Adv Exp Med Biol
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Physiological data from wearable sensors and smartphone are accumulating rapidly, and this provides us the chance to collect dynamic and personalized information as phenotype to be integrated to genotype for the holistic understanding of complex diseases. This integration can be applied to early prediction and prevention of disease, therefore promoting the shifting of disease care tradition to the healthcare paradigm. ⋯ We discuss the challenges of physiological informatics about the storage, the standardization, the analyses, and the applications of the physiological data from the wearable sensors and smartphone. At last, we present our perspectives on the models for disentangling the complex relationship between early disease prediction and the mining of physiological phenotype data.
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Clinicians need to make decisions about the use of thrombolytic (fibrinolytic) therapy for pulmonary embolism (PE) after carefully considering the risks of major complications from bleeding, and the benefits of treatment, for each individual patient. They should probably not use systemic thrombolysis for PE patients with normal blood pressure. ⋯ Even in the absence of strong evidence, clinicians need to choose the most appropriate regimen for administering alteplase for individual patients, based on assessment of the urgency of the situation, risks for major complications from bleeding, and patient's body weight. In addition, invasive strategies should be considered when absolute contraindications for thrombolytic therapy exist, serious complications arise, or thrombolytic therapy fails.
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Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common disorder with a significant mortality rate. Successful endovascular treatment of acute DVT is most likely to be achieved in patients with recently formed thrombus, (<10-14 days) with acute iliofemoral DVT. Endovascular treatment options include: Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), pharmacomechanical catheter-directed thrombolysis (PCDT), percutaneous aspiration thrombectomy (PAT), vena cava filter protection, venous balloon dilatation and venous stent implantation. ⋯ Patients deteriorating despite heparinization and patients presenting with very severe neurological deficits must receive endovascular treatment. Endovascular methods include intrasinus infusion of thrombolytics or heparin, balloon angioplasty, mechanical thrombectomy or a combination of different techniques. There is a higher rate or recanalization with endovascular methods compared to other medical therapies.
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Addiction is marked by repeating a certain behavior while ignoring the potential physical or mental consequences. Non-substance addiction provides an ideal model for researching the emergence and development of addiction's basic mechanism. ⋯ This article explores this topic from a psychological angle, touching upon sensation seeking, inhibitory control, attentional bias, intertemporal choice and environment. A review of previous literature urges future research to propose a biopsychosocial model of addiction and consider addiction's effect on basic cognitive function alongside cognitive neuroscience technology.
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Beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia are two of the most common diseases related to the hemoglobin protein. In these diseases, the beta-globin gene is mutated, causing severe anemia and ineffective erythropoiesis. Patients can additionally present with a number of life-threatening co-morbidities, such as stroke or spontaneous fractures. ⋯ Initial gene therapy work was done with oncoretroviral vectors, but has since shifted to lentiviral vectors. Currently, there are a few clinical trials underway to test the curative potential of some of these lentiviral vectors. This review will highlight the work done thus far, and present the challenges still facing gene therapy, such as genome toxicity concerns and achieving sufficient transgene expression to cure those with the most severe forms of thalassemia.