EXCLUSIVE: US Candidates Among Those Shortlisted In Contentious Global Fund Leadership Race - Health Policy Watch

Scientists have discovered an unexpected reason why Alzheimer's disease disrupts sleep, and their findings suggest that the problem may be reversible. In experiments involving mice with Alzheimer's-like brain changes, researchers restored more than two hours of sleep per day without removing the amyloid plaques associated with the disease. The surprising discovery points to an overlooked culprit: the brain's own immune cells. Rather than simply protecting the brain from damage, these cells can trigger inflammation that interferes with healthy sleep.

Findings from a recent study published in Clinical Ophthalmology show that iota-carrageenan (I-C) eye drops eased dry eye disease (DED) symptoms and protected the ocular surface in adults with mild-to-moderate disease. Give me some background first. Some context: DED is one of the most common reasons patients see eyecare practitioners (as evidenced in the Tear Film Ocular Society’s DEWS II), and its global prevalence runs anywhere from 5% to 50% depending on region and age group (see this epidemiology report for more on this). The lubricant market has been dominated for decades by hyaluronic acid (HA) products. Innovation since then has mostly meant new combinations of existing compounds. But real gaps remain, with tolerability issues, little ability to help damaged tissue heal, and a therapeutic effect that can take weeks or months to kick in. So what’s the argument favoring I-C drops? The pitch: I-C is a natural polysaccharide extracted from red seaweed. It forms a gel on contact with the ocular surface, holds water there, and thins under the shear of a blink so it does not fight the eyelid.