Publications by authors named "A I Asher"

Background: There are no approved oral disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess efficacy and safety of blarcamesine (ANAVEX®2-73), an orally available small-molecule activator of the sigma-1 receptor (SIGMAR1) in early AD through restoration of cellular homeostasis including autophagy enhancement.

Design: ANAVEX2-73-AD-004 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 48-week Phase IIb/III trial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) shows varying levels of improvement after surgical treatment. While some patients improve soon after surgery, others may take months to years to show any signs of improvement. The goal of this study was to evaluate postoperative improvement, patient-reported outcomes, and patient satisfaction up to 2 years after surgical treatment for CSM, which will help optimize the current treatment strategies and effectively manage patient expectations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of people who inject drugs (PWID) using a collaborative data-sharing model established in 2021, which pooled data from multiple studies across North America.
  • - Researchers analyzed data on various health indicators (like substance use treatment and mental health conditions) over four different time periods: pre-pandemic, early-pandemic, mid-pandemic, and late-pandemic, involving 6,213 PWID participants.
  • - The results showed minimal changes in health indicators throughout the pandemic, suggesting stability possibly due to policy adjustments and resilience in support services for PWID, highlighting the potential of the data-sharing model for better health insights.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Physicians generally underestimate their potential to influence social progress, despite substantial precedents for medical professionals leading important societal transformations. The author believes that our times require we challenge the notion that physicians have limited influence beyond clinical settings. Our voice is powerful and important.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Enhancing the efficacy of immunotherapy in brain metastases (BrM) requires an improved understanding of the immune composition of BrM and how this is affected by radiation and dexamethasone. Our two-arm pilot study (NCT04895592) allocated 26 patients with BrM to either low (Arm A) or high (Arm B) dose peri-operative dexamethasone followed by pre-operative stereotactic radiosurgery (pSRS) and resection (n= 13 per arm). The primary endpoint, a safety analysis at 4 months, was met.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF