Andrea Lobo, PhD,  science writer—

Andrea Lobo holds a PhD in cell biology/neurosciences from the University of Coimbra-Portugal, where she studied stroke biology. As a research scientist for 19 years, Andrea participated in academic projects in multiple research fields, from stroke, gene regulation, cancer, and rare diseases. She has authored multiple research papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Articles by Andrea Lobo

Milder SSc symptoms seen in patients with PBC liver disease

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a disease that causes inflammation and scarring of the liver bile ducts, have milder symptoms that rarely lead to major complications, compared to patients with SSc alone. A study with that finding also determined SSc-only patients had a higher incidence…

Blood biomarker index helps diagnose SSc-ILD: Study

An index comprising three blood biomarkers was strongly associated with a diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, a study in Australia shows. The index was also associated with disease severity, independent of lung function. “Our data supports further investigation of composite biomarker indices as…

Oxygenated hemoglobin may be prognostic marker in SSc: Study

Oxygenated hemoglobin may be a new prognosis biomarker for systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients screened for pulmonary hypertension (PH), a study in Germany shows. Low levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHem), the protein that carries oxygen to body tissues, were significantly associated with worse survival among SSc patients. Also, the…

Hyperspectral Imaging May Help Assess Severity of Raynaud’s in SSc

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) — technology used in medicine to obtain a three-dimensional dataset — may be a feasible, non-invasive technique to quantify the severity of Raynaud’s phenomenon associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-RP), according to a new study. This “technology may present a novel, fast, and effective method…

Limited Joint Mobility of Diabetes May Be Early Sign of Scleroderma

The case of a 14-year-old boy with diabetes provided a starting point for a finding of juvenile systemic sclerosis (SSc): the limited joint mobility evident in the boy’s fingers can be an initial sign of underlying SSc, the report’s researchers suggested. Although “the coexistence of diabetes with juvenile systemic sclerosis…