20M People Worldwide Received HIV Treatment Through U.S.-Led Program
Approximately 20 million people with HIV in 54 countries have received antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as of September 2022, the CDC reported. This represents an increase of 300-fold from the 66,550 reported in September 2004, according to Helen M. Chun, MD, of the Division for Global […]
CDC, FDA Flag Early Signal of Stroke Risk With Bivalent COVID Vaccine
An early signal of stroke risk was detected in older adults who received Pfizer-BioNTech’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA and CDC announced in a joint statement late on Friday, yet the agencies found no link in further analyses and are not recommending a change in COVID-19 vaccination practice. According to the agencies, incidence of ischemic […]
Letter on Patient’s Fatal Overdose May Curb Benzodiazepine Prescribing
Physicians who received a letter from a medical examiner notifying them of a recent patient’s fatal overdose prescribed fewer benzodiazepines, a secondary analysis of clinical trial data showed. Daily 2-mg diazepam pill equivalents decreased more in an intervention group that received a medical examiner letter and injunction to prescribe safely compared with a control group […]
Nothing Lasts Forever, Including Infant BCG Vaccine Protection
Infants who received BCG [bacille Calmette-Guérin] vaccination at birth had protection against tuberculosis into early childhood, but that protection largely disappeared in only a few years, according to a meta-analysis. Effectiveness of the BCG vaccination against tuberculosis in all age groups was 18%. However, when the results were stratified by age, only in children younger […]
Patients with lupus benefit from COVID-19 vaccine booster
People with systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, who received a “booster” dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine after full vaccination are roughly half as likely to have a subsequent “breakthrough” COVID-19 infection, a new study shows. The finding, researchers say, should offer reassurance to the more than 200,000 Americans who have SLE, a condition in which the […]
Opinion | Cognitive Dissonance in the Medical Profession
Since writing a cathartic post about being burned out, I’ve received supportive messages as well as concerned calls from friends and former colleagues. Some were worried about my well-being. Others agreed with the sentiments. One note in particular resonated. It named cognitive dissonance as part of the problem. This dissonance is pervasive in society. The […]
Xtandi During AS Reduced Progression Risk in Early Prostate Cancer
Patients with low- or intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer who received enzalutamide (Xtandi) monotherapy saw a reduced risk of cancer progression, according to a randomized phase II trial. Among 227 patients on active surveillance (AS), treatment with enzalutamide reduced the risk of pathological or therapeutic prostate cancer progression by 46% compared with AS alone (HR 0.54, […]
Opinion | We’re Depriving Underserved Patients of the Best Drugs
During a busy clinic day for patients without health insurance, one of us received a jarring announcement. Certain lifesaving medications that we had previously been able to freely provide to patients were no longer available. The costs of these drugs were far beyond the reach of our patients, and so healthcare teams were forced to […]
Can weekly prednisone treat obesity? Obese mice gain muscle mass and lose fat with once weekly prednisone
Obese mice that were fed a high-fat diet and that received prednisone one time per week had improved exercise endurance, got stronger, increased their lean body mass and lost weight, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The mice also had increased muscle metabolism. The once-weekly prednisone promoted nutrient uptake into the muscles. Investigators also found […]
Investigational RSV Vaccine in Pregnancy Tied to Fewer Abx Scripts for Babies
Infants whose mothers received an investigational respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in pregnancy had fewer antimicrobial prescriptions during their first 3 months of life, a post hoc secondary analysis of a randomized trial found. Across 11 countries, infants born to mothers assigned to the vaccine arm during pregnancy had a 12.9% (95% CI 1.3-23.1) lower […]