Sleep Quality Linked With Cognition Across Five Cohorts
AMSTERDAM — Better sleep consolidation and the absence of sleep apnea were associated with better global cognition over 5 years, a pooled analysis of sleep studies in nearly 6,000 adults showed. Across five cohorts, higher sleep maintenance efficiency (pooled β per 1% increase 0.08, P<0.01) and lower wake after sleep onset (pooled β per 1-min […]
PPI Still Common With Self-Expanding TAVR
Need for a pacemaker after transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with a self-expanding device was both common and impactful for mortality, but the risk appeared to be modifiable, international registry data showed. Of patients treated with an Acurate neo/neo2 (approved outside the U.S.) or Evolut PRO/PRO+ valve, 11.3% needed new permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) […]
‘Exciting’ siRNA Therapy for Hypertension Passes First Hurdle
Patients with hypertension successfully dialed down their angiotensinogen levels and had lasting reductions in blood pressure (BP) following one injection of an investigational small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy, according to a phase I study. In this first-in-human, placebo-controlled study, patients who received zilebesiran showed dose-dependent decreases in serum angiotensinogen levels and 24-hour ambulatory BP after […]
External Causes of Death More Likely in Those With Bipolar Disorder
While bipolar disorder is known to be associated with early mortality, deaths are more likely to be caused by external factors, such as suicide, than somatic factors, such as alcohol-related diseases, according to a Finnish nationwide cohort study. In the cohort of people ages 15 to 64, those with bipolar disorder had six-fold higher mortality […]
Donanemab Slows Progression in Early Alzheimer’s
AMSTERDAM — Investigational donanemab significantly slowed clinical progression at 76 weeks in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease who had amyloid and tau pathology, the phase III TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial showed. The drug, which targets a modified form of beta amyloid known as N3pG, showed significant slowing versus placebo on measures of cognition and daily […]
Opinion | ‘Can’t Just Sit Back and Walk Away With a Settlement’: What We Heard This Week
“I can’t just sit back and walk away with a settlement.” — Ming Lin, MD, an emergency medicine physician who was fired early in the COVID pandemic for airing alleged safety concerns. “This is getting at the whole diagnostic odyssey for rare diseases.” — P.J. Brooks, PhD, acting director of NIH’s NCATS’ Division of Rare […]
COVID-19 Impaired Fertility Treatments
Couples infected with the COVID-19 virus while receiving assisted reproductive technology treatment had lower quality embryo and blastocyst rates when compared to non-infected couples, a retrospective cohort study in China showed. In nearly 600 couples who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment at a reproductive center, SARS-CoV-2–positive couples had significantly […]
Stem Cell Medical Tourism Leads to Meningitis in MS Patient
A woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) who had intrathecal injections of umbilical cord stem cells in Mexico ended up with a severe Mycobacterium abscessus infection that took weeks to identify and treat, according to a case study. In October 2022, the woman in her 30s traveled to Baja California, Mexico, and received two lumbar punctures […]
BRAF-MEK Inhibition Achieves ‘Near Universal’ Response in Rare Brain Tumor
Targeted BRAF-MEK inhibition resulted in a response in nearly all patients with untreated BRAF V600E–mutated papillary craniopharyngioma, according to results from a small phase II study. Of 16 evaluable patients treated with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib (Cotellic) over several monthly cycles, 15 had a durable, objective partial response or […]
NAFLD and T2DM Bodes Higher Risk of Liver Decompensation, Cancer
Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes may be at significantly higher risk of hepatic decompensation and liver cancer, researchers reported. In a meta-analysis of six studies that included 1,737 patients with NAFLD followed for approximately 3 years, those with diabetes had twice the risk for developing hepatic decompensation (HR 2.15, […]