GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Researchers from the University of Florida have made a discovery that could improve the treatment of the most common form of leukemia in children.
The team, led by Dr. Ja Tinder Lamba, associate dean of research and graduate education and a professor at the U.F. College of Pharmacy, created a way to use genetics to predict a patient’s risk for toxicity complications from several chemotherapy drugs used to treat Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or A.L.L.
“So our goal is if we can define these genomic markers or create a risk score for the patient, these could be determined preemptively and we will know which patients will have a high risk of toxicity and at the same time, what you can do is instead of no ‘post toxicity’ stopping the chemotherapy, you can at least adjust the dosages upfront and you and titration it so the patients’ response is better,” Lamba said.
The study, which is assessing data and D.N.A. Samples from 75 patients treated at U.F. Health was published in the J.C.O. Jour Precision Oncology.
And older people who regularly use the internet are almost half as likely to develop dementia compared to non-users, according to a new study.
Researchers tracked the cognitive health of over 18,000 adults ages 50 to 64 for nearly 8 years and found a 43 percent reduced risk of dementia among regular internet users.
The sweet spot appears to be around 30 minutes to 2 hours of daily internet use which provided the most protection by stimulating the brain, enhancing cognitive function and warding off loneliness.
Despite these benefits, many older people face barriers to internet access, including a lack of technical skills, cost, and lack of social support.