HealthSpring Home Visit Nurse Intercepts Cardiac Arrest
Olive Branch, Miss. resident Glenn Lusk has a special perspective on the value of his Medicare Advantage plan. It was a HealthSpring-contracted nurse practitioner who discovered during a home visit in November that Lusk was experiencing serious heart trouble. "Somebody up above was looking out for me, " Lusk said. Nurse practitioner Lucretia Daniel was concerned with the symptoms she observed in Lusk. "I said, 'You know, I really think this is your heart. I think we need to send you to the ER to get this checked out.' I knew there was a high probability that there was something that was going on. He had been dealing with this for three days and hadn't gone in.
Gene Variant For Biological Ageing In Humans Discovered
Scientists from the UK and The Netherlands have identified for the first time a variant of a gene that is linked to biological ageing in humans and suggest the discovery will help us better understand cancer and diseases of ageing. The findings of the study by researchers based at the University of Leicester and King's College London, UK, and also at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, were reported online in Nature Genetics on 7 February. The Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation sponsored the work. Professor Nilesh Samani, a British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Leicester's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences co-led the project and also co-wrote the paper.
Bioheart Launches First US FDA Approved Clinical Trial That Tests Gene-Modified Stem Cell Therapy In Patients With Congestive Heart Failure
Bioheart, Inc., (OTCBB:BHRT) announced that the company has commenced work on its REGEN trial, a Phase I Clinical Trial to test genetically modified MyoCell® in patients suffering from Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Bioheart's MyoCell® is a regenerative cell therapy that uses myoblasts, or muscle stem cells, that are grown from a patient's own muscle. MyoCell® has been tested successfully on patients in four clinical trials. The REGEN trial is designed to test the safety and effectiveness of a composition of muscle stem cells that have been gene-modified to induce a greater than usual release of the SDF-1 protein. The SDF-1 protein is a molecule in the human body that, after an injury, is naturally released by most tissues to attract stem cells.
Cardium Provides Update On Commercial Development Plans For Generx Angiogenic Therapy For Heart Disease At 2010 Cell Gene Therapy Forum
Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE Amex: CXM) reported that its Cardium Biologics division provided an update on plans for the continuing commercial development of Generx™ (alferminogene tadenovec, Ad5FGF-4), a DNA-based angiogenic therapy product candidate for patients with coronary artery disease. The update was presented by Gabor M. Rubanyi, M.D., Ph.D., Cardium's Chief Scientific Officer at the annual 2010 Cell & Gene Therapy Forum in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 2010. Cardium Biologics reported on the following findings and plans: (1) As previously announced, based on an agreement with the FDA, Generx would be re-formulated to increase its shelf life, and further formulation enhancements are expected to allow for storage using a standard freezer (rather than at -70 degrees C), and potentially a lyophilized version for refrigerated storage.
Atrial Fibrillation Treatment Using Specialized Catheter Results In Better Outcomes Compared To Drug Therapy
Use of catheter ablation, in which radiofrequency energy is emitted from a catheter to eliminate the source of an irregular heartbeat, resulted in significantly better outcomes in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (intermittent cardiac rhythm disturbance) who had not responded previously to antiarrhythmic drug therapy, according to a study in the January 27 issue of JAMA. Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents an important public health problem, with patients having an increased long-term risk of stroke, heart failure and all-cause death. Although antiarrhythmic drugs are generally used as first-line therapy to treat patients with AF, they are associated with cumulative adverse effects over time and their effectiveness remains inconsistent, according to background information in the article.