Loneliness Needs to Be Treated Like Any Other Health Condition, Researcher Suggests
PHILADELPHIA — Loneliness among both seniors and younger people is a health problem that needs more attention, Kelsey McNamara, MPH, senior director of research at Papa, an organization that provides paid companionship to people in need of social support, said at the Population Health Colloquium here. “Loneliness increases the risk of premature death, independent of […]
Lorundrostat Stands a Chance Against Obesity-Related Hypertension
Among selected people with uncontrolled hypertension, blood pressure (BP) could be successfully reduced with a highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor, a phase II dose-finding trial found. In hypertensive patients with suppressed renin — theoretically the group most likely to benefit from reining in aldosterone production — reductions of automated office systolic BP reached up to […]
Albuminuria Testing Falling Short in Patients at Risk for CKD
Many cases of albuminuria may be missed in the U.S. due to lack of testing among patients at risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD), a cohort study suggested. Examining electronic health records for nearly 200,000 patients with hypertension or diabetes, only 17.5% underwent albuminuria testing, reported Chi D. Chu, MD, MAS, of the University of […]
Earlier Detection of Cardiac Dysfunction Possible for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
Subclinical diastolic dysfunction may be detected among adult survivors of childhood cancer before left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) becomes abnormally low, according to longitudinal echocardiographic data. Among participants in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE) diagnosed with cancer at a median age of 8 years, the proportion of diastolic dysfunction was approximately 15% when […]
Daily Low-Dose Aspirin Upped Incidence of Anemia in Older Adults
Daily low-dose aspirin increased incident anemia among otherwise healthy older adults, a secondary analysis of the randomized ASPREE trial showed. Over a median of 4.7 years, the incidence of anemia was 51.2 events per 1,000 person-years in the aspirin group compared with 42.9 events per 1,000 person-years in the placebo group (HR 1.20, 95% CI […]
Fewer meals may prevent Type 2 diabetes, obesity: Reducing meals, cutting out midnight snacks may optimize gut health
When intermittent fasting became all the rage among Hollywood celebrities, skeptics balked at the idea of skipping meals. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests the celebs might not have been that far off. The review found that a specific type of restricted eating may reduce the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes […]
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Safe, Effective in Cancer Patients With HIV
Immune checkpoint inhibitors showed activity among people with HIV and various cancer types, without any excess or unexpected toxicities, according to a retrospective real-world study. In a cohort of 390 patients with HIV and cancer, 20% had immune-related adverse events (AEs) of any grade and 7.7% had grade ≥3 immune-related AEs, reported Abdul Rafeh Naqash, […]
Potential ‘Game Changer’ for Leprosy Prevention
A single dose of rifapentine reduced the incidence of leprosy among household contacts of patients with the infectious disease, a cluster-randomized trial out of China found. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the cumulative incidence of leprosy among 7,450 household contacts was 0.09% with an oral dose of rifapentine over 4 years of follow-up, as compared with […]
Probiotic Use in NICUs Shows Some Benefits in Newborns With Very Low Birth Weight
Routine use of probiotics among newborns with very low birth weight in U.S. neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) was associated with a lower risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, but not sepsis or mortality, according to a cohort study. Among over 300,000 newborns, the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis was reduced by 18% at NICUs that adopted use […]
Scoliosis Cramps Heart Function in Adulthood
Scoliosis was associated with altered cardiac function and an increase in cardiac events among adults in the U.K. Biobank, researchers found. Compared with peers without scoliosis, those with such sideways spinal curvature exhibited a greater lifetime risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; HR 1.45, P<0.001), driven by heart failure (HR 1.58, P<0.001) and atrial […]