Research updates, October 20 - The Sick Times

Researchers developed a drug for Alzheimer's disease, and then discovered that the molecule already exists in human blood, and is found in lower levels in cognitively impaired people. Now the authors are exploring the peptide as a biomarker as well as a treatment. Sergey A. Kozin and colleagues designed a peptide to interfere with the growth of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) plaques in the brain. Preventing the formation of such plaques has been proposed as a way to prevent Alzheimer's disease or treat it in its earlier stages, in part because Aβ plaque formation is believed to precede and potentially cause the spread of toxic tau protein. Specifically, the authors sought to disrupt abnormal interactions between Aβ and zinc ions, an interaction thought to be key to the plaque formation process.

Indocyanine green may be highly sensitive in the identification of ovarian cancer metastases, though with low specificity. IntroductionOvarian cancer is the second most common malignancy of the female genital tract in the United States, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2017.1 In terms of mortality, it ranked eighth worldwide in 2013 and fifth in Poland in 2019 among all cancers.2,3 The high mortality rate associated with ovarian cancer is mainly due to its late diagnosis. At the time of diagnosis, two-thirds of patients present with intraperitoneal dissemination, corresponding to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III or IV.4 The most important prognostic indicator in patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer is the volume of residual disease after cytoreductive surgery.4 The primary treatment approach remains debulking surgery. The goal of this procedure is to achieve complete cytoreduction.

On average, caregivers want to see their children with ADHD fall asleep 30 minutes faster, but the best sleep treatments average approximately 20 minutes, a new survey study found. Caregivers of children with ADHD and sleep problems tend to place more weight on improving daytime ADHD symptoms than on improving sleep, and they expect treatment gains larger than current therapies typically deliver, according to a survey study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Alison Pritchard, Ph. D., a child clinical psychologist and co-director of the Center for Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, was the lead author. The study, ‘What Matters to Caregivers of Youth With ADHD: Defining the Minimum Clinically Important Difference for Sleep Treatment,’ surveyed 100 caregivers in the waiting area of an outpatient department where children were being seen for psychological or neuropsychological evaluation. Approximately half of the families had commercial insurance and about half used medical assistance.

Analyzing facial images using a foundational artificial intelligence (AI) model may help researchers determine both biological aging and disease-related mortality risk, according to study findings published in The Lancet Digital Health. “As the population ages, physicians need better ways to estimate physical reserve and frailty before recommending intensive treatments such as radiation, surgery, or systemic therapy,” said co-corresponding author Raymond H. Mak, MD, a radiation oncologist at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute and a faculty member in the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM) program at Mass General Brigham. “Our goal is to make face photograph–based health assessment more quantitative, consistent, and scalable so it can support personalized treatment decisions rather than replace physician judgment.”