in targeted public health campaigns that effectively communicate these long-term health risks could be beneficial."

Innovative technologies and therapies

One way to help people understand those consequences could be to show them their personalized health trajectories using innovative, genetics-related technologies and wearable devices that collect personal health data, Hernandez said.

"If we can create a map of human health and show people where they are on that map, it might help them understand why they need to prevent the conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease," he said. "We could show people how those risks add up."

Genetics will likely play a growing role in identifying and lowering a person's risk for disease, Aparicio said. Polygenetic risk scores, calculated by the presence or absence of gene variants, tell people their chances of developing medical conditions. Gene editing, a field that has emerged over the past decade, allows scientists to change the DNA of an organism, making it theoretically possible to reduce disease risk. While still experimental, it has been successfully used to treat childhood leukemia and has led to the development of new therapies for hemophilia and cystic fibrosis.

Hernandez and Aparicio see an expanding role for gene editing in the years ahead.

For example, someone with a high genetic risk for stroke might be able to lower that risk through gene editing, Hernandez said.

Even if the genes can't be altered, between testing and passive data collected with wearable technology, such as smartwatches that monitor heart rate, heart rhythms and physical activity levels, "we should be able to get good information to understand what that data means for each person's cardiovascular risk profile," Aparicio said.

In the future, wearable technology could evolve beyond smartwatches to include devices implanted in clothing or eyeglasses that gather data not just from individuals but from the environment they're in, Aparicio said. He envisions it being able to alert people to other contributing health factors, such as poor air quality, to help them reduce their personal risks.

"Decades ahead, we should have much more information about our individual health and health trajectories than ever before," Hernandez said. "The combination of where someone stands with cardiovascular risk factors, their genome sequencing and assessments of daily health through passive, digital technology should allow us to better understand their total health and what it might look like over the coming years. It closes the loop for precision health."

Faster treatment may reduce brain damage

Even if stroke rates rise, Aparicio sees a future in which they could do less harm.

He noted a growing area of research into medications that could be given immediately following a stroke, even in an ambulance, and possibly improve stroke outcomes. "They could protect the brain immediately," Aparicio said. "A lot of this is being developed right now."

Other innovative technologies such as mobile CT scanners that can fit in an ambulance also would allow faster diagnosis and treatment of people who have strokes. They are already being used in some areas and will likely become more commonplace, he said. Aparicio envisions a time when other non-invasive technologies, such as MRIs, might also be deployed in this way.

There are also exciting new technologies on the horizon to help resuscitate people who experience cardiac arrest, when the heart suddenly stops working, said Dr. Sarah Perman, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.

ECPR, or extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, allows a machine to pump blood for the heart. This allows doctors to preserve organ function as they try to determine what caused the cardiac arrest and treat it. ECPR for in-hospital cardiac arrests has been shown to reduce mortality and is becoming more widespread, but efforts to use it to treat out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are fairly new, gaining traction in Europe and in a few trials in the U.S., Perman said.

According to AHA's advanced life support guidelines update co-authored by Perman, ECPR is reasonable to use on people who have a cardiac arrest but their heart remains unresponsive after extended CPR attempts. But it would require a well-trained and equipped team.

"It's pretty rare right now, still in the early stages," Perman said. "But there are some pretty exciting opportunities here to save lives."

While new technologies can be expensive during the early stages, and available only to a select few, that tends to change over time, Aparicio said.

"Eventually, all of these technologies will likely become cheaper and more accessible and widespread," he said.

Tackling the underlying causes of health disparities

Addressing racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic health disparities already a significant problem will become more critical in the coming years, experts say.

The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2030, immigration will become the main driver of population growth. By 2060, the Hispanic, Asian and multiracial populations are expected to increase significantly, which is likely to exacerbate underlying social determinants of health such as access to health care and healthy foods and potentially widen disparities.

Black adults already have disproportionately higher rates of high blood pressure and obesity, and they continue to have higher death rates from cardiovascular disease than their white peers. American Indians and Alaska Natives are 50% more likely than white people to be diagnosed with heart disease. Because of shifting demographics, researchers project that within 30 years, Hispanic adults will see the largest total increase in cardiovascular disease and stroke, and Hispanic children will see the largest rises in high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity rates, while Black children are expected to have the highest overall rates of high blood pressure and diabetes.

Identifying and treating risk factors earlier in life critical for all populations will be even more important within these higher-risk groups, Aparicio said.

"Certainly, as the population becomes more diverse, more attention needs to be paid to ensure that all people have the same chance to age with a healthy heart and a healthy brain," he said. "If the root causes of health disparities are not addressed, these populations are going to be more at risk."

Much research has already been done to identify those root causes, which include structural racism and its consequences related to income, employment and housing inequities, less access to health care, healthy foods and safe environments.

Some disparities exist because entire groups of people are left out of the research, Perman said. That's why it's so important when developing new technologies or treatments to ensure equal representation.

"As devices and technologies are being developed, we want to make sure we're not creating more disparities for people with lower socioeconomic status, underrepresented race or sex," she said. "We need to make sure we're being purposeful in how we design studies and who we are including in those studies. And, if we don't have data for women, we need to make sure we are careful if we generalize what we know about men to apply it to women."

Reversing deeply entrenched disparities won't be easy, experts say.

Research shows health care outcomes improve when people are treated by a more diverse medical workforce. Health care professionals who represent the patient community they serve have greater cultural sensitivity to patient needs, fewer language barriers and foster greater trust, which can be critical in getting people to comply with medical advice.

"In communities with the greatest health disparities, we need to take action to improve trust in the health system," Hernandez said.

"And we need to make sure we improve access to health care everywhere."

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What might next 100 years hold for cardiovascular disease prevention and care? - Japan Today

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June 13 is recognized annually as International Albinism Awareness Day (IAAD). Since 2014 when the United Nations' General Assembly first signed a resolution establishing the commemorative day, IAAD has served as a source of awareness, advocacy, and empowerment for patients with albinism.1

Albinism typically refers to oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), or a series of 8 main types of the inherited disorders. Individuals typically present with OCA1 (the most severe type), OCA2 (the most common type), OCA3, and OCA7. Other types include OCA4, OCA5, and OCA8, and some types may be divided into subtypes.2

Though albinism impacts pigmentation of the skin, as well as the nails and eyes, dermatologists cannot "treat" patients with albinism. There is no way to treat or prevent the lack of skin pigmentation.3

However, it is crucial that dermatology clinicians engage in preventative and multidisciplinary care.

The care team for an individual with vitiligo typically includes a primary care provider, an ophthalmologist for eye issues, and a dermatologist for skin concerns. A genetic specialist may help determine the specific type of albinism, which can guide care and identify potential complications.3

Treatment generally involves regular eye exams by an ophthalmologist, usually requiring prescription lenses, and possibly surgery for eye muscle issues or strabismus. Skin care includes annual exams to monitor for skin cancer, particularly melanoma.3

Clinicians should provide patients with practical guidance on managing low vision and protecting their skin and eyes from sun damage. For patients with low vision, recommending the use of various aids can significantly enhance their quality of life. Hand-held magnifiers, telescopes, or magnifiers that attach to glasses can make daily tasks easier.3

Emphasize the importance of sun protection to your patients with albinism, even more than is typical with otherwise healthy individuals. Advise them to use sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 30, ensuring it offers broad-spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Alongside sunscreen, patients should be cautioned against prolonged sun exposure, particularly during peak UV radiation times, such as midday, and in high-risk environments like high altitudes or areas near water.3

Encouraging patients to wear protective clothing is another essential aspect of sun safety. Recommend garments that cover the skin, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, and broad-brimmed hats. Clothes with built-in UV protection can offer additional security against harmful rays.3

Lastly, stress the importance of eye protection by suggesting dark, UV-blocking sunglasses or photochromic lenses, which adjust to varying light conditions, to shield their eyes from potential sun damage.3

Health care professionals, such as dermatologists, are trained to recognize and understand the components that can create internal and external conflicts. We are able to connect and provide resources to better aid in ones health care journey, according to Albert Zhou, MD, PhD, resident physician, PGY-1, Department of Medicine, Mercy Medical Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.4

By sharing these comprehensive measures, clinicians can help their patients adopt effective strategies to safeguard their vision and overall health.

Do you have patients with albinism? What steps do you take to ensure your patients receive preventative and multidisciplinary care? Share your experiences and/or patient cases with us by emailing our team at DTEditor@mmhgroup.com.

References

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Providing Patients With Multidisciplinary, Preventative Care in the Management of Albinism - Dermatology Times

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --For the first time, a randomized controlled clinical trial has demonstrated that an intensive lifestyle intervention, without drugs, significantly improved cognition and function after 20 weeks in many patients with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Themultisite clinical study was published today in the leading peer-reviewed Alzheimer's translational research journal, Alzheimer's Research and Therapy.

This peer-reviewed study was directed by lifestyle medicine pioneer Dean Ornish, M.D., founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in collaboration with other renowned scientists and neurologists from leading academic medical centers. These include:

"I'm cautiously optimistic and very encouraged by these findings, which may empower many people with new hope and new choices," said Dr. Ornish. "We do not yet have a cure for Alzheimer's, but as the scientific community continues to pursue all avenues to identify potential treatments, we are now able to offer an improved quality of life to many people suffering from this terrible disease."

The research team recruited 51 participants with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer's disease and randomly assigned them to either an intensive lifestyle intervention group (no drugs added) or a usual-care control (comparison) group. Members of the control group were instructed not to make any lifestyle changes during the 20-week trial.

The intervention group participated in an intensive lifestyle program with four components: (1) a whole-foods, minimally processed plant-based diet low in harmful fats, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and sweeteners predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, plus selected supplements with all meals sent to each patient's home to maximize adherence; (2) moderate aerobic exercise and strength training for at least 30 minutes per day; (3) stress management, including meditation, stretching, breathing and imagery, for one hour per day; and (4) support groups for patients and their spouses or study partners, for one hour three times per week.

Improvements in patients with early Alzheimer's diseaseTo measure pre- and post-trial cognitive function, the researchers utilized four standard tests used in Food and Drug Administrationdrug trials: the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment ScaleCognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog), Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC), Clinical Dementia RatingSum of Boxes (CDR-SB) and Clinical Dementia Rating Global (CDR-G).

Results after 20 weeks showed overall statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the randomized control group in cognition and function in three of these measures (CGIC, p = 0.001; CDR-SB, p = 0.032; CDR-G, p= 0.037), and differences of borderline significance in the fourth test (ADAS-Cog, p =0.053). When a mathematical outlier was excluded, all four measures showed significant differences in cognition and function in the experimental group. Three of these measures showed improvement in cognition and function in the intervention group and one test showed significantly less disease progression. In contrast, the randomized control group worsened in all four of these measures.

Not all patients in the intervention group improved; in the CGIC test, 71% improved or were unchanged. In contrast, none of the patients in the control group improved, eight were unchanged and 17 (68%) worsened.

Many patients who experienced improvement reported regaining lost cognition and function. For example, several patients in the intervention group reported that they had been unable to read a book or watch a movie because they kept forgetting what they had just read or viewed and had to keep starting over, but now they were able to do so and retain most of this information. One individual reported that it used to take him weeks to finish reading a book, but after participating in the study he was able to do so in only three or four days and was able to remember most of what he read.

A former business executive reported regaining the ability to manage his own finances and investments. "It was so much a part of my life who I am, and who I was it was hard saying that part of me was just gone," he said. "I'm back to reconciling our finances monthly; I keep up to date on our investments. A lot of self-worth comes back."

A woman said that for five years she had been unable to prepare their family business financial reports, but now she is able to do so accurately. "A deep sense of identity is returning. It's given me a new lease on life, and yet it's a familiarity and something I've always prided myself on. I'm coming back like I was prior to the disease being diagnosed. I feel like I'm me again an older but better version of me."

There was a statistically significant dose-response correlation between the degree of lifestyle changes in both groups and the degree of change in most measures of cognition and function testing. In short, the more these patients changed their lifestyle in the prescribed ways, the greater was the beneficial impact on their cognition and function.

This dose-response correlation adds to the biological plausibility of these findings and may help to explain, in part, why some patients in the intervention group improved and others did not (although other mechanisms may also play a role). Other studies have shown that more moderate lifestyle changes such as adopting the Mediterranean diet may slow the rate of progression (worsening) of Alzheimer's disease but may not go far enough to improve cognition and function.

In addition to improvements in cognition and function, the intervention group also demonstrated significant improvements in several key blood-based biomarkers. One of the most clinically relevant biomarkers is called the A42/40ratio, which is a measure of amyloid, thought to be an important mechanism in Alzheimer's disease. This measure improved in the lifestyle intervention group (with the presumption that this improvement reflected amyloid moving out of the brain and into the blood), but it worsened in the randomized control group, and these differences were statistically significant (p = 0.003).

There was also a statistically significant dose-response correlation between the degree of lifestyle change and the degree of improvement in this amyloid ratio (p = 0.035). This direction of change in amyloid was also a major finding with lecanemab, a drug approved for treating Alzheimer's disease last year.

Also, the gut microbiome in the intervention group showed a significant decrease in organisms that raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease and an increase in organisms that are protective against Alzheimer's disease. These biomarker and gut microbiome results also add to the biological plausibility of the overall findings.

According to renowned Alzheimer's scientist Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D., "These findings add to the growing body of evidence that moderate multimodal lifestyle changes may help prevent Alzheimer's disease or slow its progression, and also suggest that more intensive multimodal lifestyle changes may have additional benefits for improving cognition in patients with early Alzheimer's disease."

New hope in tackling a devastating and costly diseaseAlzheimer's disease, the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans aged 65 and older, is not only physically and emotionally devastating; it's also extremely costly. The disease currently affects more than six million people in the U.S., at an annual cost of more than $345 billion. By 2050, the number affected is expected to reach 13 million, with costs projected to skyrocket to $1.1 trillion annually.

"There's a desperate need for Alzheimer's treatments," said study co-author Rudolph E.Tanzi, Ph.D., an acclaimed professorof neurology atHarvard Medical School and director of the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the study's clinical sites. "Biopharma companies have invested billions of dollars in the effort to find medications to treat the disease, but only two Alzheimer's drugs have been approved in the past 20 years one of which was recently taken off the market, and the other is minimally effective and extremely expensive and often has serious side effects such as brain swelling or bleeding into the brain. In contrast, the intensive lifestyle changes implemented in this study have been shown here to improve cognition and function, at a fraction of the cost and the only side effects are positive ones."

"I am delighted and honored to be a part of this groundbreaking study showing for the first time in a controlled clinical trial what the epidemiology has told us all along: Lifestyle factors are critically important in our efforts to address Alzheimer's. While efforts to develop drugs to treat this disease will continue, this study provides a blueprint for practical, easily implemented steps that can significantly alter the progression to full Alzheimer's disease,"said study co-author Eric Verdin, M.D., president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

This study has implications for preventing Alzheimer's disease as well. New technologies such as artificial intelligence now make it possible to predict an individual's likelihood of developing this disease years before it becomes clinically apparent, but many people ask, "Why would I want to know if I'm likely to get Alzheimer's disease if I can't do anything about it? It will just make me worry." Although further research is needed, it is reasonable to believe that the same intensive lifestyle changes that often improve cognition and function in those with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer's may help prevent the disease as well.

"This study finally gives us scientific data to support what many of us in this field have believed instinctively for years, that lifestyle interventions may determine the trajectory of people's Alzheimer's journeys," said Maria Shriver, founder of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement (WAM) at Cleveland Clinic, which provided early seed funding for this study. "We opened the WAM Prevention and Research Clinic at Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas for women 30 to 60 years of age who are at higher risk than average for developing Alzheimer's. The protocols we use involve adopting many of the lifestyle interventions employed in this study. So, showing success in improving the health trajectories of those already diagnosed with Alzheimer's clearly offers hope to those who want to delay or prevent developing the disease altogether. This is a study to give us hope."

A growing body of lifestyle medicine researchDr. Ornish has directed peer-reviewed research at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute for over four decades. He is often referred to as "the father of lifestyle medicine."

The Institute's studies, published in leading peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals, focus on the power of lifestyle medicine to help prevent and often reverse the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases. These include coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, early-stage prostate cancer, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and now, early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Ornish's most recent bestselling book, "Undo It!," co-authored with Anne Ornish, puts forth his unifying theory: the reason that the same lifestyle changes may beneficially affect so many different chronic diseases is that these share common biological mechanisms that are directly affected by what people eat, how much they exercise, how they respond to stress, and how much love and support they enjoy. Alzheimer's is the latest example of why "what's good for your heart is also good for your brain."

In 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began providing nationwide Medicare coverage for Dr. Ornish's program, which has been shown to often reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, as "intensive cardiac rehabilitation." This nine-week program is offered online, so individuals can join classes from the comfort of their own homes, enabling participation by those who cannot afford to take time off work, who live far from a hospital or who cannot afford childcare, thereby reducing health disparities and inequities."I'm very grateful to CMS for providing Medicare coverage. Having seen what a powerful difference this program of lifestyle changes can make, I appreciate very much that it is now available to all eligible Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease who can benefit from it," Dr. Ornish said.

About the Preventive Medicine Research InstituteThe Preventive Medicine Research Institute (PMRI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 1984 by Dean Ornish, M.D., to conduct pioneering research evaluating the power of lifestyle medicine and to make healthy lifestyle changes more widely available to those who can benefit from them. PMRI's research uses the latest in high-tech medical and scientific technologies to assess the benefits of these low-tech and low-cost lifestyle changes. For more information about PMRI's four decades of peer-reviewed lifestyle medicine research, please visit https://pmri.org.

Media Contact:Laurie Masonson [emailprotected] 917-459-6164

SOURCE Preventative Medicine Research Institute

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Lifestyle Changes Significantly Improve Cognition and Function in Early Alzheimer's Disease for the First Time in a ... - PR Newswire

CHESTNUT HILL, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 12, 2024 / Nava Health, a leader in longevity, integrative, and functional medicine, is pleased to announce it has begun construction on its first center in the Boston area, to be located in Chestnut Hill, at the popular luxury shopping destination, The Street at Chestnut Hill. The 4,252 square foot space will occupy 33 Boylston Street, offering residents of Chestnut Hill and surrounding areas access to Nava Health's innovative approach to personalized healthcare. The store is expected to open later in 2024.

Nava Health isn't just about treating illness; the Company views healthcare as a proactive journey toward optimal well-being. Recognizing the growing emphasis and effectiveness of preventative and longevity-focused medicine, Nava Health offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored to empower individuals. Offerings include functional medicine, focused on the root causes of health issues, regenerative medicine, which aims to restore cellular and tissue function, and personalized wellness plans that provide a roadmap for long-term health.

"Our first location in the Boston area marks a milestone achievement in Nava Health's expansion in the Northeast. Chestnut Hill is a vibrant community known for its active lifestyle and commitment to well-being," says Bernie Dancel, CEO of Nava Health. "We at Nava Health understand the value residents here place on preventive care and achieving optimal health. Our personalized, data-driven approach to medicine perfectly complements this focus. We look forward to supporting their journey to a longer, healthier life."

A Perfect Fit for Chestnut Hill's Focus on Well-Being

Located just six miles outside of Boston, Chestnut Hill village is unique in that it crosses three counties, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The home of Boston College, Chestnut Hill is known for the beautiful campus, historic architecture and a community that thrives in a culturally rich environment.

About Nava Health

Nava Health is a vertically integrated, tech-enabled healthcare practice specializing in integrative, functional, preventive, and regenerative medicine. Their innovative approach utilizes a data-driven, personalized model to optimize health and increase longevity. Each client receives a customized wellness roadmap developed through their proprietary "Nava Method," which leverages data and specialized software to create optimal patient outcomes.

Media Contact Suzanne Coblentz [emailprotected]

Investor Contact John Nesbett/Jen Belodeau IMS Investor Relations [emailprotected]

SOURCE: Nava Health

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Nava Health Begins Construction on First Boston-Area Location; New Center in Chestnut Hill Will Provide Personalized ... - AccessWire

Scientists have developed novel drug-like molecules that could potentially prevent influenza infections by targeting the initial stage of the viral infection process. This represents a shift from traditional flu medications, which only treat after infection has occurred. The research indicates significant progress in the development of a preventative treatment for influenza, potentially reducing the need for annual vaccinations.

Currently, flu medications work by tackling the virus once it has already infected the body. However, researchers at Scripps Research and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine are taking a proactive approach. They have developed drug-like molecules aimed at preventing influenza infections before they start by blocking the initial stage of the viral infection process.

The drug-like inhibitors block the virus from entering the bodys respiratory cellsspecifically, they target hemagglutinin, a protein on the surface of type A influenza viruses. The findings, published on May 16, 2024, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), represent an important step forward in developing a drug that can prevent influenza infection.

Were trying to target the very first stage of influenza infection since it would be better to prevent infection in the first place, but these molecules could also be used to inhibit the spread of the virus after ones infected, says corresponding author Ian Wilson, DPhil, the Hansen Professor of Structural Biology at Scripps Research.

The inhibitors will need to be further optimized and tested before they can be assessed as antivirals in humans, but the researchers say that these molecules ultimately have the potential to help prevent and treat seasonal flu infections. And, unlike vaccines, the inhibitors likely wouldnt need to be updated yearly.

The scientists had previously identified a small molecule, F0045(S), with a limited capacity to bind and inhibit H1N1 type A influenza viruses.

We began by developing a high-throughput hemagglutinin binding assay that allowed us to rapidly screen large libraries of small molecules and found the lead compound F0045(S) with this process, says corresponding author Dennis Wolan, PhD, senior principal scientist at Genentech and former associate professor at Scripps Research.

Compound 7, a molecular inhibitor of the influenza virus, interacting with the influenza virus hemagglutinin protein. Credit: Scripps Research

In this study, the team aimed to optimize F0045(S)s chemical structure to design molecules with better drug-like properties and more specific binding ability to the virus. To start, the Wolan lab used SuFEx click-chemistry, which was first developed by two-time Nobel laureate and co-author K. Barry Sharpless, PhD, to generate a large library of candidate molecules with various tweaks to F0045(S)s original structure. When they screened this library, the researchers identified two molecules4(R) and 6(R)with superior binding affinity compared to F0045(S).

Next, Wilsons lab produced X-ray crystal structures of 4(R) and 6(R) bound to the flu hemagglutinin protein so that they could identify the molecules binding sites, determine the mechanisms behind their superior binding ability, and identify areas for improvement.

We showed that these inhibitors bind much more tightly to the viral antigen hemagglutinin than the original lead molecule did, says Wilson. By using click-chemistry, we basically extended the compounds ability to interact with influenza by making them target additional pockets on the antigen surface.

When the researchers tested 4(R) and 6(R) in cell culture to verify their antiviral properties and safety, they found 6(R) was non-toxic and had more than 200 times improved cellular antiviral potency compared to F0045(S).

Finally, the investigators used a targeted approach to further optimize 6(R) and develop compound 7, which proved to have even better antiviral ability.

This is the most potent small-molecule hemagglutinin inhibitor developed to date, says corresponding author Seiya Kitamura, who worked on the project as a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps Research and is now an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In future studies, the team plans to continue to optimize compound 7 and to test the inhibitor in animal models of influenza.

In terms of potency, it will be hard to improve the molecule any further, but there are many other properties to consider and optimize, for example, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and aqueous solubility, says Kitamura.

Because the inhibitors developed in this study only target H1N1 strains of influenza, researchers are also working to develop equivalent drug-like inhibitors to target other strains of influenza such as H3N2 and H5N1.

Reference: Ultrapotent influenza hemagglutinin fusion inhibitors developed through SuFEx-enabled high-throughput medicinal chemistry by Seiya Kitamura, Ting-Hui Lin, Chang-Chun David Lee, Akihiro Takamura, Rameshwar U. Kadam, Ding Zhang, Xueyong Zhu, Lucas Dada, Emiko Nagai, Wenli Yu, Yao Yao, K. Barry Sharpless, Ian A. Wilson and Dennis W. Wolan, 16 May 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310677121

This work was supported by the NIH, the Nathan Shock Institute of Aging Research, and Einstein-Montefiore.

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A Revolutionary Approach to Flu Prevention: New Molecules Stop Infection Before It Starts - SciTechDaily

There is no difference between preventive and preventative. They are both adjectives that mean "used to stop something bad from happening." Both words are commonly used in contexts concerning health care, as in "preventive/preventative medicine." Preventive, however, is used much more frequently than preventative.

Even though the English language is rich with variation, many of us find ourselves uncomfortable when we encounter two forms of a word which are just a touch different yet mean the same thing. If this happens with a pair of fairly obscure words (such as dialectical and dialectal) it often will not draw much notice. (Except on Twitter.) But when the words veer closer to common use and attract attention we often find that one of them will be condemned. As is the case with preventive and preventative.

The words co-existed for 200 years before complaints on 'preventative' began in the late 18th century.

The shorter word, preventive, has meanings such as "something that prevents," when used as a noun, and "devoted to or concerned with prevention," when used as an adjective. Preventative means the same thing. The question of which one you should choose depends much on your appetite for nit-pickery.

Of the two, preventive is slightly older, appearing in English at the beginning of the 17th century.

SoPhilipof Macedon, andAtisthe sonne ofCroesus,found a chariot in a swords hilt, and an Iron poynted weapon at the hunting of a Bore, to delude theirpreuentiue wearinesse. Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, 1602

The warre which wee callpreuentiue ought to bee esteemed the more fitte, for that the multitude of souldiers which the Turke carrieth alwayes with him to maintaine his owne designes, and to frustrate our purposes, is infinite. Louis Turquet de Mayerne (trans. by Edward Grimeston), The Generall Historie of Spaine, 1612

However, preventative is no Johnny-come-lately, showing definite use for over 350 years now.

Here follows thepreventative: take a poor man, and settle him in a comfortable situation, making him pay (or secure) a reasonable valuation.... Christopher Love, The Strange and Wonderful Predictions of Mr. Christopher Love, 1651

It openeth all obstructions, and suppresseth all manner of over-flowings in Women, strengtheneth the womb, cureth the mother, maketh the barren fruitfull, and is a greatpreventative against miscarryings, and rectifies most infirmities of the womb. John French, The York-shire Spaw, 1654

Tocommitthe sin, and not topreventthe sin, when men have thepreventativepower of it, are very nearally'd, if not the sameCrimes. Roger Boyle Orrery, The Answer of a Person of Quality to a Scandalous Letter Lately Printed and Subscribed by P.W., 1662

Preventive has always been more common than preventative (although the difference between the two words is more pronounced in some forms of English, such as the American varietal, than others). But for almost two hundred years the two words existed in peace, and no one seemed to mind much which one you used. It is not uncommon to find both of them used interchangeably by a single author within the same work.

...and sent for a neighbouring Apothecary to give him something preventive, for he had not yet found himself ill.

...to send a preventative Medicine to the Father of the Child, to whom he had told their Condition. Daniel Defoe, The History of the Great Plague in London, 1754

But the English language is not only rich with variation; it is rich as well with strife, and people who like to tell you that the thing you're doing is a bad thing to do. And so, after over a century of peaceful coexistence, someone decided that one of these words was a bit off. We don't know who the first person to complain about preventative was, but individuals began weighing in on this at the end of the 18th century. By the middle of the 19th century the idea that the extra syllable in preventative was unseemly had made it into dictionaries and usage guides.

John Russell Bartlett, in his 1848 A Dictionary of Americanisms, sniffed that preventative was "A corruption sometimes met with for preventive both in England and America." He was followed by Matthew Harrison, who in his 1861 The Rise, Progress, and Present Structure of the English Language stated that preventative was nothing more than preventive "written and spoken improperly." This was followed by another hundred or years of language guides claiming that one of these words was proper and one was not.

In recent decades there has been some softening in the opposition to preventative. Some guides will allow that it is not a mistake, but advise using preventive for greater clarity. We advise you to use the word which speaks to your heart. Or emulate Daniel Defoe, and use both.

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Preventive or Preventative: Is There a Difference? - Merriam-Webster

According to the American Nurses Association, in addition to duties such as taking vital signs, administering medications, making physical assessments, delivering test results and assisting physicians, nurses also play a significant role in disseminating important health information. By offering education and counseling, nurses significantly can aid in preventative health efforts nationwide. Preventative health refers to a collection of strategies that health care professionals encourage patients to implement to help stay healthy and reduce the risk of future disease.

When one thinks of health care, notions of treatment and management for existing medical conditions come to mind. A major component of health care, however, also involves the prevention of illness. Known as preventative health care, a number of strategies fall under this banner. A United Healthcare fact sheet details that procedures performed in a doctors office, such as physical examinations, drawing blood for testing, immunizations and screenings for certain illnesses can be considered preventative health care measures. This classification is used because the procedures are performed in order to uncover illness in its early stages or to look for signs that may indicate elevated risk for certain conditions.

A health care professional will screen for certain kinds of cancers colon and breast cancer as these diseases are typically far easier to treat if they are discovered in their earliest stages, before the onset of symptoms. A primary care provider also may test a patients blood sample for evidence of problems that could lead to disease further down the road: High cholesterol and high blood pressure can foreshadow the development of heart disease, for example.

As noted in the United Healthcare article, preventative measures such as screenings, physical examinations and immunizations often are implemented in accordance with demographic factors like age, gender and family history. A fact sheet from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed one such example, being colorectal cancer, which is widely screened for but only in adults over the age of 50. The CDC suggests the age threshold of 50 because adults younger than this are statistically at a much lower risk for exhibiting with disease.

Health promotion is another component of preventative health care that is understood by the World Health Organization. This term denotes the practice of educating and encouraging individuals to take greater care of their own health by effectively managing any chronic conditions they may have and taking lifestyle steps to reduce the risk of illness. One component of health promotion may be education about nutrition and exercise or smoking cessation.

As detailed in a CDC guide, preventative health care strategies are introduced to keep the population as healthy and disease free as possible. After all, according to CDC statistics, a majority of the deaths recorded across the U.S. each year around seven in 10 are caused by chronic conditions that are largely preventable. For example, the leading cause of death in the U.S., as reported by journalist Hannah Nichols in Medical News Today, is heart disease, with cancer and respiratory diseases coming in second and third place, respectively.

In addition to helping curtail rates of disease, preventative health measures help reduce health care costs and the burden on vital services. They also help to keep people active and productive in society. Preventable chronic illnesses can keep people away from work, with illnesses such as obesity, high blood pressure and asthma being particularly costly to the economy in terms of lost workdays. The CDC fact sheet also stated that preventative health care is an effective way to help seniors stay as healthy as possible into an advanced age a period when the risk of chronic conditions increases.

In a study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Patricia Chiverton et al hightlights the importance for nursing professional working on the frontlines of patient care to aid with preventative health care efforts. Nurses achieve this primarily through the dissemination of information that patients can harness to keep themselves as healthy as possible. The authors note that the growing emphasis on preventative health care differs somewhat from historical nursing practice, which previously was centered almost exclusively on disease management.

Nursing staff can help advance preventative health care efforts in a number of ways, with some of the most impactful including the following:

According to Hospital News, one of the most fundamental ways that nurses assist inpreventative health efforts is through education. Nurses are qualified to talk to patients about a range of health-related topics, from nutrition and exercise, to other forms of disease prevention like practicing safe sex and refraining from drugs and excessive alcohol use. Education can be delivered in a number of ways and in many contexts. Nursing professionals may choose to host informational sessions about particular topics, or they may pass on written educational materials to patients, such as brochures and links to online resources.

The Hospital News article also cited a study that explained how nurses can use patient visits as an opportunity to initiate preventative health discussions. If a patient comes in with joint pain, a nurse can initiate a conversation about how excess weight can exacerbate pain before introducing weight management strategies. If a young patient seeks medical assistance with a chronic cough, a nurse can seize the moment to initiate a conversation about smoking cessation. Nursing staff essentially can promote health information and wellness strategies whenever they meet patients, helping disseminate important health information in the wider community.

365 Healthcare Staffing Services President Aaron Kasdorf posted to LinkedIn explaining how the most imperative part of any preventative health care strategy is paying particular attention to demographics of patients with a high risk for certain diseases. The second most important aspect of preventative health is providing information about strategies for better health, as well as facilitating any necessary screenings. For example, patients with a family history of heart disease should be encouraged to receive routine cholesterol and blood pressure testing, and nurses should offer advice about how exercise and good nutrition can help support heart health. Another demographic that tends to need more preventative health guidance is the population of older adults, as they are at a statistically higher risk for a range of chronic conditions, including diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis.

Kasdorf explained that it is common for patients to remain uncertain or in the dark as to the kinds of services they are entitled to under their health plans. Consequently, many miss out on vital preventative services, such as cancer screenings, blood testing and immunizations. Nurses are able to counsel patients on the details of their health plans and help connect individuals with the services they need and are entitled to.

According to the Nursing Council of Hong Kong, nurses also can help expand communitywide health care education. Nursing professionals can partner with local organizations, such as community centers or faith-based groups, to hold events pertaining to public health a lecture on good nutrition, a blood drive or a free cancer screening event. The nurses role can extend beyond a medical practice and into the community at large.

Nurse managers can actively help ensure that nursing professionals provide the best possible health education to patients. If you are eager to climb the career ladder and lead a dedicated team of nurses, consider applying to Bradley Universitys Master of Science in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice Leadership program. Designed to help you study at a time that best complements your professional schedule, all coursework can be completed online with practicums you can set up and complete locally.

Recommended Reading

Nursing Jobs: Hospital or Private Practice

Is a Public Health Nursing Career Right for You?

Bradley University Online Nursing Programs

Sources

https://www.uhc.com/health-and-wellness/family-health/preventive-care

http://hospitalnews.com/the-role-of-the-nurse-in-health-promotion/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-nurses-preventive-health-care-aaron-kasdorf

http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-is-Nursing/Tools-You-Need/RNsAPNs.html

https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/preventivehealth.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14621418

http://www.nchk.org.hk/filemanager/en/pdf/health_promotion_e.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/screening/index.htm

http://www.who.int/topics/health_promotion/en/

https://www.cdc.gov/features/preventionstrategy/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php

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Nurses: The Frontlines of Preventative Care - Bradley University Online

Dr. David Musnick, MD, IFMCP

David Musnick is a board-certified medical doctor who offers in-person and telemedicine care from the Functional Medicine of Idaho Eagle clinic. Dr. Musnick offers Functional Medicine, Sports Medicine, Functional Immunology, and Primary Care for adults and teenagers. He specializes in sports medicine, internal medicine, frequency specific microcurrent (FSM), scars, homeopathy, prolotherapy, and low-level laser treatments.

Dr. Musnick is interested in getting to the root of underlying causes and factors that affect healing, including diet, sleep, exercise, stress, mood, GI health, brain region health, toxins, mold, hormones, infections, and electromagnetic fields (EMF). He is excellent at Orthopedic diagnosis trying to determine which tissues are causing pain, what the issue with the tissue is and what is going on in the pain processing system.He has developed a uniqueprogram to heal the brain after Concussion thatisbased on what actually goes on in the brain after head injury.His program integrates: diet, supplements, sleep, exercise and microcurrent and brain training to heal the brain after concussion.He also applies this to other brain based disorders including cognitive impairment and dementia. He has a special interest in autoimmune disorders and has studied FunctionalImmunology. He is one of the top 10 clinicians in the world withFrequency Specific Microcurrent and he teaches at Microcurrent meetings.He is also very experienced in Prolotherapy regenerative injections to build moreligamentto stabilize a joint or area of the spine.

In medical school, Dr. Musnick spent a year studying nutrition. He has always been interested in the complex interrelationships of different systems of the body. Taking on challenges in the past, he created new treatment programs to heal the brain after concussion, treat chronic pain, arthritis, and tough SIBO and IBS cases. Dr. Musnick wants to help his patients achieve the highest level of health, vitality and function.

After his internal medicine residency in Seattle, Dr. Musnick completed a fellowship in sports medicine where he became interested in helping patients get back to optimal musculoskeletal health and eventually back to their favorite activities. He quickly learned that many areas of the body were interrelated and started learning more about nutrition, supplements, and other facets of functional medicine. Dr. Musnick has more than 24 years of experience in Functional Medicine and achieved a very high level of both experience and expertise with many health conditions. He is also the author of the book, Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness, and helped in writing textbook chapters on arthritis and concussions.

Dr. Musnick received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. He is certified through the Institute for Functional Medicine as an IFMCP. He also studied in the French school of Homeopathy. He is uniquely rare in that he teaches Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) and how to integrate it with functional medicine.

In his spare time, Dr. Musnick enjoys hiking, nature photography, cooking healthy food, mountain biking, and skiing.

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Functional Medicine of Idaho | Preventative Root Cause Medicine

How do you tell a community in the United States that has no running water or electricity to wash their hands?"

Crystal Lee drives hours through dust on Route 66 past the border town of Gallup, New Mexico, on her way through the parched road to the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She is going to see family who have made it through the pandemic.

Every single day, I knew of someone who had passed from COVID, Lee says, staring straight ahead.

Even before the pandemic hit, Lee, a Navajo scientist and assistant professor at the University of New Mexico College of Population Health, had tried to sound the alarm. In 2017, she spoke at the United Nations, warning anyone who would listen that the Navajo Nation did not have the infrastructure or resources to survive a deadly pandemic.

But few did, and when the coronavirus pandemic raged through the Navajo Nation in 2020, it led to the highest death rate per capita in the United Statesincluding members of Lees family.

In a new documentary short film, Lee brings us into her fight for health equity on the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Nation is the size of West Virginia, but yet there's only 13 grocery stores that lie within the reservation. Housing is overcrowded within and among Navajo households, and then you talk about preexisting health conditions, chronic diseases, also other infectious diseases. And in combination with the outbreak of COVID, it really hit our community extremely hard, Lee said.

To add to a perfect storm, the government had left all tribes out of the first round of federal funding through the CARES act.

"A big reason why our points of care and our Indian Health service system is so substandard is because we get discretionary funds at the congressional levelwe are the last to get funded and the first to get cut, Lee adds.

So, she took it upon herself to try to help a community that was left with almost no defenses against a deadly pandemicdrawing on both her experiences as an academic and as a granddaughter of Navajo medicine men.

"Part of my academic training is infectious disease and preventative medicine, and when the virus first came out, I understood how the virus was most likely an airborne virus, Lee said.

She made culturally responsive recommendations to the community to try to stop the spread of airborne COVID-19, such as burning cedar or sage.

Lee also worked tirelessly to deliver masks and disinfection products to about 70 different tribal communities, and partnered with another company to start quarantining people in a hotel converted for the purpose when no official facilities were available.

Of the thousands of people we quarantined, only one passed from COVID, Lee says.

But after the quarantine period was up, Lee noticed something else.

A huge observation was our community members verbalizing that: my 14-day quarantine phase is done. I'm COVID-negative, but yet I don't have a home to go back to. I don't have a job. I don't have food. I'm a female that's a victim of domestic violence. I don't wanna go back home because I'm getting abused. Myself and my children are not safe.

So Lee continued to provide care. She turned the quarantine hotel into a mental health facility. And then she launched an Indigenous health care company earlier this year to serve those suffering from mental and behavioral traumashared trauma that has impacted countless Indigenous people throughout the country.

Still, she hasnt forgotten those who have been lost.

"I was just thinking about my uncle who passed. I grew up with him. He was closer to my age, although he was my dad's youngest brother. But we grew up together and it hurts, she says, wiping back tears.

Then, she straightens.

But this is why we do the work.

This article is part of Innovations In: Health Equity, an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

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This Indigenous Scientist Helped Save Lives as Covid Devastated the Navajo Nation - Scientific American