Mar 21st, 2023 - Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are significantly less likely to have vision screening at well visits for 3- to 5-year-olds than are typically developing children, researchers have found. The report, by Kimberly Hoover, MD, of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and colleagues, was published online in Pediatrics.

Mar 20th, 2023 - As various surgical procedures become more feasible for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a team of hematologist-oncologists and cardiologists published a new report advising colleagues to carefully consider the risks and benefits of such operations. In the past decade, as targeted therapies have permitted better management of CLL, a new realm of possibilities has opened up for.

Mar 20th, 2023 - DENVER – Initiating exercise therapy early on in people who develop symptoms of knee osteoarthritis – even within their first year of pain or reduced function – is associated with modestly lower pain scores and modestly better function than in those whose symptoms have lasted longer, according to a study presented at the OARSI 2023 World Congress. Although the benefits of exercise therapy for a.

Mar 20th, 2023 - Social media and mainstream media websites are full of stories on the new wonder weight loss drug: Ozempic. Even Hollywood stars are talking about it.

Mar 20th, 2023 - To the Editor: Fat necrosis of the breast is a benign inflammatory disease of adipose tissue commonly observed after trauma in the female breast during the perimenopausal period. 1 Fat necrosis of the male breast is rare, first described by Silverstone2 in 1949; the condition usually presents with unilateral, painful or asymptomatic, firm nodules, which in rare cases are observed as skin retract.

Mar 20th, 2023 - Tofersen, an investigational antisense drug developed to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with a mutation in the SOD1 gene (SOD1-ALS), may have clinical benefit, FDA reviewers indicated in briefing documents ahead of an advisory committee meeting. On Wednesday, the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee will vote on whether evidence supporting a reduc...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Cases of Candida auris have tripled from 2019 to 2021, according to national surveillance data. After first being detected in the U.S. in 2016, annual clinical case counts increased to 476 in 2019, then to 756 in 2020 (a 59% jump), and then to 1,471 in 2021 (an additional 95% increase), reported Meghan Lyman, MD, of the CDC, and colleagues. C. auris colonization screening cases also increased, ...

Mar 20th, 2023 - As previously suspected, changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) were associated with reciprocal changes in mortality risk independent of other comorbidities or initial fitness status, a large observational study found. People who had serial exercise treadmill test assessments, with a median 6 years between initial and final tests, showed that changes in aerobic capacity over time tracked wi...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Compared with standard fractionation, hyperfractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) could significantly increase overall survival (OS), as well as reduce the rate of severe late complications in patients with locally advanced recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to Chinese investigators. Their phase III trial showed that patients randomized to hyperfractionated IMRT had bet...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Case: A 3-year-old girl presented to the emergency department after a brief seizure at home. She looked well on physical exam except for a fever of 103° F and thick rhinorrhea.

Mar 20th, 2023 - Using conventional ultrafiltration during cardiac surgery did not appear to reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, according to a retrospective analysis. After adjusting for confounding variables, the incidence of the composite primary outcome -- reintubation, prolonged ventilation, pneumonia, or pleural effusion -- was 12.1% in the conventional ultrafiltration group ver...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Physicians accepting payments from drug and device companies administered significantly more hyaluronic acid (HA) injections to Medicare beneficiaries for knee osteoarthritis, researchers found. Those receiving more than $100 in cash or other forms of remuneration were more than three times as likely to give HA injections under Medicare Part B than those receiving no payments (OR 3.28, 95% CI 2...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Tested against a gold standard, the widely accessible pulse oximetry technique turned out to overestimate arterial oxygen saturation in Black kids, researchers reported. Among children with true hypoxemia according to directly measured arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2 <88%), a discordant finding of normoxemia by peripheral oxygen saturation levels on pulse oximetry (SpO2 ≥92%), or a false...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Metformin may help cut the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) in those with type 2 diabetes, researchers reported. In a retrospective cohort study of nearly 21,000 adults with diabetes, those who were taking metformin saw a 24% lower risk for developing OA compared with those taking a sulfonylurea (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.76, 95% CI 0.68-0.85), according to Matthew Baker, MD, MS, of Stanford Uni...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Note that some links may require subscriptions. A Washington Post analysis suggests long COVID symptoms have become less common since the Omicron variant. Military pilots have higher rates of cancer, as do aircraft ground crews, a Pentagon study found. (AP via ABC News) Wyoming has become the first state to ban the use of pills for abortion. (New York Times) Meanwhile, South Carolina Republican...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Postoperative delirium in older adults was associated with 40% faster cognitive decline, data from a prospective cohort study showed. Among older adults who developed delirium after major elective surgery, cognitive decline over 72 months occurred at a rate of 0.14 population standard deviation (SD) units per year, reported Zachary Kunicki, PhD, MS, MPH, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode...

Mar 19th, 2023 - NEW ORLEANS – Application of a single-use disposable patch to the axillary area for up to 3 minutes led to statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefit for patients with primary axillary hyperhidrosis, results from a pivotal randomized trial showed. “This is a new kind of device that is going to be a nice tool to have for treating patients who have hyperhidrosis of the axilla,” t.

Mar 19th, 2023 - To crack down on price gouging, proposed legislation in Missouri calls for allowing felony charges against healthcare staffing agencies that substantially raise their prices during a declared emergency. A New York bill includes a cap on the amount staffing agencies can charge healthcare facilities. And a Texas measure would allow civil penalties against such agencies. These proposed regulations...

Mar 19th, 2023 - NEW ORLEANS – Assessing underlying mechanisms for the effects of age, mean platelet volume (MPV), and tryptase may help identify pediatric patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) who will respond to different treatment options, results from a single-center prospective study showed. “Given that the majority of CSU cases in adults are due to autoimmunity and there being very [few] studi.

Mar 18th, 2023 - The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates At what age is one supposed to be wise? I feel like I’m falling behind.