Maternal Mortality Rose Significantly in 2021, CDC Says
Maternal mortality in the U.S. significantly increased in 2021 compared with the previous year, the CDC reported Thursday. A total of 1,205 women died of maternal causes in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019, according to the report from Donna Hoyert, PhD, of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The […]
Deaths From PSA-Detected Prostate Cancer Low at 15 Years, No Matter the Treatment
For prostate cancers detected by screening, cancer-specific mortality was low at 15-year follow-up regardless of whether patients underwent active monitoring, prostatectomy, or radiotherapy, results from the phase III randomized ProtecT study showed. Among over 1,600 men from the U.K. with prostate cancers detected by a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, death from their malignancy occurred in […]
Older People With Type 2 Diabetes See Growing Cancer Burden
Older people with type 2 diabetes faced a higher burden of cancer mortality in recent years, according to a U.K. study. In a cohort of over 137,000 individuals with type 2 diabetes, all-cause mortality rates dropped among all age groups from 1998-2018, reported Suping Ling, PhD, of the University of Leicester in England, and colleagues. […]
Funding, Policy Changes Needed to End Maternal Health Crisis, Federal Officials Say
WASHINGTON — Addressing the maternal mortality crisis requires a layered approach that includes extending Medicaid coverage for postpartum persons, expanding home visitation programs, and giving hospitals “gold stars,” government officials said. But without action from Congress and the states, they stressed during a stakeholder meeting here Tuesday, certain tools to reduce maternal illness and death […]
Bariatric Surgery Cuts All-Cause Mortality Rate Over Many Years
SAN DIEGO –Patients who underwent bariatric surgery saw a reduction in all-cause mortality that held strong over multiple years, researchers reported. In a retrospectives study, bariatric surgery patients were 16% less likely to die from any cause than their matched non-surgical counterparts over a median 13.2 follow-up period (hazard ratio 0.84, 95% CI 0.79-0.90, P<0.001), […]
Mortality Numbers Put the Humble Salt Shaker in the Hot Seat
More generous use of salt outside cooking was associated with premature mortality — but not in people eating more potassium rich-foods such as vegetables and fruits — according to a study of over half a million people. Participants from the U.K. Biobank reported their frequency of table salt use, with higher use linked to a […]
Less Fluid Not Better for Septic Shock
A more restrictive protocol for IV fluids didn’t reduce mortality for adults in the ICU receiving treatment for septic shock, the CLASSIC trial showed. Restricting IV crystalloid fluids to small boluses only for severe hypoperfusion, to replace documented fluid losses, or for dehydration and electrolyte deficiency for patients who couldn’t take fluids enterally yielded a […]
Urinary Symptoms Linked to Increased Mortality Risk in Men
Moderate and severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) may be risk factors for mortality in men, according to a Finnish population-based cohort study. In multivariable-adjusted analyses of moderate and severe symptoms (disregarding bother), voiding and storage LUTS were each associated with increased mortality (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.00-1.40, and HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.13-1.62, respectively), […]
Transgender Women Dying Faster Than General Population
Transgender people faced a much higher mortality rate than cisgender peers, according to a new Dutch study. In a retrospective, observational study spanning from 1972 to 2018, a total of 10.8% (317 of 2,927) of transgender women using hormonal therapy included in the analysis died during follow-up. This number was starkly higher than the number […]
Finerenone improves outcomes in patients with mild-to-moderate kidney disease and diabetes
Finerenone reduces the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with mild-to-moderate kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. That’s the finding of late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 20211 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine2. Diabetic kidney disease develops in approximately 40% of patients […]