153 Houston Hospital Employees Resign Or Fired Over Refusal To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
DALLAS (AP) — More than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine have been fired or resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement. A spokesperson for Houston Methodist hospital system said 153 employees either resigned in the two-week suspension period or were terminated […]
Virtual Obesity Treatment Program Led to Substantial Weight Loss in Real-World Study
DALLAS — A real-world virtual obesity treatment program that involved use of GLP-1 receptor agonists with intensive lifestyle interventions led to robust and sustained weight loss, according to an analysis of a cohort study. At 12 months, there was an average weight loss of 16.2% of body weight, with results sustained up to 24 months, […]
Semaglutide’s Weight-Loss Benefit Also Seen in Patients on Antidepressants
DALLAS — People taking antidepressants lost a similar amount of weight on semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy) compared with those not taking antidepressants, according to a post-hoc analysis of four STEP trials. Participants on antidepressants taking the GLP-1 receptor agonist lost an average 10.7% to 19% of their baseline body weight compared to a 9.5% to […]
Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Proves Mettle in Minor Stroke
DALLAS — Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) proved non-inferior to IV alteplase in Chinese patients with minor non-disabling stroke, a researcher reported. In the ARAMIS trial of patients with acute minor stroke who presented within 4.5 hours of onset, and had no “clearly disabling deficit,” functional outcome was similar between the two methods, according to Thanh […]
Early DAPT Improves Outcomes for Strokes With No Other Tx Options
DALLAS — Adding tirofiban (Aggrastat) to aspirin for dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) within 24 hours of acute ischemic stroke improved outcomes for patients who weren’t candidates for thrombolytic or endovascular treatment, according to a phase III trial from China. The combination of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor with aspirin shifted modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores in […]
CATIS-2: Delayed Antihypertension Tx for Acute Ischemic Stroke Still an Option
DALLAS — Antihypertensive treatment could wait for 7 days following an acute ischemic stroke (AIS), so long as the patient has no comorbidities that warrant the emergency reduction of their blood pressure (BP). In the CATIS-2 trial, there was no significant difference in the composite of major disability and death between patients with AIS who […]
SPAN Study Finds a Winner for Treating Stroke in Rodents
DALLAS — Uric acid was shown to be the most successful neuroprotectant among rodents in a study from the Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN), a nationwide trial platform that applies clinical research practices to preclinical studies in hopes of better informing human studies. Of the six interventions studied in the randomized rodent trial, uric acid […]
High-fat diet can provoke pain sensitivity without obesity, diabetes
A new study in mice from researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas suggests that a short-term exposure to a high-fat diet may be linked to pain sensations even in the absence of a prior injury or a preexisting condition like obesity or diabetes. The study, published Sept. 1 in the journal Scientific Reports, […]
Longer Ischemia Time Not Tied to Higher Complication Rate in Free-Tissue Transfer
DALLAS – Prolonged ischemic time for free-tissue transfer in head and neck (H&N) reconstruction was not linked with intraoperative or postoperative complications, a researcher reported here. Among patients in the quartile of fastest times — a mean of 104 minutes of ischemic time in the free flap surgery — the postop complication rate was 21.3%, […]
Opinion | There’s Something Magical About the Interface of Baseball and Medicine
When I moved from New York City to Dallas in 2004, I needed to make many personal adjustments. Surprisingly, one of the most prominent shifts was related to — baseball. In New York, baseball was essential to the city’s identity. Whether someone rooted for the Yankees or Mets (or Brooklyn Dodgers), baseball was tied inextricably […]