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Swedish Study Reveals Low-Fiber, High-Meat Diets Fuel Dangerous Heart Attack Plaques

The AHA! Team — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 05:13:52 +0000

Cassie B. via Natural News – The study’s findings highlight a grim reality: The standard Western diet that is pushed on the masses by agribusiness and fast-food giants is engineered to create inflammation, obesity, and heart disease. A Swedish study reveals that diets high in red meat and low in fiber increase the risk of dangerous heart plaques by 67%, proving food choices directly impact heart health. Advanced scans show nearly half of those with poor diets had unstable, life-threatening artery plaques, compared to just over a third of those eating anti-inflammatory foods. The research links processed foods, sugary drinks, and red meat to higher blood pressure, inflammation, and obesity — key drivers of heart disease. Low-income and less-educated groups face higher risks due to their reliance on cheap processed foods, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles. Fiber-rich whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and legumes can prevent heart disease without side effects, debunking the need for expensive pharmaceuticals. In a world where Big Pharma pushes expensive, side-effect-laden drugs as the only solution to heart disease, a groundbreaking Swedish study exposes the truth: Your fork is your most powerful weapon against deadly heart attacks. Researchers at Lund University found that middle-aged adults eating low-fiber, high-red-meat diets were 67% more likely to develop unstable, life-threatening coronary plaques — the kind that silently rupture and trigger sudden cardiac events. The study of 24,079 seemingly healthy adults proves what natural health advocates have long warned: Processed food and meat-heavy diets are a ticking time bomb for your arteries, while fiber-rich, anti-inflammatory foods act as nature’s scrubbing brush for your cardiovascular system. The silent killers in your arteries Using advanced coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) scans, researchers detected non-calcified plaques — soft, unstable deposits prone to rupture — in 44.3% of participants with the worst diets, compared to just 36.3% in those eating the most anti-inflammatory foods. These high-risk plaques, often undetectable by standard tests, narrow arteries by 50% or more and are far deadlier than calcified deposits. The research, published in Cardiovascular Research, assigned participants dietary inflammation scores based on food questionnaires. Those penalized for red meat, processed snacks, and sugary drinks while lacking fiber-rich foods faced staggering metabolic consequences: 67% higher odds of high-risk plaques Larger waistlines and elevated triglycerides Higher blood pressure and chronic inflammation (measured by CRP markers) How the food industry profits from your poor health The study’s findings highlight a grim reality: The standard Western diet that is pushed on the masses by agribusiness and fast-food giants is engineered to create inflammation, obesity, and heart disease. While drug companies profit from statins and blood pressure medications, this research confirms that dietary changes alone could prevent countless cardiovascular disasters. Participants with the worst diets were disproportionately male (62.2%) and less educated, and this was often paired with smoking, alcohol use, and sedentary habits. This aligns with data showing low-income communities, which tend to be flooded with cheap processed foods, suffer from far higher heart disease rates. Key metabolic mediators linking diet to plaque: Waist circumference: Belly fat drives inflammation Triglycerides: Blood fats spike with sugar and processed carbs Hypertension: Salt-laden meats and snacks strain arteries Your plate is your prescription Unlike risky pharmaceuticals, fiber-rich foods carry zero side effects and cost just pennies per serving. The study’s anti-inflammatory diet blueprint includes: Fruits: Berries, apples, citrus Vegetables: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leafy greens Whole grains: Oats, quinoa, brown rice Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas, black beans You should aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber daily, which is significantly more than what is indicated by the USDA’s corrupted food pyramid that has long promoted grain-industry profits over science. This study demolishes the myth that heart disease is inevitable or requires lifelong medications. With 67% higher plaque risks tied to diet and metabolic factors like waist size and triglycerides acting as accomplices, the solution is clear: Ditch processed foods, embrace ancestral eating, and reclaim your health sovereignty. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com StudyFinds.org USNews.com To read the original article, click here

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How Purpose, Gratitude & Control Safeguard Your Memory, Mood & Modality

The AHA! Team — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 18:12:43 +0000

S.D. Wells via Natural News – What if the secret to protecting your memory wasn’t found in a pill or a brain game, but in something far simpler—happiness? Happiness as a Brain Protector: A 16-year study reveals that higher levels of well-being (happiness, purpose, autonomy) predict better memory retention and slower cognitive decline—not the other way around. Beyond Traditional Factors: Well-being’s benefits persisted even after accounting for exercise, social connections, and stress reduction, suggesting it independently supports brain health. Autonomy Matters: Participants who felt more in control of their lives showed stronger memory performance, highlighting empowerment as a key cognitive safeguard. Actionable Well-Being Strategies: Cultivating meaningful relationships, purposeful activities, gratitude, and lifelong learning may offer long-term protection against memory decline—starting at any age. Happiness Could Be the Key to Preserving Memory, Landmark 16-Year Study Finds” What if the secret to protecting your memory wasn’t found in a pill or a brain game, but in something far simpler—happiness? A groundbreaking 16-year study published in Aging & Mental Health reveals that individuals with higher levels of well-being experience slower memory decline as they age. Tracking over 10,000 adults aged 50 and older across England, researchers discovered that emotional health—encompassing happiness, purpose, and autonomy—may be a powerful predictor of long-term cognitive function. The findings challenge conventional approaches to brain health, suggesting that cultivating well-being could be as crucial as diet or exercise in safeguarding memory. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool and University College London, measured participants’ memory and well-being every two years from 2002 to 2018. Using a simple word-recall test—a reliable indicator of early dementia risk—they found that those with higher well-being scores consistently outperformed their peers, even after accounting for factors like depression, exercise, and social activity. Lead researcher Amber John emphasized the significance: “Our findings are important in proposing that good well-being predates better memory rather than vice versa. This suggests that improving well-being could protect against subsequent memory decline.” Unlike fleeting happiness, well-being in this study was defined as a deeper sense of fulfillment, confidence, and control over one’s life. Notably, participants who felt more autonomous showed the strongest memory retention, hinting that empowerment—not just positivity—plays a critical role. While the exact mechanisms remain under study, prior research suggests multiple pathways linking well-being to cognitive health. Positive emotions reduce chronic stress, which damages brain regions like the hippocampus—a hub for memory formation. Social engagement and purposeful activities, both linked to happiness, also stimulate neural connections. Yet this study went further: even after controlling for exercise, social ties, and mood disorders, well-being still predicted better memory. Joshua Stott, a senior researcher, called it “an important step toward understanding the interplay between well-being and memory over time.” Emma Taylor of Alzheimer’s Research UK, though not involved in the study, noted the implications: “People over 50 who reported they felt happier and more fulfilled in life had a better memory over time.” While causation isn’t proven, the correlation is strong enough to rethink prevention strategies. A New Prescription for Brain Health: Cultivate Joy Traditional approaches to memory preservation often focus on avoiding harm—quitting smoking, managing stress—but this study flips the script, urging proactive well-being. Researchers recommend evidence-backed practices: Meaningful relationships: Strong social ties boost both happiness and cognitive resilience. Purpose-driven activities: Volunteering, hobbies, or work aligned with personal values enhance mental acuity. Autonomy: Making daily choices, however small, reinforces a sense of control. Gratitude practices: Simple habits like journaling positives can shift long-term well-being. Taylor added, “It’s never too late to start taking steps to keep our brains healthy throughout our lives.” In a world where dementia looms as a growing public health crisis, this study offers a hopeful, accessible strategy: prioritize happiness. While more research is needed, the message is clear—well-being isn’t just a luxury; it’s a potential lifeline for the aging brain. As science continues to explore natural protections against cognitive decline, one truth emerges: a joyful life may be the best medicine of all. Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for more tips on how to use natural remedies, including happiness, for preventative medicine and for healing, instead of succumbing to Big Pharma products that cause, spread, and exacerbate disease and disorder. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com NaturalMedicine.news To read the original article, click here

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NIH Grant Supports Study of Copper’s Role in Killing Harmful Bacteria

The AHA! Team — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:07:49 +0000

University of Arizona Health Sciences via News-Medical – A researcher at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson received a $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research into uncovering the mysteries of copper – specifically, how it can be harnessed to kill harmful bacteria and other microorganisms. “We started using copper tens of thousands of years ago to cut down on bacterial infections. People used to store their food in copper pots, which helped cut down on spoilage. Copper doorknobs have been shown to cut down on hospital-acquired infections. We’re still finding more things it can do.” -Michael D.L. Johnson, PhD, associate professor of immunobiology Johnson said he hopes one of these potential new uses could form the backbone of a next-generation antibiotic; however, to build a solid foundation for the pharmaceutical research, his lab aims to learn more about what makes copper toxic to bacteria in the first place. The research is being made possible by an R35 grant, which is reserved for scientists with outstanding research records and the potential to make major contributions to their fields. Using Streptococcus pneumoniae as a model organism, Johnson and his team will attempt to learn what makes bacterial cells vulnerable to copper. “It’s a pretty prominent pathogen. More than a million people die per year because of these bacteria,” he said, referring to the bacteria that can cause infections in the lungs, brain, nose and blood. “Our laboratory is interested in trying to figure out how it ticks. Our way of doing that is to understand how it gets its nutrition.” The human body uses minerals such as iron and calcium, which we get from our diets, to keep bodily processes running. Bacteria are no different in that they need minerals to function, but copper, which is essential in the human diet, can be toxic to bacteria. “There are certain minerals that bacteria don’t want in excess, and that’s where copper comes into play,” said Johnson, who is a member of the BIO5 Institute. “There are a lot of ways we can weaponize copper. We’re trying to study how our body uses copper as a mechanism to kill pathogens.” Johnson believes that by flooding bacteria’s environment with excess copper, researchers may be able to trick them into building essential proteins with the wrong materials. We’re trying to study how our body uses copper as a mechanism to kill pathogens “Copper can displace iron, manganese or other metals and inactivate the protein,” he said. “It would be like me trying to start my wife’s car with my key. It doesn’t work.” Johnson will build on his previous studies investigating how S. pneumoniae reacts to copper and complement parallel studies performed in his lab to learn more about copper as an antimicrobial. He said his goal is to untangle exactly what makes copper toxic to S. pneumoniae and use that information to draw conclusions about similar bacteria. “All bacteria are different, but there are some mission-critical systems that are the same from bacteria to bacteria. How they process some of these metals is almost identical,” he said. “What I’m studying can be applied to other bacteria, but first we need to understand the basic mechanism of how these things work.” Johnson said that while new antibiotics are slow to be developed and approved, antibiotic resistance is on the rise among pathogens, meaning that infections that were once easily cured with medicine could someday be deadly again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers antibiotic resistance a danger to public health, with drug-resistant S. pneumoniae classified as a “serious threat.” “Bacteria are quite crafty. They will mutate to overcome antibiotics,” Johnson said. “Our bodies have evolved to use copper to kill bacteria, and to this day, copper is still toxic. We want to take advantage of that to help people with life-threatening infections.” This research is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health, under award no. R35GM128653. Source: University of Arizona Health Sciences To read the original article click here.

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Scientists Warn: Men’s Cancer Deaths Predicted to Soar by 93% by 2050

The AHA! Team — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 06:53:51 +0000

News Staff via NaturalHealth365 – Cancer is a diagnosis nobody wants to receive – it’s terrifying. While cancer rates have steadily climbed for most types, deaths from cancer have gone down. That’s good news, but it’s not the whole story. Few epidemiological studies have examined cancer cases versus deaths from the disease, so researchers have decided to investigate this gap. They focused on men’s cancer rates versus mortality, mainly because men’s cancer risk factors tend to be more controllable than women’s or children’s. What they found is concerning, but there is hope. We’ll look at their results and methods, what we can expect for men’s cancer rates going forward, and what you can do to lower your risks. Men’s cancer rates: A growing but preventable crisis The study we’re looking at was conducted in 2022 when cancer incidence was about 212 per 100,000 men surveyed. While this might not sound like a huge number, it is significant – and the research suggests these numbers could jump by up to 93% by 2050. Generally speaking, women face certain cancer risks due to their biology. The hormonal changes they experience throughout life make them more susceptible to cancers men simply don’t have to worry about – either because men lack ovaries and a uterus or because they don’t go through the same hormonal shifts. Men, however, have a different problem: they tend to make riskier lifestyle choices and pay less attention to their health than women, driving up their cancer rates for largely preventable reasons. While men don’t face the risks of breast, uterine, ovarian, or other female reproductive cancers, they tend to smoke more, drink more, and make poorer lifestyle choices than women, including bad diet and lack of exercise. These factors account for a huge portion of cancer rates – and they’re largely preventable. Are men’s cancer rates rising faster than we can handle? The researchers analyzed global epidemiological data to develop what they call an MIR (mortality to incidence ratio). They hypothesized that men in societies with lower Human Development Index (HDI) scores would have a much closer MIR to men in higher HDI countries. This makes sense – poor access to medical care, low socioeconomic status, war, disease, famine, and social unrest create low HDI societies. At the same time, countries like Australia, the U.S., and most of Europe rank higher on the HDI scale. They collected statistical data on males across several age groups: 15 to 64, 15 to 39, 40 to 64, and 65 and older. By sampling these diverse age groups and breaking them down by HDI status, they could better understand mortality versus incidence rates. The researchers then used this data to project men’s cancer rates 25 years into the future, assuming current societal conditions remained unchanged. The results were troubling. In low and medium HDI countries, the MIR was significantly closer – meaning cancer rates and deaths from cancer were nearly matched. Higher HDI countries showed high cancer incidence but lower mortality rates. This difference partly stems from richer countries having more access to cancer-promoting lifestyles, but researchers also noted better diagnostic capabilities in countries with stronger healthcare systems. One of the study’s most striking findings focused on men over 65, who showed the highest mortality rates when diagnosed with almost any type of cancer, especially rare ones like pancreatic or unusual blood cancers. The researchers suggested this might be because older men are less likely to seek treatment, have lower treatment tolerance, or lack access to necessary care due to economic factors. What the study says about men’s cancer rates The study projects a nearly 93% increase in men’s cancer rates by 2050 if current trends and variables remain unchanged. It emphasizes the critical role of wealthier nations in supporting poorer countries to strengthen global cancer diagnosis and treatment. The researchers advocate for creating a robust network of interconnected medical data sharing to improve outcomes worldwide. How to lower your cancer risk: Simple steps every man can take As research shows, men’s cancer risks often stem from preventable factors we impose on ourselves. Men are more likely to use tobacco and alcohol, engage in risky behaviors, maintain poor diets, live sedentary lifestyles, and work jobs with carcinogen exposure. We’re also less likely than women to see doctors and often ignore cancer symptoms for months – choices that can seriously impact treatment success. Nature offers many tools to fight disease, though we often overlook these natural protections. Quit smoking – period. There’s no benefit to smoking, only downsides. Lung cancer has the highest incidence and mortality rate for men worldwide, with smoking as a leading cause. Monitor alcohol intake. While moderate drinking might be okay, most men drink more than safe amounts. Excessive drinking doesn’t just harm your liver and heart – it increases cancer risk across the board. Your diet matters enormously in cancer prevention. Add cancer-fighting foods like organic walnuts, black beans, turmeric, chilies, and ginger. Increase your fruit and vegetable intake while removing processed foods. These changes particularly help prevent colon cancer. Exercise regularly – it helps trigger death in damaged cells. Consider beneficial supplements like ashwagandha, curcumin, vitamin D, and green tea. These have shown promising results in cancer prevention. Manage stress through regular exercise and meditation. High stress causes inflammation, which can promote cancer development. Make stress management a priority in your daily routine. Cancer rates are rising, but you can take action now to lower your risk. Many of these changes aren’t about adding new habits but stopping harmful ones. Taking charge of your health brings multiple benefits: lower blood pressure, reduced cardiovascular disease risk, less inflammation, and better overall well-being. Don’t make it easier for disease to take hold – start protecting your health today. Editor’s note: Discover the best ways to naturally avoid the threat of cancer from many of the best holistic cancer experts, own the Stop Cancer Docu-Class created by NaturalHealth365 Programs. Sources for this article include: Wiley.com To read the original article click here.

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The Largest Study on Fasting in the World

The AHA! Team — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 06:06:32 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The Buchinger-modified fasting program is put to the test. A century ago, fasting — “starvation, as a therapeutic measure” — was described as “the ideal measure for the human hog…” (Fat shaming is not a new invention in the medical literature.) I’ve covered fasting for weight loss extensively in a nine-video series, but what about all the other purported benefits? I also have a video series on fasting for hypertension, but what about psoriasis, eczema, type 2 diabetes, lupus, metabolic disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, other autoimmune disorders, depression, and anxiety? Why hasn’t it been tested more? One difficulty with fasting research is: What do you mean by fasting? When I think of fasting, I think of water-only fasting, but, in Europe, they tend to practice “modified therapeutic fasting,” also known as Buchinger fasting, which is more like a very low-calorie juice fasting with some vegetable broth. Some forms of fasting may not even cut calories at all. As you can see below and at 1:09 in my video The World’s Largest Fasting Study, Ramadan fasting, for example, is when devout Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, yet, interestingly, they end up eating the same amount—or even more food—overall. The largest study on fasting to date was published in 2019. More than a thousand individuals were put through a modified fast, cutting daily intake down to about ten cups of water, a cup of fruit juice, and a cup of vegetable soup. They reported very few side effects. In contrast, the latest water-only fasting data from a study that involved half as many people reported nearly 6,000 adverse effects. Now, the modified fasting study did seem to try to undercount adverse effects by only counting reported symptoms if they were repeated three times. However, adverse effects like nausea, feeling faint, upset stomach, vomiting, or palpitations were “observed only in single cases,” whereas the water-only fasting study reported about 100 to 200 of each, as you can see below and at 2:05 in my video. What about the benefits though? In the modified fasting study, participants self-reported improvements in physical and emotional well-being, along with a surprising lack of hunger. Vast majority of those who came in with a pre-existing health complaint reported feeling better What’s more, the vast majority of those who came in with a pre-existing health complaint reported feeling better, with less than 10 percent stating that their condition worsened, as you can see in the graph below and at 2:24 in my video. However, the study participants didn’t just fast; they also engaged in a lifestyle program, which included being on a plant-based diet before and after the modified fast. If only the researchers had had some study participants follow the healthier, plant-based diet without the fast to tease out fasting’s effects. Oh, but they did! About a thousand individuals fasted for a week on the same juice and vegetable soup regimen and others followed a normocaloric (normal calorie) vegetarian diet. As you can see below and at 2:54 in my video, both groups experienced significant increases in both physical and mental quality of life, and, interestingly, there was no significant difference between the groups. In terms of their major health complaints—including rheumatoid arthritis; chronic pain syndromes, like osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and back pain; inflammatory and irritable bowel disease; chronic pulmonary diseases; and migraine and chronic tension-type headaches—the fasting group appeared to have an edge, but both groups did well, with about 80 percent reporting improvements in their condition and only about 4 percent reporting feeling worse, as you can see below and at 3:25 in my video. Now, this was not a randomized study; people chose which treatment they wanted to follow. So, maybe, for example, those choosing fasting were sicker or something. Also, the improvements in quality of life and disease status were all subjective self-reporting, which is ripe for placebo effects. There was no do-nothing control group, and the response rates to the follow-up quality of life surveys were only about 60 to 70 percent, which also could have biased the results. But extended benefits are certainly possible, given they all tended to improve their diets, as you can see below and at 4:00 in my video. They ate more fruits and vegetables, and less meats and sweets, and therein may lie the secret. “Principally, the experience of fasting may support motivation for lifestyle change. Most fasters experience clarity of mind Most fasters experience clarity of mind and feel a ‘letting go’ of past actions and experiences and thus may develop a more positive attitude toward the future.” As a consensus panel of fasting experts concluded, “Nutritional therapy (theory and practice) is a vital and integral component of fasting. After the fasting therapy and refeeding period, nutrition should follow the recommendations/concepts of a…plant-based whole-food diet…” If you missed the previous video, check out The Benefits of Fasting for Healing. Key Takeaways Fasting as a therapeutic measure has a long history, but its potential benefits beyond weight loss are numerous and underexplored. There are different types of fasting, including water-only fasting and modified therapeutic fasting (such as Buchinger fasting), which involves consuming low-calorie liquids like juice and vegetable broth. Ramadan fasting is also observed, where despite abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours, overall food intake may not decrease. Studies indicate that modified fasting may have fewer adverse effects compared to water-only fasting. Participants in a large modified fasting study reported minimal side effects like nausea or faintness, in contrast to more significant issues reported in water-only fasting studies. Participants in modified fasting studies reported improvements in both physical and emotional well-being, alongside reduced hunger. Those with pre-existing health conditions often experienced improvements, although a controlled comparison with a plant-based diet alone would help delineate fasting-specific effects. Combining fasting with a healthier lifestyle, such as eating a plant-based diet, appears beneficial. Both fasting and non-fasting groups in studies showed significant improvements in quality of life and disease symptoms, suggesting that dietary improvements might be a key factor. To read the original article click here.

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Study: Key Differences in How Male & Female Brains Process Threats

The AHA! Team — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 05:25:35 +0000

McGill University via News-Medical – A new study has uncovered significant differences in how male and female mice process threats, even as they exhibit similar behavioral responses. The discovery suggests that including both male and female subjects in neuroscience research will lead to more accurate conclusions and ultimately better health outcomes. Understanding the influence of sex on brain function can help explain why males and females develop certain psychiatric disorders at different rates or with different symptoms, the researchers said. “Unless we thoughtfully and rigorously integrate sex into biomedical research, a huge amount of the population may be underserved by scientific knowledge,” said McGill University Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Neurogenomics Rosemary Bagot, who led the study. “Our work shows that sex is an important variable to consider, even if initial observations don’t necessarily show clear sex differences. If males and females are using different brain circuits to solve similar problems, they may be differently vulnerable to stress and respond differently to treatments.” Rosemary Bagot, Associate Professor, McGill University How brain circuits process threats and cues The study focused on two related brain circuits and their roles in processing information about threats and the cues that predict them. The researchers trained mice to recognize a sound that signaled a threat and another sound that meant safety. By observing brain activity, the team saw how communication between different brain areas processed these signals. Then, they temporarily turned off each brain connection to see how it affected the mice’s reactions, helping them understand how the brain handles threats. “We found that even though male and female mice respond similarly to threats, the brain circuits underlying these responses are not the same,” Bagot said. For female mice, a connection between two specific brain areas (the medial prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens) played a key role. The study found that in male mice, a different connection (between the ventral hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens) was more important for handling the same situation. It was previously assumed that similar behavior meant similar brain function. Now, the researchers are exploring how sex impacts brain circuits in processing threats, focusing on the role of sex hormones and different learning strategies. This research is supported by funding from CIHR. Source: McGill University Journal reference: Muir, J., et al. (2024). Sex-biased neural encoding of threat discrimination in nucleus accumbens afferents drives suppression of reward behavior. Nature Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01748-7. To read the original article click here.

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Acutely Ill Patients Do Better with Hospital-At-Home Care

The AHA! Team — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 05:33:47 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – Major first-of-its-kind study shows that telemedicine managed, physician-supervised home care leads to shorter treatment and lower risk of death. Telemedicine-managed, physician-supervised at-home care results in better outcomes for acutely ill patients than a hospital stay, according to a major retrospective study conducted by BEYOND, the virtual hospital of Israel’s largest medical center, Sheba Medical Center. The study, published in the PLOS One journal, is the first to demonstrate that hospital-at-home (HAH) care for patients with acute illnesses can offer a viable alternative to in-hospital stays. The study involved 636 patients The study involved 636 patients, including 159 who received HAH care and 477 who received care in the hospital. Some of the patients had Covid-19 while the others had acute urinary tract infections, pneumonia or cellulitis. The study found that the median length of hospital stay was two days shorter in the HAH cohort for both Covid and non-Covid patients. Readmission rates within 30 days were not significantly different for all patients and remained insignificant within one year. Furthermore, the risk of death within 30 days was significantly lower among the HAH cohort for both Covid and non-Covid patients. “The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated two long-term challenges for acute care – insufficient beds and space in hospitals to treat all of the acute patients, and a shortage of internal medicine specialists to treat patients. When confronted with these challenges we decided to seek out a viable alternative to in-hospital stay,” said study leader Prof. Gad Segal, head of the Sheba Education Authority. Superior to hospital stays “This is the first study to show that telemedicine-managed, physician-supervised hospital-at-home care is not inferior but even superior to in-hospital stays, presenting a major step forward for hospitals and health systems across the world.” Patients in the HAH cohort treated through Sheba BEYOND received a minimum of one remote visit by an internal medicine specialist, two home visits from nurses and an individualized treatment plan consisting of imaging, blood testing and IV and oral treatment using cutting-edge remote care technology validated in numerous clinical studies. “This research underscores the transformative potential of hospital-at-home care,” said Dr. Galia Barkai, director of Sheba BEYOND. “We were able to demonstrate a significant reduction in mortality rates compared to traditional hospitalization. These groundbreaking results not only reinforce our commitment to delivering top-tier medical care in the comfort of patients’ homes but also mark a pivotal step toward achieving Sheba BEYOND’s vision of revolutionizing home-based care.” Segal and his research collaborators, including Sheba physicians and Noa Zychlinski, professor of data and decision science at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, are now studying 140 patients to test the methodology examined in this research, comparing HAH to in-hospital stay acute illness patients. “I believe we will find the same results in the prospective study, adding further evidence to this new methodology as a viable alternative to in-hospital acute care,” said Segal. To read the original article click here.

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UCLA-Led Study Unveils New Insights and Potential Treatments for Pulmonary Hypertension

The AHA! Team — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 17:48:21 +0000

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences via Newswise – A new study from researchers with UCLA Health and collaborating organizations has found that asporin, a protein encoded by the ASPN gene, plays a protective role in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Their findings, which were published on August 21 in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation, offer new insights into this incurable, often-fatal disease and suggest potential new ways to treat it. “We were surprised to find that asporin, which previously had not been linked to PAH, gets upregulated to increased levels as a response to counteract this disease process,” said Dr. Jason Hong, a pulmonary and critical care physician at UCLA Health and the study’s corresponding author. “This novel finding opens up new avenues for understanding PAH pathobiology and developing potential therapies.” Pulmonary hypertension is a serious medical condition characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries that supply the lungs. It causes these arteries to narrow or become blocked, which, in turn, slows blood flow to the heart, requiring it to work harder to pump blood through the lungs. Eventually, the heart muscle becomes weak and begins to fail. Need for New Therapies According to recent estimates, PAH affects about 1% of the global population, but that number climbs to 10% in people who are 65 or older. There’s no cure for the disease, but medications and lifestyle changes can help slow progression, manage symptoms and prolong life. The urgent need for new therapies, combined with the potential of multiomics – an integrated approach to drive discovery across multiple levels of biology – inspired Hong and research colleagues, including co-first author Lejla Medzikovic and senior author Mansoureh Eghbali to take a deep dive into the disease. Both work at UCLA’s Eghbali Laboratory. Methodology For the study, the researchers applied novel computational methods, including transcriptomic profiling and deep phenotyping, to lung samples of 96 PAH patients and 52 control subjects without the condition from the largest multicenter PAH lung biobank available to-date. They integrated this data with clinical information, genome-wide association studies, graphic models of probabilities and multiomics analysis. “”Our detailed analysis found higher levels of asporin in the lungs and plasma of PAH patients, which were linked to less severe disease,” Hong said. Additionally, Medzikovic noted that their cell and living-organism experiments found that asporin inhibited pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and a key signaling pathway that occurs with PAH. “We also demonstrated that recombinant asporin treatment reduced PAH severity in preclinical models,” said Medzikovic. Next Steps Hong and colleagues plan to further investigate the mechanisms by which asporin exerts its protective effects in PAH and explore potential therapeutic applications, focusing on how to translate their findings into clinical trials. “Asporin represents a promising new target for therapeutic intervention in pulmonary arterial hypertension,” he explained. “Enhancing asporin levels in PAH patients could potentially lead to improved clinical outcomes and reduced disease progression.” Authors: Jason Hong, MD, PhD,* Lejla Medzikovic, PhD*, Wasila Sun, BS‡, Brenda Wong, BA‡, Gregoire Ruffenach, PhD, Christopher J. Rhodes, PhD, Adam Brownstein, MD, Lloyd L. Liang, MS, Laila Aryan, PhD, Min Li, PhD, Arjun Vadgama, Zeyneb Kurt, PhD, Tae-Hwi Schwantes- An, PhD, Elizabeth A. Mickler, MS, Stefan Graf, PhD, Melanie Eyries, PhD, Katie A. Lutz, BS, Michael W. Pauciulo, MBA, Richard C. Trembath, MD, Frederic Perros, PhD, David Montani, MD, PhD, Nicholas W. Morrell, MD, Florent Soubrier, MD, PhD, Martin R. Wilkins, MD, William C. Nichols, PhD, Micheala A. Aldred, PhD, Ankit A. Desai, MD, David-Alexandre Tregouet, PhD, Soban Umar, MD, PhD, Rajan Saggar, MD, Richard Channick, MD, Rubin M. Tuder, MD, Mark W. Geraci, MD, Robert S. Stearman, PhD†, Xia Yang, PhD†, and senior author, Mansoureh Eghbali, PhD†. Legend: *Joint first authors; ‡ Joint second authors; †Joint last authors Funding: This work was supported by American Heart Association grant 23POST1022457 (L.M.), American Thoracic Society Early Career Investigator Award in Pulmonary Vascular Disease (J.H.), and U.S. NIH grants K08HL169982 (J.H.), R01HL147586 (M.E.), R01HL162124 (M.E.), R01HL159865 (M.E.), R01HL147883 (X.Y.), R24HL105333 (W.N. and M.P.), R01HL160941 (W.N., A.D., and M.P.), British Heart Foundation Senior Basic Science Fellowship FS/SBSRF/21/31025 (C.R.), and funding for the PHBI is provided by NHLBI R24HL123767 and by the Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund (MAA). Disclosures: Drs. Medzikovic, Hong, and Eghbali are coinventors of US provisional patent application No. 63/544,027, “Asporin in Pulmonary Hypertension.” To read the original article click here.

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Study Solves Testosterone’s Paradoxical Effects in Prostate Cancer

The AHA! Team — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 08:33:27 +0000

Duke Health – A treatment paradox has recently come to light in prostate cancer: Blocking testosterone production halts tumor growth in early disease, while elevating the hormone can delay disease progression in patients whose disease has advanced. The inability to understand how different levels of the same hormone can drive different effects in prostate tumors has been an impediment to the development of new therapeutics that exploit this biology. Now, a Duke Cancer Institute-led study, performed in the laboratory of Donald McDonnell, Ph.D. and appearing this week in Nature Communications, provides the needed answers to this puzzle. The researchers found that prostate cancer cells are hardwired with a system that allows them to proliferate when the levels of testosterone are very low. But when hormone levels are elevated to resemble those present in the normal prostate, the cancer cells differentiate. “For decades, the goal of endocrine therapy in prostate cancer has been to achieve absolute inhibition of androgen receptor function, the protein that senses testosterone levels,” said lead investigator Rachid Safi, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, at Duke University School of Medicine. “It’s been a highly effective strategy, leading to substantial improvements in overall survival,” he said. “Unfortunately, most patients with advanced, metastatic disease who are treated with drugs to inhibit androgen signaling will progress to an aggressive form of the disease for which there are limited therapeutic options.” Using a combination of genetic, biochemical, and chemical approaches, the research team defined the mechanisms that enable prostate cancer cells to recognize and respond differently to varying levels of testosterone, the most common androgenic hormone. It turned out to be rather simple. When androgen levels are low, the androgen receptor is encouraged to “go solo” in the cell. In doing so, it activates the pathways that cause cancer cells to grow and spread. However, as androgens rise, the androgen receptors are forced to “hang out as a couple,” creating a form of the receptor that halts tumor growth. “Nature has designed a system where low doses of hormones stimulate cancer cell proliferation and high doses cause differentiation and suppress growth, enabling the same hormone to perform diverse functions,” McDonnell said. In recent years, clinicians have begun treating patients with late-stage, therapy resistant prostate cancers using a monthly, high-dose injection of testosterone in a technique called bi-polar androgen therapy, or BAT. The inability to understand how this intervention works has hindered its widespread adoption as a mainstream therapeutic approach for prostate cancer patients. “Our study describes how BAT and like approaches work and could help physicians select patients who are most likely to respond to this intervention,” McDonnell said. “We have already developed new drugs that exploit this new mechanism and are bringing these to the clinic for evaluation as prostate cancer therapeutics.” In addition to McDonnell and Safi, study authors include Suzanne E. Wardell, Paige Watkinson, Xiaodi Qin, Marissa Lee, Sunghee Park, Taylor Krebs, Emma L. Dolan, Adam Blattler, Toshiya Tsuji, Surendra Nayak, Marwa Khater, Celia Fontanillo, Madeline A. Newlin, Megan L. Kirkland, Yingtian Xie, Henry Long, Emma Fink, Sean W. Fanning, Scott Runyon, Myles Brown, Shuichan Xu, Kouros Owzar, and John D. Norris. The study received funding support from the National Cancer Institute (R01-CA271168, P30CA014236) and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. To read the original article click here.

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