Afib, Cancer and Sex, COVID Disinformation
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Atrial Fibrillation
Affects millions more people than previously thought
A new study from the University of California, San Francisco has revealed that atrial fibrillation (AFib), a potentially dangerous heart rhythm disorder, is three times more prevalent in the United States than previously believed. It is important to understand Afib since it can lead to cardiac arrest which can be fatal.
Researchers estimate that at least 10.55 million people — about 5% of the U.S. adult population — are living with AFib. This figure dwarfs the 3.3 million cases experts had long cited, painting a stark picture of an under-diagnosed condition.
The study found that over time, people with AFib tended to be younger and more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes. This trend suggests that the condition isn't just a concern for the elderly anymore.
Protect Yourself
While some risk factors, like age and family history, are beyond our control, many are manageable. Some of the steps that experts recommend include:
Maintaining a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.
Managing blood pressure through medication and lifestyle changes.
Limiting alcohol and caffeine consumption.
Quitting smoking.
By understanding your risk and taking proactive steps, you can help safeguard your heart health for years to come.
To learn more about AFib, its risk factors, and for more tips on how to protect yourself, jump to “AFib is 3 times more widespread than doctors thought “- Medical News Today.
Sex and Immunotherapy
Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine investigated differences in T-cell responses between male and female patients with lung cancer that may help direct future treatments. T-cell responses are part of the adaptive immune system, part of the body’s “smart system” that monitors for threats and fights them with customized defenses.
Some patients seem to have better T-cell responses than others and some patients respond better than others to immunotherapies. Research findings recently published in Cancer Immunology Research show that a protein called CXCL13 that has recently been linked to immunotherapy response in patients is more highly expressed in females than males.
Additionally, researchers found that CXCL13 expression is a better marker of immunotherapy response in females than in males.
Researchers used single-cell RNA sequencing in human datasets to understand more about differences in how male and female immune systems respond to tumors. Single-cell RNA sequencing allows scientists to learn what’s happening inside individual cells. Using this technology, they determined that T-cells that infiltrate female tumors are highly activated and ready to identify tumor cells and kill them. They also noted immune suppressive T-cells present more frequently in male tumors than in female tumors.
When we get infected with a virus, the immune system generates a population of cells that can remember that virus and do a better job of eliminating it from your body, so the immune system does the same thing against tumors. The memory response against that tumor partly generates long-term remissions that can be seen in patients treated with immunotherapies.
Before the advent of immunotherapies cancer treatments were hard on the body and not tumor-specific or, in the case of small molecule drugs that targeted specific proteins inside tumor cells, frequently become resistant to therapies. Current immunotherapies are typically much better tolerated in more patients, and patients can maintain a higher quality of life because the immune system can be educated to specifically target the tumor rather than all the tissues in the body.
Because immune responses against tumors are different between the sexes it seems that it makes sense to potentially design different treatments for male versus female patients. More to come. (St. Louis University)
Florida to Seniors - Get COVID
Yup - He is at it again. In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the head of the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from COVID-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous. (KFF)
A prominent Florida doctor expressed dismay that medical leaders in the state, leery of angering Gov. Ron DeSantis, have been slow to counter anti-vaccine messages from Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, including the latest covid bulletin. Ladapo is a DeSantis appointee and the top official at the state health department.
The bulletin makes a number of false or unproven claims about the efficacy and safety of mRNA-based covid vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, including that they could threaten “the integrity of the human genome.
I know Ladapo went to med school and has a license but I think its time for someone to seek that his license be suspended. I’m not going to repeat all his disinformation but you can read it here in his, covid bulletin.
GET THE SHOT. Here are the CDC official recommendations.
Prescription Shenanigans
The rising cost of prescription drugs can be a matter of life or death for some patients.
Competition between brand-name and generic drugs should, in theory, push prices down. But drug companies take advantage of the laws surrounding drug patents in order to block generic competitors from coming to market.
The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act will stop drug companies from misusing patent law to keep prices for biologic drugs like cancer therapies and vaccines sky-high.
When a drug company creates and patents a new drug, they have the right to be the exclusive sellers of that drug for 20 years. They set the price as high as they want during that period.
But sometimes, companies keep applying for new patents on the same drug to extend their monopoly pricing even longer even though the drug is not materially changed.
When a drug company strategically applies for and amasses dozens of approved patents on a single drug, it creates what's called a "patent thicket." These thickets wrap a drug in so many patents that no competitor could ever challenge them all.
The outcome? Generic alternatives to expensive drugs can't be sold. Competition is eliminated before it can even begin. And patients end up paying ludicrous prices for life-saving medication.
The drugs we need to stay healthy should be affordable -- but in 2021, more than 8% of adults didn't take medication as prescribed due to the medicine's cost.
If affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act passes, we'll see savings at the pharmacy counter because lower priced biologic drugs will be able to more easily compete with the brand name versions.
The bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act has already passed the Senate. Now we need the House of Representatives to put this bill on the President's desk.
The House could vote on this bill in just the next couple of days. Don't wait: Tell your U.S. representative to support the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act today.
ACTION
Click here to tell your member of Congress to vote for The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act.
RESOURCES
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
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Hi Alan,
There is a-fib and a-flutter. Was a-flutter covered in the study?
Also, limiting caffeine is a generalization offered by many clinicians about heart health. Yet my electrophysiological cardiologist tells me that brewed coffee in moderate amounts doesn’t cause a-fib or flutter. He warns against caffeinated energy drinks. I’ve seen research that moderate amounts of caffeine is good for health in general and heart health.
Hello! When I click on the link for the Action for The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, I get a message saying that the site can't be reached. Could you provide the link again? Thanks.