Category Archives: Preventative Medicine

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of harming themselves, please call 911. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text WYO to 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line.

CASPER, Wyo. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordons Mental Health Summit kicked off Tuesday morning at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper.

Building partnerships and expanding our collaborative efforts will help deliver timely mental health services to those experiencing difficulty accessing help, Gordon said in a press release from his office on Tuesday. In order to address the scope of the problem, we must be actively engaged in finding solutions.

As legislators arrived for the Mental Health Summit on Tuesday morning, people with Healthy Wyoming greeted them outside of the NIC urging Wyoming lawmakers to take action to expand Medicaid, arguing that getting more people access to health insurance is necessary if the state really wants to address mental health and other issues.

Medicaid expansion we need so bad because its all a domino effect, Linda Jones with Healthy Wyoming said. Homelessness, drugs, cancer it just all falls together. [Expanding Medicaid] will help people so much. We really need it.

Maureen Barnes volunteers with not only Healthy Wyoming but also organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness Wyoming, the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Natrona Collective Health Trust. She and Jones also work with Caspers Council of People With Disabilities.

Wyoming has the highest suicide rate per capita in the country, Barnes said. Addressing suicide and other mental health issues is something a coalition of around 50 people in the Casper area are working on in conjunction with the Natrona Collective Health Trust, she added.

We have a model that were working on here in Casper to help streamline [services for] people that need mental health help, Barnes said. Were all working in conjunction with each other. Theres like 50 of us that meet once a month. We just formed a crisis intervention team, which will be meeting later this week.

Barnes works with Advance Abilities to provide respite care to people with disabilities in the Casper area. That work and the volunteer work she does with various nonprofits in the community gives her insight into how physical, mental and emotional health cannot ultimately be addressed in isolation as separate issues.

Were great big advocates to help people with their mental health and other issues that they have, Barnes said. Medicaid expansion is needed and necessary. Otherwise, we cant do it.

While there are efforts to make mental health services available in a more streamlined way across the community, that work falls flat if people dont have insurance to pay for the services, Barnes said.

When people go to emergency rooms or hospital rooms without insurance, that can lead to medical bills they are unable to pay. Uncompensated care stresses the healthcare system and leads to financial risks that can threaten the future of hospitals, Bella Pope with Healthy Wyoming said.

Montana expanded Medicaid in 2016 and that has created benefits beyond expanding health insurance to more people, Pope said.

Their uncompensated care has greatly decreased, Pope said. Uncompensated care is usually what causes hospitals and community clinics to have to close down or to be short-staffed. We in Wyoming are actually in quite a crisis weve lost two different health centers in the last couple years as well as a maternity wing.

Expanding Medicaid wouldnt fix everything that needs to be addressed in Wyomings healthcare system, Pope said. However, she said she thinks it is a necessary first step.

Its a really good first step in getting people the care that they need, she said. When we think about Wyoming and we think about what the end goal is we really want affordable, accessible and effective healthcare.

Polling indicates that there are about 24,000 people in Wyoming without access to any healthcare, Pope noted.

Thats the inability to go to a doctor, thats the inability to get preventative care on time before using the emergency room as their doctor which gets expensive.

The more expensive medical bills become, the greater the debt people find themselves facing, Pope said. Jones added that she thinks expanding Medicaid could lead to an increase in tax collections as people would have a greater ability to make such payments if they werent burdened by medical debt.

Expanding Medicaid could offer health insurance to thousands of people who dont have it in Wyoming and could also lead to lower premiums for people who do have insurance, Pope said. While the effect wouldnt be immediate, Pope said she thinks Medicaid expansion would reduce the need for healthcare providers to pass on costs to those who can afford insurance to make up for the uncompensated care they are providing to people without insurance.

There really is this inflation that were seeing in our healthcare market in general that Medicaid expansion could really structurally help address, she said.

Wyoming is also leaving federal money on the table by not expanding Medicaid, Pope added.

When people dont have health insurance to seek mental and physical help, that can lead them to self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs, Jones added.

They need the medicine, she said. Theyre gonna find it somewhere.

While the Wyoming Legislature defeated an attempt to expand Medicaid during its 2022 Budget Session, Barnes said some of the legislators Healthy Wyoming volunteers talked to on Tuesday morning expressed support for expansion.

While Medicaid has not been expanded in Wyoming, Pope said there may be other options for people who arent making a ton of money every year. She encouraged people to reach out to Enroll Wyoming, which offers free assistance finding available healthcare options.

Theyre one of the big reasons that I was able to get healthcare last year, Pope said.

The Governors Mental Health Summit will continue through Wednesday at the NIC. While it is sold out, the summit can belivestreamedvia Wyoming PBS.

The summit agenda and a link to the livestream is availablehere, the governors office said in its press release Tuesday.

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As governor calls for better mental health services, Healthy Wyoming says Medicaid expansion needed - Oil City News

The newly formed single brand becomes one of the largest information systems providers for laboratories globally across healthcare, life sciences, and public health, the company suggested.

In total, Clinisys has a portfolio of over 3,000 customers, in eight industries and 22 science disciplines, spread across 34 countries. The company offers laboratory information management solutions to its clients.

When asked about what services Clinisys offers specifically to the pharma industry, the companys CEO, Michael Simpson, told Outsourcing-Pharma, Clinisys solutions provide end-to-end support for labs operating at every stage of the drug discovery lifecycle. This continues into production quality testing and then into monitoring efficacy long-term, through our disease surveillance and case management platforms.

In addition to these services, Clinisys also offers integrated solutions in document management and electronic notebooks.

In terms of the informatics challenges facing those working in labs, Simpson outlined that the greatest requirement is to develop efficient processes.

There is a revolution occurring in laboratory sciences diagnostics as it plays a more real-time role in preventative and precision medicine from detecting the spread of infectious diseases, to supporting genomics and drug discovery. All these exciting developments mean there is a massive surge in diagnostic testing and the volume of data that laboratories must manage, said Simpson.

Clinisys helps labs to overcome these challenges by providing efficient workflows and with a greater degree of accuracy, through the use of automation and data visualization tools. The company also enables labs to shift their data into the cloud and is looking ahead to the future of advanced data analytics, which will include machine learning.

By combing the three companies, Clinisys will now cover laboratory sectors within the healthcare, water, crop sciences, contract services, life sciences, environmental, food & beverage, pharma, and public health industries.

When asked about the advantage of covering such a broad range of industries, Simpson stated, This enables us to connect critical data provided from diverse laboratory sources while retaining our commitment to providing best-of-breed solutions.

We have built on our capabilities in healthcare to improve clinical outcomes, as well as the life sciences in fields such as pharma, biotech molecular, and genomics. All these disciplines will become ever-more important to understand all the factors that shape the health and wellbeing of our communities, as we move to more of a preventative approach to managing health.

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Clinisys formed to help companies manage 'revolution' of lab science - OutSourcing-Pharma.com

VELDONA formulation showed significant stabilization of physical condition and complete recovery from lung inflammation throughout the course of treatment period.

By upregulation of immunomodulatory, Ainos' VELDONA formulation demonstrates efficacy against new variant virus based on clinical symptoms and lung inflammation.

SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 30, 2022 / Ainos, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIMD, AIMDW) ("Ainos", or the "Company"), a diversified medtech company focused on the development of novel point-of-care testing, low-dose interferon therapeutics, and synthetic RNA-driven preventative medicine, today announced the results from its antiviral efficacy study in hamsters against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the "Study"). The Company's results showed that its low-dose oral interferon alpha ("IFN-") formulation, VELDONA, had a therapeutic effect on lungs infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (the "Omicron variant") virus by regulating the immune response, thereby expediting recovery of infected animals. The Company has submitted the application documents for U.S. FDA Phase 2 clinical trials for evaluating the efficacy of VELDONA in patients with mild COVID-19. Further information regarding the Study can be found on Ainos' website (link).

The Study evaluated the effectiveness of VELDONA over a sixteen-day course (five-day pre-treatment, one-day during viral infection and ten-day treatment after infection) of Omicron-variant-infected hamsters. Compared with hamsters in the placebo group receiving solution without VELDONA (the "Placebo Group"), the hamsters in the group receiving solution with VELDONA (the "VELDONA Group") demonstrated resistance to body weight loss immediately after infection, then showed a better recovery trend in the following three days. The body weights of the hamsters in the VELDONA Group remained more stable than those of the hamsters in the Placebo Group during the treatment period.

Mean Body Weight Throughout the Treatment Period

Percentage of Body Weight Change

For pathological indicators, on the tenth day, no hamsters in the VELDONA Group showed mixed-cellular inflammation, peribronchial infiltration, and perivascular infiltration, compared to 50% of hamsters in the Placebo Group. Hamsters in the VELDONA Group in general showed promising results in treating indicators of new variant virus infection.

Lung Pathology Report

Mixed cellular inflammation, peribronchial infiltration, and perivascular infiltration.

Chun-Hsien Tsai, Ainos' Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Ainos has conducted three preclinical animal studies since March 2022 in our efforts to validate the effectiveness of our low-dose oral interferon to protect against symptoms associated with COVID-19 (Delta and Omicron variants). The studies have yielded consistent results, demonstrating VELDONA's efficacy in inducing systemic immunomodulatory to fight against SARS-COV-2. The results of the two-week study also showed that VELDONA is well-tolerated and safe in hamsters. In addition, this new study exhibited a preventative and therapeutic effect against new variant virus. Ainos believe that these results, in combination with the results of our previous two Phase 2 studies of VELDONA on prevention and treatment of influenza, demonstrate that VELDONA may become an important solution for the treatment of COVID-19 and other viral infections in the future. Furthermore, we would like to thank the Emerging Infectious Disease Core Facility Platform of the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan for the support and professional technical services they provided for the Study."

About Ainos, Inc.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Ainos, Inc. (f/k/a Amarillo Biosciences, Inc.) is a diversified medtech company engaged in developing innovative medical technologies for point-of-care testing and safe and novel medical treatment for a broad range of disease indications. In addition to its proprietary therapeutics using low-dose non-injectable interferon, Ainos is committed to developing a comprehensive healthcare business portfolio encompassing medical devices and consumer healthcare products. While prioritizing the commercialization of medical devices as part of its diversification strategy, Ainos has also expanded its product portfolio to include Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and COVID-19 POCTs. Leveraging its patents related to VOC technologies and COVID-19 POCT products, the Company seeks to expedite the commercialization of its medical device pipeline, beginning with Ainos-branded COVID-19 POCT product candidates.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" about Ainos within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "future," "likely," "strategy," "foresee," "may," "guidance," "potential," "outlook," "forecast," "should," "will" or other similar words or phrases. Similarly, statements that describe the Company's objectives, plans or goals are, or may be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based only on the Company's current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the Company's control. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations discussed in this press release include, among others, the cost of production and sales potential of the planned drug treatments announced in this press release; the Company's dependence on revenues from the sale of COVID-19 test kits; the Company's limited cash and history of losses; the Company's ability to achieve profitability; the Company's ability to raise additional capital to continue the Company's product development; the ability to accurately predict the future operating results of the Company; the ability to advance Ainos' current or future product candidates through clinical trials, obtain marketing approval and ultimately commercialize any product candidates the Company develops; the ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of Ainos product candidates; delays in completing the development and commercialization of the Company's current and future product candidates, which could result in increased costs to the Company, delay or limit the ability to generate revenue and adversely affect the business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects of the Company; intense competition and rapidly advancing technology in the Company's industry that may outpace its technology; customer demand for the products and services the Company develops; the impact of competitive or alternative products, technologies and pricing; disruption in research and development facilities; lawsuits and other claims by third parties or investigations by various regulatory agencies governing the Company's operations; potential cybersecurity attacks; increased requirements and costs related to cybersecurity; the Company's ability to realize the benefits of third party licensing agreements; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for Ainos product candidates; compliance with applicable laws, regulations and tariffs; and the Company's success in managing the growth. A more complete description of these risk factors and others is included in the "Risk Factors" section of Ainos' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K/A and other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, many of which risks are beyond the Company's control. In addition to the risks described above and in the Company's Form 10-K/A, other unknown or unpredictable factors also could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations discussed in this press release.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. Ainos undertakes no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or changes to the future results over time or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Relations Contact

ICR, LLCRobin YangTel: +1 646-224-6971Email: Ainos.IR@icrinc.com

SOURCE: Ainos, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/718287/Ainos-Announces-Positive-Results-from-Additional-Preclinical-Study-of-Its-Low-dose-Oral-Interferon-Formulation-Against-New-Variant-Virus--Omicron

Original post:
Ainos Announces Positive Results from Additional Preclinical Study of Its Low-dose Oral Interferon Formulation Against New Variant Virus - Omicron -...

North Korean officials have been told that more than 350,000 people in the country died of illnesses over the past year, many likely related to COVID-19, sources told RFA, as authorities began a new vaccination campaign on the countrys border with China more than a month after declaring victory over the coronavirus.

Attendees of a training session for government officials were surprised by the number of suspected deaths from COVID, and also from diseases like the flu, tuberculosis and from waterborne pathogens, a government official from South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFAs Korean Service.

At the meeting, the issue of continuing the quarantine measures to prevent the spread of an infectious disease was repeatedly emphasized because deaths from COVID-19 are suspected to account for the majority of the 350,000 deaths, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

I can tell from my surrounding area that many people have died from sickness this year, he said. A friend of mine on the provincial People's Committee died a few days after suffering from a high fever and sore throat. Another friend's parents also died, and this friend assumes that his parents died of COVID-19.

RFA was not able to confirm the death total, but if it is accurate, the number of COVID-related deaths is far higher than the government has publicly stated. For the first two years of the pandemic, Pyongyang claimed to be completely virus free.

North Korea finally acknowledged the virus was spreading within its borders in May, when it declared a national maximum emergency due to a major outbreak of the disease that it traced back to a military parade the previous month.

North Korea reported during the emergency that 4.7 million people had developed so-called fever cases, with state media reporting 74 related deaths. The government declared an end to the emergency on Aug. 10.

These figures were never officially confirmed to be COVID-19 related, likely because of a lack of testing capabilities.

The actual death toll is probably between 100,000 and 170,000, according to a journal article penned by Shin Young-jeon, a South Korean preventative medicine expert at Hanyang University in Seoul.

Prior to the emergency, anyone who died of symptoms suspected to be related to COVID-19 were hastily cremated and buried, making a confirmation of the disease impossible, sources said.

Even as more information emerges about the number of North Koreans who died in the past year, authorities are still threatening to punish citizens who spread rumors about COVIDs impact, an official from Onsong county in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Last week the Central Committee [of the Korean Workers Party] delivered an emergency order to take measures to prevent the spread of words that disturb the public mind, said the second source. There have been stories circulating among residents that more than 350,000 people have died of sickness this year.

The State Security Department and the Social Security Department, as well as party and labor organizations, have stepped up their propaganda efforts and started cracking down on residents for believing or spreading false rumors, he said. But the citizens find it more believable that it is not a rumor and that the government actually did announce a high death toll during official meetings.

The second source said that publicly authorities still stick to the official line that only around 70 people died during the national emergency.

Many of the residents are devastated by the fact that hundreds of thousands of people may have actually died from COVID-19, he said.

Vaccine campaign

Although the COVID emergency has been officially over for more than a month, the country began to inoculate people in Ryanggang province last week, marking the first time that COVID vaccines have been made available to people living along the border with China, sources there told RFA.

In May, RFA reported that authorities had made a propaganda event out of vaccinating soldiers who were involved in a major national construction project in the capital Pyongyang, calling the Chinese-made vaccine an immortal potion of love, from leader Kim Jong Un.

Authorities later began vaccinating citizens of North Koreas capital, Pyongyang, in July, but now residents of the border city of Hyesan can also get the vaccine, a Ryanggang resident told RFA.

Authorities have already declared that the coronavirus has ended, so the people dont know why they are vaccinating us now, the third source said.

The vaccine is distributed through neighborhood watch units and schools, another resident of the province told RFA.

Residents, who were terrified of dying from colds or pneumonia, feel fortunate that they can get vaccinated even if it's this late in the game, the fourth source said. When I asked the medical staff, they said the vaccine was made in China.

In July, Pyongyang citizens were vaccinated. This must have been a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in advance of major national events such as the National Conference of War Veterans, held on the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War on July 27, the fourth source said, using the North Korean term to describe the anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War, in what most historians consider to be a stalemate.

South Koreas National Intelligence Service on Tuesday reported to the National Assembly that North Korea started a large-scale vaccination campaign in the border area.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee and Leejin J. Chung.

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North Korea tells officials that 350,000 people died of diseases this year - Radio Free Asia

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Welcome back Rounds Table Listeners!

We are back today with our Classic Rapid Fire Podcast!

This week, podcast guests Dr. Emily Hughes and Dr. Justin Boyle discuss two recent papers one, exploring the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, and the second investigating the relationship between the progression of alcohol-associated liver disease after medical therapy for alcohol use disorder. Two papers, here we go!

Long-term secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet and a low-fat diet (CORDIOPREV): a randomised controlled trial (0:00 6:54).

Incidence and Progression of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease After Medical Therapy for Alcohol-Use Disorder (6:54 18:28).

And for the Good Stuff:

Small-scale possession of illicit drugs will be decriminalized in B.C. starting next year: Ottawa (19:50 21:09).

Questions? Comments? Feedback? Wed love to hear from you! @roundstable

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Episode 45 - Preventative Medicine: the Mediterranean Diet and the ...

For women around the globe, the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic brought more health challenges than the first.

In 2020, the medical technology company Hologic launched a global survey in partnership with Gallup to assess how well women's health needs were being met. Countries were scored based on women's responses to questions in five categories: general health, preventative care, mental health, safety and basic needs like food and shelter.

The overall score for the Global Women's Health Index in 2021 was just 53 out of 100, one point lower than in 2020.

No country scored higher than 70 points in 2021, with Taiwan, Latvia, Austria and Denmark in the top spots. Three countries scored fewer than 40 points: Afghanistan, Congo and Venezuela. The United States landed in 23rd place, with 61 points out of 100.

"The economic and psychological burden of the pandemic will weigh down many households for a while, and we know that it particularly affected women," said Gertraud Stadler, director of the Institute of Gender in Medicine at the Charite hospital in Berlin, who was not involved in the survey.

In fact, women were more stressed, worried, sad and angry in 2021 than they were at any other point in the past decade, according to a Gallup survey that factored into the Global Women's Health Index rankings.

Women were also more likely than men to say that they didn't have enough money to afford food in 2021, a share that rose from 34% of women in 2020 to 37% in 2021.

"We understand you can only impact and improve what you measure," said Dr. Susan Harvey, vice president of worldwide medical affairs at Hologic and former director of breast imaging at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

"Overall, the data is sobering. And we understand that we need women to be healthy to fully engage and be empowered. It's clear that the time has come to work together and begin to find solutions and improve women's health care."

According to Hologic and Gallup, the five key areas assessed in the Global Women's Health Index can explain most of the variation in a woman's life expectancy at birth.

For example, they found that women who said they had seen a health care professional in the past year had an average life expectancy that was two years longer than those who hadn't.

The overall score for the Global Women's Health Index in 2021 was just 53 out of 100, one point lower than in 2020.

Preventive care is one area where the United States scored better in 2021 than in 2020. It ranked second best in this dimension in the Global Women's Health Index, after only Latvia.

"It was a small improvement, but we have to be joyful about that," Harvey said. "Overall, though, the world is failing women in preventive care."

About 1.5 billion women did not have access to preventive care last year, she said. And globally, fewer than 1 in 8 women were screened for cancer at any point in the past year, according to the survey.

Although the remedy for this shortcoming might seem more straightforward, experts say it actually reflects the multiple layers of challenges women face.

Women "are always the last to take care of ourselves. We are the chief medical officers of our families," said Katie Schubert, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Women's Health Research, an activist group based in the US that was not involved in the new study.

"This goes back to a lot of those different burdens that women are taking on, both from the perspective of being a caregiver but also being a part of their community."

In the US, for example, Schubert says, women are more likely to go to a well visit for their child than they are for themselves. And the share of women who don't show up for a key doctor's visit at six weeks postpartum is "pretty striking."

Despite some improvement, the US remains a poor outlier in overall women's health -- in part because of maternal health, an area that experts agree deserves more attention worldwide.

Opinions of health and safety among women in the US dropped in 2021 Global Women's Health Index, as did measures of individual health, including pain and general health problems.

One safety-related question asked women to assess whether pregnant women where they live get high-quality health care. A study published in June found that maternal mortality in the US spiked in the first year of the pandemic, especially among Hispanic and Black women. And new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 4 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.

Wealthy nations generally scored better than low-income nations in the Global Women's Health Index. In fact, the gap in scores between high- and low-income countries nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021, with an average difference of more than 20 points. But life expectancy in the US was lower than average, despite spending on health care that was well above average.

In some ways, broader gender disparities in health care are already well-known around the world.

For example, women seeking medical help for a heart attack in many countries take longer to get a correct diagnosis, are treated less consistently and are less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation, Stadler said.

"All of this combines to worse outcomes and higher mortality in women than in men," she said.

Experts agree that improving women's health will lift society as a whole.

"Women often have the role of health manager in their families and communities. And they are taking on a large share of care work, so children, partners, parents benefit as well from women's health," Stadler said.

And the effects are wide-reaching.

"Without this foundational health and well-being of women, we won't be able to advance any of the goals related to economic stability or equity in socioeconomic development," Schubert said. "That really all stands on the shoulders of a healthy environment, a healthy person and healthy outcomes."

But gender equality -- in health and other aspects of life -- is still far from reality.

Schubert noted that the Covid-19 vaccine trials did not include pregnant women.

"My hope would be that we can better prepare to be more inclusive and extensive in our biomedical research moving forward, regardless of whether we're dealing with a pandemic or some other public health emergency," she said. But the pace of change has been "excruciatingly slow."

Much of what is measured in the Global Women's Health Index aligns with objectives identified by the United Nations in its Sustainable Development Goals.

And a report published by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs this month found that at the current pace of progress, gender equality will not be achieved by 2030, as originally intended with the Sustainable Development Goals. Instead, it will take centuries.

"It is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress," Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, said of that report. "The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises -- in incomes, safety, education, and health. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all."

But there is some hope.

"My hope is that we come out stronger from the pandemic," Stadler said. "The pandemic has brought the importance of preventive behaviors to more people's attention. People learned a lot about the importance of joint action to protect each other."

The-CNN-Wire

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Women's health got worse in 2021, global survey finds - WXOW.com

With the start of the fall season comes the launch of a spectrum of programs from the Wolf Creek Primary Care Network.

The Wolf Creek PCN supports 10 communities altogether, said Jaime LaLiberte, executive director.

We have a service in Blackfalds that just started up a month or two ago for foot care for high-risk diabetic patients as well as for preventative care, education, and the focusing on the treatment of specific foot issues, she said.

We have that in Lacombe already, but now its been extended out to Blackfalds as well.

And specific to Lacombe, the PCN also offers a free outdoor walking group which runs every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. The more advanced walking group goes every Wednesday as well from 1 to 1:45 p.m.

Meanwhile, PCNs extensive selection of programs and workshops is available to local communities.

Helpful workshops run the gamut from Happiness Basics, Anxiety to Calm, Journey Through Grief and Moving On With Persistent Pain to My Way to Health, Sleep and Strong and Steady among others.

Individual programs include Connecting to Community Resources, Talk to a Counsellor, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol, Pregnancy and Babies and Insulin Management to Memory Testing, MINT Memory Care, Recreation Therapy and Tobacco Reduction to name several.

There are a lot of virtual opportunities, and we also look for opportunities to have in-person classes as well all throughout the year, she explained.

Various PCN staff are also available virtually as well.

Our dietitians and mental health therapists can be seen virtually or in person. We leave it up to the patient as to what they prefer.

But for some, when it comes to transportation issues, or they may be at a stage where they have a hard time getting around, sometimes its easier to offer it virtually instead of having them come in, she said, adding that in case of inclement weather, a virtual meeting opens the door to being able to access the services whatever the case.

Its easy to just have a call, and be able to get that same support.

LaLiberte said the overall goal is to make these programs available provincially, beyond the regions that the local PCNs cover.

She also wants to see a heightened understanding of how essential continuity of care is to a persons ongoing sense of well-being.

Thats really what PCNs are all about they are based on the medical home concept.

The concept is that if you have that entire team working within your community for instance, you go to your physicians office and see your doctor, but not only are you seeing your doctor, you also have this entire team of support services RNs, foot care nurses, dietitians, your exercise specialists.

You have everyone there as a team and they all work together depending on what your needs are, she explained.

The communication loop is there as well you are all using the same electronic medical record system, and physicians are aware of the results that are coming back from your dietician or your exercise specialist, for example.

Its all about working towards having that better health outcome for the patient, she said, adding that for most PCN programs, no referral is necessary. Those interested can simply call the PCN office and inquire about signing up for a particular workshop or program.

Its about preventative medicine, too. We dont want to only see you once you are ill, but we want to help prevent things along the way. So come and talk to us when you are starting to struggle in an area it doesnt have to get really bad before we can start to make a difference and work with you on it.

For LaLiberte, the PCNs mission provides her with plenty of inspiration in her day-to-day work.

I love that its tailored around preventative medicine because I really believe thats what our system needs. We cant wait until things are at a point where its harder to handle some of those issues that come up later on in our lives, she said.

If we can be preventative and have all of these amazing programs in place and really support the preventative piece of it now, I think we can really make a difference.

I think thats why Im passionate about it its an area where you can make a difference in peoples lives early on.

For more details on everything offered via the Wolf Creek PCN, check out http://www.wolfcreekpcn.com or find them on Facebook to stay up-to-date.

CommunityHealth and wellness

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Wolf Creek PCN expands programming geared to health improvement - Lacombe Express

New research finds nearly 10 percent of Americans are living with depression, with rates about twice that among teens and young adults.

Our study updates the depression prevalence estimates for the U.S. population through the year 2020 and confirms escalating increases in depression from 2015 through 2019, said lead study author Renee D. Goodwin, PhD, an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in a statement.

The study was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine this week.

She noted this reflects a public health crisis that was intensifying in the U.S. even before the onset of the pandemic.

Researchers used data from the 20152020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative study of U.S. individuals aged 12 years and older.

They found that in 2020, the past 12-month depression rate was about 9 percent for Americans in this age range; however, it rose to 17 percent when they looked at teens and young adults.

Major depression is a clinical disorder, so its characterized by persistently low or depressed sad mood, loss of interest in activities, Dr. Shawna Newman, a psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, told Healthline.

While depression prevalence was unchanged among adults 35 years and older, the condition was most common for those between 18 and 25, with the number of people seeking help remaining consistently low.

Our results showed most adolescents with depression neither told or talked with a healthcare professional about depression symptoms nor received pharmacologic treatment from 2015 through 2020, Goodwin said in a statement.

Researchers also found that:

The key here to meet criteria, they have to have a persistently low depressed mood, Newman explained.

Newman said although the official criteria are two weeks, its more typically a month or two.

Two weeks, a month, or maybe even two months and that makes thing more clear, she explained. So, its persistent. Thats different from distress or being upset often people use that kind of language, everyone does, Im feeling depressed today.

Dr. Noshene Ranjbar, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, said potential causes for rising depression rates include genetic factors, substance use (like alcohol), and environmental or social factors.

These include loneliness, losses of loved ones, ones job, finances, or anything else that is particularly stressful, having an illness, being impacted by racism or prejudices against ones gender, sexuality, beliefs, culture, or way of life, she said.

According to Ranjbar, this can also include any other changes in ones life that throw off our ability to cope.

Adverse childhood experiences and traumas can also increase risk of someone experiencing depression later in life, she added.

Stephanie G. Thompson, LCSW, Director of Clinical Operations for Adolescents in San Diego for Lightfully Behavioral Health said the pandemic played a large role in causing mental health strain.

Rates [of depressive symptoms] tripled when the COVID pandemic first hit, rising from 8.5 percent of the population to 27.8 percent in 2020, 32.8 percent in 2021, and continuing to rise today, said Thompson

She pointed out that the pandemic caused a global crisis in all aspects of life for many reasons, including isolation and anxiety fueled by the unknown of the pandemics trajectory and ultimate outcome.

While aging adults have historically experienced depression at higher rates than most, teens are more susceptible to Major Depressive Disorder, Severe type, these days, said Thompson.

Newman said one reason is that their social and developmental demands are greater.

The developmental imperative in that age group is so focused on socialization and emotional growth that the isolation, limitation, distancing, masking its profoundly difficult for adolescents, she said. Because they biologically require facial expression, body language; theyre very social because humans are very social animals but adolescents crave it, they need it.

She emphasized that loss of peer interaction, reduced contact with supports like teachers, group activities, even just walking down the hallway in a normal high school was suddenly gone.

Its a disaster! Newman said. You think of school as almost a primary location where were receiving assessment and treatment for psychological services, and often psychiatric as well.

Newman believes possibly 80 percent of kids relying on school-based services to address their needs werent getting them.

Theyre at home with their thoughts and a computer, she said.

But experiences which are supposed to be three dimensional in nature, or four dimensions if you count time, where youre in a space that has purpose and a goal, and you have groupthink and the teacher and a whole interaction, this is vital and it was gone in a second, Newman continued.

According to Thompson, teens are facing serious difficulties as they face adulthood including inflation and student debt.

However, teens are facing a very different dilemma due to increases in student loan debt and cost of living, she said. These alone are creating their own national crisis and teens are extremely nervous to make decisions and take on responsibilities they are no longer confident they can manage.

She added that theyre also deciding to avoid commitment due to rising divorce rates, longer lifespans, and frequently changing interests in relationship types.

The unknown of the future has created an overwhelming sense of anxiety surrounding decision-making in all aspects of their lives, she continued.

Thompson thinks it is key to focus on continuing efforts to normalize receiving mental health services, talking about it, and creating more easily accessible mental health resources.

She said one of the best places for easily accessible resources is school.

While some public school districts have guidance counselors or one social worker on staff, it isnt enough to address the prevalence and severity of the mental health needs of todays teens, she continued.

According to Thompson, providing classes on brain health, personal wellbeing, and offering therapeutic services in public schools where teens are able to see a licensed therapist with ease, could have a huge impact on the number of teens that are able to access care.

Accessible therapy for teens will reduce the need to take time off of work to get teens to as many appointments for care, she said. And having more professionally trained mental health professionals in schools and better-prepared caregivers will give more opportunities for adults to catch the signs and symptoms of depression in teens earlier.

A recent study finds rates of depressive symptoms have increased dramatically, with teens and young adults particularly affected.

Experts say while many factors could be responsible, the COVID-19 pandemic likely had a significant role in the increase.

They also say that more mental health resources are needed, especially in school settings to make treatment available to those who need it.

Excerpt from:
1 in 10 Adults and 1 in 5 Teens Have Symptoms of Depression, What We Know - Healthline

Is your youth athlete eating like a winner?

When it comes to nutrition, many of us tend to focus on foods relationship to weight loss or weight management rather than its powerful health-improving properties. Eating a well-balanced diet is preventative medicine and is essential for better brain function, higher energy levels, and a stronger immune system. And for the students in your family, proper nutrition is vital for enhancing not only their academic performance, but athletic abilities, too.

Students have a strenuous school schedule. Theyre up early, endure long hours of learning, and if theyre involved in sports, expend an extraordinary amount of physical energy. Combined with the school day, practice, team travel, and games, the typical youth athlete works a whopping 12-hour day. And that doesnt account for the hours of homework to follow. Too often, stamina-sustaining nourishment is sacrificed at the expense of these seriously stacked schedules.

For youth athletes to thrive, they need easily accessible, nutritious snacks to power them through their days. Here are the top three ways to ensure your children are staying fueled and healthy:

We know were supposed to drink water throughout the day. But why? Water regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, helps organs function properly, flushes toxins from the system, improves cognitive skills, and increases energy all crucial functions for students to be successful.

Unfortunately, younger folks are more apt to opt for sodas or energy drinks, which are loaded with sugars, artificial flavors, and other harmful chemicals. High-sugar drinks are also linked to such dangerous health conditions as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although sugary drinks will give you an instant energy jolt, they leave you feeling depleted and energy deprived.

Even Gatorade and other beverages marketed as sports drinks, intended to replenish the electrolytes lost during intense exercise, contain a substantial amount of artificial dyes and sugars. To create an all-star formula, fill a large water bottle halfway with Gatorade and dilute the rest with water to ensure that youre staying well-hydrated.

Dont let pre-practice or pregame snacks be an afterthought. The food an athlete eats can make all the difference in practice and game-day performance. Students train for long hours, with drills consisting of such arduous tasks as sprint work, long-distance runs, weight training, and back-to-back scrimmages. When your body is fueled with the right foods, youll have more speed, strength, and stamina.

Opt for wholesome foods that promote and sustain energy levels, and that are rich in carbohydrates and proteins. But beware: Not all carbs are created equal. Be sure to choose complex carbohydrates and lean protein combos, such as whole wheat bread with peanut butter or whole grain crackers with cheese. These will burn slowly to keep the body satisfied longer. Ideally, athletes should eat these snacks 30 to 60 minutes before exercise. This time frame usually falls right after the end of the school day. Foods that contain dairy, are high in fat, or full of fiber are less ideal. They can be difficult to digest beforfe exercise and cause cramps or other unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms.

Making sure your youth athlete replenishes with the right ingredients after exercise is just as important as what goes in it before playing. Similarly, youll want foods consisting of complex carbohydrates and lean proteins to help restore the body after exertion. Homemade energy bars, Greek yogurt with berries, a banana with nut butter, or reduced fat chocolate milk are all good options. Aim to refuel 30 to 45 minutes after exercising.

When its time to sit down for dinner, design a well-rounded plate that has complex carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables. Whole wheat pasta with grilled chicken and vegetables, or salmon with quinoa and vegetables, are just a few ideas that help guarantee that your athlete is getting all the necessary nutrients to regenerate muscle fibers broken down during exercise, as well as replenish energy that was expended.

See more here:
Three tips to keep youth athletes in top nutritional shape this school year - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Within a dozen patient blood draws, Dr. David Myers, an internal medicine physician in Metairie, got the first positive result for a new blood test that detects cancer last summer.

A healthy patient in her 60s had a marker that indicated she may have a type cancer related to HPV, or human papillomavirus. After some detective work and looking closely at her lungs and throat, they found a two-centimeter squamous cell Stage 2 anorectal cancer. She was treated and is now cancer free.

Had symptoms in later stages flagged the cancer, the results may have been less favorable. Stage 3 anorectal cancer has a survival rate of 50%. At Stage 4, it drops to 30%, said Myers.

In her case, it was life-saving, said Myers, who has given the test to about 115 patients who are members of his concierge-style practice.

By the time troubling symptoms lead to a cancer diagnosis, the outlook is often bleak. That is especially true in Louisiana, where more people die of cancer than nearly anywhere else in the U.S.

Screenings like mammography, pap smears and colonoscopies offer some diagnoses, but many in Louisiana find out about cancer late, and later diagnoses disproportionately affect Black people in the state. A bevy of new tests, including the Galleri test that Myers uses, might offer a faster diagnosis, allowing cancer to be treated earlier.

As tests like this known as liquid biopsies show more promise, clinical trials in Louisiana that will offer the test to participants free of charge are ramping up.

The technology for the Galleri test was born out of the same type of blood tests that flag chromosomal abnormalities like Downs syndrome and Trisomy 13 and 18 in pregnant women. Like a developing fetus, cancer sheds fragments of DNA into the bloodstream.

The minuscule pieces of cancer DNA are wrapped in methyl groups, like an electrical wire wrapped in a rubber cord. The test looks at the way the DNA is wrapped up and identifies the type of cancer by comparing it to an ever-growingdatabase of known cancer methylation patterns.

Last week, Grail, the company that produces Galleri, released results from a clinical trial called the Pathfinder study that detected dozens of new cases of cancer in around 6,600 adults over the age of 50. Nearly half were found in early stages and 71% of the newly detected cancers were types that are not typically screened for, such as ovarian and pancreatic cancers.

In the study, 92 of the 6,621 patients who were tested were flagged with potential cancer. Additional testing confirmed cancer in 35 people about 1.4% of the initial group.

Although scientists are optimistic about the tests and dozens of companies have invested in developing the tests, there are potential drawbacks.

The test misses two fatal cancers 100% of the time: early-stage melanoma, because the skin cancer cells are flaking off the body rather than in the blood, and brain cancer, Myers cautioned.

It gets all the other big nasty cancers the things we have no way of screening for that everyone is scared of, said Myers.

The test is also not meant to give the all-clear for cancer status. Dr. Margaret Pelitere, a New Orleans-based internal medicine physician, recommends it, but still has patients do the standard screening tests.

I think statistically, this is a very good thing to have, said Pelitere, who has had one patient test positive, likely for lymphoid cancer, out of 32 tests shes given. But this does not replace other cancer screenings, such as colonoscopy and mammogram.

During a year-long follow-up of the 6,662 Galleri trial patients, 29 cancers were identified in routine screenings that were not flagged by the test, and another 56 cancers were diagnosed after symptoms appeared or tumors were found incidentally or from monitoring for cancer recurrence.

There are also false positives. In the recent trial, 38% of the positives were correct. However, the false positives still made up a small proportion of the total study group. And the rate of false positive is by design, said Myers.

These tests are powered to capture a lot of positives, said Myers. We want to not miss stuff.

Then there is the cost. A test is around $950, and its recommended annually. Insurance does not cover it.

There is no way for probably 80% of the residents in Louisiana to afford it, said Tony Ye Hu, director of Tulane Universitys Center for Cellular and Molecular Diagnostics. Hus work focuses on identifying biomarkers for cancer and infectious diseases, and he is also researching a liquid biopsy test to detect pancreatic cancer.

But pointing to the much-lowered cost of COVID tests over the last two years as an example, Hu said political will can lower the cost of testing, especially if use is widespread.

Galleri is not currently approved by the FDA, but a bipartisan bill has been introduced that would require liquid biopsy test coverage for Medicare once it is. If the cost remains the same, covering Louisianas 900,000 Medicare patients about 20% of the states population would be around $900 million.

As of now, there is no data showing that widespread liquid biopsy screenings would lower the risk of death.

You have to run very large trials to show that is beneficial to the population, said Dr. Pedro Barata, a former Tulane University oncologist who uses liquid biopsy to determine treatment for existing cancers. Screenings like colonoscopy and mammography are recommended at certain ages because they are proven to save lives.

Doctors agree that its not an ideal test for every patient, especially if they have a poor outlook from other diseases or are elderly. And some slow-growing cancers such as prostate cancer, hormonally sensitive breast cancer and some thyroid cancers dont necessarily need aggressive treatment.

For some people, treating a disease early doesnt always mean a good thing, said Barata. Some cancers don't progress to a worrisome point, and in those cases the cure painful drugs that wipe out the body's defenses may be worse than the illness.

Despite those concerns, most agree that the blood tests will become more of a standard detection tool in the future as artificial intelligence learns the distinct patterns of different types of cancers.

Its going to get better all the time. The test is learning, said Myers. The blood specimen of the patient with anorectal cancer has been added to Galleris database, so others with similar patterns can identify cancers faster.

About 480 total patients have taken the Galleri test in Louisiana, according to the company, though that does not include people in some large trials or any of the other blood tests for cancer on the market.

Ochsner Health has entered into a partnership with Galleri and is enrolling 1,000 patients over the age of 50 in New Orleans and Baton Rouge into Grails Pathfinder 2 study, a follow-up study that will track patients for three years, according to Dr. Marc Matrana, medical director of precision cancer therapy at Ochsner.

Ochsner is also enrolling 7,500 people in another study called the Reflection study, which will track how the Galleri test affects the health outcomes of high-risk patients with low socioeconomic status who typically dont have good access to health care.

Of the few dozen patients at Ochsner who have opted to pay out of pocket for tests so far, Matrana has seen one positive result. In the future, he expects the test will just be part of a standard workup with a preventative care doctor.

"Our prediction is that as the years go on, pretty rapidly, these tests are going to be just part of the way we practice medicine," said Matrana.

See the original post here:
A blood test that detects cancer without symptoms could be a game changer for Louisiana - NOLA.com