An injectable nanoparticle that delivers HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, or statins, which directly inhibit atherosclerotic plaque inflammation could represent a new frontier in the treatment of heart disease. This novel approach is being developed by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who have seen promising results in mice models and plan to translate their findings to humans within the next few years.
The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of three institutions in New York State, and one of one hundred in the nation, selected to study the safety and effectiveness of an implantable cranial nerve stimulation device for heart failure patients with debilitating fatigue, shortness of breath, and heart arrhythmias.
A recent NBC News article highlighted the importance of genetic research and the potential therapeutic application of histamine for individuals with Tourette Syndrome (TS). TS is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. Onset of tics occurs before age 18 and is often associated with marked impairment and disability.
Mounting evidence suggests that age-related cognitive decline is caused not by nerve cell death, as it is in Alzheimer’s disease, but from a disruption in synapses, the structures that allow a nerve cell to transmit a signal to other nerve cells. Demonstrating these synaptic disruptions in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, and linking such disruptions to synaptic health, has been challenging for scientists—until now.
The creation of a trachea engineered from stem cells that can be transplanted in people with lung or airway diseases is being pioneered by physicians at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals. The promising technology will be presented at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons 50th Annual Meeting in Orlando in late January by a team led by Faiz Bhora, MD, Director of Thoracic Surgical Oncology and Thoracic Surgery Research at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals.
There are more than 23 million people in the United States, including 1.6 million in New York State, who have type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body is resistant to the action of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas to lower the blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes, which is often associated with obesity, can result in kidney failure, limb amputations, blindness, heart disease, and stroke when blood sugar levels are uncontrolled.
“Many of these individuals who are living with type 2 diabetes and obesity are trying tirelessly to manage their diabetes and blood sugar, but without success,” says Aida Saliby, MD, of the Department of Endocrinology at Beth Israel Medical Center. “They do not respond fully to diet and lifestyle modifications, or they become resistant to the effects of oral medications, requiring additional treatments to manage their disease. Given the severe and growing diabetes epidemic, there is a substantial need to develop new, more effective therapies,” she says.