All articles by Venugopal Immadi
Venugopal Immadi
A piece of the puzzle
Alzheimer’s disease afflicts roughly 10% of people aged 65 and older, and after decades of research and millions of dollars spent the quest for a cure continues. Recent advancements in molecular diagnostics, however, are yielding encouraging results in the sphere of neurological analysis. Will Moffitt speaks to Wenquan Zou, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University, about an innovative skin test that has the potential to shed light on this insidious disease and revolutionise how a range of brain disorders are detected.
Knowledge gap
Whole exome sequencing is designed to evaluate all of the protein-producing genes in a patient to inform both diagnosis and treatment. However, researchers from UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas, have identified significant gaps in analysis conducted by laboratories offering this service, significantly reducing the value of results. Emma Green speaks to Jason Park, associate professor at UT Southwestern, about the implications of these findings.
More than meets the eye
A simple blood test could soon become the latest monitoring tool for the early detection of melanoma in the eye. University of Queensland scientists have discovered markers in the blood that can differentiate between a benign mole and a melanoma, while also identifying if the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Abi Millar speaks to Mitchell Stark, researcher at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, about what this means for clinical practice.
It’s all on the web
Inspired by the way spiders exude ‘glue’ to catch their prey in the rain, a double-sided tape designed to stick body tissue together after surgery was developed by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lyn Erb speaks to study author Hyunwoo Yuk about the implications for wound care.
Hidden disease
Doctors are misdiagnosing and mistreating obesity, and it is doing serious harm to society. This is the belief of Dr Nadia Ahmad, senior obesity solutions adviser for Ethicon and founding director of the Obesity Medicine Institute, who assesses the scientific elements and societal aspects that underpin obesity. She explains to Andrew Putwain how treatment options such as surgery can help to combat obesity and its associated conditions.
Pushing for change
Experts in GCC countries are advising women to avoid caesarean section births, stating that the practice is linked with poor wound care and ongoing side effects. As cultural practices shift in the wider MENA region, Practical Patient Care Middle East assesses what experts are saying about elective caesareans and why better childbirth care should be adopted.
Print your heart out
An Abu Dhabi clinic is using 3D-printing technology in its cardiac procedures to customize care for its patients. Dr Thomas Bartel, the section head of interventional cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s Heart & Vascular Institute, tells Practical Patient Care Middle East about how the technology enables engineers to develop a 3D model with the scan. This also allows doctors to plan procedures and leaves little to chance.
Keep the bugs at bay
In modern, connected hospitals, cyberviruses can be as lethal as physical ones. Elly Earls talks to Scott Manson, Cisco’s cybersecurity expert for the Middle East and Turkey, about how healthcare providers can ward them off.
The silver lining
Resistance to antibiotics is a worsening problem that the medical world is struggling to solve. A variety of causes are known to produce resistance, such as prescribing failures and overuse of antibiotic medicines, but efforts to find solutions have largely floundered. Dave Callaghan speaks to Professor Raymond Turner and Joe Lemire, from the University of Calgary, about the latest developments in this area.
A model of medical excellence
A new computer modelling study has been revealed by Los Alamos National Laboratory – and it could help save lives. The study’s lead author, Ashlynn Daughton, a graduate research assistant at Los Alamos and doctoral student at University of Colorado, talks with Kerry Taylor-Smith about how the model could drastically improve disease-related decision-making.