Bmc Med
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The development of new therapies has a rich history, evolves quickly with societal trends, and will have an exciting future. The last century has seen an exponential increase in complex interactions between medical practitioners, pharmaceutical companies, governments and patients. We believe technology and societal expectations will open up the opportunity for more individuals to participate as information becomes more freely available and inequality less acceptable. ⋯ This article collection is a cross-journal collaboration, between the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice (JoPPP) and BMC Medicine that seeks to cover recent advances in drug development, medicines use, policy and access with high clinical and public health relevance in the future. The Medicine and the Future of Health article collection is a joint collection between BMC Medicine and Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. Therefore, this Editorial by the guest editors has been published in both journals.
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Neuregulin 4 (Nrg4) is a secreted adipokine recently identified as playing an important role in modulating systemic energy metabolism and the development of obesity-associated disorders. However, information is not available regarding the association between circulating Nrg4 and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in humans. ⋯ These findings indicate that circulating Nrg4 concentrations are inversely associated with risk of MetS in obese Chinese adults, suggesting that circulating Nrg4 concentrations may be a protective factor in the development of MetS.
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High-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) has a high risk of recurrence and progression to muscle-invasive forms, which seems to be largely related to the presence of tumorigenic stem-like cell populations that are refractory to conventional therapies. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of Natural Killer (NK) cell-based adoptive immunotherapy against chemoresistant bladder cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) in a pre-clinical relevant model, using NK cells from healthy donors and NMIBC patients. ⋯ Although pre-clinical, our results strongly suggest that an immunotherapeutic strategy using allogeneic activated NK cells from healthy donors is effective and should be exploited as a complementary therapeutic strategy in high-risk NMIBC patients to prevent tumor recurrence and progression.
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Multicenter Study
Obesity and type 2 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africans - Is the burden in today's Africa similar to African migrants in Europe? The RODAM study.
Rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are impending major threats to the health of African populations, but the extent to which they differ between rural and urban settings in Africa and upon migration to Europe is unknown. We assessed the burden of obesity and T2D among Ghanaians living in rural and urban Ghana and Ghanaian migrants living in different European countries. ⋯ Our study shows high risks of obesity and T2D among sub-Saharan African populations living in Europe. In Ghana, similarly high prevalence rates were seen in an urban environment, whereas in rural areas, the prevalence of obesity among women is already remarkable. Similar processes underlying the high burden of obesity and T2D following migration may also be at play in sub-Saharan Africa as a consequence of urbanisation.
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Out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenses often lead to catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, there has been no systematic examination of which specific diseases and conditions (e.g., tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease) drive medical impoverishment, defined as OOP direct medical costs pushing households into poverty. ⋯ We present a preliminary attempt for the estimation of the burden of medical impoverishment by cause for high mortality conditions. In Ethiopia, medical impoverishment was notably associated with illness occurrence and health services utilization. Although currently used estimates are sensitive to health services utilization, a systematic breakdown of impoverishment due to OOP direct medical costs by cause can provide important information for the promotion of financial risk protection and equity, and subsequent design of health policies toward universal health coverage, reduction of direct OOP payments, and poverty alleviation.