Probiotics Show Promise for Symptoms of Functional GI Disorders
Spore-forming probiotics were safe and effective for treating functional dyspepsia symptoms in a small randomized Belgium trial. In an intention-to-treat analysis involving 55 patients with functional dyspepsia, a greater proportion of those given probiotics achieved clinical response at 8 weeks compared to patients given placebo (48% vs 20%, respectively; RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.07-4.11, P=0.028), […]
More Data Support Active Surveillance for Small Renal Masses
Patients with small renal masses avoided interventions in 70% of cases during about 3 years of active surveillance that had a standard protocol to identify progression requiring intervention, investigators reported. During 31-34 months of follow-up, 37 of 123 patients met criteria for intervention, and 29 of the 37 underwent delayed intervention. The cohort had a […]
Neuroscientists posit that brain region is a key locus of learning
Small and seemingly specialized, the brain’s locus coeruleus (LC) region has been stereotyped for its outsized export of the arousal-stimulating neuromodulator norepinephrine. In a new paper and with a new grant from the National Institutes of Health, an MIT neuroscience lab is making the case that the LC is not just an alarm button but […]
Drug Resistance in People on PrEP Who Acquire HIV
While a small subset of individuals acquired HIV despite being in a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program, many of those people had mutations resistant to antiretroviral drugs, according to a study from the Global Evaluation of Microbicide Sensitivity (GEMS) project. Breakthrough HIV infections occurred in 204 individuals in GEMS, out of more than 104,000 people in […]