Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Common in People With Other Dementias
Alzheimer’s pathology was common in other dementias. An Alzheimer’s biomarker profile was seen in unspecified dementia, Parkinson’s dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Biomarkers indicating Alzheimer’s-like pathology were tied to cognitive function. Alzheimer’s disease pathology was common in people diagnosed with other dementias, a large cross-sectional study in Sweden showed. While most patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s […]
Meth-Related Cardiomyopathy: Where the Biggest Clusters Are
The American West has seen the biggest surge of cardiomyopathy-associated hospital admissions among methamphetamine users, based on 13 years of the latest available hospital admission data. The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) showed that methamphetamine-related cardiomyopathy admissions spiked by 231% from 2008 to 2020 nationwide — whereas overall admissions for heart failure increased just 12% during […]
Kindness a Key Component of Treating Pregnant Patients With SUD, Experts Say
“Don’t be mean.” That advice might be seen as unnecessary for most doctor-patient relationships, but not for treating patients with substance use disorder (SUD), especially pregnant patients, according to Cara Poland, MD, MEd, of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing. “The bar is really low in addiction,” she said Wednesday during […]
Surgical Volumes Matter for Outcomes at Ambulatory Centers, Too
As seen for hospital-based procedures, ambulatory surgical outcomes were significantly better on average at centers with relatively high volumes, Medicare data indicated. Odds of hospital admission or emergency department visit within 7 days of an ambulatory surgical procedure were 21% greater in low- versus high-volume centers (95% CI 9%-36%), according to Jeffrey H. Silber, MD, […]
The 1 Thing To Avoid If You Don’t Want Narcissistic Kids
skynesher via Getty Images There’s a Bluey episode you might’ve seen where Muffin (a young dog) is told she’s ‘special’ by her dad. When Bluey and Bingo want to play libraries, Muffin thinks she doesn’t have to follow the rules and ends up ruining the game for everybody else. When Muffin’s dad finds out about […]
Have You Ever Experienced ‘Jamais Vu’? Here’s What It Is And Why It Happens.
Photo by Rafa Elias via Getty Images If something you’ve seen a million times, like a word or a celebrity, suddenly looks unfamiliar, jamais vu could explain why. Déjà vu is a transitory mental state that, according to one study, as much as 97% of the population have experienced at least once in their life. […]
Retinal Changes Emerge Years Before Parkinson’s Disease
People with Parkinson’s disease had retinal changes that could be seen with optical coherence tomography (OCT) years before diagnosis, cross-sectional data suggested. Both incident and prevalent Parkinson’s disease were associated with reduced ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and inner nuclear layer (INL) thicknesses, reported Siegfried Karl Wagner, MSc, MD, of University College London in England, […]
Prescriptions for Stimulants Jumped During the Pandemic
Prescriptions for stimulants have risen in recent years, with the sharpest increases seen during the pandemic, according to the CDC. In an analysis of claims from employer-sponsored insurance, the percentage of enrollees with one or more prescription stimulant fills rose from 3.6% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2021, Melissa Danielson, MSPH, of the CDC, and […]
Brain Structure, Widespread Connectivity Changes Seen With Long COVID
Gray matter atrophy and severe disruption of brain functional connectivity were seen in long COVID patients with anxiety and depression about 3 months after acute mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. Compared with people who were asymptomatic after SARS-CoV-2 infection, long COVID patients with both anxiety and depression showed limbic atrophy and a widespread pattern of hyperconnectivity, reported […]
Recent Developments in Allergic Asthma
Forty-two weeks into 2022, the year has seen significant progress in bringing relief to patients with allergic asthma. Among them: research identifying novel types of precipitating factors (literally, in one recent study), better understanding of air pollution’s contributions to asthma exacerbations, and insights into how climate change may affect asthma patients. And drug developers in […]