biotechnology and pharmaceutical consulting

While overall mortality rates drop in the US, poor rural counties still struggle with infectious disease deaths

April 23, 2018

An investigation into the trends and patterns of infectious disease mortality rates in the US shows that while mortality rates have declined 18% overall, there is a disparity in the rates of decline between urban and rural counties. The study, published in JAMA, suggests as much as a 20-year spread in life expectancy between people living in different parts of the US, based not only on access to quality health care, but also societal factors such as poverty, crime, lack of stable housing, and food insecurity.
The infectious disease categories examined were diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, meningitis, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. While lower respiratory infection had the largest absolute mortality inequality between counties, HIV/AIDS had the highest relative mortality inequality between counties. Diarrheal diseases were the only cause of infectious disease mortality to increase between 2000 and 2014. The counties with the highest mortality rates were located primarily in the southeast US.

Study suggests the use of statins may help prevent dementia

April 23, 2018

Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the possible associations between the use of statins and the risk of all-caused dementia, Alzheimer’s diseases(AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have been published in Nature Scientific Reports online. The results of twenty-five relevant studies suggest that the use of statins was significantly… Continue Reading

Protein from meat is bad, but proteins from nuts and seeds are good for your heart says Adventist Health Study

April 23, 2018

Researchers in California and France have found that consuming high amounts of meat protein increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by as much as 60 percent, while a high intake of protein from nuts and seeds decreases the risk of CVD by 40 percent. The study, published online by the International Journal of Epidemiology,… Continue Reading

Former CDC Director says urgent action on America’s opioid crisis “critical”

August 3, 2017

Recent publications by the CDC outline both the magnitude and the steep increase of America’s opioid crisis. The article on Epimonitor.net includes a table published in The New York Times that shows while death by car accident, guns, and HIV have all decreased since 1990, death by drug overdose has increase by over 500%. Former… Continue Reading

One minute of cardio alone can lead to better bone health in women

August 3, 2017

Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Leicester found that women who did even “brief bursts” (60-120 seconds) of high-intensity, weight bearing equivalent had an average of 4% better bone health than those who did less than a minute. This type of “brief burst” is the equivalent of a medium-paced run for pre-menopausal women or… Continue Reading

ACA reduced socioeconomic gaps in health care access between 2013 and 2015

August 3, 2017

A study published in Health Affairs examined the of access to health care for Americans aged 18-64 years between 2013 and 2015 shows that there were large increases for healthcare coverage for poor households: +15% in Medicaid expansion states. Gains in access to a primary care provider (+7.7%) and reductions in avoiding care due to… Continue Reading

NIH’s new definition of a clinical trial is problematic for some researchers

August 2, 2017

Broad changes have been made to the NIH’s regulatory process for clinical trials, beginning with a new definition published in 2014. This new definition includes studies that evaluate effects of “interventions” such as “manipulation” of environment on “behavioral outcomes.” Many behavioral research studies will now be classified as clinical trials and will be subject to… Continue Reading

Study convincingly shows that mining full-text studies superior to mining abstracts only

August 2, 2017

Science magazine online reports on the findings of Søren Brunak from the Technical University of Denmark in Kongens Lygnby and colleagues who analyzed more than 15 million scientific articles published in English from 1823 to 2016. The authors created two databases of these papers–one of full text and one of abstracts pulled from MEDLINE–and directly… Continue Reading

Using PROs to Boost Understanding of mCRPC Treatments

February 9, 2016

Seven treatment regimens for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) have shown survival improvements. This literature review of clinical trials involving those treatments includes only those that also use patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to assess treatment impact since 2010. Four of the seven offered varying levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) benefit and/or pain mitigation. The… Continue Reading

CDC Updates Guidelines for Zika Virus Exposure Treatment

February 9, 2016

On Friday, February 5, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its interim guidelines for US healthcare providers caring for pregnant women and women of reproductive age during ongoing transmission of Zika virus. This link also outlines what is currently known about Zika transmission, as well as the association between Zika exposure in utero and… Continue Reading

April 23, 2018

While overall mortality rates drop in the US, poor rural counties still struggle with infectious disease deaths

Study suggests the use of statins may help prevent dementia

Protein from meat is bad, but proteins from nuts and seeds are good for your heart says Adventist Health Study

Former CDC Director says urgent action on America’s opioid crisis “critical”

One minute of cardio alone can lead to better bone health in women

ACA reduced socioeconomic gaps in health care access between 2013 and 2015

NIH’s new definition of a clinical trial is problematic for some researchers

Study convincingly shows that mining full-text studies superior to mining abstracts only

Using PROs to Boost Understanding of mCRPC Treatments

CDC Updates Guidelines for Zika Virus Exposure Treatment

While overall mortality rates drop in the US, poor rural counties still struggle with infectious disease deaths

Study suggests the use of statins may help prevent dementia

Protein from meat is bad, but proteins from nuts and seeds are good for your heart says Adventist Health Study

Former CDC Director says urgent action on America’s opioid crisis “critical”

One minute of cardio alone can lead to better bone health in women

ACA reduced socioeconomic gaps in health care access between 2013 and 2015

NIH’s new definition of a clinical trial is problematic for some researchers

Study convincingly shows that mining full-text studies superior to mining abstracts only

Using PROs to Boost Understanding of mCRPC Treatments

CDC Updates Guidelines for Zika Virus Exposure Treatment

Zika Virus Fact Sheet (WHO)

Ranibizumab Treatment of DME Can Restore Driving Ability

CMD Consulting, Inc.