Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: biotech/medical – Page 190

Diabetes has long been regarded as a chronic condition, a lifelong sentence requiring constant management. However, recent advancements in science and personalized healthcare are challenging this narrative. The concept of “diabetes reversal” is gaining traction, providing hope to millions who believed their diagnosis was a permanent condition.

Diabetes reversal doesn’t imply a cure. Instead, it refers to achieving and maintaining normal blood sugar levels without the need for diabetes medications for a predefined period of time – generally for 3 months. For individuals with type 2 diabetes, this means significant lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medical interventions that reduce or eliminate dependency on drugs like insulin or metformin.

Recent studies have highlighted that sustained weight loss, especially in the early stages of diagnosis, can help you achieve diabetes reversal or remission in many patients. According to research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, individuals who lost 15% or more of their body weight within a year of diagnosis had a remission rate of nearly 86%.

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“However, chatbot answers were largely difficult to read and answers repeatedly lacked information or showed inaccuracies, possibly threatening patient and medication safety,” they add.

The researchers also noted that a major drawback was the chatbot’s inability to understand the underlying intent of a patient question.

“Despite their potential, it is still crucial for patients to consult their healthcare professionals, as chatbots may not always generate error-free information. Caution is advised in recommending AI-powered search engines until citation engines with higher accuracy rates are available,” the researchers concluded.

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📝 — Kee, et al.

This review focuses on compartmentalized inflammation in Multiple sclerosis (MS) and in particular, what we know about meningeal tertiary lymphoid structures which are organised clusters of immune cells, associated with more severe and progressive forms of MS.

Full text is available 👇

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The most common form of MS is a relapsing–remitting disease characterised by acute episodes of demyelination associated with the breakdown of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). In the relapsing–remitting phase there is often relative recovery (remission) from relapses characterised clinically by complete or partial resolution of neurological symptoms. In the later and progressive stages of the disease process, accrual of neurological disability occurs in a pathological process independent of acute episodes of demyelination and is accompanied by a trapped or compartmentalised inflammatory response, most notable in the connective tissue spaces of the vasculature and leptomeninges occurring behind an intact BBB.

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This presents another challenge: convincing patients to allow the use of their data. Some 70% of Americans have expressed concerns about data privacy, with 56% admitting they find AI in healthcare “scary.”

It isn’t helped by the growing number of data breaches in the healthcare space, with 88 million patients having had their personal health information compromised in data breaches last year alone. Undoubtedly, if AI-powered healthcare is to maintain its trajectory, the sector will need to address these cybersecurity concerns.

AI is no longer a prospect but a reality today. It’s already being deployed in doctors’ offices and hospitals to analyze patient data, handle back-office tasks and assist surgeons. Anticipated to decrease administrative costs by up to 30%, free up hundreds of thousands of hours of physicians’ time and cut surgical waiting times—for the millions of Americans currently suffering in silence, whether due to affordability or accessibility, AI will offer a lifeline.

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For years, they had been losing their central vision—what allows people to see letters, faces, and details clearly. The light-receiving cells in their eyes had been deteriorating, gradually blurring their sight.

But after receiving an experimental eye implant as part of a clinical trial, some study participants can now see well enough to read from a book, play cards, and fill in a crossword puzzle despite being legally blind. Science Corporation, the California-based brain-computer interface company developing the implant, announced the preliminary results this week.

When Max Hodak, CEO of Science and former president of Neuralink, first saw a video of a blind patient reading while using the implant, he was stunned. It led his company, which he founded in 2021 after leaving Neuralink, to acquire the technology from Pixium Vision earlier this year.

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RedC Biotech revolutionizing healthcare with technology to mass-produce red blood cells from stem cells; aimed at solving blood donation shortage, it offers safe, contamination-free supply, vital for patients needing frequent transfusions.

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Middlemen get a bad rap for adding cost and complications to an operation. So, eliminating the go-betweens can reduce expense and simplify a process, increasing efficiency and consumer happiness.

James Dahlman and his research team have been thinking along those same lines for . They’ve created a technique that eliminates noisome middlemen and could lead to new, less-invasive treatments for blood disorders and . It sidesteps the discomfort and risks of current treatments, making life easier for patients.

“This would be an alternative to invasive hematopoietic stem cell therapies—we could just give you an IV drip,” said Dahlman, McCamish Early Career Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. “It simplifies the process and reduces the risks to patients. That’s why this work is important.”

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The breakthrough marks a promising target for drug therapies that slow, possibly reverse, the disease’s development

NEW YORK, NY, December 23, 2024 — Researchers with the CUNY ASRC have unveiled a critical mechanism that links cellular stress in the brain to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study, published in the journal Neuron, highlights microglia, the brain’s primary immune cells, as central players in both the protective and harmful responses associated with the disease.

Microglia, often dubbed the brain’s first responders, are now recognized as a significant causal cell type in Alzheimer’s pathology. However, these cells play a double-edged role: some protect brain health, while others worsen neurodegeneration. Understanding the functional differences between these microglial populations has been a research focus for Pinar Ayata, the study’s principal investigator and a professor with the CUNY ASRC Neuroscience Initiative and the CUNY Graduate Center’s Biology and Biochemistry programs.

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