I Understand Why Defense Secretary Austin Kept His Prostate Cancer Quiet
When the news broke in early January that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized for unrevealed reasons, my first thought was: “Aha, prostate cancer.” Turns out I was right. A Black man like him has a higher risk than the majority white population of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, getting a more aggressive cancer, and […]
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 […]
Is Omitting Radiation Therapy in Low-Risk Breast Cancer a Good IDEA?
SAN ANTONIO — Postmenopausal women with genomically low-risk early hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer had a low risk of recurrence with endocrine therapy alone after lumpectomy, a randomized trial showed. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were 100% without adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) in 186 women ages 50-69 followed for at […]
Prone Positioning Falls Flat for Weaning COVID Patients Off ECMO
Early application of prone positioning did not help patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) — mostly from COVID — get off venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) any faster compared to supine positioning, a randomized trial found. Among ARDS patients receiving ECMO, an identical 44% of patients were successfully weaned off ECMO after 60 […]
This Type Of Disaster Could Be The Most Dangerous Of All — And It’s A Mystery
Shortly after entering the field of public health in the early 1970s, Stephen Lester learned there was one thing he should steer clear of studying: how exposure to multiple chemicals at once might be devastating human health. It was nearly impossible to secure government grant money for mixture studies, due to monumental hurdles in interpreting […]
Emicizumab Can Delay Immunosuppressive Tx in Acquired Hemophilia A
Early emicizumab (Hemlibra) prophylaxis alone prevented clinically relevant bleeds in patients with newly diagnosed acquired hemophilia A, while avoiding the infectious complications of immunosuppressive therapy in this vulnerable population, a phase II study showed. Over 12 weeks of therapy, a high-dose regimen of the factor VIIIa mimetic antibody yielded a low mean breakthrough bleeding rate […]
Antibody Slows Beta-Cell Loss Early in Type 1 Diabetes
A course of teplizumab (Tzield) may help preserve beta-cells when given early after a type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis, similar to the anti-CD3 antibody’s delay on progression from preclinical disease, the randomized PROTECT trial showed. Two 12-day courses of the drug resulted in 59.3% less loss of beta-cell function, with higher stimulated C-peptide levels at […]
Single Dose of Antibiotic Cured Early Syphilis, Even in Those With HIV
BOSTON — One dose of benzathine penicillin G for the treatment of early syphilis was shown to be noninferior to a regimen of three weekly doses a week apart, even among people who are living with HIV, a randomized trial showed. At 6 months among patients with and without HIV, the cumulative response was 76% […]
Early treatment of child obesity is effective
The early treatment of obesity in children is effective in both the short and long term, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in a study published in The International Journal of Obesity. The researchers followed over 170 young children in Sweden who had received treatment for diagnosed obesity. The children were recruited to the randomised controlled […]
Opinion | Medical Debt Is Killing Our Patients
Venkat is an emergency physician and state representative. As an emergency medicine resident in the early 2000s, I cared for a patient in her early 60s with back pain. Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), approximately 16% of emergency department patients were uninsured. Often their issues were of low acuity, again […]