Oral Drug Gains Steam as On-Demand Option for Hereditary Angioedema Attacks
WASHINGTON — The investigational oral drug sebetralstat provided on-demand relief during tissue swelling attacks from hereditary angioedema (HAE), a phase III study showed. Following self-administration, time to the beginning of symptom relief was reduced from a median 6.7 hours with placebo to 1.6 hours with a 300-mg dose of the plasma kallikrein inhibitor (P<0.0001) and […]
Morphine Quieted Cough in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
A brief course of morphine provided some relief for patients with cough related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in a small, phase II double-blind crossover trial. Two weeks of low-dose controlled-release morphine reduced objective awake cough frequency by 39.4% over a placebo treatment phase (95% CI -54.4 to -9.4), reported Philip Molyneaux, PhD, of Imperial […]
ChatGPT Flubbed Drug Information Questions
ANAHEIM, Calif. — ChatGPT provided incorrect or incomplete information when asked about drugs, and in some cases invented references to support its answers, two evaluative studies found. In the first, 39 questions sent to a drug information service for pharmacists were later posed to ChatGPT, which provided no response, an inaccurate response, or an incomplete […]
Antisense Drug Trial Provides Key Insights About Huntington’s Disease
The halted GENERATION HD1 (GENHD1) study of the investigational antisense drug tominersen provided insights about Huntington’s disease staging and informed future clinical trials, researchers said. The phase III study involved 791 manifest Huntington’s disease patients who received intrathecal tominersen 120 mg either every 8 weeks or every 16 weeks, or placebo. Based on an overall […]
Opinion | A World AIDS Day Reminder: No One Should Be Left Behind
Guilamo-Ramos is a nurse and HIV/AIDS researcher. As a nurse who has for decades provided clinical care and conducted research on the challenges faced by individuals at risk for and living with HIV, I believe the steady progress our nation has made in combatting HIV/AIDS is truly remarkable. That is why, on this World AIDS […]
The microbiome of fruit and vegetables positively influences diversity in the gut
In a meta-study, a research team from the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at TU Graz has provided evidence that the consumption of fruit and vegetables contributes positively to bacterial diversity in the human gut. Bacterial diversity in the gut plays an important role in human health. The crucial question, however, is where are the sources […]
Common Shoulder Procedure Found Worthless
Saline lavage, meant to loosen up calcified shoulder tendons, provided no benefit in a double-blind, sham-controlled trial, researchers said. Four months after treatment, Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) values were about the same whether patients with so-called calcific tendinopathy received the actual saline lavage plus injections with a corticosteroid (triamcinolone) and lidocaine, sham lavage plus the […]
Bempedoic Acid Proves Clinical Benefits for the Statin-Intolerant
NEW ORLEANS — Bempedoic acid (Nexletol) provided compelling clinical benefit in terms of primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention for statin-intolerant patients who need cholesterol lowering, according to the CLEAR Outcomes trial. Cementing its place in the arsenal of nonstatin therapies, the ATP citrate lyase inhibitor met the primary endpoint in reducing major adverse cardiovascular events […]
Durable Responses, Safety in Atopic Dermatitis Treated With IL-13 Inhibitor
The interleukin (IL)-13 inhibitor tralokinumab (Adbry) for atopic dermatitis provided long-term disease control with a favorable safety profile and improved quality of life (QoL), data from two studies showed. Interim results from a long-term extension study showed that 82.5% of patients had at least 75% improvement in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI-75) after […]
Lab earthquakes show how grains at fault boundaries lead to major quakes: Faults once thought to be ‘creeping’ yet stable may be at risk for big ruptures
By simulating earthquakes in a lab, Caltech engineers have provided strong experimental support for a form of earthquake propagation now thought responsible for the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that devastated the coast of Japan in 2011. Along some fault lines, which are the boundaries of tectonic plates, a fine-grained gravel is formed as the plates grind against […]