Oct 1st, 2022 - I was honored to be the third Editor-in-Chief of GIHN, from 2016 through 2021. GIHN is the official newspaper of the American Gastroenterological Association and has the widest readership of any AGA publication and is one that readers told us they read cover to cover.

Oct 1st, 2022 - Immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy are part of standard treatment for patients with advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. However, not all patients benefit from immunotherapy addition.

Sep 30th, 2022 - Adding venetoclax (Venclexta) to a gilteritinib (Xospata) regimen appeared to improve outcomes in refractory/relapsed FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a new industry-funded phase 1b study reported. “The combination of venetoclax and gilteritinib is a highly active and tolerable oral combination regimen that potentially improves response frequency and depth over existing standards in a.

Sep 30th, 2022 - Shortly after osimertinib was approved for patients with non–small cell lung cancer in 2020 by the Food and Drug Administration, a patient came to me with increasing shortness of breath. He had been on erlotinib (Tarceva) for about 2 years and had done well.

Sep 30th, 2022 - Black and Hispanic adults with spina bifida or cerebral palsy are less likely to attend wellness visits than are White adults with the same pediatric-onset disabilities, a new study finds. Black adults also had lower odds of having a bone density screening, compared with White adults.

Sep 30th, 2022 - BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announced a voluntary recall on June 23, 2020 for specified catalog numbers of the ChloraPrep™ 3 mL applicator due to possible fungal contamination, which only affects climate zone IV regions in specific U.S. territories and countries (see list of catalog numbers and regions impacted by this issue below). BD has id...

Sep 30th, 2022 - More than 1100 wildfires burned in the US during the month of September, according to the Fire, Weather, and Avalanche Center1 — a situation that, according to research, causes more people with asthma, other respiratory issues, and heart conditions to show up at doctors’ offices, emergency departments, and hospitals. The particulate matter generated by wildfires is especially hazardous for chil...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Giving long-term inhaled antibiotics to people with cystic fibrosis (CF) who do not have chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)infection does not improve outcomes, according to study findings published in Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. Practice guidelines recommend that people with CF receive chronic treatment with inhaled antibiotics if they are chronically infected with PA from the age of 6 years. ...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Chronic hydroxychloroquine therapy did not have a preventative effect against COVID-19 infection in patients with rheumatic conditions compared with those without rheumatic conditions, according to study findings published in American Journal of the Medical Sciences. Researchers in Oklahoma conducted a retrospective, nationwide, observational study across all Veterans Health Administration (VHA...

Sep 30th, 2022 - In patients with baseline atrial fibrillation (AF) who are hospitalized with COVID-19, individuals who are receiving preadmission oral anticoagulation (OAC) have lower rates of death, as well as arterial and venous thrombotic events, and have less severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings were published in the The American Journal of Cardiology. A retrospective cohort study was conducted amon...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Vaccination against COVID-19 was not found to increase incidence of disease flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with those who were unvaccinated, according to study findings published in Vaccine. Researchers at the Department of Medicine at Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong conducted a retrospective study to analyze patterns of vaccine hesitancy, vaccination status,...

Sep 30th, 2022 - The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)is tremendously grateful to the dedicated healthcare professionals who, despite long days and heavy workloads, continue to seek the latest information on medical advances that might be helpful to their patients. Please know that your commitment and support are tremendously important to the patients and families whom we serve.

Sep 30th, 2022 - Thankfully, the COVID pandemic has not killed the spirit of innovation and the relentless search for answers in the rare disease community. There were several notable FDA approvals in 2021 and early 2022, emerging genetic therapies for monogenetic disorders, and recent advances in rare disease diagnosis and testing.

Sep 30th, 2022 - Ezetimibe given in combination with rosuvastatin has a beneficial effect on liver fat in people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according results of a randomized, active-controlled trial. The findings, which come from the investigator-initiated ESSENTIAL trial, are likely to add to the debate over whether or not the lipid-lowering combination could be of benefit beyond its effect.

Sep 30th, 2022 - A team of researchers has developed a set of core questions that may be helpful in guiding clinicians in clinical practice in their assessment of skin burden in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The guidance was published online in The Journal of Rheumatology. In an effort to develop guidance on the clinical assessment of skin burden in patients with PsA, the group of European researcher...

Sep 30th, 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 ...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is safe and feasible among patients with atrial secondary mitral regurgitation, according to results of a study published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. Data were sourced from the University Hospital Bonn in Germany. Patients (N=415) with symptomatic mitral regurgitation that received TEER with MitraClip between 2010 and 2021 were evaluated for s...

Sep 30th, 2022 - The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) released a clinical practice update about the role of endoscopy in recurrent acute and chronic pancreatitis. The expert review, which details 8 best practice advice statements, was published in Gastroenterology. Up to 30% of patients with pancreatitis will develop recurrent acute pancreatitis, defined as 2 or more acute pancreatitis episodes. A...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Financing substance use services through Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) may increase substance use disorder (SUD) treatment utilization in the United States, according to findings were published in JAMA Health Forum. Researchers at Boston University conducted a cross-sectional analysis and sourced data from the Treatment Episode Data Set-Admissions (TEDS-A) database and the Kaiser Family Founda...

Sep 30th, 2022 - An expert consensus statement from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) on the role of nonstatin therapies for maintaining low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels to manage atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Newer nonstatin therapy options include ezetimibe, alirocumab or evolocumab, bempedoic ac...