CDC: Flu Shots Working Moderately Well This Season
Early estimates suggest flu shots are performing OK in the current U.S. winter flu season. The vaccines were around 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctor’s office, clinic, or hospital, health officials said during a CDC vaccines meeting Wednesday. Children who were […]
For Kids With Sickle Cell Disease Prescribed Opioids, No Patterns of Misuse Emerged
No patterns of long-term or increasing use of opioids were identified within 3 years among opioid-naive children with sickle cell disease (SCD) who were prescribed the drugs for an acute pain episode, according to a retrospective cohort study. In the cohort of 725 children, mean days’ supply of opioids over 3 years was 30, despite […]
Hypertension, Diabetes in Pregnancy Affects Offspring’s Heart Health in Adolescence
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Moms who had hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were more likely to have kids with worse cardiovascular health (CVH) in adolescence, a secondary analysis of an observational cohort study found. Adjusted models showed higher risks for less-than-ideal CVH in kids ages 10 to 14 when mothers […]
Another Study Backs Treatment for Preclinical Rheumatoid Arthritis
Inflammatory markers were reduced in patients with persistent joint pain and other markers for incipient rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as was progression to formal RA diagnosis, after a 6-month course of abatacept (Orencia) in a placebo-controlled trial. While 35% of controls were diagnosed with RA while on treatment in the trial, called ARIAA, only 8% of […]
Female Reproductive Factors Linked to COPD Risk
Female reproductive factors were associated with risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including age at menarche, number of children, miscarriage, stillbirth, and age at natural menopause, according to an analysis of three cohorts. Among nearly 300,000 women, a U-shaped association was observed between age at menarche and COPD (≤11 vs 13 years: HR 1.17, […]
My Dad Hid His Cancer From Me For Years. His Secret Changed Our Relationship In Ways I Never Imagined.
The author and her father celebrating her 21st birthday. Courtesy of Sophie Katzman My parents were visiting last spring when an argument broke out. Since our family does not shy away from debate, that wasn’t surprising. But when my father yelled, “You know I’m a cancer survivor!” during this particular fight, I was taken aback […]
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Tied to Less Alzheimer’s Risk
Erectile dysfunction drugs were associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, electronic health record (EHR) data from 270,000 men in the U.K. suggested. Over a median follow-up of about 5 years, men who started taking phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors were less likely to have an Alzheimer’s diagnosis than nonusers (adjusted HR 0.82, 95% CI […]
Most Immunocompromised Patients Clear Omicron Infections
Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron period was uncommon among patients who were moderately to severely immunocompromised, a prospective multicenter study found. Among the 150 individuals included in the analysis, 25% had prolonged infection lasting 21 days or more as detected by RT-PCR, and only 8% had a positive viral culture at 21 days or […]
Perioperative Complications Not Deciding Factor Between Two Bariatric Procedures
For patients undergoing primary bariatric surgery, perioperative complications and safety were similar between laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), the randomized BEST trial found. Incidence of any adverse event (AE) at 30 days didn’t significantly differ, occurring in 4.6% of sleeve gastrectomy and 6.3% of RYGB patients (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.47-1.08, […]
CDC Reports Deaths After Medical Tourism in the Dominican Republic
There were 93 deaths among U.S. residents who traveled to the Dominican Republic (D.R.) for cosmetic surgery from 2009 through 2022, according to findings in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). While there were a mean of 4.1 deaths after cosmetic surgery from 2009 through 2018, that number rose of 13 during 2019-2020, with a […]