Oct 3rd, 2022 - The antifibrotic pirfenidone (Esbriet) did not change the decline in forced vital capacity percentage (FVC%) from baseline of 10% or more or the risk of death compared with placebo in patients with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). However, the drug appeared to slow the rate of decline in lung function, a phase 2 study indicated.

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Instagram’s lack of high-quality educational content on nonsurgical cosmetic procedures puts the onus on dermatologists and plastic surgeons to increase their social media presence, according to analysis of related posts on the photo-sharing service. “Given that there is little to no oversight on social networking sites, unqualified sources can widely disseminate misinformation resulting in mis.

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Long-term use of sotatercept may allow patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to maintain significantly reduced pulmonary vascular resistance, according to results of an 18- to 24- month open-label extension trial published in The European Respiratory Journal. The previously conducted 24-week, placebo-controlled, phase 2 PULSAR clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0349...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Training patients with asthma in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) improves clinically relevant outcomes and may therefore enhance asthma management, especially among those with comorbid psychopathology, according to study findings published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity – Health. Asthma exacerbation risk is elevated in individuals with psychological distress and comorbid psychopatho...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Following COVID-19 infection, the risk for developing neurological disorders remains high after 2 years, while the risk for psychiatric disorders subsides earlier. These are the findings of a study published in Lancet Psychiatry. Researchers analyzed outcome data in a multinational, retrospective cohort study. They obtained data from the TriNetX electronic health records network between January...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - The Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening (APCS) scoring system, combined with a stool DNA test, could improve the detection of advanced colorectal neoplasms and limit colonoscopy use, according to a new study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Although a colonoscopy can detect both colorectal cancer and precancerous lesions, using it as the primary screening tool can cause barr.

Oct 3rd, 2022 - In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)/psoriatic arthritis (PsA), holding vs continuing methotrexate (MTX) after the second dose of the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) vaccine results in a higher antibody response, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet Rheumatology. The researchers sought to evaluate the impact of holding MTX for 2 weeks after each dose of the COV...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Presidents from 5 advanced practice provider (APP) associations shined a light on strategies to increase the health care workforce, key bills that may change the practice landscape, how to create greater diversity among practitioners, and what keeps them up at night at an online panel discussion held in honor of the second annual National APP Week. The presidents all noted access to care issues...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Tocilizumab vs placebo was found to normalize serum amyloid A (SAA) levels and decrease disease activity in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. FMF is an autoinflammatory disease that causes chronic inflammation without the presence of autoantibodies or antigen-specific T-lymphocytes. Symptoms include recurrent f...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Posimir® (bupivacaine solution) is now available for postsurgical analgesia for up to 72 hours following arthroscopic subacromial decompression. Posimir is a novel formulation of bupivacaine, an amide local anesthetic, designed to be administered into the subacromial space under direct arthroscopic visualization. The depot product uses a sucrose-based biodegradable matrix (sucrose acetate isobu...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Health officials worldwide can still take steps to contain the monkeypox outbreak, says Dr Alissa Davis, Associate Professor at the Columbia School of Social Work, but it will require addressing the challenges of stigma, misinformation, and health inequity. “Overall case numbers of monkeypox are growing, although the number of new infections has recently been trending downward,” says Davis, an ...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) updated their 2017 ACR guidelines for preventing and treating glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). The full manuscript will be published in Arthritis & Rheumatology and Arthritis Care and Research in early 2023. Since the publication of the 2017 ACR guidelines for GIOP, treatments, including abaloparatide (PTHrP) and romosozumab, have been avail...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure with use of a novel, disc-like occluder (the Leftear device [Pulse Scientific]) has demonstrated a high rate of procedural success, and satisfactory safety and efficacy for stroke prevention among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). These findings were published in the journal JACC: Asia. Researchers sought to explore the effectiveness and s...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - The Kardia Mobile 6-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) device is superior for detecting atrial fibrillation (AF) when compared with a pair of single-lead smartwatches according to cardiologists’ interpretation. These findings were published in the American Heart Journal. A prospective, nonrandomized study compared ECG-based devices for AF detection at a nonacademic, regional hospital in Blaricum, the...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Patients with alopecia areata (AA) prefer to make treatment decisions with their dermatologist with use of shared decision making (SDM), researchers reported in a study published in JAMA Dermatology. The findings are based on a cross-sectional study that used an online survey to assess patient preferences in SDM during AA treatment decision making and to determine which aspects of their involve...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Atopic dermatitis (AD) is not associated with an increased risk for venous thromboembolism events, and neither are JAK inhibitors when used to treat AD, according to data from a systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Dermatology. Investigators conducted a comprehensive literature search on electronic databases for cohort studies analyzing the association of AD with incident venou...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - While great strides have been made in children’s leukemia care during the past 50 years, statistics have remained grim. For acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common type, 5-year survival rates were just 69% for children younger than 15 between 2009 and 2015.

Oct 3rd, 2022 - Patients undergoing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy who develop potentially serious neurotoxicity from the therapy show elevated plasma levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) prior to the treatment, suggesting a possibly important predictor of risk for the side effect. “This is the first study to show NfL levels are elevated even before CAR T treatment is given,” first author.

Oct 3rd, 2022 - According to research published in Lancet Haematology, a novel approach to haploidentical bone marrow transplantation results in excellent overall survival (OS) with minimal graft vs host disease (GVHD) in patients with relapsed or refractory severe aplastic anemia and may now be considered a standard salvage treatment for the disorder. The researchers reported the outcomes of BMT CTN 1502, a s...

Oct 3rd, 2022 - The association between increasing age and risk for type 1 myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with HIV is more significant among those with vs without hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection, suggesting that HCV status should be considered when evaluating cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in this patient population. These study findings were published in The Journal of the American Heart Associ...