It’s the Summer of Barbie … Botox?
Welcome to Culture Clinic, MedPage Today‘s collaboration with Northwell Health to offer a healthcare professional’s take on the latest viral medical topics. “Barbie Botox,” also known as trap Botox, has existed for years but Google Trends data revealed that searches for “Barbie Botox” skyrocketed in early July, coinciding with the extensive promotion campaign for the […]
Ultra-Rare Immune System Disease Gets First FDA-Approved Treatment
The FDA approved pozelimab (Veopoz) as the first treatment for adults and children ages 1 year and up with CD55-deficient protein-losing enteropathy. Also known as CHAPLE (complement hyperactivation, angiopathic thrombosis, and protein-losing enteropathy) disease, CD55-deficient protein-losing enteropathy is an inherited disease marked by mutations of the complement regulator CD55 gene, which causes the complement system […]
COX-2 Inhibitor Added to Levonorgestrel Improved Emergency Contraception Efficacy
Taking the oral cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor piroxicam in combination with levonorgestrel improved emergency contraception efficacy versus levonorgestrel alone, with no additional adverse events, a randomized controlled trial showed. Piroxicam 40 mg combined with levonorgestrel 1.5 mg prevented 94.7% of expected pregnancies compared with 63.4% with levonorgestrel plus placebo (P<0.0001), reported Raymond Hang Wun Li, MD, […]
Few Early Alzheimer’s Patients Qualify for Lecanemab
Few people with early Alzheimer’s disease met eligibility criteria for the new anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody treatments lecanemab (Leqembi) and aducanumab (Aduhelm), cross-sectional data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging showed. Of 237 people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia and increased brain amyloid on PET, clinical trial inclusion and exclusion criteria narrowed the […]
Use of E-Cigs Alone Linked to Respiratory Symptoms
Use of e-cigarettes may be inherently associated with respiratory issues regardless of traditional cigarette or cannabis exposure, a prospective study found. Teenagers who reported using e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days subsequently reported an increased risk for shortness of breath (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.23-2.57), wheezing (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.28-2.56), and bronchitic symptoms (OR […]
AI Beat Clinicians at Figuring Out Difficult Diagnoses
A generative artificial intelligence (AI) program diagnosed elderly patients with extensive medical histories and long hospital stays more accurately than clinicians, suggesting the technology could help identify missed diagnoses, according to a new study. An analysis of medical histories for six patients over the age of 65 with delayed diagnoses revealed that GPT-4 (Generative Pre-trained […]
What Are Clinician Groups Doing About Climate Change?
With climate change being such a big story in the news this past week, it was a good time to check in with Lisa Patel, MD, MESc, who became the new executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health in January. MedPage Today (MPT) Washington Editor Joyce Frieden spoke with Patel about […]
Experts Reveal 3 Exercises That May Help Kids Perform Better In School
RichLegg via Getty Images Improving attention, decreasing burnout and boosting memory can begin with leisure-time activities. The movement kids get throughout the day just might affect their classroom performance. Case in point: a recent study by the University of Eastern Finland. The research looked at more than 34,000 adolescent Finnish students. Those who had active […]
Tool Predicts PsA Progression From Psoriasis, No Fancy Biomarkers Needed
A risk-prediction algorithm was modestly accurate for identifying patients with psoriasis who are likely to progress to psoriatic arthritis (PsA), researchers reported. Based on patients’ demographics and clinical presentations routinely assessed during office visits, the model was about 72% effective in predicting 1-year risk of progression, and 75% effective (using slightly different input data) for […]
Microbiome Study Provides New Clues to Common Pathology of Inflammatory Conditions
An alteration in gut microbiome diversity occurred in patients with three different inflammatory conditions, suggesting a common pathology, prospective rRNA sequencing of patients’ stool samples showed. Patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA), acute anterior uveitis (AAU), and Crohn’s disease had a low concentration of Lachnospiraceae compared with a control group of patients with back pain and […]