Popular dietary supplement causes cancer risk, brain metastasis, study finds
While previous studies have linked commercial dietary supplements like nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, to benefits related to cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological health, new research from the University of Missouri has found NR could actually increase the risk of serious disease, including developing cancer. The international team of researchers led by Elena […]
Mixed Results With Alerts for AKI-Related Medications in Hospital
While medication-targeted acute kidney injury (AKI) alerts led to certain kidney-affecting medications being stopped, the overall clinical impact was limited, a researcher reported. The open-label, randomized trial included over 5,000 patients hospitalized for AKI with an active order for one of the medication of interest (MOIs) classes that were selected as being possibly nephrotoxic — […]
Opinion | The Healthcare System Didn’t Plan Poorly for Disaster
I was, for a while, a lecturer/consultant for the “Domestic Preparedness Program.” This was an initiative by the Department of Justice to ensure that first responders around the U.S. were prepared to deal with the medical consequences of nuclear, biological, chemical, and blast injuries. This was before the terrible events of 9/11. Our job as […]
At risk for diabetes? Cut the carbs, says new study
While low-carb diets are often recommended for those being treated for diabetes, little evidence exists on whether eating fewer carbs can impact the blood sugar of those with diabetes or prediabetes who aren’t treated by medications. Now, according to new research from Tulane University, a low-carb diet can help those with unmedicated diabetes — and […]
Distressing Study On Long COVID-19 Reveals Just How Enduring It Can Be
While most people can recover from COVID-19 and go back to their normal lives, many still have symptoms for months after an initial infection, according to new research from Scotland. A study published Wednesday in the Nature Communications journal followed 33,281 people with recent COVID-19 infections, as well as a control group of 62,957 people […]
Does One Bad Apple Really Spoil The Bunch? Here’s What To Do With Rotten, Moldy Food
You’ve surely heard the expression about one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch. While it’s a metaphor for someone whose behavior makes a whole group look bad, it might also literally refer to the actual fruits and vegetables in your fridge. When you find one rotten grape in a pack or moldy bell pepper in […]
Three Adjuvant Immunotherapy Trials Flop in Renal Cell Carcinoma
PARIS — While pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has been approved as an adjuvant treatment for patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma (RCC), three phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual congress here failed to support the immune checkpoint inhibitor in this setting. In Part A of the CheckMate-914 trial, the median […]
Healthcare Workers Who Wear Better Masks Get Less COVID
Healthcare workers had better odds of outmaneuvering SARS-CoV-2 infection while wearing a respirator mask rather than a surgical mask, an observational study showed. Among workers exposed to COVID-19 patients, those who always donned a respirator mask had a lower likelihood of infection (21% vs 35% for those that did not; OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.39-0.61), […]
Are Skin Lesion Analyzers Ready for Prime Time?
While the FDA is proposing to reclassify two class III computer-aided melanoma detection devices as class II devices, most members of its General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel suggested that such a move would be premature during the Medical Devices Advisory Committee meeting on Friday. According to the FDA, reclassification of the MelaFind and Nevisense […]
Serrated Polyp Detection a Good Indicator of Colonoscopy Quality
While the adenoma detection rate (ADR) is a well-established quality indicator for colonoscopy, the proximal serrated polyp detection rate (PSPDR) should be used as a complementary tool, according to a Dutch population-based study. Among over 200,000 colonoscopies performed by 441 endoscopists, each percentage point increase in the PSPDR was associated with a 7% lower risk […]