Americans With Heart Disease Less Likely to Use Wearable Devices
Fewer Americans with or at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) used a wearable health monitoring device than the general population, according to a nationally representative sample using 2019-2020 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data. Only 18% of adults with CVD and 26% of those at risk for CVD reported using a wearable device to […]
Obesity-Related Medication Use Remains Low After Bariatric Surgery
Fewer patients with obesity used lipid-lowering, cardiovascular, or antidiabetic drugs after bariatric surgery compared with matched patients who did not have surgery for morbid obesity, a population-based cohort study in Sweden and Finland found. Bariatric surgery patients had a lower probability of receiving a prescription for one of the three categories of medication in all […]
Supreme Court Preserves Access to Mifepristone
The Supreme Court on Friday preserved access to mifepristone (Mifeprex), a drug used in medication abortions by millions of women since its approval more than two decades ago, rejecting restrictions set to be imposed by lower courts while the case can be fully heard. “Although the Supreme Court has kept mifepristone available to patients for […]
Buprenorphine for Chronic Pain, Not Full Agonist Opioids, New VA Guidance Says
Buprenorphine, rather than a full agonist opioid, should be used for patients taking daily opioids for chronic pain, given its lower risk for overdose or misuse, new guidelines from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) recommended. But “the guideline development group does not recommend use of opioid analgesics in the […]
The Advice Therapists Give People Considering Severing Ties With Family Over Politics
Family estrangements ― a term used broadly to describe situations in which someone cuts off all communication with one or more relatives ― seem to be more common than ever. Over one-quarter of adults responding to a U.S. survey by the Cornell Family Reconciliation Project reported being estranged from a family member. When applied to […]
Abortion Pill Can Be Dispensed in Retail Pharmacies, FDA Says
The FDA is now permitting mifepristone (Mifeprex), one of two drugs used for medication abortion, to be dispensed in retail pharmacies, the agency announced on Tuesday. Prior to this announcement, mifepristone could only be dispensed by some mail-order pharmacies, or in person by specially certified providers. This week’s decision will allow patients to pick up […]
Virtual reality game to objectively detect ADHD
Researchers have used virtual reality games, eye tracking and machine learning to show that differences in eye movements can be used to detect ADHD, potentially providing a tool for more precise diagnosis of attention deficits. Their approach could also be used as the basis for an ADHD therapy, and with some modifications, to assess other […]
5-ARIs Not Linked to Risk of Dementia Over the Long Term
Men taking 5α-reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs), commonly used for androgenic alopecia and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), should be aware of possible adverse psychological effects, researchers warned. In a register-based cohort study of over 2.2 million Swedish men, an increased risk for depression was seen in those taking finasteride (Proscar, Propecia; HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.48-1.75) or […]
A common dietary fiber promotes allergy-like immune responses in preclinical studies
A type of dietary fiber called inulin, commonly used in health supplements and known to have certain anti-inflammatory properties, can also promote an allergy-related type of inflammation in the lung and gut, and other parts of the body, according to a preclinical study from researchers in the Friedman Center for Nutrition and Inflammation and Jill […]
CDC Examines Monkeypox’s Ability to Linger on Home Surfaces
Commonly used household surfaces in the Utah home of two infected and symptomatic monkeypox patients were covered with PCR-detected virus, yet no samples were culturable, according to a CDC investigation. Among 30 samples taken 20 days since the start of the patients’ isolation, 70% turned up positive on real-time positive PCR tests specific for non-variola […]