Latest news with #bloodtest
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Hot Money Monday: Proteomics brings science to racehorse recovery, as animal health booms
New blood test reveals hidden muscle damage in racehorses Proteomics' OxiDx helps trainers spot injuries early and avoid breakdowns ASX-listed stocks with exposure to the animal sector. In the high-octane world of thoroughbred racing, muscle is money. Every gallop, every second shaved off the clock comes down to conditioning, training, and recovery. But what happens when something breaks, and you don't even know it? That's the riddle Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) and its subsidiary OxiDx are solving with a groundbreaking new test that can detect muscle damage in racehorses. Last Monday, Proteomics announced a major update. Its patented OxiDx test has now proven – via peer-reviewed research – that it can track oxidative stress and pinpoint muscle injury in thoroughbred racehorses post-race. In short: trainers and vets now have hard data instead of relying on gut feel. Published in Veterinary Medicine and Science, the study tracked 34 Australian racehorses across seven days after racing. Using a dried blood spot from each horse, the OxiDx test measured thiol-oxidised albumin, a protein biomarker of oxidative stress. The findings were clear: oxidative stress levels peaked two days after a race and stayed elevated for up to five. Some horses took even longer to recover. That variability suggests that one horse might bounce back after 48 hours, while another might still be nursing invisible damage a week later. And if you're a trainer pushing too hard, too soon, that kind of hidden strain can lead to breakdowns. In fact, up to 85% of thoroughbreds suffer at least one injury during their early racing years, many of them muscle-related and many going undiagnosed until it's too late. OxiDx redefines racehorse recovery What makes this test so compelling is its simplicity. Forget MRI scans or expensive ultrasounds, and forget relying on subjective gait assessments or enzyme tests. This is a world-first blood test. Non-invasive, stable, and gives trainers and vets something they've never had before: objective insight into how a horse is actually recovering. 'These exciting results mark a significant milestone in applying the OxiDx test to equine veterinary medicine,' said Proteomics' CEO, Dr Richard Lipscombe. 'OxiDx has the potential to empower trainers to monitor muscle recovery with precision, helping their racehorses achieve peak performance while prioritising equine health and well-being.' This is all about protecting high-value assets. After all, elite racehorses are routinely valued in the millions, and breeding stallions commanding even higher figures. OxiDx seems to have a first-mover foothold in this lucrative corner of the market. If all goes to plan, PIQ said the OxiDx test could be hitting Aussie stables by this time next year, potentially becoming a go-to tool for trainers. Animals are serious business While most of the world has its eye on human medicine, the animal health sector has been galloping ahead, quietly becoming one of the hottest areas in biotech. If you dig into the numbers, animal diagnostics is a actually billion-dollar market that's been growing faster than many areas of human healthcare. The market is driven by rising pet ownership and humanisation, growing demand for livestock productivity, and in this case, the high economic value of performance animals. It's serious business, especially when the animals in question are worth more than most houses. Other animal-relates stocks on the ASX Apiam Animal Health (ASX:AHX) Apiam is Australia's biggest rural and regional vet group, with boots on the ground from dairy farms to dog parks in over 70 locations nationwide. It's got 330-plus vets and a serious logistics backbone - warehouses in four states, national lab networks, and even eCommerce for livestock producers. And now, Apiam is rolling out CoVet, an AI-powered clinical tool that's already making traction in its network. Using voice recognition and smart templates, CoVet takes care of the boring stuff like generating notes and discharging instructions so vets can spend less time typing and more time treating. In June, Apiam appointed seasoned executive Bruce Dixon as interim managing director, following the departure of founding CEO Dr Chris Richards. Mad Paws (ASX:MPA) Mad Paws is Australia's go-to marketplace for pet care, connecting pet owners with trusted sitters, walkers, groomers, and a growing range of pet products and services. Launched in 2014, the company was built to solve the age-old question: 'What do I do with my pet when I'm away?' With 73% of Aussie households already owning pets, and spending over $3,000 per year on dogs alone, the market is big, sticky, and recession-resistant. And with consumer trends like pet humanisation on the rise, Mad Paws could be positioned to ride the wave. Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) While not directly in the pet or animal business, Aroa's use of ovine tissue put it in a unique position at the intersection of animal-derived innovation and human health. The New Zealand-born medtech company uses something pretty special to help the human body heal - tissue from the forestomach of sheep. Led by vet-turned-founder Dr Brian Ward, Aroa discovered that ovine tissue, particularly the extracellular matrix (ECM), closely mirrors human soft tissue and is packed with over 150 proteins vital to healing. After carefully stripping the tissue of cells and DNA, what's left is a natural scaffold that guides the body to regenerate itself, helping tissue repair in complex wounds. With FDA approvals, global distribution across 50+ countries, and standout clinical results, the company is hitting its stride. At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Aroa Biosurgery is a Stockhead advertiser at the time of writing, it did not sponsor this article.
Free Malaysia Today
18-07-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
AI-powered blood test allows for early breast cancer detection
The new AI-powered lipid-based blood test enables earlier and less invasive breast cancer detection. (Freepik pic) SYDNEY : Australian scientists have developed the first artificial intelligence-powered lipid-based blood test, enabling earlier and less invasive breast cancer detection, Xinhua reported. The test is already in use in specialist clinics across Sydney and Melbourne after transitioning from the research phase in March, according to a statement from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) published on Wednesday. Unlike traditional imaging and biopsies, which can miss tumours and carry risks, the new AI-powered blood test detects subtle molecular signals in the blood. This allows for cancer diagnosis months or even years before symptoms appear, said UNSW associate professor Fatemeh Vafaee. AI drives the breakthrough by analysing millions of molecular markers to detect early cancer signs, according to the expert from Vafaee Lab, a biomedical AI laboratory at UNSW. 'By integrating explainable AI techniques, we ensure the models provide not only accurate outcomes but also clinically interpretable insights, which are crucial for building trust and supporting decision-making in real-world healthcare settings,' Vafaee said. Contributing to global efforts to make AI-driven blood tests part of standard breast cancer screening, the lab offers a valuable new option, especially for women with dense breast tissue where traditional imaging may be less effective. The team is now developing multi-analyte tests that combine various biomarkers for more precise cancer detection across multiple types, including lung, liver, and brain tumours. They are also exploring tests using other biofluids like urine and saliva, while working to integrate diverse data for a complete view of patient health.
Medscape
17-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Fasting Before Bloodwork Is Outdated for Most Patients
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Back when I was a resident, we always told patients to go do their blood test on an empty stomach. They would line up every morning at the hospital to get all their blood tests done, and every morning that line would stretch out the hospital doors and around the block. Then, by lunchtime, it was a ghost town. You don't see that anymore for one simple reason. It doesn't really matter if you're on an empty stomach or not. We all know that for your [complete blood count], electrolytes, and most routine blood tests, it doesn't actually matter whether you've been eating or not. The only reason to do fasting blood tests is because of two things:diabetes and cholesterol. Back in the day, fasting blood glucose was how we picked up diabetes. Now, most of us — I hope — tend to use hemoglobin A1c, given that it's a 3-month average of your blood glucose levels, and whether you ate breakfast or not isn't really going to throw it off by all that really no need to fast for most patients with diabetes. The other issue is cholesterol. Ever since we started focusing more on LDL, we had a problem because LDL isn't directly measured in most labs. It's calculated using total cholesterol, HDL, and triglycerides. Triglycerides can go nuts based on what you ate last night or that morning. To make sure everything was standardized, we told patients to be on an empty stomach when they did their blood tests. If the triglycerides were too high, you couldn't get an accurate calculation of the LDL. Now, it turns out that nonfasting blood tests for cholesterol are not off by all that there are rare cases of patients with super high triglycerides for whatever reason, but for most people, the difference was minor. Now, we have other tests like ApoB and we also check things like Lp(a), which are not affected by whether you're fasting or not. At this point, there's no real reason to do fasting blood maybe made sense 20 years ago, but not anymore. It's also easier for people to get their blood tests at any time of day rather than everybody rushing in first thing in the morning. It just makes things a little bit easier for the patient getting routine labs — and that's progress. Stop doing fasting blood tests. Your patients probably don't need them. For Medscape, I'm Dr Christopher Labos.
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Biological changes linked to Alzheimer's begin decades before symptoms appear, study says
A Finnish study indicates that signs of Alzheimer's disease, specifically elevated brain-related biomarkers, may be detectable in blood from middle age. The research, involving 2,051 individuals, found these biological changes in adults aged 41 to 56, suggesting they begin decades before typical symptom onset. The study also identified a potential hereditary component, with a parent's biomarker levels, particularly mothers, possibly linked to similar patterns in their children. Factors such as increasing age and kidney disease were associated with higher biomarker levels, and the APOE ε4 gene was linked to higher levels in older individuals. Researchers cautioned that while promising, these blood tests are not yet suitable for routine diagnosis and require further research for standardization.
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Blood tests could reveal early signs of Alzheimer's disease, research suggests
Signs of Alzheimer's disease could be detectable in the blood as early as middle age, a study has found, raising hopes that routine tests could eventually help identify those at risk of the condition long before memory problems appear. A large Finnish project, which is part of the long-term 'Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns' study, found elevated levels of brain-related biomarkers in adults aged 41 to 56, suggesting that biological changes linked to Alzheimer's begin decades before symptoms usually arise. The study also reported that a parent's biomarker levels, particularly in mothers, may be associated with similar patterns in their children, highlighting a potential hereditary component. A total of 2,051 individuals took part in the study: 1,237 were middle-aged adults aged 41 to 56, and 814 were their parents aged 59 to 90. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Turku and published in The Lancet 's 'Healthy Longevity'. 'In clinical practice, detecting beta-amyloid pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease currently requires imaging studies or cerebrospinal fluid sampling,' said Suvi Rovio, senior researcher at the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Turku. 'However, recently developed ultrasensitive measurement technologies now allow the detection of Alzheimer's disease-related brain biomarkers from blood samples.' Researchers found that certain factors, such as increasing age and kidney disease, were associated with higher levels of biomarkers even before cognitive decline set in. They also found that the APOE ε4 gene, a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, was linked to higher biomarker levels in older individuals - although it did not yet appear to influence levels in those under the age of 60. But the researchers cautioned that blood tests are not yet suitable for diagnosis. 'In order to reliably use blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in the future, more research is needed across different populations and age groups to standardise reference values,' Ms Rovio said. Marja Heiskanen, another senior researcher involved in the project, said the findings offer new insight into brain health from middle age onwards. 'Until now, brain biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease have mainly been studied in older individuals. Our study provides new insights into biomarker levels and associated factors starting from middle age,' she said.
