Making it personal: How genetic technologies are changing the face of medicine
The age of one-size-fits-all medicine is fading. Taking its place is an era of personalized medicine - the practice of tailoring disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to patients as individuals. Many cancers, for example, are resistant to conventional therapies but respond to medications that target specific cancer-causing genetic mutations.
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Weighing risks and benefits of drug treatment for major depression
Depression is a common and serious problem for older adults. Some 15 to 20 percent of people aged 65 and older who live independently deal with symptoms of major depressive disorder. For residents of nursing homes, the rates of depression may be as high as 50 percent. For some people, medication is an effective part of treatment for depression.
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Study finds FDA dermatology advisors receive payments following drug approvals
A team of researchers led by a member of the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty at the Anschutz Medical Campus examined post-advisory financial relationships between U.S. physicians who advised FDA committees during dermatological drug approval processes. Critics of these industry-physician relationships claim these types of payments could incentivize advisors to alter their voting habits.
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Cleveland researchers test novel gene therapy for glioblastoma
A novel gene therapy clinical trial at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is showing promising results, garnering funding with a prestigious U01 Grant from the National Cancer Institute. The trial focuses on turning patients with a poor prognosis into those with a good prognosis.
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Prescription drug costs steadily soar, yet price transparency is lacking
After reviewing tens of millions of insurance claims for the country’s 49 most popular brand-name prescription drugs, a team from Scripps Research Translational Institute found that net prices rose by a median of 76 percent from January 2012 through December 2017 - with most products going up once or twice per year. The substantial price increases were not limited to drugs that recently entered the marketplace, as one might expect, or to those lacking generic equivalents.
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Cholesterol in eggs tied to cardiac disease, death
Research that tracked the diets, health and lifestyle habits of nearly 30,000 adults across the country for as long as 31 years has found that cholesterol in eggs, when consumed in large quantities, is associated with ill health effects, according to Katherine Tucker, a biomedical and nutritional sciences professor in UMass Lowell's Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, who co-authored the analysis. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Cannabis use among older adults rising rapidly
Cannabis use among older adults is growing faster than any other age group but many report barriers to getting medical marijuana, a lack of communication with their doctors and a lingering stigma attached to the drug, according to researchers. The study, the first to look at how older Americans use cannabis and the outcomes they experience, was published this month in the journal Drugs & Aging.
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