#medtruth

Blood Test Detects Alzheimer’s 20 Years in Advance

A team of researchers from Australia and Japan has developed the world’s first blood test accurate enough to detect Alzheimer’s disease up to 20 years before symptoms begin. The Alzheimer’s blood test could be a serious breakthrough for the millions of Americans who will later face this progressive disease.

A mere drop of blood is enough for this test to identify one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, the build-up of a sticky protein called amyloid-beta. Amyloid plaques, typically found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, are small clumps of this protein that block synaptic signaling from one brain cell to another.

FDA Issues St. Jude Medical Defibrillator Recall

In October 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall notice after 13 models of defibrillation devices contained faulty lithium batteries. The defects took place when lithium deposits formed in the batteries, causing those batteries to stop working. An updated safety warning was added in August 2017.

Fortify, Unify, and Assura models of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) were all on the FDA’s defibrillator recall list. The FDA has also stressed this is a Class I recall, the most serious type.

Manufacturers Submit Application For New Xarelto Uses

In December 2017, Janssen Research & Development, LLC announced its submission of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two new Xarelto uses.

sNDA Application for New Xarelto Uses

The first use would be reducing the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death, heart attack or stroke in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD), and/or peripheral artery disease (PAD). The second proposed use would be the reduction of acute limb ischemia (severe arterial blockage) risk in patients with PAD.

Hospitals May Overcharge Hip Replacement Surgery Costs

Nearly 5 million Americans have a hip replacement. A recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that U.S. hospitals may be charging private insurers double the price of a typical hip replacement surgery costs.

Hip implants are the eighth most common surgical procedure in the U.S. Because they’re so common, the price increase has resulted in hundreds of millions in additional insurance claims.

Fitbit Invests $6 Million in Wearable Sano Patch for Diabetes

As its first start-up investment, San Francisco tech company Fitbit has invested $6 million into the Sano patch. Sano, another San Francisco tech company, will partner with Fitbit to develop a wearable skin patch to track blood sugar for people with diabetes.

Though Fitbit already has glucose-monitoring technology in its Ionic smartwatch, the Sano patch provides a painless, minimally invasive way to track glucose.

In this week’s MedTruth roundup:

Nursing homes in Minnesota, Arkansas, and Ohio face accusations of neglect.

Diabetes patients are at increased risk of suffering serious infection.

Australia pulls pelvic mesh from the market, Israel creates an alternative.

FDA places opioid restrictions on children’s cough medicine.

Two blood tests help detect early stage cancers.

MT Women’s Health Predictions for 2018

This may be the year of the Dog, but the lionesses advocating for women’s health have been in force, with Maven founder and CEO Kathryn Ryder among them.

There are some harsh truths to face, due to the current administration’s continuing efforts to cut funding for women’s healthcare programs. But there are also some silver linings being created.

Today we examine some of the good, the bad, and the hopeful for women’s health in 2018.

New Procedure May Become A Hip Replacement Alternative

A new procedure called subchondroplasty, currently being performed at Ohio State University’s Wexler Medical Center, is allowing patients the opportunity for hip repair without the need for a total hip replacement. Though it’s still early, these advancements may mitigate side effects by offering a hip replacement alternative.

This year, much like previous years, more than 300,000 Americans will undergo hip replacement surgery due to wear-and-tear, rheumatoid arthritis, or hip joint deformation and collapse. Growing instances of such complications have now affected some as young as 30 years old.