Why Does Everyone Seem To Have The Flu Right Now?
visualspace via Getty Images Influenza cases are definitely more prominent this year, and experts have a few theories. If you suspected this flu season is rougher than previous ones, you’re not imagining it. Last season, flu activity had already peaked and was on the downfall by early January. This year, influenza continues to surge across […]
Eliminating These 3 Foods From Your Diet Can Be A Game-Changer For Heart Health
Tom_Young67 via Getty Images Hint: All three foods are shown in this photo. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. People of most racial and ethnic groups in the country are more likely to die from a heart-related issue than anything else. These statistics are startling, and if you’ve ever […]
Opinion | ‘Tip of a Billion-Dollar Claims Iceberg’: What We Heard This Week
“This is just the tip of a billion-dollar claims iceberg as there are hundreds of U.S. clinics that have fraudulently billed Medicare for these birth tissue products to treat pain.” — Chris Centeno, MD, who manages a network of interventional orthopedic clinics, on birth-tissue product companies promoting their products for unapproved indications. “Doctors aren’t given […]
How Cardiac Arrest Became a Household Topic After Damar Hamlin’s Collapse
In January, we reported on Damar Hamlin’s collapse during a televised football game. In this report, we follow up on the resulting public interest on sudden cardiac arrest that made Hamlin the most searched person of 2023. During the final Monday Night Football game for the 2022-2023 National Football League (NFL) season, all gameplay between […]
Opinion | ‘It Is a Horrifying Prospect’: What We Heard This Year
In place of our usual “What We Heard This Week” feature, and as part of our year-end wrap-ups, we’ve selected some of the best quotes our reporters heard in 2023. “It is a horrifying prospect that many more individuals could die because they will be forced to remain pregnant against their will.” — Jen Villavicencio, […]
U.S. Attempts to Get Its Xylazine Problem Under Control
In February, we reported on the emerging problem of xylazine-laced fentanyl. In this report, we follow up on what has happened since doctors first started raising concerns about this contaminant and its effects. Early in 2023, word started to spread among physicians that a veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine — also known as “tranq” — was […]
SABCS 2023 Highlights Open the Door for More Key Data in 2024
In this exclusive MedPage Today video, Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, of UT Health Sciences Center in San Antonio and co-director of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), highlights some of the most impactful and paradigm-shifting sessions in breast cancer presented at this year’s symposium — and provides some insight into what questions might be […]
Watch Out for Eye Injuries From Champagne Corks, Experts Warn
Keep an eye on those champagne corks this holiday season — but not too close an eye, researchers warned. Eye injuries from popping open bottles of sparkling wine “are an often overlooked and substantial threat to ocular health,” Ethan Waisberg, MD, of the University of Cambridge in England, and colleagues wrote in The BMJ‘s traditional […]
Clinical Challenges: Managing Pediatric Crohn’s Disease
Pediatric Crohn’s disease (CD) is on the rise, with an estimated 40,000 U.S. children affected by this potentially growth-stunting condition. This increase is not an artifact of better detection. “Rather, it appears that Western diets, antibiotic exposure early in life, and dietary emulsifiers may contribute to disease pathogenesis,” said Jeffrey Hyams, MD, of Connecticut Children’s […]
Clinical Challenges: Using Pola-R-CHP for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Earlier this year, the FDA approved a new frontline option for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin (Polivy) in combination with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (pola-R-CHP). Combination chemotherapy involving rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) — and before that, CHOP alone — has been the established option […]