Medical News - Mainly Hopeful
A free public service for a better community
Happy Wednesday
Your comments, suggestions, and research topics are greatly appreciated via comment the button.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Good News - Pooligans Take Note
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is often treated with immune suppressing medications. These can wreak havoc on the body in so many ways.
Now researchers in France may have found a novel approach to address RA.
Alterations in tryptophan metabolism are common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), researchers found, and preclinical studies suggest that correcting them is a viable treatment strategy.
Participants in France's so-called ESPOIR cohort of individuals with early, as-yet-untreated RA showed marked differences in levels of several tryptophan metabolites relative to healthy controls, including increases in some and decreases in others, according to Harry Sokol, MD, PhD, of Sorbonne Université in Paris, and colleagues.
Specifically, two players in tryptophan's kynurenine metabolic pathway -- kynurenic acid (KA) and xanthurenic acid (XA) -- were downregulated in the RA patients, while quinolinic acid was upregulated, the researchers reported in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
And when mice were treated with an enzyme that raises KA and XA production, they resisted development of collagen antibody-induced arthritis, a standard lab model of RA.
All of which suggests that RA might be treated without messing with immune system components, with improved safety and the possibility of layering with existing anti-rheumatic drugs. Here is a link to the Medpage Today report.
I will be hopeful.
Stem Cells and Cancer - Hopeful
Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell in the spine that appears crucial to resolving a long-standing mystery: why far more cancer cells spread to the spine than to other bones in the body.
When breast, lung and prostate cancers metastasize to multiple bones in the body, three to five times more cancer winds up in the spine than in the lower and upper limbs. This happened to both my father in law and my sister. Scientists have known of this disparity for decades, but the reason for it has remained unclear.
Now scientists have discovered vertebral skeletal stem cells in the spine that make a protein that acts as a “come here” signal to tumor cells. This raises new treatment possibilities such as targeting of these cells to disrupt the function and ultimately reduce the spread of cancer to the spine. Here is a description of the research.
Life Expectancy Update - Not What it Should Be
Life expectancy in the United States has started to rebound after historic drops earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s far from recovering. In 2022, a 1.1-year increase brought overall life expectancy at birth to 77.5 years, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that offsets less than half of the 2.4 years of life lost in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, and life expectancy is still lower than it’s been in about 20 years.
Worth noting that our peer industrialized nations are far beyond where we are in the 80s. Of course they have Universal Healthcare and that makes a significant difference.
RESOURCES
Healthcare Advocacy (Us)
Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Find My Elected Officials
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
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
Thanks for reading Healthcare Advocacy! Subscribe for free to receive new posts