A diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic (LIM-foh-SIH-tik) leukemia (C-L-L) can be overwhelming, but advances in cancer research, including targeted therapies, have paved the way for more precise treatments. C-L-L is one of the most common blood cancers in adults, and because its progression varies from person to person, choosing a tailored treatment plan is crucial.

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Today, we’re joined by Lynne who will share her personal journey with C-L-L, and Dr. Nakhle Saba [Knack-Leigh Sah-bah], director of lymphoid malignancy and CAR T-cell (Car-tee cell )therapy at Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute, who will provide insight into the latest treatment approaches and why informed decision-making is so essential for those facing this disease.

BIO’s

Dr. Saba

Dr. Saba earned his medical degree from the Lebanese University in Beirut 2005. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN and Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, and his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Tulane University. After fellowship completion in 2011, Dr. Saba joined the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an additional fellowship in lymphoid malignancies. His research at the NIH was focused on tumor biology and developing new therapeutic approaches for leukemia and lymphoma. He returned to Tulane in 2014 as Assistant Professor of Medicine, promoted to Associate Professor in 2018, then to Professor in 2024 following a successful career in research, teaching, and treating blood cancers. Dr. Saba’s research focuses on lymphoid malignancies and cell therapy, to identify therapeutic targets and novel drugs for these diseases.

Dr. Saba’s leadership skills are evident by the roles he played at Tulane as chair of the “immune effector cell therapy – IECT”, co-chair of Sarah-Cannon Lymphoma Committee, and President of Louisiana Oncology Society (LOS). Under his direction as president, the LOS passed four bills that were signed into law in Louisiana and are expected to positively impact cancer care in our state. Those bills include the Bone Marrow Donation, Fertility Preservation For Cancer Patients, Right To Prompt Coverage, and Expansion Of Biomarker Testing.

Dr. Saba authored and/or co-authored more than 120 published manuscripts and research abstracts, he presented at regional, national, and international meetings as a researcher and invited speaker. His articles appear in journals like Blood, Leukemia, Cancer Research, The Lancet Haematology, Haematologica, Science Advances, Bone Marrow Transplant and others. Click to access  Dr. Saba’s Bibliography on PubMed  or Dr. Saba’s Articles, Abstracts, and Citations

Dr. Saba was recruited at the Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute as Professor of Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center, and Director of Lymphoma, CLL, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T. He will be diligently working to expand the lymphoma and CLL research portfolio and bring cutting edge therapies to the region such as CAR-T, the next generation CARs, and be the first to bring the tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) for solid tumors to Louisiana.

About Lynne

I am a very active, “young” senior citizen whose priorities are my grown children and their partners, my 3-year-old grandson, 20-month-old granddaughter, and my longtime partner. I have a huge passion for all animals, and love doing Pilates, aerobics, Zumba Gold, and weight training. I became a pescetarian about 10 years ago. I was diagnosed with a very specific high-risk subtype of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in April 2019, three weeks after the tragic passing of my third child, my 26-year-old daughter. I was so devastated by her death, and now facing an unknown diagnosis, I turned to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for support. Fast-forwarding to now, I have been on the “Light The Night” Executive Leadership Committee for the Westchester/Fairfield LLS for four years, and my team “Lynne’s Hope” has raised almost $200,000 for the cause, for which I am extremely proud. I am blessed to be under the care of a world-renowned CLL specialist. I want cancer survivors to know there is hope for us to live a long life because of all the constant new medical treatments that are being discovered every day. I have been in treatment for two years for CLL and am doing great! My mantra is, “I will not let Leukemia define me; I will define it!”

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Joining us today to learn more about P-B-C is Dr. Steven Flamm, a liver expert at Rush University Medical Center, and Rosetta who is living with P-B-C and has advice on how to become an advocate for your health.

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Steven Flamm, MD, FAASLD, FACG, is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition who is board certified in Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology.

Flamm cares for patients with acute or chronic liver disease, including patients with viral hepatitis, alcohol-related liver disease, fatty liver, autoimmune liver disease and patients with cirrhosis. He also cares for patients who require liver transplantation evaluation and who have hepatocellular carcinoma. Flamm is also helping to lead and build a robust clinical research program for patients with liver disease.

He believes in the importance of making care easily accessible, whether that is a thorough in-office consultation for patients with chronic liver disease, those in need of potential life-saving transplantation or by bringing tertiary care for patients to multiple locations in the community. Flamm is readily available to discuss any patients with liver-related issues or who require in-patient transfers with providers.

Rosetta’s Bio

Rosetta is a loving wife and mom to five kids—plus three dogs and a cat. She is also living with a rare cholestatic liver disease called primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and speaks about her experience in hopes of empowering others to advocate for their health.

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Schizophrenia is not a one-size-fits-all condition, and people often find themselves in a cycle of discontinuing and switching therapies. Studies have shown that approximately 40% of people with schizophrenia do not respond to therapy, and up to 60% experience a partial or inadequate improvement or intolerable side effects during therapy.

The FDA recently approved a new medication for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, representing the first new class of medicine in more than 30 years. This new treatment option leverages a novel pathway and represents a new mechanistic approach to addressing the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Dr. Gus Alva, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatry Association will be available to discuss the significance of this new treatment for adults living with schizophrenia and their care partners, and its potential to transform the treatment landscape.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 30 YEARS, THE FDA HAS APPROVED THE FIRST DRUG REPRESENTING A NEW CLASS OF MEDICINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA.

ADULTS LIVING WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA HAVE A NEW TREATMENT OPTION TO HELP MANAGE THEIR CONDITION THAT INTRODUCES A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA.

JOINING US NOW WITH MORE INFORMATION IS DR. GUS ALVA,  DISTINGUISHED  LIFETIME FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRY ASSOCIATION.

BIO

Dr. Gus Alva is the medical director of ATP clinical research (a premiere private clinical research company specializing in neuropsychiatric investigations). He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He is a forensic psychiatric consultant for the Orange County Superior Court and a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Alva received his medical degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (UAG). Residency training was completed at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, where he served as chief resident during his final year of residency.

Dr. Alva has served as a principal investigator for the past 10 years conducting investigations in a myriad of neuropsychiatric conditions: Alzheimer’s and other dementias, depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder and psychotic conditions. As a clinician and investigator, Dr Alva’s focus is on the genetics, neuroimaging, and latest treatments available for each aforementioned condition, as well as aspects of ethnicity and their correlation within clinical situations. He has published numerous articles, and presents at both national and international meetings and conferences.

He is the immediate past-president of the Orange County Psychiatric Society. Dr. Alva is also a member of many professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Orange County Medical Association, the California Psychiatric Association, the American Board of Forensic Medicine, the American College of Forensic Examiners, the California Hispanic American Medical Association and the International Congress of Geriatric Psychopharmacology.

IMORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: INDICATION

COBENFY (xanomeline and trospium chloride) is a prescription medicine used to treat schizophrenia in adults.

It is not known if COBENFY is safe and effective in children.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Do not take COBENFY if you:

•        have urinary retention problems that cause your bladder to not empty completely or not empty at all

•        have moderate or severe liver problems (impairment)

•        have gastric retention problems that cause your stomach to empty slowly

•        are allergic to COBENFY, xanomeline, or trospium chloride, or any of the ingredients in COBENFY

•        have an eye problem called untreated narrow-angle glaucoma

Before taking COBENFY, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

•        have an enlarged prostate, problems passing urine, or a blockage in your urinary bladder

•        have liver problems

•        have or have had gallstones or problems with your bile ducts or pancreas

•        have stomach or intestinal problems, including constipation, ulcerative colitis, slow emptying of your stomach, or myasthenia gravis

•        have an eye condition called narrow-angle glaucoma

•        have kidney problems

•        are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if COBENFY may harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant or think you are pregnant during treatment with

COBENFY. o               There is a pregnancy exposure registry for women who take COBENFY during pregnancy. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the health of women exposed to COBENFY and their baby. If you become pregnant during treatment with COBENFY, your

healthcare provider will register you by calling 1-866-961-2388 or online at https://womensmentalhealth.org/research/pregnancyregistry/atypicalantipsychotic/

•        are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if COBENFY passes into your breast milk or if it can harm your baby.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the- counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Taking COBENFY with certain other medicines may increase your risk of side effects from COBENFY or the other medicine

The post BREAKING NEW GROUND IN SCHIZOPHRENIA TREATMENT appeared first on Good News!.

A NEW WAY TO MANAGE TYPE 2 DIABETES THAT ELIMINATES INSULIN INJECTIONS FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS
Diabetes management has taken a significant step forward following FDA clearance of the Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) System, for adults 18+ living with type 2 diabetes, making it the first and only AID system cleared for the treatment of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Over 30 million Americans live with type 2 diabetes in the United States, with approximately 6 million people who require insulin, of which 2.5 million are using multiple daily injections (MDI). Despite advances in medical therapy over the past 20 years, there has been no significant change in the percentage of adults with type 2 diabetes achieving recommended HbA1c targets.

This clearance is a FIRST in type 2 diabetes management as it:

replaces the exhausting daily routine of multiple daily injections (MDI) with a discreet, tubeless, waterproof5, and wearable “Pod” ― about half the size of a credit card ― which provides continuous insulin delivery for up to 3 days (72 hours)

proactively helps correct for highs ― and helps protect against lows ― both day and night

communicates with a compatible continuous glucose monitor (CGM)

automatically adjusts insulin delivery every 5 minutes using the CGM value and trend

has shown improvements in patient-reported diabetes related distress

Omnipod 5 is a first-of-its-kind, simplified and effective option for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, providing freedom from multiple daily injections.
Dr. Trang Ly, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Insulet Corporation, will be available to discuss the new automated insulin delivery system for type 2 diabetes and the profound patient impact.
Interview courtesy: Insulet Corporation

#diabetes #dailyinjections #drtrangly #omnipod

The post New & Easier Way to Manage Diabetes-Eliminates Daily Injections appeared first on Good News!.

RED CROSS BLOOD SUPPLY DROPS 25% IN JULY
Blood Donors Needed in Emergency Blood Shortage

This summer’s record setting heat is a significant contributor to recent blood collection challenges impacting more than 100 blood drives in the last month — in nearly every state where the American Red Cross collects blood. The extreme temperatures have exacerbated traditional seasonal obstacles to blood donation, such as vacation travel and summer activities, creating an emergency blood shortage.

Blood donations are going out the door faster than they are coming in, causing the Red Cross national blood inventory to plumet 25% in July. The Red Cross is working with hospitals around the clock to meet the blood needs of patients. However, due to the supply of type O blood being so low, distributions of this vital blood type are reduced below what hospitals count on.

Dr. Baia Lasky, divisional chief medical officer at the American Red Cross to discuss the need for blood donors to address the emergency blood shortage, how donated blood helps patients in need of lifesaving medical care and how to set up an appointment.

“Having type O blood products readily available is vital to providing timely and lifesaving care to patients in need,” says Dr. Lasky. “In fact, for a patient suffering massive blood loss, like an individual in a car accident or a mom experiencing a severe postpartum hemorrhage, group O is the most commonly transfused blood type.

More than a quarter of all blood products each year are used in critical care and emergency room situations — those transfusions are only available because of the generosity of blood and platelet donors.”

The Red Cross urgently calls on blood and platelet donors of all types—especially those with Type O blood—to give now. As a thank you, everyone who comes to donate blood in August will receive a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card by email.

Interview is courtesy: Nonprofit American Red Cross

The post RED CROSS BLOOD SUPPLY DROPS 25% IN JULY Blood Donors Needed in Emergency Blood Shortage appeared first on Good News!.

Listen to “Gay Pride Parade 2024, what an important event for those living” on Spreaker.

A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events sometimes also serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most occur annually throughout the Western world, while some take place every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, which was a pivotal moment in modern LGBT social movements.^[1][2][3] The parades seek to create community and honor the history of the movement.^[1][4] In 1970, pride and protest marches were held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco around the first anniversary of Stonewall.^[5] The events became annual and grew internationally.^[6][7][8] In 2019, New York and the world celebrated the largest international Pride celebration in history: Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019, produced by Heritage of Pride commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, with five million attending in Manhattan alone.^[9

The post GAY PRIDE PARADE 2024 appeared first on Good News!.

HERE TO TALK ABOUT THESE IMPORTANT FINDINGS AND HOW THEY MAY HELP ADDRESS AN ONGOING AND UNMET NEED IN THE HIV COMMUNITY IS DR. HARMONY GARGES (GAR-JES), CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FROM ViiV (VEEV) HEALTHCARE.

BIO:

Dr. Harmony Garges is the Chief Medical Officer at ViiV Healthcare – the only pharmaceutical company 100% dedicated to HIV – where she is responsible for Regulatory, Safety and Medical Affairs across the company’s innovative pipeline and portfolio. Just like the company she works for, Harmony’s guiding mission is to ensure that no person living with HIV is left behind.

After obtaining her MD degree and completing her pediatrics residency at Duke University, Harmony pursued her interest in infectious diseases further with fellowships in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology at Duke, along with her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following her training, Harmony maintained an active clinical practice, providing care to children and adolescents living with HIV and other infectious diseases.

In 2005, Harmony joined GSK’s HIV program in the Infectious Diseases group, working on global development programs as a project physician leader. In this role she oversaw three successful New Drug and Marketing Authorization Applications and provided medical leadership and strategy for the development of various other anti-infectives including the first human trials of dolutegravir – the most prescribed HIV medicine in the world.

Subsequently, Harmony joined the Global Clinical Safety and Pharmacovigilance team at GSK, where she provided safety strategy and governance for several large global clinical development programs in the pharmaceutical space. She then led a large, global team overseeing the safety aspects of GSK’s large Classic and Established Medicines portfolio. From there, she joined the GSK Consumer Health business, where she spent three years as the Chief Medical Officer. She then joined ViiV Healthcare in 2016 and has held several roles in Global Medical Affairs before assuming her current role of Chief Medical Officer at the company in 2019.

#hiv #disease #aids #clinicaldata #dailypills #viiv #drharmonygarges #cabenuva #healthcare #medicalofficer #infectiousdiseases

The post IT MAY SURPRISE YOU TO LEARN THAT EACH YEAR, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DIAGNOSED WITH HIV. WORLDWIDE, ROUGHLY 39-MILLION PEOPLE LIVE WITH THE DISEASE. RESEARCHERS AND SCIENTISTS STUDYING HIV RECENTLY ATTENDED A GLOBAL SUMMIT… appeared first on Good News!.

Here, to explain the importance of following the science in IBD research, is Dr. Iduru, (I-Du-Ru) from GI Specialists of Houston.

weknowibd.com    
Interview courtesy:                              Janssen     

GUEST BIO:

Satish Iduru, MD, is a highly skilled gastroenterologist at GI Specialists of Houston, LLC, and has more than 25 years of experience in the medical field.

Dr. Iduru completed his internal medicine residency and his gastroenterology fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center, affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio. He also completed additional training in capsule endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in gastroenterology and hepatology.

Dr. Iduru is a fellow and a member of the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American Medical Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

#ibd #healthcare #satishiduru #researchibd #gispecialists #weknowibd #medicine #medicalfield #metrohealthmedicalcenter #gastroenterology #hepatology

The post Approximately 1.6 million Americans suffer from IBD … appeared first on Good News!.

New York City will purchase millions of dollars of medical debt and then erase it in effort to help as many as 500,000 residents, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday.

The program involves partnering with a nonprofit organization, RIP Medical Debt, that buys unpaid medical debt from hospitals at a steep discount and then clears it. The city will invest $18 million to relieve more than $2 billion in medical debt for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, Adams said.

Affected New Yorkers will be notified that their medical debt has been relieved, as there is no application process for the one-time debt relief program, which will launch early this year and run for three years.

“No one chooses to go into medical debt — if you’re sick or injured, you need to seek care. But no New Yorker should have to choose between paying rent or for other essentials and paying off their medical debt,” Adams said in a statement.

The program is aimed at New Yorkers whose unpaid medical bills are at least 5% of their annual household income or those in households with an income under four times the federal poverty line, which is $31,200 for a family of four.

Medical debt is the single-largest cause of bankruptcy in the United States, and disproportionately affects low-income Americans and those without health insurance or who are underinsured.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December signed legislation that bars health care professionals and ambulances from reporting medical debt to credit agencies.

A New York charity started in 2014, RIP Medical has abolished more than $10.4 billion in medical debt for more than 7 million people since its inception, according to its website.

The post MONEYWATCH New York City looks to clear $2 billion in unpaid medical bills for 500,000 appeared first on Good News!.

Her experience with migraine, including anecdotes about missing monumental moments due to migraine, the first attack she experienced, symptoms and the impact it has on everyday activities

Her migraine care journey, including the process of seeking care and finding a preventive treatment

How prevention is important especially during the holiday season

Dr. Bert Vargas, discussed:

What migraine is and its prevalence

Potential benefits of starting a preventive migraine treatment

How patients can talk to their doctor if they believe they are experiencing migraine-related symptoms

Why the holidays are a great time for patients to prioritize their health and seek treatment

Advice for people who think they may have migraine

GUEST Bio’s

Dr. Vargas is a neurologist and headache specialist and Associate Vice President of US Medical Affairs for Neuroscience at Lilly who completed his undergraduate and medical school education at the University of Arizona. He served as a United States Air Force flight surgeon, completed his residency in neurology at New York University and completed his headache medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona where he remained for several years before moving his practice to Dallas and UT Southwestern. Bert has been with Lilly since January 2020 based in Indianapolis.

Bert will be included in the SMT to provide information about migraine as a neurological disease and serve as a subject matter expert about understanding when migraine is having too much of an impact on the quality of life and why it’s important for patients to talk to their doctors about migraine prevention.

Kellie, Migraine patient

Kellie is a 51-year-old mother of five and grandmother of 12, who has experienced migraine for over 25 years. This debilitating disease has prevented her from being fully present in life’s milestone moments, including ball games with her grandchildren, wedding preparations with her children and time spent outdoors with her husband. She found an injectable preventive migraine treatment that works for her and has allowed her to get back to life without frequent migraine attacks.

Kellie will be available for the SMT to share her personal journey living with migraine and how it has impacted her life, as well as her experience with preventing migraines after talking to her doctor about the true impact that the disease was having on her life.

Interview is courtesy: Eli Lilly and Company

#migraine #drbertvargas #medicalaffairs #lilly #kelliehuckelberry

The post What migraine is and its prevalence, Good News interviews Dr. Bert Vargas, Associate Vice President of Neuroscience US Medical Affairs at Lilly and Kellie Huckelberry, a patient who has been living with migraine for the last 25 years. appeared first on Good News!.