Non-Ablative Intervention for BPH/LUTS Reduces Symptoms With Low Retreatment Rate
LAS VEGAS — A novel, non-ablative intervention for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) produced rapid, durable symptom relief with no adverse effect on sexual function, long-term results from prospective study showed. Five years after treatment with the Optilume BPH catheter system, urinary flow rate (Qmax) improved by 63% and post-void residual volume (PVR) remained substantially […]
Improved Fitness May Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk
Improving cardiorespiratory fitness may lower men’s prostate cancer risk, results from a Swedish study suggested. The retrospective study showed that an overall increase in absolute cardiorespiratory fitness (as measured by changes in VO2max) was associated with a 2% reduced risk of prostate cancer incidence (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-0.99), when adjusted for baseline fitness, age, […]
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Tied to Lower Midlife Cognitive Test Scores
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was linked with lower cognitive test scores in middle age, a cohort study suggested. After 30 years of follow-up, women who were diagnosed as having PCOS in young adulthood performed lower on a composite of five cognitive function tests (ß coefficient for mean z scores difference -0.190, 95% CI -0.327 to […]
One Class of Antidiabetic Linked With Lower Kidney Stone Risk
One class of glucose-lowering agent may help lower the risk of kidney stones in adults with type 2 diabetes, a cohort study suggested. Adults who newly started on an SGLT2 inhibitor had a 31% lower risk of nephrolithiasis compared with those starting on a GLP-1 receptor agonist (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.67-0.72), found Julie M. […]
Opinion | ‘A Cash Cow for Hospitals’: What We Heard This Week
“A government program meant to provide incentives to serve lower income Americans is actually a cash cow for hospitals.” — Michael Barnett, MD, of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, on the pitfalls of the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. “In practice, it’s just not happening.” — Samuel Dickman, MD, […]
No Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation With GLP-1 Drugs
Despite recent concerns to the contrary, semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) carried a lower risk of suicidal ideation in patients with obesity or type 2 diabetes, according to retrospective analyses of the two patient populations. An analysis of 240,618 patients who were overweight or obese showed that those taking semaglutide — a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor […]
Opening Blood-Brain Barrier to Deliver Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Promise
Aducanumab (Aduhelm) infusions combined with focused ultrasound led to lower cerebral amyloid-beta levels in Alzheimer’s disease, a proof-of-concept trial showed. The investigational treatment involved creating an opening in the blood-brain barrier with MRI-guided focused ultrasound to boost drug delivery. In each of three participants who received aducanumab infusions, amyloid reduction was greater in brain regions […]
Iodine Linked With Men’s Testosterone Levels
Lower iodine concentrations in the urine was independently associated with higher testosterone levels, a cross-sectional study found. Looking at nearly 3,000 U.S. men, those with lower urinary iodine concentrations had significantly higher total testosterone levels than men with either normal or high iodine levels (β -0.028, 95% CI -0.049 to -0.006, P=0.01), Arcangelo Barbonetti, PhD, […]
Moderna’s mRNA RSV Vaccine Effective in Older Adults
Moderna’s mRNA-based RSV vaccine was effective at preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease in adults ages 60 and older, according to results of the randomized ConquerRSV trial. The mRNA-1345 vaccine was 83.7% effective (95.88% CI 66%-92.2%) in preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease with at least two signs or symptoms, and similarly effective (82.4%) against […]
Alcohol consumption may have positive and negative effects on cardiovascular disease risk
While past research has indicated that moderate alcohol consumption can lower one’s risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), more recent studiessuggest that moderate levels of drinking may be hazardous to heart health. A new analysis led by Boston University School of Public Health and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University (Friedman School) […]