Chronolife, a firm headquartered in Paris, France, is releasing a T-shirt that can monitor six vitals and health parameters, including a single-lead ECG, abdominal and thoracic breathing, body temperature, activity levels, and pulmonary impedance, a measure of how pulmonary vessels resist pulsatile blood flow. The Nexkin device looks like a typical short-sleeved T-shirt. A single...
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A controversial dwarfism drug, after clearing pivotal study, heads to the FDA
By DAMIAN GARDE @damiangarde Zayyan Agboatwalla, right, at home with his mother and cousin. Agboatwalla was born with achondroplasia, the most common cause of dwarfism.LAURA MORTON FOR STAT Atreatment for the most common cause of dwarfism met its goal of increasing height in a pivotal study, the drug’s maker said Monday, setting the stage for Food and...
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Parkinson’s symptoms improve with weekly regimens of both physical and cognitive exercises
Parkinson’s patients’ motor and non-motor symptoms were improved with a weekly exercise regimen that included physical and cognitive tasks, according to new research presented today (18 December) at The Physiological Society early career conference, Future Physiology 2019: Translating Cellular Mechanisms into Lifelong Health Strategies. Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that can lead to...
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New classification system for tumors can guide diagnosis and treatment options for cancer
Based on the largest study of cancer patients of its kind, scientists have created a new way of classifying tumours. Clinicians can use genome sequencing to assign their patients’ tumours to one of sixteen groups in the new classification system, ten of which provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, like whether an...
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Combining 2 rapid tests for the accurate diagnosis of Chagas disease in the field
IMAGE: RURAL COMMUNITY IN COCHABAMPA, BOLIVIA CREDIT: ISGLOBAL The combined use of two commercially available rapid diagnostic tests is effective for accurately diagnosing chronic Chagas disease in the field, according to a study funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by “la...
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TAP At-Home Blood Collection System Now FDA Cleared
Seventh Sense Biosystems, a company based outside of Boston, MA, won FDA clearance for its TAP device to be used by laypersons to collect blood. Moreover, the device is now cleared to be used at home by individuals for “wellness testing,” according to the company. “We’re very excited about this clearance since it represents an...
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Waning treatment for immune deficiency is a warning for all ‘one-and-done’ therapies
By ERIC BOODMAN @ericboodman MOLLY FERGUSON FOR STAT As a new mother, she didn’t know to look for blue-tinged lips. She could just tell her baby’s color was off. On a chest X-ray, the clean, white-against-dark curves of his ribs were obscured, clouded by fluid. Pneumonia. That tipped Ray Ballard’s physicians off: He had a form of...
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FDA Warns of ‘Serious’ Respiratory Problems With Gabapentin
Megan Brooks Life-threatening breathing difficulties can occur in patients who use gabapentin or pregabalin with opioids or other drugs that depress the central nervous system, as well as those with underlying respiratory impairment and the elderly, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in a drug safety communication issued today. “Reports of gabapentinoid abuse alone, and with opioids, have emerged...
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FDA OKs Crizanlizumab, First Targeted Therapy for Sickle Cell Crisis
Megan Brooks The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved crizanlizumab (Adakveo, Novartis) to reduce the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis in patients aged 16 years or older with sickle cell disease. “Vaso-occlusive crisis can be extremely painful and is a frequent reason for emergency department visits and hospitalization for patients with sickle cell disease,” Richard Pazdur, MD,...
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FDA warns of breathing risks with popular nerve drugs
by Matthew Perrone U.S. health regulators are warning that popular nervous system medications can cause dangerous breathing problems when combined with opioids and certain other drugs. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it would add new warnings to packaging for Neurontin, Lyrica and generic versions, which are used to treat seizures, nerve pain, restless...