Health News
Heart & Blood 2021
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s Sponsored
Advancing blood cancer research in the Limerick region
Sponsored by: The Limerick region is increasing its research profile through ground-breaking advances in blood cancers. A rich portfolio of cancer clinical trials has been developed over the last decade at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) under the leadership of Professor Linda Coate and Maureen O’Grady. This has already led to more effective and safer treatments...
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Increasing awareness and education of an under-diagnosed inherited bleeding disorder
Von Willebrand Disorder (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder with approximately 1 in 1,000 people being affected. VWD results from the von Willebrand factor (VWF) protein in the blood being lower than normal or poor quality VWF being produced. Normal VWF levels are greater than 50% whereas in VWD, levels are less than...
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Studies of anti-clotting medicine in COVID-19 are ongoing
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the global healthcare community with unprecedented challenges. One such challenge has been the dramatically increased risk of blood clots observed among infected patients. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the term used to describe the formation of harmful blood clots within the circulation. These occur most commonly in the limb veins or...
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Using systems biology to improve outcomes for childhood AML
A lack of new treatment options has led to a plateau in survival rates for childhood AML patients. Systems biology is uncovering new treatment strategies for this deadly disease. Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is the leading cause of blood cancer-related mortality in children. While outcomes for patients have certainly improved in recent decades, survival rates...
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Gene therapy in haemophilia
Haemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder caused by deficiency in one of the clotting factors – either FVIII or FIX. Research is currently underway to assess the use of gene therapy to help treat the disorder. Current licensed therapies for haemophilia involve regular intravenous injections of the missing clotting factor to prevent or treat bleeding...
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Arterial stiffness, ageing and cardiovascular risk
In many people, systolic blood pressure increases as we age, rising exponentially after the age of 55. Whilst this is true on a population level, we can see very different relationships (changes in blood pressure across age) on an individual level. The variability in blood pressure changes associated with ageing is predominantly due to an...
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Just ask: improving awareness of clinical trials in Ireland
Patients in Ireland with blood cancers have seen a marked improvement in their prognosis primarily due to enhanced access to targeted treatments. This improvement in mainly due to our increasing participation in crucial new clinical trials. Clinical trials are about improving access for our patients to the newest most effective treatments as early as we...
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s Sponsored
The silent pandemic – why we need a new approach to tackle cardiovascular disease
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) branded CVD “the biggest epidemic in human history”. It has affected the greatest numbers; it has had the greatest cost and it is not over yet.1 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is Europe’s biggest killer.1 Each year it accounts for 3.9 million deaths in Europe2 and has an economic burden in...
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Irish haematology continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
In the past year, Irish haematologists have been at the forefront of investigations into the causes of life-threatening clotting problems associated with COVID-19 infection, whilst Irish scientists continue cutting edge research in many other areas of haematology. Irish haematologists are currently reporting outcomes of haematology patients who have contracted COVID-19 to an anonymised international registry....
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Understanding the risk factors of atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, affecting one in four people over 50 years old. With AF the heart rate becomes completely irregular. Although some people complain of palpitations, dizziness, breathlessness or chest tightness, 70% of AF is asymptomatic or ‘silent’. This means the actual true prevalence in the community is unknown...