New Data on Opioids for Chronic Pain: Less Than Meets the Eye?
“Prescription Opioid Use Among Adults With Chronic Pain: United States, 2019,” the government report’s title reads. Inside, based on responses from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) that year, it says, “22.1% of U.S. adults with chronic pain used a prescription opioid in the past 3 months.” Given that there might be no hotter topic […]
The Pill Can Spell Trouble for Long QTc
Some oral contraceptives were associated with greater cardiovascular risk among women with inherited long QT syndrome (LQTS), a registry study showed. Progestin-only oral contraceptive users had a 2.54-fold higher risk (95% CI 1.09-1.51) of a cardiac event compared with LQTS women not on oral contraceptives in multivariate analysis. Beta-blocker use appeared to mitigate that risk, […]
CDC: Lower Vax Rates in Nursing Homes Among Low-Wage Staff
COVID-19 vaccination rates varied widely among healthcare personnel (HCP) who worked in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), with less than half of aides vaccinated, researchers found. In March 2021, the highest vaccination rates were seen in physicians and advanced practice providers (75%), while the lowest rates occurred in aides (45.6%), reported James T. Lee, MD, of […]
Good News on Child Drowning Deaths
Over the past 2 decades, deaths among children and teens from accidental drowning dropped substantially, researchers with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported. From 1999, when more than 1,100 youths ages 0-17 drowned to death, the annual figure declined steadily in the succeeding 20 years, reaching 756 in 2019, according to Merianne Rose […]
Molecular underpinnings of a disease affecting corals
Coral reefs are a favorite spot for scuba divers and are among the world’s most diverse ecosystems. For example, the Hawaiian coral reefs, known as the “rainforests of the sea,” host over 7,000 species of marine animals, fishes, birds and plants. But coral reefs are facing serious threats, including a number of diseases that have […]
Tenofovir Treatment Lessened Risk of Severe COVID Infection in HBV
Treatment with tenofovir reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 infection among patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), a researcher reported. In the database study of adults with HBV already on tenofovir (Biktarvy) or entecavir at 28 Spanish hospitals, patients on tenofovir had a 6% lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 versus 36% of those […]