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Physiology

Key to true health: A healthy mind and a healthy body always go hand in hand – YourStory

When it comes to feeling great health, it should include energy, mental equilibrium, great sleep, greater resilience to stress, and amazing creativity. Whenever you struggle with challenges involving your mind and stress, it will impact your physiology.

When you struggle with physical symptoms and conditions, it will impact your mental health. This is why the key to true health is to bring some focus into supporting a healthy body and working towards a healthy mind.

One thing that cannot be changed is stressors all around. Stress can be electromagnetic, which is something that is a part of the information age. Stress can be physiological from nutritional deficiencies or chronic inflammation. Stress can be caused by poor sleep.

The stressors might vary for each one of us, but we do not live in a bubble, and therefore we can only work on our resilience. Resilience is something that can be changed dramatically in spite of the level of stress. It might not seem possible, but it is true.

Those who sleep poorly, have nutritional deficiencies, and poor blood sugar balance struggle with resilience. Time is a big factor when it comes to a healthy mind. Some tweaks or hacks can support a healthy mind, one that is balanced and calm. What are some of the hacks that can help you keep a stable and healthy mind?

Even amid the number of apps and planners out there, there is something unique about a handwritten to-do list. I will admit that I also use a planner, but it does not come anywhere close to my quickly scribbled lists.

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There is a wonderful practice of scribbling your list in five minutes and putting down whatever comes in your mind the moment you wake up. This allows you to maintain clarity and great awareness through the day since this activity helps you dump everything on your mind at the get-go.

It is time-saving, releases clutter within your mind very early in the morning, and taps into your subconscious mind when you are just moving from sleep to wake.

You might wonder how taking 30 minutes to dance in your room is time-saving. This goes back to ancient wisdom. One of the reasons that your mind feels unhealthy and cluttered is restless energy.

The energy within your body is exactly like the wind. You cannot see your energy. But you can see the impact of that energy as to how cluttered, restless or unhealthy your mind feels.

In fact, taking 30 minutes in the morning to dance in your room without anyone around, where you can express your moves freely, burns away the restless energy within yourself.

What happens through the day is much better productivity and focus that saves time in everything else that you do. It is important to do this without anyone else in the room so that you can really let go!

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I found that the one year when I did not make separate lists, my entire year, including every month and every day, was filled with uncertainty, chaos, and lack of vision for greater goals. Separate lists should be written out for main things to do the whole year, what to do for each month as well as breakdown for each category, which will be unique to you.

You cannot imagine how much time this saves through the year in terms of direction and planning. Someone asked me how did I manage so much through the day? It had to do with this very simple time-saving practice.

I also encourage you to get a colourful book to do all of this, which will support your creativity and inspiration.

Not only is it highly possible to fall into the trap of not spending time with a loved one as you get overwhelmed by the list of things to do, but it is also very easy to not realise the value of this very simple five-minute practice. One of the biggest reasons for an unhealthy mind and poor resilience to stress is cortisol.

Cortisol is your stress hormone, which is the physiological reason that you feel more stressed. Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide, which is produced in your hypothalamus and then released by your pituitary. It plays a key role in breastfeeding, sexual reproduction, the birth of a child, a postnatal period, and in overall social bonding.

The fascinating thing about oxytocin is that is shares an antagonistic relationship with cortisol. When you spend five minutes hugging someone you love, your body releases oxytocin and reduces cortisol! This means that you instantly increase your resilience and have a calmer mind.

One of the main reasons for an unhealthy mind is the inability to set boundaries. Imagine a child who looks forward to the surprise at the end of a tiring school day. If I tell my little boy that I have something wonderful planned for his dinner, there is a world of difference in how inspired he is all day. He does not go around wasting his time, he is productive, and he is much more stable in his mood.

We truly are not all that different from the children in our lives. Just this morning, I had a conversation with a client who was unable to feel calm, productive or healthy because he was always waiting for the phone to ring even if it was at midnight.

Image source: Shutterstock

This one little hack was magic to my productivity, and even with much more on my plate now, I have never been as productive or as relaxed.

Saving time is not something that should be viewed with a reductionist approach of just saving time on one specific day. Time-saving has to be viewed from a greater perspective, where little hacks introduced and made a big part of your life. It should shift you towards a space where you have a calmer mind that supports your body.

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Key to true health: A healthy mind and a healthy body always go hand in hand - YourStory

Physiology

Strides in spatial genomics & transcriptomics market to transform landscape of liver physiology and disease biology – TMR Research Blog

Spatial genomics and transcriptomics have emerged as valuable tools in understanding liver physiology and disease biology. The drive for discovering new therapeutic targets for chronic liver diseases and cancer is a key trend shaping the evolving contours of the spatial genomics and transcriptomics market. The tools show incredible promise in studying rare cells such as liver progenitor cells and non-parenchymal cells in cancer. Strides made in computational analyses have led better characterisation of primary liver cancers. Expanding horizon of immunotherapy and strides made in precision medicine have broadened the canvas for industry stakeholders in the spatial genomics and transcriptomics market. Growing popularity of single-cell RNA sequencing is a key trend bolstering the prospects.

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The focus of creation of high-quality sequencing libraries or cell atlases has stirred the attention of researchers to harness spatial genomics and novel sequencing-based technologies such as spatial transcriptomics. Growing prevalence of chronic diseases and cancers has spurred the number of gene expression studies in tissues, thereby bolstering the expansion of the avenue in the spatial genomics and transcriptomics market.

Need for novel treatment strategies for liver cancer drives prospects

The need for high-quality genomic study for genetic engineering is a key factor propelling the application of next-generation sequencing. A case in point visualizing the RNA molecules at resolution equal or less than 100m. Over the years, researchers have been leveraging spatial genomics and transcriptomics for studying heterogeneity within liver cancer and expanding the understanding of the underlying tumour microenvironment. Spatial transcriptomics is likely to pave way to novel treatment strategies for liver cancer. In recent years, new spatial transcriptomic approaches have helped researchers unravel the treatment avenue for genetic diseases.

Strides made in biomedical research in oncology using high-throughput sequencing has expanded opportunities for industries looking to expand the stakes in the market. Some of the key players are Bio-Techne, Fluidigm Corporation, Illumina, and NanoString Technologies.

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Strides in spatial genomics & transcriptomics market to transform landscape of liver physiology and disease biology - TMR Research Blog

Physiology

The hidden burdens of healthcare workers – University of Victoria – University of Victoria News

Tasha Vollo-Crawford has long known that her nursing job causes her stressall the more so since the start of the pandemic.

But it wasnt until a University of Victoria researcher put a watch-sized heart rate monitor on her wrist, to wear during her shifts, that she fully grasped the impact of that stress on her physical health.

I knew that my heart rate was always high on my shift, from beginning to end, says Vollo-Crawford, a nurse at Victoria General Hospital. I see now that Im in a constant state of stress at work.

Vollo-Crawford is one of the Victoria-area health care workers recruited by UVic grad student Marisa Harrington for a study monitoring physiological stress responses in Victoria-area health care workers.

These are still early days of data collection. But for Harrington, whos pursuing a masters degree in exercise physiology, the results are already confirming what every health-care worker already knows: their work is stressful.

This is such a unique area to research during a pandemic, says Harrington, whose study is funded by WorkSafe BC and UVics Centre for Occupational Research and Testing, in the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education. Her research is evaluating how well those who carry the responsibility to keep us safe and healthy, are staying safe and healthy themselves, she says.

The study is part of broader research being conducted by Lynneth Stuart-Hill, an occupational physiologist and associate professor at UVic. She is studying the stress responses of Greater Victoria front-line healthcare workers whose jobs include shift work.

The main focus of Harringtons research initially revolved around shift work itself. But then COVID-19 struck, bringing the rare opportunity to examine the objective and subjective stress levels of nursesnot just in terms of shift work, but during a global health crisis.

The 10 nurses who participated in Harringtons ongoing study wore monitoring equipment over an eight-day shift rotation. Their sleep patterns were monitored alongside the rate and variability of their heartbeats.

A reduction in variability is a signal that the bodys sympathetic nervous systemresponsible for our fight, flight or freeze responseis chronically dominating the parasympathetic nervous system, which keeps us calm. Its one of the indices of stress. When its out of kilter, we know that this is a body out of sync, says Stuart-Hill.

The research project also analyzes nurses saliva for three markers associated with stress: cortisol, melatonin, and interleukin-y. The last of these is a cytokinea protein related to the bodys immune response, now getting attention for the deadly cytokine storms that affect some people with COVID-19.

Participants also kept logs while at work, noting any high-stress incidents over the shift that might later be correlated with a change in their physiological responses.

Were still analyzing, but we have seen significant data already, around sleep in particular, says Harrington. These nurses are spending more time in light sleep and less in REM sleep. Weve looked at the cardiovascular data and there is definitely an effect there as well.

We know that this is a population that feels stressed psychologically. Now, were establishing that theres a measureable physiological impact as well.

Harringtons research will help fill critical knowledge gaps, says Stuart-Hill. Much of the research done to date on the physiological impact of stressful work has involved male-dominated professions such as firefighting and logging. Stuart-Hill hopes to build on Harringtons research findings through future studies of long-term care employees, paramedics and other community-based health care workers.

The nurses are delighted that were studying this, adds Stuart-Hill. What were learning through the data are the things they inherently know.

Ongoing analysis will examine differences in data depending on a participants specific job role. But Harrington says early results are establishing that participants stress responses are significant and similar, regardless of what department or hospital they work in.

The stress of the pandemic for health care workers goes far beyond whether theyre actually working on a COVID ward, says Stuart-Hill.

These workers have to presume that anyone they are dealing with could have COVID, she says. If you work in these facilities, you also have to worry about bringing COVID to work, so your own home life is more stressed.

Can you still hug and cuddle your kids, given that theyre back in school? Can you share a bed with your partner? You have to worry about all of that.

Phase two of Harringtons study is now underway with a new round of study subjects. She anticipates concluding her work this spring.

Stuart-Hill and Harrington ultimately hope the research will shed light on better ways to manage the stress of health-care work. The shift rotation that Island Health uses for hospital-based nurses (two day shifts, two night shifts, and four days off) is notorious for disrupting normal sleep patterns, notes Stuart-Hill. Add in a pandemic and its uncharted territory.

The anguish that health care workers are seeing in their patients, the frustration of seeing people in their communities not taking this seriously, the lack of camaraderieits amazing theyre able to keep doing what they do, says Stuart-Hill.

I think theres going to be long-term fallout from this period. This data will provide some evidence for that when the time comes.

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The hidden burdens of healthcare workers - University of Victoria - University of Victoria News

Physiology

A wet Amazon may be more resilient to a drying climate than thought: Study – Mongabay.com

In some of the wettest parts of the Amazon rainforest, dry air may increase plant photosynthesis rates a response that contradicts the assumptions of many climate models, according to a recent study published in Science Advances.

When conditions are dry, plants attempt to retain water by closing the tiny pores on their leaves called stomata. But this also reduces the rate of photosynthesis, with knock-on effects for forest growth, carbon absorption, and large-scale weather patterns. Thats the theory, but data on how these dynamics play out at the scale of whole tropical forests is limited.

An international team of researchers led by Julia Green, a postdoctoral researcher at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de lEnvironnement (LSCE) in France, used machine learning to cluster data from nine years of monthly satellite images of South and Central America into areas with similar climate, and modeled the relationship between air moisture and photosynthesis in each cluster. They found that dry tropical forests and savannas showed the expected pattern: photosynthesis slowed in dryer air. However, wetter areas of the Amazon basin displayed a reverse trend, with photosynthesis actually increasing as the air dried, an effect that became even more pronounced in the wet season.

The researchers used sun-induced fluorescence (SIF), a measure of excess light energy released by photosynthesizing leaves, to estimate the rate of photosynthesis using satellite imagery. Experts say there is still scientific debate over the reliability of SIF as a measure of a forests photosynthetic output, known as gross primary production (GPP). Green acknowledged that SIF may be an unreliable measure of GPP at the scale of individual leaves, but said that SIF tracks GPP quite well at the ecosystem scale, and that this relationship has been widely exploited in other studies.

David Lapola, an Earth system modeler at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, who was not involved in the study, said he is skeptical about the results, but that this article opens up a hypothesis that deserves further investigation.

To photosynthesize, plants face a trade-off. Opening their stomata allows them to absorb CO2, a crucial ingredient for photosynthesis, but in doing so they also lose water through the process of transpiration. At the same time, plants need to maintain a continuous column of water from root to leaf. If there isnt enough water available in the soil to match water loss from the stomata, the water column will become strained and eventually break. To avoid these potentially fatal breaks, plants can partly or fully close their stomata.

The team analyzed four years of hourly data collected at three established monitoring towers in the states of Amazonas, Para, and Tocantins in Brazil, which allowed them to explain the remote sensing findings and try to link the large scale to the small scale, Green said. When the air was dry, plants absorbed less CO2, suggesting that their stomata were fully or partially closed, yet their leaves were releasing the same amount of heat, indicating high rates of photosynthesis.

The authors say this can be explained, at least in part, by leaf ageing. At the beginning of the dry season, trees in wet tropical forests drop the leaves at the top of the canopy, allowing more light through and stimulating growth of plants in the understory. By the time the wet season arrives, the shed leaves have been replaced by young leaves that are able to photosynthesize far more efficiently. Even in the Amazon, the stomata will partially close when the air gets drier, but because of the higher photosynthetic capacity of the young leaves its more than compensated for, Green said.

Marielle Smith, a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University in the U.S., who was not involved in the study, says that plentiful soil moisture may explain why plants in wet regions are able to continue photosynthesizing even when the air is very dry.

In a separate study published in Nature Plants in October , Smith and colleagues compared photosynthesis rates with changing air temperature and humidity in a climate-controlled experimental tropical forest biome in Arizona, with data collected at monitoring towers in the Brazilian Amazon, and found declining photosynthesis rates as the air dried, indicating that plants were closing their stomata when they experienced water stress. But if the potential for hydraulic stress is alleviated by sufficient soil water, the response of stomata to air dryness may be reduced or eliminated. This would mean that forests in wet places could take full advantage of the high light availability that tends to accompany dry air, Smith said.

Smith also expressed doubts that dry air was the causal factor behind higher rates of photosynthesis in wet regions. This conclusion is opposite to what we found at the particular sites used in our analyses, she said, despite using data from two of the same monitoring towers.

The source of this disparity, Smith says, is light. If light availability, which tends to be higher when the air is dryer, is controlled for statistically, the rate of photosynthesis at the monitoring towers declines as air dryness increases. The tower analyses they use to validate the artificial neural network analysis of SIF show the opposite: [air dryness] has a negative impact on GPP when GPPs response to light is accounted for, she said. Therefore, some independent validation is required in order for this interesting hypothesis to be convincing.

Experts say controlled experiments are needed to validate and investigate these complex interactions between water availability, climate, and plant physiology in tropical forests. Im leading the effort trying to establish a FACE [free-air carbon dioxide enrichment] experiment near Manaus and it might be that we can also change moisture conditions in the air, Lapola said. This is a very good suggestion that the authors give and is something we will definitely think about.

The researchers applied the same clustering analysis to the outputs from 10 different climate models and found that they failed to replicate the regional differences in photosynthesis found in the satellite data. Models are overestimating water stress in the Amazon rainforest, Green said.

Climate models must accurately represent photosynthetic processes in the Amazon if they are to produce meaningful results, because changes in gas and water exchange between these vast forests and the atmosphere can have widespread impact on climate and weather patterns. This region is bigger than just itself, Green said.

The Amazon rainforest represents a huge stock of carbon and flux of moisture to the atmosphere, Lapola said. This misrepresentation in vegetation models might significantly change the [predicted] carbon cycle and water cycle in the region.

Green says the good news is that this data suggest Amazon forests are potentially more resilient than we thought, but cautioned that if air dryness exceeds levels currently experienced by Amazon forests, the plant physiological responses observed in this study may change.

The team found that the relationship can reverse during extreme weather events, which are also expected to become more frequent and severe as the climate warms. Their analysis included the El Nio event that caused severe and widespread droughts in the Amazon in 2015 and 2016; for that period, we see that this positive response of photosynthesis to air dryness either diminished or reversed, Green said.

Citation:

Green, J. K., Berry, J., Ciais, P., Zhang, Y., & Gentine, P. (2020). Amazon rainforest photosynthesis increases in response to atmospheric dryness. Science advances, 6(47), eabb7232.https://advances.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abb7232

Banner Image: Plants are expected to photosynthesize less in response to dry air, but a machine-learning analysis of satellite data found that the wettest parts of the Amazon basin actually photosynthesize more when the air is dry. Image by CIFOR via Visualhunt (CC BY-NC-ND).

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Immunology

The COVID vaccines are not rushed and they’re safe – here’s why – WWLTV.com

NEW ORLEANS Most of us know someone who is hesitant to be first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, last week we heard the head of Ochsner say some of the medical staff were hesitant as well.

Why? It seems to come down to trust.

We're hearing some ask, How do I know I can trust the vaccine, especially since it came out in about a year, instead of four or five years? It turns out, there's a good answer for that.

Tulane microbiology and immunology expert, Dr. Lisa Morici, says the COVID vaccines were not rushed and there were no corners cut. In fact, the way it tells your immune system to make fighter cells has been studied for 30 years.

It took many years of scientists and engineers making small advances, incremental advances over the years to get the technology to a point where it works terrific. said Dr. Morici.

These are not traditional vaccines. They are called 'plug and play' and are perfectly designed for a pandemic because they can be quickly changed depending on the virus endangering the community.

We already knew these platforms were effective and safe. They've been in tens of thousands, If not hundreds of thousands of people for other diseases.

As for the speed of the clinical trials: For scientists worldwide it was all hands on deck. It was easy to get thousands of volunteers because people wanted to help, and the phases could overlap because pharmaceutical companies did not have the huge financial investment and risk.

The federal government and other agencies committed more than $26 billion towards these vaccines and that's unprecedented,she added.

Data on how well the vaccines worked came out fast, because so many people were infected in the community around those vaccine volunteers.

And so we were able to get the information lightning fast, as opposed to what would typically take us years,said Dr. Morici.

To people who don't want to be first to get vaccinated, you're not.

Tens of millions of doses of these vaccine have been administered to people. They are extremely safe. They are some of the safest vaccines that have ever been developed.

For those worried about long term side effects, Dr. Morici says throughout vaccine history, complications have shown up within two months.

We are well beyond the two month period with these vaccines. Millions, millions of folks, many months have passed. There's no reason to wait,she said.

And the doctor says there are no toxic preservatives in the vaccines. All the ingredients are natural ones that are found in the body.

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Immunology

New treatment could fight cancer by teaching the body to detect and fight mutated cells – Columbia Missourian

Immunotherapy may be the alternative treatment that revolutionizes cancer treatment working with the body instead of against it.

Treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy may not always permanently remove the cancer, depending on its location, type and stage.

Such treatments are designed to eliminate the mutated cancer cells that have already developed and formed tumors, but they dont always stop the body from continuing to produce more cancer cells.

So what if the body could learn to detect and fight mutated cells that fly under the radar?

A study by MU scientist Diana Gil Pags, PhD, about melanoma tumors in mice has shown that altering immune cells can lead to better results with cancer treatment.

Were trying to add to the arsenal of tools from the immune system that you can use against cancer, Gil Pags said. She emphasized the importance of having multiple treatment options for patients with cancer.

Why is it important to have another way? Because not everyone responds to these types of immunotherapies, Gil Pags said.

In fact, our preliminary research shows that if we combine the immunotherapies that are already in the clinic with our approach, there is an added benefit of mice survival and getting control over the tumor.

Immunology is becoming more foundational for cancer research and treatments. MU research technologist Megan Abergel learned about its expanded applications while working alongside Gil Pags.

I really hadnt realized how much immunology is ingrained in cancer research now, Abergel said.

Its really the hot topic and has been for the last couple years at least. I think its really interesting and promising.

Abergel explained the distinctions in cancer as opposed to other illnesses in terms of the bodys response.

When we get cancer, why is our body not able to mount a response? she said. Because its much more complicated, its using our own cells, so our body doesnt necessarily recognize that its foreign.

Gil Pags has been working on an immunotherapy treatment since 2002. She began by studying exactly how specific immune cells, called T-cells, function. She found a structural part of T-cells that allows the cells to identify diseases.

If it (the T-cell) encounters a healthy cell, there wont be a recognition, and the cell will just go around and do nothing, Gil Pags said. But when there is a positive recognition, the T-cell gets reprogrammed and acquires new capabilities that include being cytotoxic, which means killing cells.

By 2007, the study pointed to the possibility that, if their structure could be manipulated, the T-cells threshold for disease detection could be lowered. This means it would be easier for the body to detect mutated cells or any sort of infection.

These mutations also generate signals that make them easily recognized by the immune system, Gil Pags said. But sometimes those signals are subtle, and they are not enough to turn on the mechanism on the T-cells.

In October 2019, Gil Pags received a grant to develop drugs that work with mice genetics to enhance their T-cells. The goal for the drugs is to bind to the proteins that make up the receptors of the T-cell to lower its detection threshold, Gil Pags said.

That data proved that altering the T-cells made it easier for the mice to get rid of the melanoma tumors and keep them away.

The mice have now become what Gil Pags describes as humanized in order to test other drugs that are meant to bind to human T-cells.

A human protein is added to the mice proteins on the T-cell receptors, so the drugs developed for humans can be tested.

With just one component, weve made human in the mouse T-cells, our human reagent binds to these mouse cells now, Gil Pags said.

One problem with the immunotherapy approach is the level of toxicity that a person may experience during treatment.

Gil Pags explained that by lowering the T-cells inhibitions, the cells may also mistake healthy cells for disease, and the therapy can mimic the symptoms of an autoimmune disorder.

Part of the grant is to evaluate the toxicity inherited in our approach and compare it with other immunotherapies already out in the clinic that target T-cells, she said.

If the drug candidates are not equal to or less than the toxicity levels of existing treatments, the research she conducts wont move forward, she said.

The positive outcome is that, so far, we have learned that at least one of our candidates reproduces the anti-tumor effects of our approach seen in mice, and then it might be good enough to move into the clinic in the near future, she said.

She mentioned the possibility that none of the candidates measure up after considering their anti-tumor effects and side effects. Sometimes negative data is not valued so much, but it is needed to push you into developing better ideas.

Her lab research was disrupted in early 2020 because of COVID-19, but she said it began to pick back up in early fall of 2020.

Researchers will continue to run trials with the mice until they are able to do human clinical trials, she said.

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New treatment could fight cancer by teaching the body to detect and fight mutated cells - Columbia Missourian

Immunology

In Survey of Those with Uncontrolled Asthma, Half Smoked Cannabis – Newswise

Newswise ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL (Feb. 2, 2021) As the number of states increase where medical and recreational cannabis use is legal, so does the importance that physicians discuss with patients the effects of cannabis on those with asthma. A new survey in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, shows that of those who used cannabis, about half smoked it while a third vaped both inhalation routes likely to affect ones lungs.

It surprised me that over half of the cannabis users in this study who have asthma were smoking it, said Joanna Zeiger, PhD, principal investigator for the study. And further, of those with uncontrolled asthma, half reported smoking cannabis. We also found that people with asthma are not routinely being asked or advised by their physician about cannabis and how they are consuming it.

Eighty-eight (18%) of the 489 adults with allergy/asthma who completed the survey reported current cannabis use. The majority of those responding were younger than 50 years, female, and White. Among non-cannabis users, 2.5% reported an allergy to cannabis. Two-thirds of current cannabis users did so for medical or medical/recreational purposes. The anonymous survey, conducted in collaboration with Allergy & Asthma Network, was of those 18 years and older and looked at cannabis knowledge, attitudes, and patterns of use.

Strikingly, among current cannabis users, only about 40% report having their physicians inquire about cannabis use, and about the same number of patients want to discuss cannabis with their physicians, says allergist William Silvers, MD, study co-author, ACAAI member and expert on cannabis allergy. In order to more completely manage their allergy/asthma patients, allergists should increase their knowledge about cannabis and inquire about cannabis use including types of cannabinoid, route of use, reasons for use, and adverse effects, says Dr. Silvers. As with cigarette smoking, efforts should be made to reduce smoking of cannabis, and recommend other potentially safer routes such as edibles and sublingual tinctures.

Positive effects of cannabis use (e.g., reduced pain, calm, improved sleep) were reported significantly more frequently than adverse effects (e.g., cough, increased appetite, anxiety). Of concern, about 20% of survey respondents reported coughing from cannabis, which was significantly related to smoking the cannabis. Almost 60% of the cannabis users in the survey reported current asthma, of whom 40% were uncontrolled by the Asthma Control Test.

Says Dr. Zeiger, We look forward to future studies of larger, more diverse cohorts to better explore more deeply the effect of cannabis use on asthma and other allergic disorders.

Allergists are specially trained to diagnose and treat asthma. To find an allergist near you who can help create a personal plan to deal with your asthma and help you live your best life, use the ACAAI allergist locator.

About ACAAI

The ACAAI is a professional medical organization of more than 6,000 allergists-immunologists and allied health professionals, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill. The College fosters a culture of collaboration and congeniality in which its members work together and with others toward the common goals of patient care, education, advocacy, and research. ACAAI allergists are board-certified physicians trained to diagnose allergies and asthma, administer immunotherapy, and provide patients with the best treatment outcomes. For more information and to find relief, visit AllergyandAsthmaRelief.org. Join us on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

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In Survey of Those with Uncontrolled Asthma, Half Smoked Cannabis - Newswise

Immunology

Gossamer Bio to Host Webcast Focused on its Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program, GB004, on February 18, 2021 – Business Wire

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gossamer Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOSS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing therapeutics in the disease areas of immunology, inflammation and oncology, today announced that it will host a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 11:00am ET to discuss GB004, its oral HIF-1 stabilizer for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC).

Gossamer management will present alongside key IBD and HIF biology opinion leaders, including:

As part of the event, Gossamer Bio management and Drs. Sandborn, Danese, and Taylor will be available for questions.

William Sandborn, M.D., is a board-certified gastroenterologist, who is one of the world's top experts in the management of ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease. He directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at UC San Diego Health. In addition, he is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology for UC San Diego Health. A Professor in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Sandborn conducts clinical trials in IBD and leads a team of physicians, research fellows, nurses, and study coordinators. His clinical trials have been instrumental to developing modern treatments for IBD. Dr. Sandborn has published 836 articles in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and Gastroenterology. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Sandborn worked in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Sandborn completed his fellowship at Mayo Clinic. He did his residency and earned his medical degree at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Silvio Danese, M.D., Ph.D., is the Head of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Humanitas Research Hospital and the group leader of the Gastrointestinal Immunopathology Laboratory at Humanitas Research Center in Milan, Italy. A Professor of Gastroenterology at Humanitas University, his main research area of interest is the investigation of the fundamental mechanisms underlying IBD pathogenesis. He served as President of the European Crohns and Colitis Organization (ECCO) in 2019 and has served as the Principal Investigator on many Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials for the treatment of IBD patients. He is also Member of the Editorial Board of Current Drug Target and Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Associate Editor of Gut and Journal of Crohns and Colitis. He has published more than 300 research articles in peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor. He trained in gastroenterology at Policlinico Gemelli, Rome, Italy, and earned his Ph.D. there in 2004. Professor Danese also worked in Professor Claudio Fiocchis laboratory at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio from 2001 to 2004.

Cormac Taylor, Ph.D., is a Professor of Cellular Physiology at the School of Medicine and Medical Science and the Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland. He leads the Taylor Lab, in which research is directed towards expanding the understanding of the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms by which changes in micro-environmental oxygen levels regulate gene transcription in cells. A key focus of this work is the identification of new therapeutic targets in inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Taylor was elected as a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2014. He was awarded the 2014 Nature mid-career mentorship award and the 2017 Takeda Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Physiological Society. He has authored over 130 articles in journals including Gastroenterology, Gut, PNAS and Science and is an Editorial Board Member of the American Journal of Physiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Taylor received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from UCD in 1996 prior to a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical school from 1996-2001 and has been running his own independent research group since 2001.

Conference Call and Webcast

Gossamer will host a conference call and live audio webcast at 11:00 am ET on Thursday, February 18. The live audio webcast may be accessed through the Events / Presentations page in the Investors section of the Company's website at http://www.gossamerbio.com. Alternatively, the conference call may be accessed through the following:

Conference ID: 6135079Domestic Dial-in Number: (833) 640-7726International Dial-in Number: (602) 585-9912Live Webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/9tbs35gb

A replay of the audio webcast will be available for 30 days on the Investors section of the Company's website, http://www.gossamerbio.com.

About Gossamer Bio

Gossamer Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing therapeutics in the disease areas of immunology, inflammation and oncology. Its goal is to be an industry leader in each of these therapeutic areas and to enhance and extend the lives of patients suffering from such diseases.

Excerpt from:
Gossamer Bio to Host Webcast Focused on its Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program, GB004, on February 18, 2021 - Business Wire

Immunology

AbbVie Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2020 Financial Results – BioSpace

NORTH CHICAGO,Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2020.

"We successfully completed the transformative Allergan acquisition and delivered another year of strong results in 2020, despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic," said Richard A. Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer, AbbVie. "Based on our broad portfolio of diversified growth assets and the robust momentum of our business, we expect impressive growth again in 2021."

Fourth-Quarter Results

Note: "Comparable Operational" comparisons include full-quarter current year and prior year results for Allergan, which was acquired on May 8, 2020, as if the acquisition closed on January 1, 2019, and are presented at constant currency rates and reflect comparative local currency net revenues at the prior year's foreign exchange rates. Refer to the Key Product Revenues schedules for further details. "Operational" comparisons are presented at constant currency rates and reflect comparative local currency net revenues at the prior year's foreign exchange rates.

Recent Events

Full-Year 2021 Outlook

AbbVie is issuing its GAAP diluted EPS guidance for the full-year 2021 of $6.69 to $6.89. AbbVie expects to deliver adjusted diluted EPS for the full-year 2021 of $12.32 to $12.52. The company's 2021 adjusted diluted EPS guidance excludes $5.63 per share of intangible asset amortization expense, non-cash charges for contingent consideration adjustments and other specified items.

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women's health and gastroenterology, in addition to products and services across its Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at http://www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebookor LinkedIn.

Conference Call

AbbVie will host an investor conference call today at 8:00 a.m. Central time to discuss our fourth-quarter performance. The call will be webcast through AbbVie's Investor Relations website at investors.abbvie.com. An archived edition of the call will be available after 11:00 a.m. Central time.

Non-GAAP Financial Results

Financial results for 2020 and 2019 are presented on both a reported and a non-GAAP basis. Reported results were prepared in accordance with GAAP and include all revenue and expenses recognized during the period. Non-GAAP results adjust for certain non-cash items and for factors that are unusual or unpredictable, and exclude those costs, expenses, and other specified items presented in the reconciliation tables later in this release. AbbVie's management believes non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors regarding AbbVie's results of operations and assist management, analysts, and investors in evaluating the performance of the business. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The company's 2021 financial guidance is also being provided on both a reported and a non-GAAP basis.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some statements in this news release are, or may be considered, forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project" and similar expressions, among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. AbbVie cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the failure to realize the expected benefits of AbbVie's acquisition of Allergan or to promptly and effectively integrate Allergan's business, challenges to intellectual property, competition from other products, difficulties inherent in the research and development process, adverse litigation or government action, and changes to laws and regulations applicable to our industry. Additional information about the economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect AbbVie's operations is set forth in Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of AbbVie's 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other documents that AbbVie subsequently files with the Securities and Exchange Commission that update, supplement or supersede such information. AbbVie undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law.

AbbVie Inc.

Key Product Revenues

Quarter Ended December31, 2020

(Unaudited)

% Change vs. 4Q19

Net Revenues (in millions)

Reported

Comparable Operational a, b

U.S.

Int'l.

Total

U.S.

Int'l.

Total

U.S.

Int'l.

Total

NET REVENUES

$10,665

$3,193

$13,858

65.9%

40.4%

59.2%

9.4%

(1.2)%

6.8%

Immunology

4,988

970

5,958

18.9

(0.1)

15.3

18.9

(2.5)

14.8

Humira

4,293

859

5,152

8.2

(9.4)

4.8

8.2

(11.4)

4.4

Skyrizi

451

74

525

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

Rinvoq

244

37

281

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

>100.0

Hematologic Oncology

1,373

416

1,789

11.7

30.9

15.7

11.7

29.9

15.5

Imbruvicac

1,165

259

1,424

8.6

15.7

Read more from the original source:
AbbVie Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2020 Financial Results - BioSpace

Immunology

Spherix Global Insights Introduces New Service Focusing on Recent Launches in Expanding Immunology, Nephrology, and Neurology Markets – Daily Local…

EXTON, Pa., Jan. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Spherix Global Insights, a leading market intelligence firm specializing in select dermatology, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, and rheumatology markets, announces the inaugural publications of their newest service offering, Launch Dynamix. This innovative, independent service provides monthly benchmarking of newly launched products for the first eighteen months of commercial availability.

This is augmented by a quarterly deep dive into promotional activity, messaging, drivers of use, barriers to uptake, patient types, market access landscape, and degree of disruption surrounding the newly launched product including a mix of both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Clients subscribed to this service received their first monthly pulse on January 15, 2021, including data benchmarking the current launch to relevant historical market entrants at similar post-entry timings.

In rheumatology, Spherix is currently tracking the entry of both Novartis' Cosentyx and Eli Lilly's Taltz in non-radiographic axial spondylarthritis (nr-axSpA), which were approved within weeks of each other in June of last year. Data on the key performance indicators (KPIs), provided in the January publication, are compared to the performance of UCB's Cimzia, which was the first biologic/advanced systemic agent to gain FDA approval for nr-axSpA in March of 2019.

With regard to psoriatic arthritis (PsA), Spherix's new service is available for Janssen's Tremfya, with KPIs benchmarked to Cosentyx, Taltz, Amgen's Otezla, and Pfizer's Xeljanz. Pending FDA approval, Spherix also plans to cover AbbVie's Rinvoq in both ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and PsA, Xeljanz for the treatment of AS, and AstraZeneca's anifrolumab for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Inaugural Launch Dynamix coverage in gastroenterology includes tracking and trending of Janssen's Stelara for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), benchmarking the entry of the IL-12/23 inhibitor to the respective Crohn's disease launch, as well as the launch of Xeljanz for the treatment of UC.

In neurology, Spherix is currently covering the launches of Novartis' Kesimpta and BMS' Zeposia, with appropriate benchmarked KPIs to Genentech's Ocrevus, Novartis' Mayzent, EMD Serono's Mavenclad, and Biogen's Vumerity. Pending approval, Spherix will also cover the launch of Janssen's ponesimod, which is expected to be available in the Spring of 2021.

In an area of significant unmet need, the lupus nephritis market is poised for a massive shift with recent drug approvals for GSK's Benlysta (also approved for systemic lupus erythematosus) and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals' Lupkynis. The study will include responses from both nephrologists and rheumatologists, with the first pulse available in February.

Other launches on Spherix's radar with planned 2021 coverage (pending approval) include:

"We are really excited to be able to bring this level of launch detail to our clients," says Lynn Price, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at Spherix. "The rapid turn-around from fielding to publication and the monthly cadence coupled with quarterly deep-dives provides those with assets in this market or with near-term plans to enter it the perfect tool to keep their finger on the pulse."

About Launch Dynamix

Launch Dynamix is an independent service providing monthly benchmarking of newly launched products for the first eighteen months of commercial availability, augmented by a quarterly deep dive into patient types initiated, brand perceptions, promotional activity, and drivers and barriers to uptake. The service is offered on a brand-by-brand basis.

Learn more about our services here.

About Spherix Global Insights

Spherix Global Insights is a hyper-focused market intelligence firm that leverages our own independent data and expertise to provide strategic guidance, so biopharma stakeholders make decisions with confidence. We specialize in select dermatology, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, and rheumatology markets.

All company, brand or product names in this document are trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information contact:

Kristen Henn, Business Development Manager

Email:info@spherixglobalinsights.com

http://www.spherixglobalinsights.com

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SOURCE Spherix Global Insights

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Spherix Global Insights Introduces New Service Focusing on Recent Launches in Expanding Immunology, Nephrology, and Neurology Markets - Daily Local...