Page 11234..1020..»

Category Archives: Preventative Medicine

Preventive or Preventative: Is There a Difference? – Merriam-Webster

Posted: January 21, 2023 at 12:21 am

There is no difference between preventive and preventative. They are both adjectives that mean "used to stop something bad from happening." Both words are commonly used in contexts concerning health care, as in "preventive/preventative medicine." Preventive, however, is used much more frequently than preventative.

Even though the English language is rich with variation, many of us find ourselves uncomfortable when we encounter two forms of a word which are just a touch different yet mean the same thing. If this happens with a pair of fairly obscure words (such as dialectical and dialectal) it often will not draw much notice. (Except on Twitter.) But when the words veer closer to common use and attract attention we often find that one of them will be condemned. As is the case with preventive and preventative.

The words co-existed for 200 years before complaints on 'preventative' began in the late 18th century.

The shorter word, preventive, has meanings such as "something that prevents," when used as a noun, and "devoted to or concerned with prevention," when used as an adjective. Preventative means the same thing. The question of which one you should choose depends much on your appetite for nit-pickery.

Of the two, preventive is slightly older, appearing in English at the beginning of the 17th century.

SoPhilipof Macedon, andAtisthe sonne ofCroesus,found a chariot in a swords hilt, and an Iron poynted weapon at the hunting of a Bore, to delude theirpreuentiue wearinesse. Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, 1602

The warre which wee callpreuentiue ought to bee esteemed the more fitte, for that the multitude of souldiers which the Turke carrieth alwayes with him to maintaine his owne designes, and to frustrate our purposes, is infinite. Louis Turquet de Mayerne (trans. by Edward Grimeston), The Generall Historie of Spaine, 1612

However, preventative is no Johnny-come-lately, showing definite use for over 350 years now.

Here follows thepreventative: take a poor man, and settle him in a comfortable situation, making him pay (or secure) a reasonable valuation.... Christopher Love, The Strange and Wonderful Predictions of Mr. Christopher Love, 1651

It openeth all obstructions, and suppresseth all manner of over-flowings in Women, strengtheneth the womb, cureth the mother, maketh the barren fruitfull, and is a greatpreventative against miscarryings, and rectifies most infirmities of the womb. John French, The York-shire Spaw, 1654

Tocommitthe sin, and not topreventthe sin, when men have thepreventativepower of it, are very nearally'd, if not the sameCrimes. Roger Boyle Orrery, The Answer of a Person of Quality to a Scandalous Letter Lately Printed and Subscribed by P.W., 1662

Preventive has always been more common than preventative (although the difference between the two words is more pronounced in some forms of English, such as the American varietal, than others). But for almost two hundred years the two words existed in peace, and no one seemed to mind much which one you used. It is not uncommon to find both of them used interchangeably by a single author within the same work.

...and sent for a neighbouring Apothecary to give him something preventive, for he had not yet found himself ill.

...to send a preventative Medicine to the Father of the Child, to whom he had told their Condition. Daniel Defoe, The History of the Great Plague in London, 1754

But the English language is not only rich with variation; it is rich as well with strife, and people who like to tell you that the thing you're doing is a bad thing to do. And so, after over a century of peaceful coexistence, someone decided that one of these words was a bit off. We don't know who the first person to complain about preventative was, but individuals began weighing in on this at the end of the 18th century. By the middle of the 19th century the idea that the extra syllable in preventative was unseemly had made it into dictionaries and usage guides.

John Russell Bartlett, in his 1848 A Dictionary of Americanisms, sniffed that preventative was "A corruption sometimes met with for preventive both in England and America." He was followed by Matthew Harrison, who in his 1861 The Rise, Progress, and Present Structure of the English Language stated that preventative was nothing more than preventive "written and spoken improperly." This was followed by another hundred or years of language guides claiming that one of these words was proper and one was not.

In recent decades there has been some softening in the opposition to preventative. Some guides will allow that it is not a mistake, but advise using preventive for greater clarity. We advise you to use the word which speaks to your heart. Or emulate Daniel Defoe, and use both.

Visit link:
Preventive or Preventative: Is There a Difference? - Merriam-Webster

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Preventive or Preventative: Is There a Difference? – Merriam-Webster

Nurses: The Frontlines of Preventative Care – Bradley University Online

Posted: November 24, 2022 at 12:25 am

According to the American Nurses Association, in addition to duties such as taking vital signs, administering medications, making physical assessments, delivering test results and assisting physicians, nurses also play a significant role in disseminating important health information. By offering education and counseling, nurses significantly can aid in preventative health efforts nationwide. Preventative health refers to a collection of strategies that health care professionals encourage patients to implement to help stay healthy and reduce the risk of future disease.

When one thinks of health care, notions of treatment and management for existing medical conditions come to mind. A major component of health care, however, also involves the prevention of illness. Known as preventative health care, a number of strategies fall under this banner. A United Healthcare fact sheet details that procedures performed in a doctors office, such as physical examinations, drawing blood for testing, immunizations and screenings for certain illnesses can be considered preventative health care measures. This classification is used because the procedures are performed in order to uncover illness in its early stages or to look for signs that may indicate elevated risk for certain conditions.

A health care professional will screen for certain kinds of cancers colon and breast cancer as these diseases are typically far easier to treat if they are discovered in their earliest stages, before the onset of symptoms. A primary care provider also may test a patients blood sample for evidence of problems that could lead to disease further down the road: High cholesterol and high blood pressure can foreshadow the development of heart disease, for example.

As noted in the United Healthcare article, preventative measures such as screenings, physical examinations and immunizations often are implemented in accordance with demographic factors like age, gender and family history. A fact sheet from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed one such example, being colorectal cancer, which is widely screened for but only in adults over the age of 50. The CDC suggests the age threshold of 50 because adults younger than this are statistically at a much lower risk for exhibiting with disease.

Health promotion is another component of preventative health care that is understood by the World Health Organization. This term denotes the practice of educating and encouraging individuals to take greater care of their own health by effectively managing any chronic conditions they may have and taking lifestyle steps to reduce the risk of illness. One component of health promotion may be education about nutrition and exercise or smoking cessation.

As detailed in a CDC guide, preventative health care strategies are introduced to keep the population as healthy and disease free as possible. After all, according to CDC statistics, a majority of the deaths recorded across the U.S. each year around seven in 10 are caused by chronic conditions that are largely preventable. For example, the leading cause of death in the U.S., as reported by journalist Hannah Nichols in Medical News Today, is heart disease, with cancer and respiratory diseases coming in second and third place, respectively.

In addition to helping curtail rates of disease, preventative health measures help reduce health care costs and the burden on vital services. They also help to keep people active and productive in society. Preventable chronic illnesses can keep people away from work, with illnesses such as obesity, high blood pressure and asthma being particularly costly to the economy in terms of lost workdays. The CDC fact sheet also stated that preventative health care is an effective way to help seniors stay as healthy as possible into an advanced age a period when the risk of chronic conditions increases.

In a study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Patricia Chiverton et al hightlights the importance for nursing professional working on the frontlines of patient care to aid with preventative health care efforts. Nurses achieve this primarily through the dissemination of information that patients can harness to keep themselves as healthy as possible. The authors note that the growing emphasis on preventative health care differs somewhat from historical nursing practice, which previously was centered almost exclusively on disease management.

Nursing staff can help advance preventative health care efforts in a number of ways, with some of the most impactful including the following:

According to Hospital News, one of the most fundamental ways that nurses assist inpreventative health efforts is through education. Nurses are qualified to talk to patients about a range of health-related topics, from nutrition and exercise, to other forms of disease prevention like practicing safe sex and refraining from drugs and excessive alcohol use. Education can be delivered in a number of ways and in many contexts. Nursing professionals may choose to host informational sessions about particular topics, or they may pass on written educational materials to patients, such as brochures and links to online resources.

The Hospital News article also cited a study that explained how nurses can use patient visits as an opportunity to initiate preventative health discussions. If a patient comes in with joint pain, a nurse can initiate a conversation about how excess weight can exacerbate pain before introducing weight management strategies. If a young patient seeks medical assistance with a chronic cough, a nurse can seize the moment to initiate a conversation about smoking cessation. Nursing staff essentially can promote health information and wellness strategies whenever they meet patients, helping disseminate important health information in the wider community.

365 Healthcare Staffing Services President Aaron Kasdorf posted to LinkedIn explaining how the most imperative part of any preventative health care strategy is paying particular attention to demographics of patients with a high risk for certain diseases. The second most important aspect of preventative health is providing information about strategies for better health, as well as facilitating any necessary screenings. For example, patients with a family history of heart disease should be encouraged to receive routine cholesterol and blood pressure testing, and nurses should offer advice about how exercise and good nutrition can help support heart health. Another demographic that tends to need more preventative health guidance is the population of older adults, as they are at a statistically higher risk for a range of chronic conditions, including diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis.

Kasdorf explained that it is common for patients to remain uncertain or in the dark as to the kinds of services they are entitled to under their health plans. Consequently, many miss out on vital preventative services, such as cancer screenings, blood testing and immunizations. Nurses are able to counsel patients on the details of their health plans and help connect individuals with the services they need and are entitled to.

According to the Nursing Council of Hong Kong, nurses also can help expand communitywide health care education. Nursing professionals can partner with local organizations, such as community centers or faith-based groups, to hold events pertaining to public health a lecture on good nutrition, a blood drive or a free cancer screening event. The nurses role can extend beyond a medical practice and into the community at large.

Nurse managers can actively help ensure that nursing professionals provide the best possible health education to patients. If you are eager to climb the career ladder and lead a dedicated team of nurses, consider applying to Bradley Universitys Master of Science in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice Leadership program. Designed to help you study at a time that best complements your professional schedule, all coursework can be completed online with practicums you can set up and complete locally.

Recommended Reading

Nursing Jobs: Hospital or Private Practice

Is a Public Health Nursing Career Right for You?

Bradley University Online Nursing Programs

Sources

https://www.uhc.com/health-and-wellness/family-health/preventive-care

The role of the nurse in health promotion

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-nurses-preventive-health-care-aaron-kasdorf

http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-is-Nursing/Tools-You-Need/RNsAPNs.html

https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/preventivehealth.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14621418

http://www.nchk.org.hk/filemanager/en/pdf/health_promotion_e.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/screening/index.htm

http://www.who.int/topics/health_promotion/en/

https://www.cdc.gov/features/preventionstrategy/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php

Go here to see the original:
Nurses: The Frontlines of Preventative Care - Bradley University Online

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Nurses: The Frontlines of Preventative Care – Bradley University Online

Functional Medicine of Idaho | Preventative Root Cause Medicine

Posted: October 29, 2022 at 2:41 am

Dr. David Musnick, MD, IFMCP

David Musnick is a board-certified medical doctor who offers in-person and telemedicine care from the Functional Medicine of Idaho Eagle clinic. Dr. Musnick offers Functional Medicine, Sports Medicine, Functional Immunology, and Primary Care for adults and teenagers. He specializes in sports medicine, internal medicine, frequency specific microcurrent (FSM), scars, homeopathy, prolotherapy, and low-level laser treatments.

Dr. Musnick is interested in getting to the root of underlying causes and factors that affect healing, including diet, sleep, exercise, stress, mood, GI health, brain region health, toxins, mold, hormones, infections, and electromagnetic fields (EMF). He is excellent at Orthopedic diagnosis trying to determine which tissues are causing pain, what the issue with the tissue is and what is going on in the pain processing system.He has developed a uniqueprogram to heal the brain after Concussion thatisbased on what actually goes on in the brain after head injury.His program integrates: diet, supplements, sleep, exercise and microcurrent and brain training to heal the brain after concussion.He also applies this to other brain based disorders including cognitive impairment and dementia. He has a special interest in autoimmune disorders and has studied FunctionalImmunology. He is one of the top 10 clinicians in the world withFrequency Specific Microcurrent and he teaches at Microcurrent meetings.He is also very experienced in Prolotherapy regenerative injections to build moreligamentto stabilize a joint or area of the spine.

In medical school, Dr. Musnick spent a year studying nutrition. He has always been interested in the complex interrelationships of different systems of the body. Taking on challenges in the past, he created new treatment programs to heal the brain after concussion, treat chronic pain, arthritis, and tough SIBO and IBS cases. Dr. Musnick wants to help his patients achieve the highest level of health, vitality and function.

After his internal medicine residency in Seattle, Dr. Musnick completed a fellowship in sports medicine where he became interested in helping patients get back to optimal musculoskeletal health and eventually back to their favorite activities. He quickly learned that many areas of the body were interrelated and started learning more about nutrition, supplements, and other facets of functional medicine. Dr. Musnick has more than 24 years of experience in Functional Medicine and achieved a very high level of both experience and expertise with many health conditions. He is also the author of the book, Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness, and helped in writing textbook chapters on arthritis and concussions.

Dr. Musnick received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. He is certified through the Institute for Functional Medicine as an IFMCP. He also studied in the French school of Homeopathy. He is uniquely rare in that he teaches Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) and how to integrate it with functional medicine.

In his spare time, Dr. Musnick enjoys hiking, nature photography, cooking healthy food, mountain biking, and skiing.

Read more:
Functional Medicine of Idaho | Preventative Root Cause Medicine

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Functional Medicine of Idaho | Preventative Root Cause Medicine

This Indigenous Scientist Helped Save Lives as Covid Devastated the Navajo Nation – Scientific American

Posted: October 13, 2022 at 1:51 am

How do you tell a community in the United States that has no running water or electricity to wash their hands?"

Crystal Lee drives hours through dust on Route 66 past the border town of Gallup, New Mexico, on her way through the parched road to the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She is going to see family who have made it through the pandemic.

Every single day, I knew of someone who had passed from COVID, Lee says, staring straight ahead.

Even before the pandemic hit, Lee, a Navajo scientist and assistant professor at the University of New Mexico College of Population Health, had tried to sound the alarm. In 2017, she spoke at the United Nations, warning anyone who would listen that the Navajo Nation did not have the infrastructure or resources to survive a deadly pandemic.

But few did, and when the coronavirus pandemic raged through the Navajo Nation in 2020, it led to the highest death rate per capita in the United Statesincluding members of Lees family.

In a new documentary short film, Lee brings us into her fight for health equity on the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Nation is the size of West Virginia, but yet there's only 13 grocery stores that lie within the reservation. Housing is overcrowded within and among Navajo households, and then you talk about preexisting health conditions, chronic diseases, also other infectious diseases. And in combination with the outbreak of COVID, it really hit our community extremely hard, Lee said.

To add to a perfect storm, the government had left all tribes out of the first round of federal funding through the CARES act.

"A big reason why our points of care and our Indian Health service system is so substandard is because we get discretionary funds at the congressional levelwe are the last to get funded and the first to get cut, Lee adds.

So, she took it upon herself to try to help a community that was left with almost no defenses against a deadly pandemicdrawing on both her experiences as an academic and as a granddaughter of Navajo medicine men.

"Part of my academic training is infectious disease and preventative medicine, and when the virus first came out, I understood how the virus was most likely an airborne virus, Lee said.

She made culturally responsive recommendations to the community to try to stop the spread of airborne COVID-19, such as burning cedar or sage.

Lee also worked tirelessly to deliver masks and disinfection products to about 70 different tribal communities, and partnered with another company to start quarantining people in a hotel converted for the purpose when no official facilities were available.

Of the thousands of people we quarantined, only one passed from COVID, Lee says.

But after the quarantine period was up, Lee noticed something else.

A huge observation was our community members verbalizing that: my 14-day quarantine phase is done. I'm COVID-negative, but yet I don't have a home to go back to. I don't have a job. I don't have food. I'm a female that's a victim of domestic violence. I don't wanna go back home because I'm getting abused. Myself and my children are not safe.

So Lee continued to provide care. She turned the quarantine hotel into a mental health facility. And then she launched an Indigenous health care company earlier this year to serve those suffering from mental and behavioral traumashared trauma that has impacted countless Indigenous people throughout the country.

Still, she hasnt forgotten those who have been lost.

"I was just thinking about my uncle who passed. I grew up with him. He was closer to my age, although he was my dad's youngest brother. But we grew up together and it hurts, she says, wiping back tears.

Then, she straightens.

But this is why we do the work.

This article is part of Innovations In: Health Equity, an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

View post:
This Indigenous Scientist Helped Save Lives as Covid Devastated the Navajo Nation - Scientific American

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on This Indigenous Scientist Helped Save Lives as Covid Devastated the Navajo Nation – Scientific American

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

Posted: October 13, 2022 at 1:51 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the rest here:
As governor calls for better mental health services, Healthy Wyoming says Medicaid expansion needed - Oil City News

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on As governor calls for better mental health services, Healthy Wyoming says Medicaid expansion needed – Oil City News

Clinisys formed to help companies manage ‘revolution’ of lab science – OutSourcing-Pharma.com

Posted: October 13, 2022 at 1:51 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See the article here:
Clinisys formed to help companies manage 'revolution' of lab science - OutSourcing-Pharma.com

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Clinisys formed to help companies manage ‘revolution’ of lab science – OutSourcing-Pharma.com

Ainos Announces Positive Results from Additional Preclinical Study of Its Low-dose Oral Interferon Formulation Against New Variant Virus – Omicron -…

Posted: October 4, 2022 at 1:57 am

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

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

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

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

Mean Body Weight Throughout the Treatment Period

Percentage of Body Weight Change

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

Lung Pathology Report

Mixed cellular inflammation, peribronchial infiltration, and perivascular infiltration.

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

About Ainos, Inc.

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

Forward-Looking Statements

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

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

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

Investor Relations Contact

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

SOURCE: Ainos, Inc.

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

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

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Ainos Announces Positive Results from Additional Preclinical Study of Its Low-dose Oral Interferon Formulation Against New Variant Virus – Omicron -…

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

Posted: October 4, 2022 at 1:57 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vaccine campaign

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on North Korea tells officials that 350,000 people died of diseases this year – Radio Free Asia

Episode 45 – Preventative Medicine: the Mediterranean Diet and the …

Posted: September 25, 2022 at 2:44 am

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 21:10

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Welcome back Rounds Table Listeners!

We are back today with our Classic Rapid Fire Podcast!

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

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

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

And for the Good Stuff:

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

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

See the rest here:
Episode 45 - Preventative Medicine: the Mediterranean Diet and the ...

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Episode 45 – Preventative Medicine: the Mediterranean Diet and the …

Women’s health got worse in 2021, global survey finds – WXOW.com

Posted: September 25, 2022 at 2:44 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the effects are wide-reaching.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But there is some hope.

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

The-CNN-Wire

& 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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

Posted in Preventative Medicine | Comments Off on Women’s health got worse in 2021, global survey finds – WXOW.com

Page 11234..1020..»