AMA Punts on Vaccine Strategy for Immigrants
Members of the American Medical Association (AMA) weighed the risks and benefits of the U.S. implementing a vaccine mandate for immigrants and examined policy recommendations around short-term medical trips during the House of Delegates annual meeting. Sarah Mae Smith, an alternate delegate from California who spoke on behalf of AMA’s Medical Students Section, said that […]
PROs for Cutaneous Chronic GVHD After Transplant Tied to Disease Severity, Mortality
Skin-involved chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) had a significant association with long-term impairment of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), which also had a prognostic association with mortality, a multicenter prospective study showed. Patients with sclerotic cGVHD had significantly worse scores on a validated quality-of-life (QOL) instrument compared with those who had epidermal-type cGVHD. Patients with combination GVHD subtypes […]
AGA Backs Fecal Microbiota-Based Therapies for Recurrent C. Diff
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) endorsed the use of fecal microbiota-based therapies for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) in new guideline recommendations, but advised against such therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The guideline panel first noted that immunocompetent adults with recurrent CDIs should receive fecal microbiota-based therapies upon completion […]
Early Bird? Night Owl? It May Matter for Eating Disorder Risk
People with anorexia nervosa may be more likely to be early risers, a genetic association study suggested. Looking at nearly 17,000 cases with this eating disorder, genetic liability for anorexia nervosa was associated with a more morning chronotype — or a preference for the morning (β=0.039, 95% CI 0.006-0.072, P=0.02), Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, of […]
AMA Delegates Take Action on Cannabis, Medical Aid-in-Dying Resolutions
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The American Medical Association (AMA) should work to educate physicians and the public on the health risks of cannabis to children as well as potential risks to people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, members of the AMA House of Delegates voted Monday. “My patients are often surprised to hear me say […]
Strong link between ADHD and car crashes in older adult drivers
In a study on the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its association with crash risk among older adult drivers, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that older adult drivers with ADHD are at a significantly elevated crash risk compared with their counterparts without ADHD. Outcomes included hard- braking events, and […]
AMA to Amp Up Hospital Consolidation Scrutiny
CHICAGO — Physicians pressing for the American Medical Association (AMA) to do more on healthcare consolidation pushed through a resolution to produce in-depth annual reports on the topic that could be used to advocate for legislative change. At the association’s annual House of Delegates meeting this week, its Private Practice Physicians Section made the case […]
AMA Urged to Do More to Safeguard Adolescent Gender-Affirming Care
CHICAGO — How should the American Medical Association (AMA) respond to the rapidly increasing number of state prohibitions on gender-affirming care for adolescents? Delegates considered the topic during committee discussions at the AMA House of Delegates meeting Saturday. The AMA already has a policy in place for gender-affirming care, and a new draft resolution moves […]
Opinion | ‘You Can’t Yoga Your Way Out of This’: What We Heard This Week
“You can’t yoga your way out of this.” — Lindsey Myers, MPH, of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, on a pilot program designed to fight burnout among the public health workforce. “We don’t recommend this to our patients.” — Marzena Gieniusz, MD, of Northwell Health in New York, on trendy NAD+ injections […]
Lone star tick bites may be to blame for unexplained digestive problems
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has released new clinical guidance to help physicians and patients identify if unexplained digestive symptoms are due to alpha-gal syndrome, a food allergy that is caused by lone star tick bites. The AGA Clinical Practice Update was published today in Gastroenterology. Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergy that causes your body […]