For two-and-a-half painful years, Jerome Maharaj, 42, had no idea what was wrong with him. Born in South Africa, he came to Israel in 1996 and settled in Ma’agan, a small kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee. He got married and raised three children. Jerome Maharaj standing…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the designation of breakthrough device to SoniVie’s Therapeutic Intra-Vascular Ultrasound (TIVUS) System for the treatment of people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Similar to breakthrough therapy, the designation of breakthrough device is given to medical equipment…
Only two non-invasive diagnostic tests are required to best predict the risk of adverse events in people with congenital heart disease (CHD)-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a new study suggests. The study, “Guideline implementation and early risk assessment in pulmonary…
Swedish men and women who have been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in recent years have similar survival rates, study says. The study, “Sex-specific differences and survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension 2008–2016,” was published in the journal ERJ Open Research. IPAH, a form of…
Targeting the pro-inflammatory TGF-β signaling pathway in specific cells of the pulmonary arteries — those with high levels of a protein called periostin — shows promise in treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a study reports. The study, “Periostin-expressing cell-specific transforming growth factor-β inhibition in pulmonary artery prevents pulmonary arterial…
Online forums have markedly altered how patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals communicate and connect. Even when miles apart, people can establish supportive relationships, share experiences and information, and sometimes simply vent. Bionews Services, a leading online health, science, and research publication company, has been rolling out…
Rare diseases deeply affect not only the children who experience them, but also their healthy brothers and sisters, as their parents can attest. Two entries in November’s “Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival” will focus on what siblings go through, according to the San Francisco festival’s co-founder,…
Lung inflammation caused by a seemingly treatable and common infection may drive the onset of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in people who carry genetic risk factors for the disease. A simple viral infection — such as a bad flu — was able to trigger PAH development in rats with…
A combination therapy of endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) plus phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5i) — two different agents that induce blood vessels’ widening and relaxation —improves exercise capacity, and reduces the risk of death and disease worsening in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a review study finds. The…
A Phase 2 clinical trial for levosimendan, a potential treatment for pulmonary hypertension (PH) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF), will soon have three more active sites for participant enrollment, Tenax Therapeutics announced. There now are 12 clinical sites that have initiated the study, and…
Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…
The levels of survivin protein in the blood may help determine if surgery to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) will be successful in people with congenital heart disease (CHD), according to new research. Findings in a rat model of PAH also suggest that the amount of survivin…
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