Cardiometabolic genomics and pharmacogenomics investigations in Filipino Americans: Steps towards precision health and reducing health disparities.

Background: Filipino Americans (FAs) are the third-largest Asian American subgroup in the United States (US). Some studies showed that FAs experience more cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) than other Asian subgroups and non-Hispanic Whites. The increased prevalence of CMD observed in FAs could be due to genetics and social/dietary lifestyles.

Alzheimer's disease in a dish: promises and challenges of human stem cell models.

Human pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into disease-relevant cell types, which capture the unique genome of an individual patient and provide insight into pathological mechanisms of human disease. Recently, human stem cell models for Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative dementia, have been described. Stem cell-derived neurons from patients with familial and sporadic AD and Down's syndrome recapitulate human disease phenotypes such as amyloid β peptide production, hyperphosphorylation of tau protein and endosomal abnormalities.

Racial/ethnic differences in early detection of breast cancer: a study of 250,985 cases from the California Cancer Registry.

Aims: This study analyzed early breast cancer detection rates as a surrogate for breast cancer mortality rates. Stage at diagnosis was broken down by race/ethnicity and year of diagnosis for the cases of female breast cancer in the California Cancer Registry from 1988 to 2002.

Methods: A quarter million cases of breast cancer in women > or =50 years of age recorded in the California Cancer Registry over the period 1988-2002 were classified as early (in situ and localized stages) or late (regional and distant stages).

Cutaneous necrosis, telangiectatic matting, and hyperpigmentation following sclerotherapy. Etiology, prevention, and treatment.

Background: Telangiectatic matting and hyperpigmentation are some of the most commonly observed side effects of sclerotherapy. Cutaneous necrosis is relatively rare and often of limited sequelae but most commonly related to extravasation of sclerosant. Physicians treating varicosities and telangiectasia by sclerotherapy must be familiar with causes and means for minimization of all three side effects.

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative disorder.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by brain atrophy, loss of neurons, and major loss of synapses. It is primarily a degenerative disorder, even though some aberrant sprouting does occur. To the extent that the abnormal neurites in neuritic plaques might represent a combination of a degenerative and regenerative (1) process, it is more likely that any regenerative process is secondary to the trophic effects of the amyloid precursor protein than to NGF which would affect only neurons with appropriate receptors, namely the cholinergic neurons.