Category Archives: Preventative Medicine

Data Bridge Market Research announces the release of the reportPreventative Healthcare Technologies and Services MarketSize, Share & Trends Analysis Report By 2027. This report highlights key market dynamics of Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services industry and covers historic data, present market trends, environment, technological innovation, upcoming technologies and the technical progress in the related industry. This Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services report provides current as well as upcoming technical and financial details of the industry to 2027. Depending on clients demand, huge amount of business, product and market related information has been brought together via this industry report that eventually helps businesses create better strategies. All of these features are strictly applied while building this Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market 2020 report for a client. It gives explanation about various definitions and segmentation or classifications of the industry, applications of the industry and value chain structure.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account to growing at a CAGR of 11.10% in the above-mentioned forecast period. The growing awareness amongst the physicians and patients regarding the benefits of advance technology as well as services will help in boosting the growth of the market.

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Top Key Manufactures or Players (this may not be a complete list and extra companies can be added upon request):Myriad Genetics, Inc., Quest Diagnostics Incorporated., Medtronic, Abbott., Merck & Co., Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc., Omnicell, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Pfizer Inc., Dilon Technologies, Inc., OMRON Healthcare Europe B.V., among other domestic and global players. Market share data is available for Global, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America separately. DBMR analysts understand competitive strengths and provide competitive analysis for each competitor separately.

Growing awareness among the people regarding the prevalence of preventive measures to improve quality of life, reducing healthcare spending, rising adoption of advanced technology and solutions, growing cases of chronic disorders will likely to enhance the growth of the preventative healthcare technologies and services market in the forecast period of 2020-2027. On the other hand, decreasing birth rate and growing geriatric population will further boost various opportunities that will lead to the growth of the preventative healthcare technologies and services market in the above mentioned forecast period.

This preventative healthcare technologies and services market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localised market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on preventative healthcare technologies and services market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Global Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market Scope and Market SizePreventative healthcare technologies and services market is segmented on the basis of type and application. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyse meagre growth segments in the industries, and provide the users with valuable market overview and market insights to help them in making strategic decisions for identification of core market applications.

Based on type, preventative healthcare technologies and services market is segmented into early detection and screening technologies, chronic disease management technologies, vaccines, and advanced technologies to reduce errors. Early detection and screening technologies have been further segmented into automated screening, personalized medicine, and other advanced screening technologies. Chronic disease management technologies have been further segmented into blood pressure monitors, asthma monitors, cardiovascular monitors, and glucose monitors. Vaccines have been further segmented into infectious diseases vaccine, cancer vaccine, autism vaccine, allergy vaccine, and other new vaccines. Advanced technologies to reduce errors have been further segmented into electronic prescribing, clinical decision supports system, smart infusion pumps, computerized provider order entry system, smart packaging and automated prescription formulation and dispensing.

Preventative healthcare technologies and services market has also been segmented based on the application into hospitals, clinics, and others.

Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market Country Level AnalysisPreventative healthcare technologies and services market is analysed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, type and application as referenced above.

The countries covered in the preventative healthcare technologies and services market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.

North America dominates the preventative healthcare technologies and services market due to the adoption of advance technology along with rising per capita income of the people, rising government initiatives and prevalence of majority of players, while Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest growth rate in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027 due to the increasing number of initiatives by the government along with growth of the economies.

The country section of the preventative healthcare technologies and services market report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in regulation in the market domestically that impacts the current and future trends of the market. Data points such as consumption volumes, production sites and volumes, import export analysis, price trend analysis, cost of raw materials, down-stream and upstream value chain analysis are some of the major pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Healthcare Infrastructure growth Installed base and New Technology Penetration

Preventative healthcare technologies and services market also provides you with detailed market analysis for every country growth in healthcare expenditure for capital equipments, installed base of different kind of products for preventative healthcare technologies and services market, impact of technology using life line curves and changes in healthcare regulatory scenarios and their impact on the preventative healthcare technologies and services market. The data is available for historic period 2010 to 2018.

Competitive Landscape and Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market Share Analysis

Preventative healthcare technologies and services market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies focus related to preventative healthcare technologies and services market.

Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary the basic information of the Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services

Chapter 4: Presenting the Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market Factor Analysis Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis.

Chapter 5: Displaying market size by Type, End User and Region 2010-2019

Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile

Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries (2020-2027).

Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source

Finally, Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies in decision framework.

Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.

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Preventative Healthcare Technologies and Services Market 2020 Global Analysis, Industry Insights, Regional Overview, Development Status, Revenue,...

Respected Dallas cardiologist and Vice Chief of Medicine Dr. Peter McCullough, has written an article providing clear guidance to physicians on how to treat COVID-19 at home to prevent hospitalizations and death.

The paper is already available at the National Library of Medicine and is set to be published in the American Journal of Medicine. McCullough has been published over 1,000 times and is joined by 22 other doctors in the article.

In my view, doctors can do a big part in turning the tide on this debacle, McCullough told The Texan. He believes more experts need to step forward and recommend treatment based on what has already been learned.

His advice for early treatment of patients, who may even be awaiting for test results but are manifesting symptoms, revolves around four principles: (1) reduction of reinoculation, (2) combination antiviral therapy, (3) immunomodulation, and (4) antithrombotic therapy.

To reduce the chance of a coronavirus patient continuously breathing in more of their own infected air particles, which in turn may increase their viral load, McCullough advises that rooms be open to fresh air, fans be used to circulate air, and infected persons not wear a face covering.

To further reduce the viral load (or amount of virus in a persons blood), McCullough recommends the use of zinc, antimalarials like hydroxychloroquine, antibiotics such as azithromycin or doxycycline which are known to have antiviral properties, and favipiravir, which has shown treatment promise in Russia and India.

As the disease progresses, a common occurrence is inflammation and cytokine activation, where the body starts to attack its own cells instead of the disease. In this situation, McCullough recommends that doctors consider using immunomodulators like dexamethasone, a corticosteroid.

In order to avoid pulmonary thrombosis, or blood clots, which McCullough theorizes is a cause of the chest heaviness described by some COVID-19 patients, aspirin is suggested. Heparin or other short-acting anticoagulants can also be considered.

The paper includes an algorithm for doctors to follow that demonstrates McCulloughs current advice and practice in treating COVID-19.

Previously all experts have advised on wearing masks, washing hands, and quarantine but gave no expert advice on treatment at home. This has led to nearly 180,000 American deaths and a population that is held in fear when COVID develops. The average person over age 50 and or with medical problems waits in complete terror while being ill for two weeks before coming into [a] hospital where they may never see their loved ones again. In my view this is a national tragedy, McCullough asserted.

McCullough believes that many of the measures discussed in his article could be extended to successfully treat seniors in nursing homes and other non-hospital settings.

His father, a nursing home resident, contracted coronavirus in April and recovered after 60 days. His treatment included hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and an anticoagulant used to prevent blood clots known as Lovenox.

The North Texas doctor also attributes his fathers recovery to fresh air and windows open constantly to reduce the viral reloading in the air and all surfaces and personal items sterilized in the room daily.

If the information was known about steroids, I believe treating with prednisone on day five could have shortened his course of illness, McCullough added.

While McCullough supports the use of randomized trials to test treatments, he acknowledges that they are not well-suited in the circumstances of an emergency pandemic.

In the U.S., definitive randomized double blind placebo controlled trials are very expensive and take many years to complete. In the setting of an acute pandemic with potentially fatal outcomes, our clinical trials system is not equipped to deliver timely results to impact the population. To date, there are no definitive randomized trials for the treatment of COVID at home and I do not anticipate any for many months if not years to come, McCullough explained.

McCullough is also leading a study at Baylor University Medical Center that is testing the use of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis or preventative for frontline healthcare workers. While the results have not yet been released, McCullough said that they have reported to the FDA that hydroxychloroquine was found to be safe and well-tolerated.

Additionally, McCullough and fellow cardiologist Dr. Kevin R. Wheelan issued a letter supporting the emergency use authorization (EUA) of hydroxychloroquine for outpatient treatment and prophylaxis for COVID-19 to the FDA.

Disclosure: Unlike almost every other media outlet, The Texan is not beholden to any special interests, does not apply for any type of state or federal funding, and relies exclusively on its readers for financial support. If youd like to become one of the people were financially accountable to, click here to subscribe.

A free bi-weekly commentary on current events by Konni Burton.

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Dallas Cardiologist Offers Guidance on Early Treatment of COVID-19 - The Texan

This week, Amazon launched a new wearable device and service, while Fitbit tweaked its product offering to include the Sense, a device designed to offer health monitoring as opposed to simple activity tracking. The launch of both devices has me wondering whether this is an inflection point for wearables, one that will allow them to become the first and most personal link in our health care delivery system. Conversely, Im wondering if they will fail to make the leap and instead remain a fad for those focused on their health and wellness.

In short, will COVID-19 do for our health interactions what Amazons Alexa did for our control of connected smart home products? In five years, are we going to look back at the delivery of health care and see that it started with an earbud, a smartwatch, or a wrist strap? This is the future that Amazon and Fitbit are betting on with their new products, and the future that Apple, Samsung, and others are hoping to make real.

There are three trends here, and only one of them has to do with the pandemic. The first is a new focus on wellness and preventative health. The second is a focus on personalization thats rooted in individual health data and decisions. And the third is a change in the delivery of health care that has been a long time in the making, but thanks to COVID-19 is rapidly occurring.

The focus on wellness has been happening for a long time. As far back 2014, I was wearing activity trackers and even a device that tracked my respiration to determine whether or not I was stressed. Companies at that time were also building sensors to track sleep quality that fit under mattresses or could be placed next to a bed. The hope was that technology and data could help all of us lead healthier lives.

As time passed, the sensors multiplied, the algorithms got better, and the regulatory bodies got involved. Now the medical research community is starting to come around to the potential benefits of using these devices, and is testing them for accuracy and clinical relevance. Such testing will determine whether a consumer wearable device becomes a gateway to our personalized health care or just another faddish gadget.

Most of these devices arent formally validated today, and the studies that show some of them can predict COVID a day or two ahead of symptoms onset, while good PR, arent medically useful yet. To get to that point, we need to create a bridge between these devices and actual health care.

Ivecovered companies that are trying to create that bridge, such as Elektra Labs andGlooko. Big-name consumer companies such as Apple, Samsung, and even Fitbit are also working toward it with FDA-approved products. Apples HealthKit, a framework for taking in device data and storing medical records, is one such effort.But these firms have to get doctors on board.

We also see companies building products designed to send data to health care providers, effectively acting as proxies for in-clinic visits.Bodyport, which is building a scale that tracks heart health, is one.NuvoAir, which is building a connected spirometer to send lung health data for COPD patients to doctors, is another. When building these products, the target audience is comprised of medical professionals who want devices that send clinically validated data and offer a product that a doctor can prescribe to a user. Which means developers are building both for doctors and consumers. This is tough.

And despite the hype, none of the big tech brands are really there yet. I cant get a COVID-19 test in my home state based solely on data from my Fitbit; I need to have recognizable symptoms. Theres also a legitimate question about privacy related to these devices. Andy Coravos, the co-founder and CEO of Elektra Labs, once told me that personalized medicine is just a fancy name for constant surveillance. Shes right.

These devices will know so much about us that the thought of them in the hands of a consumer tech company that isnt really subject to laws that protect our privacy is chilling. Mark Rolston, the founder, and chief creative officer at Argodesign, says the issue around privacy is that the better these devices become, the less you want to use them because they become frighteningly knowledgeable about you on a personal level.

With the Halo, Amazon is really pushing user trust to the limit. The device, which costs $99.99 and also requires a subscription fee of $3.99 a month for the advanced features, tracks heart rate, steps, and body composition. But it also tracks your emotions based on your tone of voice. To be clear, users have to opt into the feature, and it isnt always listening. Instead, it is an intermittent check on the wearers emotional state that gets reported back to the user. Basically, it has the potential to become a giant pool of training data so Amazons Alexa can gain some emotional intelligence. This may seem far-fetched, but there are plenty of research studies showing that computers can use voice to detect diseases and even mental health.

Fitbits device doesnt introduce an entirely new data point, instead relying on upgraded sensors to offer more accurate and clinically validated insights about heart health, recovery, and more. A cynic might look at these options, plus other options such as the Whoop band which is an activity and recovery tracker that also requires a subscription as ways to create a recurring revenue model. Because to get the best insights you have to pay a monthly fee.

But I think the long game is to deliver enough data to a digital assistant so it can become the starting point for health care delivery. In other words, letting the wearer know when to make a doctors appointment or providing a historical picture of their health at annual physicals even during emergency events or illness.

COVID-19 and a desire to avoid in-person health care will accelerate demand for this data. But in order to ensure these devices and their algorithms arent just digital snake oil, well need to validate them, get regulators and doctors on board, and convince consumers that the data produced by these devices will be governed by strict privacy laws. Otherwise, its just a device and one that many will be able to do without.

Related

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Welcome to the post-COVID wearables world - Stacey on IoT

Wellness describes itself as complete physical mental and social well-being. It comprises all the components used to lead a healthy life. Wellness is multidirectional and constitutes social, emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional wellbeing. According to National Wellness Institute, two more component of wellness includes cultural and environmental wellness. Mental health and well-being are an integral and essential component of health. Wellness goes further than disease or disability and highlights the maintenance and improvement of health and well-being of the person. Wellness includes activities that improve health, enhance the quality of life and increase the levels of well-being of the person. Different types of wellness include workplace wellness, wellness tourism, lifestyle wellness and others. In order to help prevent disease, reduce stress, and enhance the overall quality of life Global Wellness Institute (GWI) organizes e Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) annually, that brings together leaders and visionaries to discuss various aspects of health and wellbeing.

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Nowadays, people are focusing on preventive, proactive aspects of wellness, wellness economy incorporates industrial sector that enables consumers to incorporate wellness into their lives. Consumers are inclining towards preventive measures to prevent diseases and maintain good health. The key sector of wellness includes wellness tourism, fitness, complementary & alternative medicine, lifestyle wellness, rejuvenation and spa industry, workplace wellness and others.

Wellness is self-responsibility and is opening new opportunities for wellness market as due to increase in geriatric population, rise in disease population due to sedentary lifestyle, new research on wellness procedures using alternative medicines, expansion of consumer base and wellness industries, tourism is growing, that will incorporate wellness into travel, shift of consumers towards personal care products are some of the factors that will drive the medical wellness market. The awareness about medical wellness will help consumers, spread wellness to homes and their workplace and help the right way to exercise, include healthy eating in their diet, focus on preventive and personalized health and others. Lack of awareness about medical wellness, rise in products and services of wellness industry, lack of workforce and others are some of the factors restraining the market growth.

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The global medical wellness market is segmented on basis of wellness sector, distribution channel and geography:

Segment by Wellness Sector

Segment by Distribution Channel

The global medical wellness market is segmented into wellness sector and distribution channel. Based on the wellness sector, the medical wellness market is segmented into complementary and alternative medicine, beauty care and anti-aging (surgical and non-surgical), preventative and personalized medicine, healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss, rejuvenation and others. The beauty care and anti- aging segment will dominate the wellness market due to rise in number of aesthetics procedures and increase in number of beauty care wellness sectors. Based on the end user, the medical wellness market is segmented as franchise and company owned outlets. The global medical wellness market is going to increase significantly is near future due to shift of consumers towards proactive approaches and include wellness in day to day life

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By regional presence, the global medical wellness market is segmented into five broad regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America market is expected to dominate in terms of revenue share, owing to the high availability of advanced products and services, wellness tourism, expenditures growth, , increasing penetration of leading companies in the region along with increase in patient population. Significant economic development has led to an increase in healthcare availability in Asia Pacific region, growing number of multi-specialty care centers, rejuvenation and fitness centers and penetration of global players in Asia is expected to fuel the medical wellness market

Some of the major players in medical wellness market are Enrich Hair & Skin Solutions, VLCC Wellness Center, Guardian Lifecare, Healthkart, WTS International, The Body Holiday, Bon Vital, Biologique Recherch, MINDBODY Inc., Massage Envy, ClearCost Health, Golds Gym International, Inc., World Gym, Spafinder Wellness 365, Kaya Skin Clinic, Body master and others

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Global Medical Wellness Market to Witness Increased Revenue Growth Owing to Rapid Increase in Demand - Scientect

Herd immunity the notion that once a high proportion of a population has contracted or been vaccinated against an infectious disease, the likelihood of others in the population being infected is drastically reduced is a coveted yet intangible goal in a world without a COVID-19 vaccine.

Its safety in numbers, in other words. But unless and until theres a widely available vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, physicians say the reality is far more complex.

Patrick Vallance, the U.K.s chief scientific adviser, said last March that herd immunity was an option the Boris Johnson government was exploring as COVID-19 began taking a toll on the country. His apparent aim, regarded by his critics as idealistic and foolhardy even early on, was to quickly build up herd immunity among those believed to be least likely to suffer tragic consequences and thereby slow the rate of transmission to populations most at risk of death.

The U.K. abandoned the idea. Later blaming poor messaging, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated, Herd immunity is not our goal or policy, while other experts said it would be a side effect of the governments overall coronavirus action plan.

A key tenet of the herd-immunity concept is the separation of those at a lower risk of dying from the higher-risk group namely, people over 70 and those with pre-existing conditions. As the lower-risk group contracts the virus, immunity spreads in the so-called herd, ultimately lowering the risk for those in the higher-risk group of coming into contact with a currently contagious person and becoming infected.

Dont miss: No, the summer surge in coronavirus cases in some states isnt part of a second wave

While it was deemed too difficult to achieve in the U.K., a country with a population that hovers near 66.4 million, Sweden stayed on that track. Its gamble: With a population of just over 10 million, it could achieve herd immunity without experiencing too many fatalities.

Swedens prime minister, Stefan Lfven, advocated voluntary social-distancing rules and not closing schools but banning gatherings of more than 50 people. He has steadfastly insisted that his country has taken the right approach, despite criticisms from health advocates.

Now there are quite a few people who think we were right, Lfven said this week. The strategy that we adopted, I believe is right to protect individuals, limit the spread of the infection. Critically, however, the country did not ban visits to nursing homes until the end of March.

The logic: In an ideal world, where people do not come into contact with those who are vulnerable, a country could manage the spread of the virus without overwhelming hospitals with sick people, while also mitigating the full economic impact of closing businesses and introducing travel bans.

How did it turn out? Its still early, given that most Western countries are still grappling with the first wave of coronavirus (and many experts express doubt that the wave metaphor is suited to this virus), but results have been poor relative to other countries.

Sweden has the ninth highest number of COVID-related deaths per capita in the world, at 57.09 per 100,000 people. The U.K. has the fifth highest, at 62.47.

Whats more, the U.K. has a fatality rate of 12.6%, second only to Italys 13.6%. Sweden has a fatality rate of 6.7%. To put those figures in context, the U.S. has had 54.55 COVID-related deaths per 100,000 people and a fatality rate of 3.1%, less than half the rate of Sweden.

So what happened? Sweden resisted a lockdown, while the U.K. took its time to introduce its own shelter-in-place orders and travel ban. The U.K. introduced lockdown measures on March 23, and on March 25, the same day that Britains Prince Charles tested positive for the coronavirus, the U.K. government said police would be given the power to use reasonable force to enforce shelter-in-place rules.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister who himself was hospitalized with coronavirus and ultimately recovered, was late to issue those orders and introduce a travel ban. One study released in June estimated that 34% of detected U.K. transmissions arrived from Spain, France, Italy and elsewhere abroad.

That same study concluded that one-third of cases in the U.K. occurred in March, while others said the U.K., along with other countries, underestimated the number of asymptomatic people who were spreading the virus without realizing it.

Whats more, like the U.S., the U.K. did not introduce an early large-scale testing and contact-tracing strategy. All of these factors led to the U.K. placing among the global top ranks, alongside Sweden, for coronavirus-related deaths per capita.

Sweden, meanwhile, failed to protect its elderly population, who make up the majority of those who died from COVID-19 there. This was a major misstep in its herd-immunity strategy, which speaks to the difficulty of applying an idealistic, laboratory model of separating the infected from the most vulnerable to the real world: Sweden only banned care-home visits at the end of March.

It kept most of its schools open, despite children being among the most likely to contract the virus and transmit without displaying symptoms. The country reported its highest death tally in 150 years in the first half of this year.

Despite these efforts, and its relatively small size compared to the U.K. and the U.S., the country is not even close to achieving herd immunity. In an interview with the Observer newspaper in London this month, Anders Tegnell, an epidemiologist involved in managing Swedens pandemic response, claimed that up to 30% of the countrys population could be immune.

But others say that even accounting for those who are asymptomatic, that is a wildly optimistic estimate, and, as Tegnell himself acknowledged, its very difficult to draw a good sample from the population, because, obviously, the level of immunity differs enormously between different age groups between different parts of Stockholm and so on.

Its likely even that 30% level is a long way off from achieving the goal. This month, the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine published a paper titled Swedens prized herd immunity is nowhere in sight. Epidemiologists estimate that at least 70% of the population attaining immunity is necessary to achieve herd immunity.

And would a vaccine help a country like Sweden that appears to be slouching toward the goal of herd immunity? Not necessarily. A study published last month suggested a vaccine would have to be at least 80% effective to achieve a complete return to normal. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, said a vaccine does necessarily permit a return to normal life.

If 75% of the population gets vaccinated, the vaccine has to have an efficacy of at least 70% to prevent an epidemic and at least 80% to extinguish an ongoing epidemic, the researchers said. If only 60% of the population gets vaccinated, the thresholds are even higher.

What matters is not just that a product is available, but also how effective it is, said lead investigator Bruce Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York.

One not insignificant caveat: A recent survey by Yahoo News and YouGov found that the public embrace of a potential vaccine has hit a new low. Only 42% of Americans said they planned to get vaccinated if and when a vaccine becomes available, which is down from 55% in late May, and 46% in early July.

And combining the percentage of those who would not get vaccinated with those who are unsure? That alone adds up to more than 75%. There was a correlation between education level and income with a willingness to get a coronavirus vaccine: 78% of those who had obtained at least bachelors degree said they planned to get vaccinated, compared to 58% of those who didnt finish high school.

While 67% of Caucasians, 71% of Hispanics and 77% of Asian Americans said they were likely to get the future vaccine, barely half of Black respondents (52%) agreed.

A plethora of companies are currently working on coronavirus vaccines. Among them are AstraZeneca AZN, -0.74% ; BioNTech SE BNTX, -2.42% and its partner, Pfizer PFE, +0.13% ; GlaxoSmithKline GSK, -0.37% ; Johnson & Johnson JNJ, +0.43% ; Merck & Co. MERK, ; Moderna MRNA, -0.79% ; and Sanofi SAN, +4.03%.

Key Words:Infectious-disease expert says were thinking too much about a second wave of COVID-19 when its really more like a forest fire

In the meantime, asymptomatic transmission remains the Achilles heel of COVID-19 pandemic control through the public-health strategies we have currently deployed, according to a May 28 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Symptom-based case detection and subsequent testing to determine isolation and quarantine procedures were justified by the many similarities between SARS-CoV-1 (the virus that caused SARS) and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), they wrote.

Despite the deployment of similar control interventions, the trajectories of the two epidemics have veered in dramatically different directions, they added. Within eight months, SARS was controlled after SARS-CoV-1 had infected approximately 8,100 persons in limited geographic areas.

Public-health officials have advised people to keep a distance of six feet from one another and wear face coverings in public settings. Face masks are designed to prevent the wearer, who may be infected with COVID-19 but have mild or no symptoms, from spreading invisible droplets to another person and thereby infecting them, too.

Sweden, for its part, chose not to impose a strict face-mask wearing strategy.

Ultimately, that Achilles hell in COVID-19 of asymptomatic spreading also complicates any herd-immunity strategy where infected people are kept separate from the more vulnerable. The latter group, in reality, cannot remain house bound and without contact with anyone who is not considered vulnerable for months possibly years or however long it takes to reach the critical herd-immunity level.

The World Health Organization currently estimates that 16% of people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic and can transmit the coronavirus, while other data show that 40% of coronavirus transmission is due to carriers not displaying symptoms of the illness.

As of Saturday, more than five months after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, more than 24 million people had been infected with the virus worldwide, and at least 837,879 had died.

In the U.K., there have been 333,806 confirmed cases and 41,573 deaths due to COVID-19. In Sweden, there have been at least 83,958 confirmed cases and 5,821 deaths. These numbers, for the most part, do not include asymptomatic carriers.

Herd immunity remains a distant hope. The success is premised on the ability to keep those two groups separated, but I dont know if you can, Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told MarketWatch.

Its a challenging approach, Adalja added. Its going to be daunting. Its not as if those two demographics never interact. None of these intervention options is cost-free.

Theres an advantage to coming down with a virus that has been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, such as the flu. COVID-19 is new, and scientists are still learning about the viruss ability to mutate and affect the cardiovascular system as well as the respiratory system.

Coronavirus immunity differs from that to other diseases. Immunizations against smallpox, measles or Hepatitis B should last a lifetime, doctors say, but coronaviruses, first identified in the 1960s, interact with our immune system in unique and different ways, Adalja added.

How do other coronaviruses compare to SARS-CoV-2? People infected by SARS-CoV, an outbreak that centered in southern China and Hong Kong from 2002 to 2004, had immunity for roughly two years; studies suggest the antibodies disappear six years after the infection.

For MERS-CoV, a coronavirus first identified in 2012 that has infected hundreds in the Middle East, research indicates people retain immunity for approximately 18 months although the long-term response to being exposed may depend on the severity of the original infection. There are no vaccines for MERS-CoV or SARS-CoV.

Herd immunity is not a preventative measure, says Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist working in chronic disease in Sydney, Australia.

If 70% of your population is infected with a disease, it is by definition not prevention. How can it be? Most of the people in your country are sick! And the hopeful nonsense that you can reach that 70% by just infecting young people is simply absurd. If only young people are immune, youd have clusters of older people with no immunity at all, making it incredibly risky for anyone over a certain age to leave their house lest they get infected, forever, he wrote in ScienceAlert.

Its also worth thinking about the repercussions of this disastrous scenario the best estimates put COVID-19 infection fatality rate at around 0.5-1%, Meyerowitz-Katz added. If 70% of an entire population gets sick, that means that between 0.35% to 0.7% of everyone in a country could die, which is a catastrophic outcome.

With something like 10% of all infections needing to be hospitalized, youd also see an enormous number of people very sick, which has huge implications for the country as well, he said. The sad fact is that herd immunity just isnt a solution to our pandemic woes.

The alternative: After a slow start where people were allowed to travel and news of the original outbreak was quashed, telling people to stay home and keep their distance from each other appeared to work for China, as did the travel ban and locking down more than a dozen cities to help lower the rate of new cases and slow the spread of the virus, experts say.

It is the good part of what China did, Adalja said.

Read more here:
Sweden embraced herd immunity, while the U.K. abandoned the idea so why do they BOTH have high COVID-19 fatality rates? - MarketWatch

By John Vandermosten

TSX:PMN.TO | OTC:ARFXF

READ THE FULL PMN.TO RESEARCH REPORT

Current Events

ProMIS (TSX:PMN.TO) (OTC:ARFXF) has a number of recent and upcoming milestones related to development of its pipeline which we summarize below.

Confidential discussions with potential partners for platform programs - Ongoing

Capital raise or partnership to fund entry into clinic 2020

Prepare IND and Phase I trial for PMN310 2020

Pursue a vectorization deal - 2020

Generate Phase I biomarker data with Toronto Memory Program 2020

Launch Phase I trial in PMN310 - 2021

Second Quarter 2020 Operational and Financial Results

As the coronavirus dominated the global environment, ProMIS reoriented its efforts towards the virus and forged a relationship with BC Neuroimmunology (BCNI) to develop antibody detection tests for COVID-19. The relationship expanded to include development of assays to screen and diagnose Alzheimers Disease (AD). ProMIS and BCNI later codified their agreement with a Joint Venture business arrangement to offer additional testing. Another effort to combat COVID-19 emerged with a pending $400,000 grant from the Canadian government to predict mutations in the coronavirus. Industry news was punctuated by the FDAs acceptance of Biogens Biologics License Application (BLA) for aducanumab, bringing AD back into focus.

Financial results for second quarter 2020 were published in a press release and SEDAR filings released on August 13, 2020. Minimal revenues were recognized in the second quarter. Research and development efforts consumed $899,0001 in 2Q:20 compared with $1.0 million in the prior year quarter, a 14% drop. Lower spending on external contract research organization (CRO) costs, less share-based compensation were partially offset by higher patent expenditures. General and administrative expenses were $0.8 million, compared with the prior years $0.8 million. The 7% contraction in spend was primarily attributed to reduction in consulting and professional fees offset by increased foreign exchange losses.

As of June 30, 2020, cash stood at $1.3 million, down from the prior year-end level of $1.7 million and essentially flat with the prior quarters level. Cash burn for 2Q:20 was ($1.2) million offset by a net $1.2 million in cash from financing. In March 2020, ProMIS secured approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to temporarily reduce the exercise price on 44 million options to $0.13 per share in a modification that expires on May 22. During this period which spanned two quarters, ProMIS raised total proceeds of $1.24 million.

Partnerships

ProMIS has developed multiple relationships with BCNI over the last several months, which is led by ProMIS board member Dr. Hans Frykman. On April 15, ProMIS announced a collaboration with BCNI to develop a high-throughput, highly specific serological asay to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. About a month later, the partnership was expanded to include the development of a diagnostic assay for screening and diagnosis of AD. The diagnostic approach will use surface plasmon resonance (SPR)2 technology, a highly accurate approach to detecting specific antibodies.

The serology test that the two companies are developing is able to achieve a 99.9% sensitivity and 99.5% specificity for SARS-CoV-2, levels comprable to industry leading tests. Efforts to develop the diagnostic will also be able to determine whether or not the antibodies detected in the assay are able to neutralize the virus by using ProMIS proprietary peptide antigens. It is important to identify if the antibodies can neutralize the virus as this would indicate that they can confer immunity to COVID-19. 18 antibody targets have been identified that are unique to the spke protein on the virus and the ProMIS BCNI team will next test the binding affinity of the peptide antigents to the antibodies using SPR.

The success of early stage development between ProMIS and BCNI led to the creation of a revenue-sharing joint venture to develop highly accurate tests for AD. The tests would detect, assist in diagnosis and monitor the progression of AD. To joint venture will use SPR technology to generate results, which is favored due to its greater accuracy, flexibility and adaptability compared to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) immunochemical tests. The JV will measure two brain-protein biomarkers: neurofilament light chain (NfL) and phosphorylated tau181 (P-tau181) which both show precise measurements of amyloid, tau and neurodegeneration. Since measurable AD neuropathology precedes cognitive decline by 15 to 20 years, the wide availability of this test will allow candidates for early stage treatment to be identified when preventative drugs can be most effective. As the 50/50 JV relationship matures between ProMIS and BCNI, additional tests are expected to be developed.

Additional collaborative efforts addressing COVID-19 include the receipt of a Supercluster Award to predict the evolution of the virus. The award of CAD$1.8 million will supprt the effort to identify likely mutations of SARS-CoV-2 in order to develop effective tests, therapies and vaccines against it. The Government of Canada, which provided the award, anticipates that dangerous new strans may emerge and is incentivizing activity to get ahead of the virus evolution. ProMIS is joined by five other commercial and academic collaborators to launch the project. The partners include Terramera, D-Wave, Menten AI, Microsoft Corp, ProMIS and the University of British Columbia. ProMIS will lend its epitope-identifying discovery engine to identify unique sites displayed on complex protein structures to assist in the effort.

Aducanumab Regulatory Submission

After months of suspense, Biogen (BIIB) published a press release on August 7th announcing aducanumabs BLA had been accepted by the FDA and granted priority review generating a target action date of March 7, 2021. Due to the unmet need in AD, the agency plans expedited action on the submission to review the first disease modifying therapy to reduce the clinical decline of AD. When Biogen announced in March 2019 that it had halted the trials evaluating the drug, the AD community and stakeholders had a loss of faith in the amyloid beta approach, given the string of failures capped by this announcement. However, on further examination, it appeared that at high doses the drug did work and a reanalysis demonstrated sufficient efficacy for the FDA to accept the BLA. This is a positive for others in the amyloid beta camp as it shows the approach can work. PMN310 offers several features that suggest it can perform even better than aducanumab due to its more specific targeting of misfolded proteins and lack of off-target Amyloid Related Imaging Abnormality Edema (ARIA-E) brain swelling.

Exhibit I ProMIS Neurodegenerative Candidate Portfolio3

Additions to the Team

In January 2020, Dr. Jos Luis Molinuevo ascended to the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) bringing his experience as a neurologist, researcher, professor, principal investigator and clinician to the post. Dr. Molinuevo has focused on AD and other related diseases such as PD. He is the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Prevention Program at the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) in Barcelona, Spain, which focuses on Alzheimers disease prevention from a clinical, cognitive, genetic, and biomarker perspective. Dr. Molinuevo is also an associate professor at the University Pompeu Fabra. His experience and knowledge of biomarkers and relationships throughout Europe are valuable assets that should provide support for later stage clinical trials in ProMIS portfolio candidates.

In conjunction with the announcement that ProMIS was collaborating in the development of a serological test for the coronavirus, the company also welcomed Dr. Hans Frykman to the SAB in April. Dr. Frykman is the CEO and medical director of BC Neuroimmunology lab and Neurocode Labs. For decades, the BC Neuroimmunology lab has provided clinical neuroimmunology testing in North America. Dr. Frykman is also a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.

RACK1

ProMIS identified a new antagonist against the Receptor for Activated protein C Kinase 1 (RACK1). RACK1 has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The RACK1 antagonists are designed to prevent this protein from forming aggregates that impair proper neuronal functioning. RACK1 is an attractive target because it interacts with other proteins including TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP43) and Fused in Sarcoma (FUS). TDP43 and FUS can assemble and prevent neurological machinery from functioning properly by impairing synthesis of cell proteins. The RACK1 antagonist is another example of the broad functionality of ProMIS discovery algorithms.

Summary

ProMIS has continued to advance its preclinical programs and enter into diagnosting testing collaborations to detect both coronavirus and Alzheimers Disease. Parallel with these endeavors is the continued interaction with the scientific, investment and corporate community to garner KOL support, financing and partnerships. Management has refined its message highlighting the need to focus on the toxic forms of misfolded proteins that are the root cause of neurodegenerative disease and the importance of biomarkers that can rapidly and inexpensively demonstrate efficacy. We continue to be impressed with ProMIS discovery platforms and their ability to identify unique features of toxic misfolded proteins and their ability to be repurposed to identify targets for the coronavirus. We believe that a pharmaceutical partner deal or large investment will allow the company to advance its candidates into the clinic.

ProMIS represents an attractive opportunity to gain exposure to a disorder with no other approved disease modifying therapies. There are almost six million people in the US and over 30 million people outside of the US suffering from AD. Additionally, there is a larger population with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and pre-Alzheimers which may benefit even more from toxic oligomer sequestering therapy. The path forward is relatively clear with other assets setting the precedent for trial design and potentially accelerated approaches using biomarkers suggested by regulatory agencies. There is also substantial opportunity for drug development in PD, MSA and ALS.

Due to the uncertain environment regarding to aducanumab, the investment community is waiting to invest new money in A programs. We expect to see a response by the FDA to Biogens drug by March of next year, which may bring attention back to the A space. We continue to believe in the potential of PMN310 and the other candidates in development and the tremendous opportunity in AD and other neurodegenerative diseases due to the lack of effective therapies and the magnitude of the need.

SUBSCRIBE TO ZACKS SMALL CAP RESEARCHtoreceive our articles and reports emailed directly to you each morning. Please visit ourwebsitefor additional information on Zacks SCR.

DISCLOSURE: Zacks SCR has received compensation from the issuer directly, from an investment manager, or from an investor relations consulting firm, engaged by the issuer, for providing research coverage for a period of no less than one year. Research articles, as seen here, are part of the service Zacks provides and Zacks receives quarterly payments totaling a maximum fee of $40,000 annually for these services. Full Disclaimer HERE.

________________________

1. Currency is denominated in Canadian Dollars

2. SPR is an approach that employs covalently attached ligands which interact with an analyte. Light is refracted on an underlying sensor chip, the angle of which can determine the mass of a bound protein. See here for a detailed explanation.

3. Source: ProMIS Corporate Presentation January 2020.

Original post:
PMN.TO: Serology Testing JV in AD and COVID - Zacks Small Cap Research

Congress should make primary care a top priority for the Medicaid program, the nonpartisan Bipartisan Policy Center said in a report Monday.

The group called on Congress to support a comprehensive framework to improve primary care by directing HHS to help states share best practices and innovations and measure and report "spending on primary care as a percentage of total healthcare spending." In addition, Congress should fully fund the Primary Care Extension Program.

Lawmakers should also boost access to insurance coverage by allowing states to expand Medicaid. States could follow traditional expansion to adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level and receive 100% matching federal funds, eventually phasing down to 90%. Or they could expand Medicaid coverage to people making 100% of the federal poverty level and receive 88% matching federal funds if they do it within two years.

Likewise, Congress should allow states to automatically enroll eligible people in Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program or marketplace subsidies. States would only be permitted to enroll people in marketplace subsidies if the subsidies fully covered an individual's premium costs. BPC also recommended creating a new option for states to sign up eligible adults in 12 months of continuous Medicaid coverage, preventing coverage lapses and reducing reporting for enrollees.

Congress should also mandate fee-for-service Medicaid to cover preventative care services with no cost-sharing to make sure beneficiaries aren't discouraged from seeking high-value care.

"Access to primary care can help individuals live longer and help avoid or delay the onset of costly chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer," according to the report. "Access to primary care can also help reduce more expensive care, including hospitalizations and emergency department visits."

Hemi Tewarson, director of the National Governors Association's health division, said during a panel discussion that she's concerned states won't have enough resources to invest in primary care because of the downward pressure on state budgets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have long-term ramifications on the U.S. healthcare system.

The Bipartisan Policy Center also recommended boosting Medicaid's matching federal funds to 100% for primary care services for five years if states pay for them at the Medicare rate. According to the report, higher reimbursements for primary care services would ensure enough primary care providers to deliver care to Medicaid enrollees.

Likewise, HHS should delay any changes to network adequacy requirements for Medicaid managed care organizations until the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission develops data-driven access standards. According to the report, Congress should order HHS to regulate network adequacy for Medicaid MCOs "based on the new data-driven standard."

The Bipartisan Policy Center recommended several other actions to increase the primary care workforce, including increased federal coordination of workforce development efforts and more visa waivers for foreign medical graduates.

The report also includes a wide range of recommendations to address racial, ethnic and economic disparities in Medicaid. They include blocking implementation of the June rule eliminating nondiscrimination regulations, requiring HHS to issue guidance to states about how to pay community health workers to address chronic conditions and empowering HHS to approve Medicaid coverage of non-medical services to address the social determinants of health.

Congress created the Primary Care Extension Program under the Affordable Care Act to improve primary care quality, but it never funded the program. According to the legislation, it was supposed to transform primary care by educating "providers about preventive medicine, health promotion, chronic disease management, mental and behavioral health services, and evidence-based and evidence-informed therapies and techniques."

Read the original:
Primary care should be a top Medicaid priority, think tank says - ModernHealthcare.com

Masks as medicine

Editor: We have the medicine we need to slow the coronavirus. As we wait for COVID-19 vaccine and drug therapies, we have powerful tools to reduce the transmission of coronavirus. Washing hands, social distancing and mask wearing all slow the spread of the virus.

While we normally do not think of physical barriers and actions as preventative medicine, these are the tools we have available today. These are simple, effective, affordable and accessible tools in slowing the spread of coronavirus. They do not have side effects and have limited environmental impacts. They are being employed at a global level to slow the virus.

Economic research has shown that a national mask mandate would save 5% of the GDP. To support our economy, keep our schools open and maintain quality health care, wash hands, wear a mask and social distance. The pandemic has had a significant, long term economic and social impact on all Americans. The pandemic has left millions of Americans unemployed and reduced state and local budgets which will cause cuts in social, medical and infrastructure programs. The pandemic has closed schools, increasing the burden on working parents and compromising the education of American children.

Let's not amplify these economic and social costs. Use the tools available today to save money, jobs and lives tomorrow.

Kate Haug

Sebastopol

Read more:
Letters to the Editor: July 9, 2020 | Opinion - Sonoma West

Cyndi Williams, CEO and founder at Quin, discusses why the digital and healthcare industries need to combine forcesto harness the full potential health apps have to offer.

There are more than 300,000 health-related apps available from leading app stores worldwide a number which has more than doubled in the past five years. In line with this astonishing growth, the number of digital health apps has also doubled since 2015, and is expected to be worth over $100 billion by 2023.

Whereas the traditional medical R&D process is incredibly expensive and time-consuming, app development offers an exciting alternative. Although the smartphone may never supersede medical devices, it is nonetheless an invaluable repository of lifestyle and behavioural data with immense promise for improving insights, outcomes and patient quality of life.

However, the exponential rise of mobile health apps (mHealth apps) now faces several significant obstacles from the rising cost of development to institutional reluctance and limitations to integration and interoperability.

Its time for a paradigm shift

As the populations of developed countries continue to skew older, chronic conditions become increasingly common and the shortage of healthcare workers continues, the requirement for further innovation in the industry also increases. The medical industry is built upon innovations that improve life expectancy, quality of life, and offer diagnostic and treatment options. mHealth apps offer the potential to not only assist with these, but also aid in improving healthcare costs and efficiency.

Medical health apps augment existing systems to enable earlier interventions, greater patient autonomy and significant improvements to quality of life. In the long term, this represents a paradigm shift from crisis intervention to patient-led preventative medicine.

Consumer interest is already here

While there is some resistance to this movement in the medical industry, healthcare consumers overwhelmingly support the increased use of digital technology. In a recent survey in the US, 75% of consumers reported that technology already played an important role in managing their health, while the number of healthcare consumers using mHealth apps jumped by 32% between 2014 and 2018, according to Accenture.

Accentures research also found that the 88% were comfortable sharing data gathered by wearable health devices with a medical professional, offering an early example of the beneficial interplay between digital monitoring and conventional medicine.

Changing life for people with diabetes

Diabetes is one such condition where mHealth apps can be hugely beneficial to an individuals lifestyle management. People with diabetes constantly make decisions that directly affect their physical health and attempt to balance dozens of interconnected factors that determine the appropriate insulin dose. For this reason, the mHealth App Economics 2017 study listed diabetes among the top three areas with the greatest market potential for digital health solutions, but market penetration has been limited. There is still a lot of potential for innovators who are willing to dig deep and understand more about how mHealth apps can positively influence the lives of people with diabetes.

For instance, many people with diabetes use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) which already sync data to their phone. Combining this data with the other data that smartphones often collect sleep, steps, exercise, and even diet, weight and menstruation, if the person uses other apps to track these could produce significantly smarter and more personal dosage diagnosis for insulin.

The upcoming app Quin is an example of the next generation of intelligent, smartphone-based medical health apps. The app synthesises the users data to help them make informed, independent decisions on insulin dosing and lifestyle management based on previous experiences and day-to-day habits.

An exciting road ahead if we choose to take it

The proliferation of medical health apps represents truly personalised medicine, as patients phones passively log data in real-time and use their computational power to turn that raw information into actionable insights. From diagnosis to prevention and treatment, these affordable, scalable and ever-improving mobile health apps represent a revolution in medicine that will improve the quality of all our lives.

View post:
The collision of fast-paced digital industry with healthcare - Med-Tech Innovation

Omar P. Haqqani, for the Daily News

Dr. Haqqani: Eliminating disparity in health care

The medical community should make every effort to eliminate the impact of racism in health care. Although the disparities are being brought to light by the current pandemic, the problem has been acknowledged in the past. Now is the time for health care professionals to aggressively seek to reverse the impact of negative attitudes and practices that have long been in place.

Causes and effects of racism in health care

There is an alarmingly high national rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths within the minority community, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is 4.5% higher for African Americans than that of the non-minority population. It also rises for Hispanic or Latino individuals and Native Americans.

Aside from the increases brought to light by the coronavirus, the disparity in general good health can be seen across the board in every medical arena. The higher rates of diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other conditions among minorities have contributed not only to higher coronavirus consequences, but to cardiovascular issues, kidney failure and other dangerous circumstances.

In a report published in the archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine in 2019, unequal access to medical care for minorities is a major factor in fostering health inequities. Other factors in maintaining or widening the gap include a lack of childhood development, a higher rate of poverty, and income inequality between minority workers and non-minority workers. Housing and other social and economic factors are also important in the health care disparity discussion. While they may not all seem related specifically to medical care, they result in inadequate circumstances for minorities.

Lack of preventative care

The economic disadvantages more frequently faced by minorities in childhood and adulthood lead to less consistent medical care. Infrequent checkups and less education about signs of disease increase the odds of major health difficulties. According to the NIH/NLM report, only 3% of all health care money in the United States is spent on preventative care. Many dangerous medical conditions, including cardiovascular issues, are preventable, or at least more controllable when warning signs are detected.

The economic factors of racism decrease the probability of prevention. Because wages are lower, doctor visits are infrequent. Many low paying jobs do not include health benefits. Workers may also resist relinquishing a day's pay to go to a doctor's office for a checkup, as well.

Availability and procedural disparities

The there is also a fracture quality of health care for minorities once a diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed. The impact of this is obvious in all age groups. Infant mortality rates are higher and life expectancy is shorter in minority communities. In one example of specific treatment recommendations, the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology cites a study that revealed that 35% fewer minority patients who were eligible for kidney transplants received them, versus the non-minority eligible patients.

Steps the medical community must take

Addressing social risk factors among minorities, diversifying the health care work force, improving the availability of health care and providing more avenues to primary care are among the strategies that can help.

There are programs in place that provide outreach into minority and underprivileged communities to provide better health care. Medical institutions should encourage their doctors and nurses to participate in programs that deal with childhood intervention, senior care and assistance to the disabled.

The American Medical Association has acknowledged that bias exists within health systems and peripheral institutions that contribute to the disparities. Health professionals and institutions are being urged to examine and correct it.

Ask Dr. Haqqani

If you have questions about your cardiovascular health, including heart, blood pressure, stroke lifestyle and other issues, we want to answer them. Please submit your questions to Dr. Haqqani by e-mail at questions@vascularhealthclinics.org.

Dr. Omar P. Haqqani is the chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Vascular Health Clinics in Midland: http://www.vascularhealthclinics.org

Originally posted here:
Dr. Haqqani: Eliminating disparity in health care - Midland Daily News