Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran’s Affairs Publish Breakthrough Study Predicting Heart Failure Hospitalization up to 10 days in Advance using AI – Business…

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--physIQ, Inc. and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today published the results of a breakthrough study aimed at validating the ability to detect the onset of heart failure exacerbation using wearable sensors and machine learning-based personalized physiology analytics. Published in Circulation Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, the LINK-HF study was designed to assess the ability to predict rehospitalization due to heart failure exacerbation using sophisticated analytics applied to continuous wearable sensor data. In the study, 100 patients were enrolled upon discharge from heart failure hospitalization across four VA hospitals and monitored continuously and for up to 90 days without intervention. Post hoc data analysis indicated a mean detection lead time of as high as 10.4 days prior to the hospitalization or ER visit with as high as 88% sensitivity and 86% specificity. Such a lead time interval should permit intervention aimed at preventing hospitalization.

The study evaluated physIQs pinpointIQ continuous data collection platform including patented analytics that use machine learning to automatically establish a personalized model of each individuals baseline physiological behavior in order to detect subtle anomalies that may be predictive of hospitalization. PhysIQs innovative solution addresses a critical, unmet healthcare need for continuous remote monitoring of patient vital signs without the cost, risks and patient requirements of invasive monitoring procedures.

This study demonstrates that integration of novel non-invasive technology and machine learning analytics provides an accurate prediction of clinical decompensation in heart failure, says Dr. Josef Stehlik, Professor of Medicine, Co-Chief of the Advanced Heart Failure Program, University of Utah Health and Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center. This work has the potential to reduce hospitalization and improve quality of life of patients with heart failure.

Upon discharge from heart failure hospitalization, patients in the multi-site observational study were provided a set of disposable 4-day adhesive sensor patches for the chest, and a smartphone to upload their data to the cloud. In the cloud, physIQs FDA 510(k)-cleared analytics established a personalized physiologic baseline for each patient. From this baseline, the physIQ algorithms could detect subtle physiologic changes that predicted rehospitalization 7 10 days in advance of the hospitalization or ED visit. Moreover, the easy-to-use disposable patches helped the study achieve a remarkable sensor compliance and data yield throughout the 90-day monitoring.

The newly released publication is noteworthy in the realm of digital medicine, where prospectively designed studies presented in peer-reviewed journals are a rarity. There is a lot of buzz about digital medicine these days, said Gary Conkright, CEO of physIQ, but the reality is that very few companies have been able to demonstrate the clinical rigor required in a healthcare use case. The publication of this study is yet another example of how we at physIQ continue to lead the market in developing FDA-cleared technology and clinical validation.

The results of the study are relevant for payers and providers looking to establish more scalable solutions for managing at-risk patient populations, as well as for pharmaceutical companies looking to use wearable sensor data to demonstrate efficacy and safety of their products. Continuous sensor data has enormous potential to transform how we understand trajectories of human health; but these data streams present multiple challenges, noted Matt Pipke, CTO, physIQ. Not only is the volume of data massive, but the behavior of physiology in the unconstrained ambulatory setting is rich and complex. Properly validated machine learning and deep learning analytics, like those tested in this VA study, are the key to effectively processing wearable biosensor data to provide clinical users with information they can act on.

Building on the breakthrough success of this VA heart failure study, physIQ is now leveraging these and other data sets to power deep learning to develop biomarkers that will enable transformational tools to diagnose and monitor disease. These novel biomarkers will allow biopharma companies to revolutionize how they demonstrate clinical value and fundamentally change how payers and health systems care for their at-risk patient populations.

By giving doctors the information they need to preemptively intervene and prevent patient deterioration, rather than react to what has already happened, physIQ is bringing the power of AI to healthcare delivery in ways that will transform patient care and improve care value, said Dr. Stephen Ondra, Chief Medical Officer for physIQ.

Early detection is critical to success in avoiding heart failure rehospitalization. There are currently over 6 million people in the United States diagnosed with heart failure and one million annual hospitalizations. Among them, approximately 20% of patients are readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge, underscoring the challenges both clinicians and patients face with trying to manage this disease.

About physIQ

PhysIQ is a company dedicated to enabling proactive care delivery models through pinpointIQ, its highly scalable cloud-based platform for personalized physiology analytics. Our FDA 510(k)-cleared data analytics platform is designed to process multiple vital signs from wearable sensors to create a personalized dynamic baseline for each individual. By mapping vital sign relationships this way, physIQs analytics detect subtle deviations that may be a precursor to disease exacerbation or change in health. With applications in both healthcare and clinical trial support, physIQ is transforming continuous physiological data into insight for providers, health systems, payers and pharmaceutical and medical device companies. For more information, please visit http://www.physIQ.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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PhysIQ and U.S. Veteran's Affairs Publish Breakthrough Study Predicting Heart Failure Hospitalization up to 10 days in Advance using AI - Business...

Physiology

Pet owners may be able to track their animal’s health with a fitness tracker for dogs – inews

NewsTechnologyThe sensor could also help humans to realise when sniffer dogs have reached their targets

Wednesday, 26th February 2020, 10:10 pm

Pet owners may soon be able to track their furry companions' health and vital signs thanks to a new fitness tracker for dogs.

The device, created by researchers at Imperial College London, monitors an animal's vital signs through its fur when strapped around its chest, removing the need to shave hair off to place the sensor directly on skin.

Its sensor and microphone work together like a "watery stethoscope", which is flexible enough to mould around a creature's fur and tight enough to prevent air bubbles from forming and obscuring the sound of its heartbeat.

"The sensor works like a watery stethoscope, filling any gaps between it and its subject so that no air bubbles get in and dampen the sound," first author Yasin Cotur said.

'Fitbit' for dogs

The sound is converted to a digital signal that's transmitted to a nearby computer to enable real-time tracking of the dog's physiology.

While there are numerous trackers available to buy to attach to animals, previous versions can't track vital signs through fur. The team are working to add motion sensors to the system to track an animal's movements, meaning future version could use artificial intelligence (AI) to work out when pets are standing, sitting, or lying, as well as which direction they are facing and how their vital signs diverge from the norm.

Owners could keep an eye on their animals' movements through a paired smartphone app to ensure they're getting enough exercise or to work out where they are and what they're doing at any given time.

"Wearables are expected to play a major role in monitoring health and detecting diseases early," Dr Firat Guder, lead author of the study, said.

Tracking health of animals

"Our stretchy, flexible invention heralds a whole new type of sensor that can track the health of animals and humans alike over fur or clothing."

The team is planning to experiment with how the wearable tech could translate information collected by sniffer dogs into measurable data, helping humans to establish when the dogs have identified what they're looking for more quickly.

It could help to establish baselines of normal heart and breathing rates from which to quantify the level of excitement for each dog, as sniffer dogs' heart and breathing rates rise upon finding their target objects (such as bombs or humans trapped under rubble) in anticipation of being rewarded.

"By measuring how excited the dogs are, an inbuilt algorithm might even be able to tell the strength of the dog's reaction to the smell it detects and work out how 'sure' the dog is of finding the desired object," the team's report, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, claimed.

Horses and livestock are other potential beneficiaries of the sensor, they added.

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Pet owners may be able to track their animal's health with a fitness tracker for dogs - inews

Physiology

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Among Patients | DMSO – Dove Medical Press

Tesfaye Teshome,1 Dejene Hailu Kassa,2 Agete Tadewos Hirigo3

1Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Physiology Unit, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia; 2Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Health Science, School of Public Health, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia; 3Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Science, School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Hawassa City, Southern-Ethiopia

Correspondence: Tesfaye TeshomeHawassa University College of Medicine and Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Physiology Unit, P.O. Box 1560, Hawassa City, Southern-EthiopiaTel +251-925-112625Email tesfayeteshome9@gmail.com

Background: Patients with severe mental disorders have a high risk of metabolic-related complications like metabolic syndrome (MetS), diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension and lipid derangements, and these factors may predispose them to a high mortality rate. Data is very scarce regarding MetS among patients with severe mental illness in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of MetS and its associated factors among patients with severe mental illness.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from January to June 2019 among adult patients attending a psychiatric outpatient department, Southern Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 245 study subjects. Socio-demographic and other data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Both the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines were used to define MetS.Results: The prevalence of MetS was 24.5% and 26.9% by NCEP-ATP and IDF criteria respectively. In both definitions, females had significantly higher MetS when compared to males (31.4% vs 19.6%; p=0.03 by NCEP), and (34.3% vs 21.7%; p =0.03 by IDF), respectively. Duration > 5 years with mental illness indicated higher MetS when compared to duration 5 years (42.9% vs 19.9%, p=0.001; and 46.9% vs 21.9%, p< 0.0001) in NCEP and IDF, respectively. In addition, marital status [AOR (95% CI): 2.4 (1.1 5.3)], and BMI [AOR (95% CI): 8.4(4.0 17.6)], duration > 5 years with mental illness [AOR (95% CI): 2.8(1.2 6.5)], and age > 40 years [AOR (95% CI): 2.7(1.2 6.1)] were significantly associated factors of MetS by NCEP. While BMI, age > 40 years and duration > 5 years with mental illness were associated with MetS by IDF.Conclusion: Long-time experience with severe mental illness and antipsychotic therapy might predispose patients to metabolic complications with significant risks of cardiovascular events. Therefore, intensive screening of patients for MetS/components is required during follow-up based on national non-communicable diseases guideline. Besides, the proper intervention of patients concerning lifestyle changes and averting risk full behaviors is mandatory.

Keywords: severe mental illness, antipsychotic agents, metabolic syndrome, Hawassa, Southern-Ethiopia

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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Prevalence and Associated Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Among Patients | DMSO - Dove Medical Press

Physiology

A single ‘paper mill’ appears to have churned out 400 papers, sleuths find – Science Magazine

3d imagination/shutterstock.com

By Dalmeet Singh ChawlaFeb. 27, 2020 , 2:00 PM

Online sleuths have discovered what they suspect is a paper mill that has produced more than 400 scientific papers with potentially fabricated images. Some journals are now investigating the papers.

Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologistturnedresearch integrity expert based in San Francisco, along with other forensic detectives, identified the potentially problematic papers, which they think came from a single source. They say the papers contain western blot imagesused in molecular biology to visualize the presence of proteinsthat contain remarkably similar background patterns and unusually neat bands lacking smears, stains, or dots, which often appear in such images.

We think that these western blots are not real, says Bik, who wrote about the case on her blog on 21 February. Most of them have a very similar layout so we realized these are all coming from the same stable.

The papers in question have no common authors, Bik says. The papers also vary in disciplines, including pediatrics, cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, and vascular surgery.

One common factor, however, is that authors of these papers all seem to be based at hospitals in China, Bik notes. The Jining First Peoples Hospital tops the list with 101 papers listing it as an affiliation. It is followed by the Jilin University ChinaJapan Union Hospital and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University with 59 and 23 papers, respectively.

Biks hunch is that the studies were published as a tick-box exercise by physicians who have to publish papers in international journals in order to be eligible for promotions.

The main reason behind such cases is that too much emphasis has been placed on international publications in performance evaluation and promotion [in China], not taking into consideration that there should be differences between a scientist and a physician, says Cong Cao, a professor of social studies of science, technology, and innovation at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo.

Last week, Chinas Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly released new guidelines on research evaluation that appear to recommend moving away from an emphasis in evaluations on papers published in international journals, and those indexed in the database Science Citation Index, which is often used to judge academic performance. But Cao thinks the move is unwise and goes to the other extreme. Chinese universities may have to scramble to come up with new implementation measures to adapt [to the] governments policy changes, which are vague and not operational.

Gregg Fields, a biochemist at Florida Atlantic University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cellular Physiology, which published 21 of the papers under scrutiny, says the journals publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, is looking into the issue. Meanwhile, Fields says he and his team are doing their best to keep these papermill manuscripts out of the journal going forwards. This, he says, may require the adaptation of software to categorize common gel images utilized in the papermill manuscripts.

Florian Lang, a physiologist at Eberhard Karls University of Tbingen who edits Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry, which published 26 of the papers in question, says he found out about the problem about 3 weeks ago and is now in the process of approaching the authors. He notes that if the images are found to be fabricated, he will request that the journals publisher, Karger Publishers, retract the papers.

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A single 'paper mill' appears to have churned out 400 papers, sleuths find - Science Magazine

Physiology

Latham BioPharm Group Adds Dr. Thijs Beuming and Expands Consulting Offering to Include In Silico Drug Discovery Services – BioSpace

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Latham BioPharm Group, Inc. (LBG), a premier provider of life science consulting services, today announced the recent addition of Dr. Thijs Beuming to the team to lead In Silico Drug Discovery services. LBG's new offering complements existing product development capabilities by providing full service and strategic support for companies seeking to apply In Silico Drug Discovery methods to streamline drug discovery, design, development, and optimization efforts.

Dr. Beuming comes to LBG with more than 20 years of experience applying computational biophysics, computational chemistry, bioinformatics and cheminformatics to problems in biology and drug discovery, with working knowledge in academia and industry. Prior to joining LBG, he spent over a decade at Schrdinger, Inc, the global leader in providing computational chemistry and molecular modeling solutions to the pharmaceutical and materials industries. Dr. Beuming has made key contributions to novel methodologies to significantproblems in computational chemistry, including the study of protein flexibility, protein solvation, thermodynamic binding affinity calculations, and small molecule and peptide docking. His work has been documented in over 50 peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He holds a Masters degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from Weill Medical College at Cornell University, where he focused on elucidating structure function studies of neurotransmitter transporters. He also serves as adjunct professor of Computational Biomedicine at Weill Medical College at Cornell University.

LBG President and Managing Partner, Pete Latham, commented: "We are delighted to have Thijs on board and are excited about the integration of this new service into our existing capabilities set. This service will add a significant capability cornerstone to our product development services and will serve as a valuable resource to both existing and prospective LBG clients to ensure the best version of products are advanced forward to development."

About Latham BioPharm Group

Latham BioPharm Group (LBG), headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a leading life sciences consulting company that supports the following:

LBG provides technical expertise, quality oversight, strategic analysis, and knowledge management necessary to successfully navigate the complex roadmap of life sciences product development. In addition, LBG has helped clients identify, evaluate, fund, manage, and monetize opportunities, generating over $1 Billion in non-dilutive funding and over $100 Million in licensing fees and investments.

For more information, please visit http://www.lathambiopharm.com or contact Dr. Beuming at 978.266.9151.

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Latham BioPharm Group Adds Dr. Thijs Beuming and Expands Consulting Offering to Include In Silico Drug Discovery Services - BioSpace

Physiology

PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar’s Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce – Newswise

Newswise Sugars arent merely energy sources for our cells. They also play important signaling roles through a process called glycosylation, where they attach to proteins and lipids as tags. Although these sugar tags, called glycans, impact many cellular processes, they have long been understudied due to technical challenges. Now, advances in analytical tools like mass spectrometry are enabling scientists to examine the enormous complexity of glycans. Other advances also allow researchers to synthesize complex sugars, providing them with standards for analytical experiments.

Dr. Michael Boyce, an associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), has begun using these new tools to explore the fascinating role of sugars in signaling.

Michael Boyce, associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Credit: Michael Boyce.

The attachment of sugars or sugar chains is the most abundant modification of proteins and lipids in all of nature, says Boyce. It impacts basically all cell biological processes. In fact, abnormal glycosylation can be observed in almost all human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, and diabetes. Boyces lab focuses on glycosylations signaling role in such processes as cytoskeleton dynamics, protein stability, and vesicle trafficking, hoping to shed light on both normal physiology and disease.

A cartoon depicting common types of glycansstructures composed of sugarsmade by mammalian cells. Credit: Alex Broussard and Michael Boyce.CC BY-NC-SA-3.0.

For example, one glycosylated protein is involved in degrading proteins that are part of the cytoskeleton. This protein is also mutated in the rare neurodegenerative disease giant axonal neuropathy. Because the protein is involved directly in the disease, understanding how it worksand how glycosylation affects its functionmay inform the development of therapies.

For Boyce, the PECASE is meaningful because it recognizes not only his scientific contributions, but also his service to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the biomedical research workforce. Among other efforts at Duke, he has spearheaded a seminar series in his department that brings in biochemistry and cell biology faculty members from other institutions to talk about their science and efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.

Boyce is also co-chair of the American Society for Cell Biologys Minorities Affairs Committee. The committee runs several federally funded programs for postdocs and junior faculty from underrepresented backgrounds that promote scientific and professional development, such as workshops for grant writing and job applications, and forums for networking and mentoring.

Im really glad that this kind of service is valued even at the highest levels of the government, because I think its an important thing for all scientists to contribute to inclusion, equity, and broad participation in the American research enterprise, Boyce says.

Boyces research is supported in part by NIGMS grants R01GM117473 and R01GM118847, and NINDS grant R01NS111588.

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PECASE Honoree Michael Boyce on Sugar's Role in Cell Signaling and on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Scientific Workforce - Newswise

Physiology

What will the US’s first weed degree program look like? – Big Think

Weed can now get you a degree. A public university in southern Colorado has announced that it will offer the United State's first cannabis-focused major.

The new Cannabis Biology and Chemistry Program was created after students at Colorado State University-Pueblo expressed intense interest in the field. The "rigorous" science degree will include coursework focused on chemistry and advanced biology according to David Lehmpuhl, dean of CSU-Pueblo's College of Science and Mathematics. In other words, it isn't going to be a chill party degree. He emphasized that students in the CBC program won't be working with anything that has a high amount of THC, the main psychoactive compound in weed.

The Colorado Commission on Higher Education passed the university's request for a cannabis-related degree earlier this month. Ever since, Lehmpuhl told WBUR the response has been "overwhelming."

"I've been fielding inquiries almost nonstop since the announcement came out," he said. "There's definitely a demand."

The ban on weed, which was outlawed in the 1930s, has only recently started to lift. Though it's still federally illegal, cannabis is now recreationally legal in 11 states plus Washington, D.C. It's legal for medical usage in 33 states. As a result, cannabis has become one of the fastest-growing job markets. Forbes has estimated that the industry is responsible for the employment of around 300,000 full-time workers.

"We kind of looked at the industry, and the sector as a whole, and what was needed for students to get jobs," said Lehmpuhl to Quartz. "We have a lot of businesses in the area that are clamoring for workers." In fact, CSU-Pueblo is also home to the state-funded Institute for Cannabis Research.

The new degree is intended to prepare students for opportunities to work in chemistry, biology or natural products labs. That could mean jobs ranging from CBD extraction to analyzing soil chemistry.

There's a cluster of U.S. schools that offer similar courses, certificates and master's degrees in cannabis-centric studies for students looking to pursue the up-and-coming industry. Northern Michigan University, for instance, offers a degree in Medicinal Plant Chemistry with a capstone course named CH420. (Haha.) What's unique about CSU-Pueblo is that it is the first undergraduate program in the country to put the word cannabis in its name, which has resulted in media attention and a flood of inquiries from prospective students according to Lehmpuhl.

The major will offer two tracks students can choose to take. One is "natural products," which places more emphasis on biological aspects of weed. The "analytical" track focuses on chemistry. The program overview states that through the degree, "students will understand cannabis physiology and growth, the pharmaceutical implications, and the practical applications for the industry."

The CBC program will officially start in the fall semester of 2020 with courses that include Cannabis Physiology and Growth, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology, Medicinal Plant Biochemistry and Natural Products Extraction and Analysis. You can check out the program's full curriculum here.

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What will the US's first weed degree program look like? - Big Think

Physiology

Early history of Blacks, medicine in U.S. – pridepublishinggroup.com

Glenn Ellis

(TriceEdneyWire.com) From the time that Africans were enslaved on the west coast of Africa and packed onto ships for the horrific voyage across the Middle Passage, we have been intrinsically tied to the growth and development of the field of medicine in America.

This troubled history began with the substandard medical attention provided on the ships by doctors, whos charge was to keep as many enslaved beings alive as possible, in order to ensure the traders would make as much from the auctions that awaited them.

These doctors embraced their role, seeing it as an opportunity to enhance their reputations, as well as to improve their experience and practice dealing with a myriad of health issues within a captive patient base.

Once sold, and finding homes on plantations in this strange land, the inferior medical care continued. After all, there was an unlimited supply of human cargo headed, continuously, to Americas shores.

On the plantations in the South, doctors were few and far between. Their range of care was dependent upon their individual, professional training. Due to the shortage of doctors, the enslaved Africans were often left on their own to treat illnesses, handle medical emergencies, and to bring new life into this world. Many of these Africans continued to use traditional homemade remedies, folk beliefs, conjuring, and superstition to help meet their medical needs.

The shortage of doctors during this time was made worse by the fact that the Old South had only five medical colleges before 1845, and medical students spent only one to two years working with a preceptor and attended only a few lecture courses to complete their medical training.

In fact, due to the large numbers of enslaved Africans across the South, plantations provided a training ground for medical schools, students, and doctors. Many learned human anatomy through some of the most inhuman means, since people of African descent were thought by Whites to be different in the physiology and medical needs. There was also an opportunity to conduct medical research, and to develop, and perfect, many medical proceduressome of which are still in common use in medicine today.

Professor Ran Hogarth calls this medicalizing Blackness from her book of the same name). A few of the most notorious examples of this are:

Southern physician Dr. Samuel Cartwright, who believed that the size of Black peoples brains was a ninth or tenth less than in other races of men, while Black peoples hearing, sight, and sense of smell were better. This medicalization of Blackness wasnt removed from the medical manual for psychiatric diagnosis until the 1970s.

Dr. Cartwright also is responsible for another instance of medicalizing Blackness. He coined the term Drapetomania (with Greek roots roughly translating to runaway slave and crazy) as a disease that causes slaves to run away. Dr. Cartwright outlined a treatment for this disease. He reassured slave owners that it was entirely curable by whipping the devil out of the slaves who suffered from it!

From these we know that Dr. Cartwright was among the first respected doctors throughout the country who saw being Black and enslaved (and wanting to be free) was a psychological disorder.

Just as heinous as Dr. Cartwrights assertion was the work of Dr. J. Marion Sims, who is considered the Father of Gynecology. Vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) results in a tear from the bladder to the vagina, in pregnant women during a difficult labor. Dr. Sims is credited for perfecting the procedure to successfully treat VVF, to the relief and benefit of millions of (mostly White) women all over the world. Prior to Sims contribution to the field of gynecology, women in Europe and the United States who suffered with VVF became social outcasts rejected from societygreat advancement for medicine, right?

The problem is, Dr. Sims conducted the development and testing of this revolutionary procedure on enslaved African women. In order to conduct research, Sims also needed to learn and understand as much as possible about the little-known anatomy of a womans reproductive system. He also needed to carry out countless attempts to perfect the procedures and develop the right instruments. He did this all successfully, with one exception: Dr. Sims did these extensively invasive, surgical procedures, often without any anesthesia!

Probably, the brightest ray of hope began to shine for enslaved Africans, as it related to medical care, came around, and after, emancipation. This represented the period of the rise of Black hospitals and medical schools, beginning with Freedmans Hospital in 1862 in Washington, D.C.

However, this was not to signal a permanent change for the better for Black health in the United States.

By 1920, there were over 200 Black hospitals, staffed by Black doctors and staff.

By some counts, this number reached almost 500 across the nation. But between 1961 and 1988, 50 closed, and another couple of dozen merged. Today, there is only one Black hospital: Howard University Hospital. And it is being managed by a Hedge Fund with a horrible record for running hospitals. One of their flagship hospitals, Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia closed last year as a result of poor management.

African Americans remain the least healthy ethnic group in the U.S.A., a somber legacy of years of racial and social injustice. As we continue to celebrate our history and our heritage, lets be mindful of the history of institutional racism in medicine.

Remember, Im not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourselves and live the best life possible.

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

(Glenn Ellis, is Research Bioethics Fellow at Harvard Medical School and author of Which Doctor?, and Information is the Best Medicine. Ellis is an active media contributor on Health Equity and Medical Ethics. For more good health information visit ).

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Physiology

‘It was impossible that I was having a heart attack’: Why Canadian women’s heart health continues to suffer – OttawaMatters.com

Helen Robert was getting ready to walk her dog one Friday morning in May 2015 when an abrupt feeling of dizziness washed over her. When she began to feel light-headed, the 54-year-old called her husband to ask him to re-schedule an appointment at the car dealership she had booked that day.

I was just talking to him and I started getting chest pains and it got more and more intense by the second, Robert said. I cant even describe the level of pressure I felt it was nothing Ive ever felt before.

Worried, she mentioned what she was feeling to her husband.

He was like, Do you think maybe youre having a heart attack? And I said, Thats just ridiculous.

But the feeling kept getting worse.

He said, I need you to hang up and I need you to call 9-1-1. Robert recalled. So, I did, but only begrudgingly because it was impossible that I was having a heart attack.

When paramedics arrived, they hooked Robert up to an ECG. When the test confirmed her heart was in distress, they rushed her to the emergency room.

I went up to ICU for about a day or so, she said. Things started to resolve itself. The chest pain went down but my heart was still in trouble. [Doctors] werent sure what to do with me because it seemed like I had had a heart attack but then it was sort of over.

It wasnt until five days later when Robert visited the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and an angiogram confirmed her fears: Robert an otherwise healthy woman had suffered a SCAD, also known as a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Essentially, there was a tear in an artery wall and it was blockingthe blood flow to herheart.

Roberts story is all too common and its because women have largely been ignored in heart health research, B.C.-based cardiologist Dr. Jacqueline Saw says.

Generally, in North America and most developed countries, most of the studies that looked at heart disease primarily involved male subjects and women are typically (only) included in less than 30 per cent of the population being studied in these studies, she said. This unfortunately limits our ability to understand the comparative differences between men and women.

What makes men and women different is rooted in their physiology.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, womens hearts and arteries are smaller, and plaque tends to build in different ways and the symptoms women experience during a heart attack and mini stroke are not the same as men.

For example, while both men and women can experience chest pain during a heart attack, women may not alwaysand are more likely to experience other less commons symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting or arm, back or jaw pain.

Hormones and life events unique to women are also thought to play a role. While women tend to have a lower risk of heart disease prior to menopause because of the presence of estrogen, their risk increases with diabetes and pregnancy. Menopausal women are also at a heightened risk with the development of high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels.

And these shortfalls in research and understanding in medicine are hurting women.

Statistics show that 45 per cent more women than men died of a stroke in Canada last year.

When it comes to SCAD specifically, 90 per cent of cases are women, mostly between the ages of 30 and 60. What causes a SCAD to happen is still unknown, but its believed to start with the artery wall weakening.

While researchers and doctors still have a long way to go in understanding womens heart health, progress is being made, Saw says.

Weve certainly come along way in terms of raising awareness in the general public, Saw said. Gradually, were seeing more research funds that are directed towards looking at and addressing women with heart disease, and that certainly helps in terms of our quest for knowledge to understand more these conditions and how to manage them.

The areas that still need work, Saw says, are with prevention, diagnosis and treatment specifically with understanding what medications work best, as mens heart attacks tend to be more cholesterol-based rather than hormonal, as can bethe case for some women.

While Robert has recovered from her SCAD, she remains cautious thats because theres still a 20 per cent chance she may experience a second SCAD event.

To avoid another episode, Robert has had to make a few life changes, likeavoiding lifting heavy weights and keeping an eye on her stress levels.

Its really made me think about whats important and made me realize that tomorrow really isnt a guarantee, she said. So, I think a lot of things I was putting off until retirement, Im not procrastination as much anymore. If I get an opportunity to do something, I do it.

Five years later as Robert looks back on what shes been through, she says the experience has been surreal.

What Ive learned since is just that we as women need to pay attention to our bodies, she said. We need to recognize that we really are only human and we can only handle so much. If nothing else, this experience has kind of given me the strength to realize that a lot of things I used to think were important are really not that important anymore.

Its been a time of reflection and really sorting out what is important for me and learning to appreciate the things that I have, she added.

And part of her new outlook on life includes helping other women byraising awareness through the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

I just want to raise awareness to other women who might not realize that it is possible to have a heart attack, regardless of what they do, she said.

Robert hopes more women will talk to their doctors about any symptoms or concerns they have about their heart health, as well as consider participating in research.

Read more here:
'It was impossible that I was having a heart attack': Why Canadian women's heart health continues to suffer - OttawaMatters.com

Physiology

Lecturer in Physiology job with LANCASTER UNIVERSITY | 197513 – Times Higher Education (THE)

Ref: A2964Lecturer in PhysiologyDepartment: Lancaster Medical SchoolSalary range: 35,845 to 49,553Closing Date: Wednesday 11 March 2020Contract: Permanent

Lancaster Medical School is a flourishing department within one of the top ten UK universities with excellent student satisfaction scores and a rich research culture. The opportunity has arisen to join a committed team at this exciting stage in the development of Lancaster Medical School.As a Lecturer in Physiology, you will join a team of highly dedicated, experienced and enthusiastic colleagues within the Medical School, to deliver teaching within the Medical Sciences theme of Physiology.

You will be supported to develop your own programme of research, and will be encouraged to develop collaborative research within the Faculty, in line with our research strategy. You will also be expected to supervise dissertation projects and PhD students.

The Faculty strategy has teaching and research collaborations with the healthcare sector .The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop their research activity and contribute to teaching, learning and assessment in collaboration with clinical colleagues and academic colleagues with a very wide range of expertise.

The Faculty provides a research environment that strongly supports the individual needs of each employee, promoting a healthy work-life balance. We are committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies on an individual basis, as well as the Athena SWAN Charter, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research. Flexible working options are available for this post and all reasonable requests will be considered.

Interviews are scheduled for 25 March 2020

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Dr Gill Vince, Acting Head of Medical School on g.vince@lancaster.ac.uk

We welcome applications from people in all diversity groups.

For further information and to apply online please click the apply button. Lancaster University - ensuring equality of opportunity and celebrating diversity.

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Lecturer in Physiology job with LANCASTER UNIVERSITY | 197513 - Times Higher Education (THE)