Since March, when the first reported cases of H5N1 bird flu began showing up in dairy cattle in Texas, the Food and Drug Administration has been asking farmers to discard any milk from infected animals. Initially, spotting tainted milk was believed to be fairly easy because cows that get sick with H5N1 begin producing milk…
At his public confirmation hearing in late 2021, Robert Califf, President Biden’s nominee to lead the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), faced pointed questions about his financial relationships with industry. Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, asked, “At a time when the American people are outraged by the high cost of prescription drugs, deeply…
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new review has found that taking zinc may help to reduce the duration of common cold symptoms by about two days, but the evidence is not conclusive and potential benefits must be balanced against side effects. The article is published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Since the 1980s,…
Higher consumption of most ultra-processed foods is linked to a slightly higher risk of death, with ready-to-eat meat, poultry, and seafood based products, sugary drinks, dairy based desserts, and highly processed breakfast foods showing the strongest associations, finds a 30-year US study in The BMJ today. The researchers say not all ultra-processed food products should be universally restricted, but…
The first sign something was wrong with Curtis Warfield came in 2005, when a lab test found protein in his urine during a routine checkup. In 2012, Warfield was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease. Two years later, he started dialysis. “When you get diagnosed, you’re sitting there kind of like a deer in headlights….
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc has issued a recall regarding version 2.7 of the Apple iOS t:connect mobile app that is used in conjunction with the t:slim X2 insulin pump, which uses Control-IQ technology. The recall, specifically referred to as a correction and not a product removal,…
Daily commuters may be breathing in potentially cancerous air from the car interiors. According to a new study, flame retardants used in car seats and other materials to meet an outdated federal flammability standard raise the risk of exposure to potentially cancerous air, particularly in summer when temperatures are high. Flame retardants (FRs) are used…
About a third of employers are integrating value-based care into their employer-sponsored insurance, according to a new survey. Another third of employers are determining the “best-fit strategies for their organization” when it comes to accountable care. The report was published Sunday by the Milken Institute with support from Morgan Health, a JPMorgan Chase healthcare unit…
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In the second-largest fine ever levied on a pharmaceutical company, Endo Health Solutions was ordered to pay nearly $1.1 billion in criminal penalties and another $450 million in criminal forfeiture for illegally marketing its Opana ER prescription opioid. The company, which last month pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, admitted that, from April 2012 through May…
Éabha Lynn, BMJ editorial scholar One of my favourite poemsis “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers, by Emily Dickinson. I discovered it at age 16, when medical school was still a distant dream and my biggest aim was to get through GCSE exams. The poem likens hope to a bird: “And sore must be the…
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Firefighters may have an increased risk of prostate cancer due to on-the-job chemical exposures, according to new research from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and University of Michigan in collaboration with fire service partners and researchers around the country through the Fire Fighter Cancer…
In a recent study published in Nutrients, researchers investigated the relationship between high Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) adherence and decreased low-grade systemic inflammation (LGSI) in Brazil. They also examined which Mediterranean diet components contributed to the relationships. Study: High Adherence to the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern Is Inversely Associated with Systemic Inflammation in Older but Not in Younger…
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ColoSense (Geneoscopy, Inc), a multitarget stool RNA (mt-sRNA) test for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in adults aged 45 or older who are at average risk for CRC. ColoSense, which had breakthrough device designation by the FDA, detects colorectal neoplasia–associated RNA markers and the presence of occult…
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Dear Readers, We are enormously proud that STAT reporters Casey Ross and Bob Herman have been named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in the investigative reporting category “for exposing how UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, used an unregulated algorithm to override clinicians’ judgments and deny care, highlighting the dangers of AI use in…
Project ECHO continues to bridge health care gaps, especially in rural communities. Credit: University of Missouri More Americans suffer from chronic pain than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. Yet, a shortage of pain medicine specialists persists, causing many pain sufferers to seek care in primary care settings. Researchers from the University of Missouri School…
In a recent case-control study published in Scientific Reports, researchers compared single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene between mild and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. They found that the TT genotype of SNP rs11568820 was significantly less frequent in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, suggesting its protective role against severe illness…
The relatively new antibiotic cefiderocol given in the form of eye drops may be a way to combat a type of ocular infection that broke out in the United States last year, according to research presented at the 2024 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). The infections, linked to…
While acknowledging the pivotal role of technology in enhancing health, we are still in the early innings for digital health as it relates to the transformative impact many had expected to come to fruition. Although there remains ample opportunity, technology adoption has not yet meaningfully scaled to a level where alternative models, such as care…
A 24-hour subcutaneous levodopa-carbidopa (LD/CD) solution, ND0612, along with oral immediate-release LD/CD increases time without dyskinesia for patients with Parkinson disease (PD), according to study results published in The Lancet Neurology. Previous research has shown that traditional oral LD treatments for motor symptoms can reduce quality of life due to motor function fluctuations and dyskinesia….
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Drug development is essentially a long, expensive bet: 90% of drugs fail during clinical trials, goes one of the life science industry’s most oft-quoted statistics. But new ways of identifying and testing therapies, a more precise understanding of disease, and a renewed sense of urgency to address longstanding public health issues could change that dynamic,…
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A sharp rise in exposures to synthetic cannabis products among youth—some leading to hospitalization—highlights the need for increased education around the dangers of exposure and increased focus on safe storage and packaging, according to pediatricians and researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center. A new study conducted…
In a recent study published in BMC Public Health, researchers investigated the relationship between food security and ideal cardiovascular health while addressing disparities across minoritized groups by studying a representative sample of the United States (U.S.) population balanced for race, ethnicity, and sex. Study: Food security status and cardiometabolic health by sex/gender and race/ethnicity among adults…
By age 12 years, more than 14% of children have tried alcohol or tobacco, and religion, race, and income are the top predictors beginning to use these and other substances, new research suggests. Aside from sociodemographic parameters, risk factors for substance use initiation include prenatal exposure to substances, peer use of alcohol and nicotine, and…
There are associations between early-life pain exposure and altered brain development in preterm infants, especially in girls. Further, decreased brain structural connectivity is tied to poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study at the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai…
Vitamin D has a protective effect against colorectal cancer, but it is patient and population dependent. According to the WHO, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second biggest cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.1 In 2020, there were 1.9 million new cases, and experts predict that this number will grow significantly in the coming years. Alongside this,…
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Jeremy Farrar, now the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, was working in Vietnam 20 years ago when the H5N1 virus started to spread across Asia — at that point in poultry. He recalls there was a reluctance among farmers to cull their chickens because they weren’t being compensated for them. Movement of infected birds to…
With half of individuals who use cannabis in pregnancy also using tobacco or nicotine products, OHSU researchers investigated the effects of using both substances on both mother and newborn health outcomes. Credit: OHSU In a new study, Oregon Health & Science University researchers report that combined cannabis and nicotine use during pregnancy is associated with…
When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he said, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.” At issue is not just whether people are using enough sunscreen, but what ingredients…
A single oral administration of MM120 (lysergide d-tartrate), an investigational lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)–based medicine being developed by Mind Medicine Inc (MindMed), provided rapid and durable improvement in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a phase 2B study. At 12 weeks, 65% of patients treated with MM120 100 µg had a clinical response, defined as at…
Beneath the Surface is a video series in which Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Healio Dermatology Chief Medical Editor, discusses hot topics in the field with leading experts.In this edition, Gelfand, who is also the James J. Leyden Professor of Clinical Investigation and professor of dermatology and epidemiology at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of…
When patients are dealing with a sexually transmitted infection, they don’t always get advice on whether they should come into the clinic in a timely fashion. So patient interface company Healthvana created a conversational AI chatbot to quickly answer some of their questions. It had two options: standard AI persona or a drag queen. As…
Emma Kuhn, from Flinders University Environmental Health, demonstrates a wall swab method used to assess the absence or level of methamphetamine contamination – used to assess whether remediation action is required. Credit: Flinders University A new Flinders University study has found less than 10% of suspected methamphetamine contamination in residences are reported to council environmental…
President Joe Biden counts among his accomplishments the record-high number of people, more than 21 million, who enrolled in Obamacare plans this year. Behind the scenes, however, federal regulators are contending with a problem that affects people’s coverage: rogue brokers who have signed people up for Affordable Care Act plans, or switched them into new…
DENVER — With continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) becoming vital tools for managing diabetes, the technology, soon to become available over the counter, is gaining popularity in off-label use to help people with obesity who may be on the verge of developing diabetes to reverse that path, while also helping diagnose some earlier, experts reported. “Continuous…
When doctors began using the drug sotorasib in 2021 with high expectations for its innovative approach to attacking lung cancer, retired medical technician Don Crosslin was an early beneficiary. Crosslin started the drug that July. His tumors shrank, then stabilized. But while the drug has helped keep him alive, its side effects have gradually narrowed…
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Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Good morning, incredibly exciting news from the STAT newsroom — two of our reporters, Casey Ross and Bob Herman (or as we call them, Bob Ross), were named Pulitzer finalists in investigative reporting! Their series exposed how…
Dr. Sherecce Fields, a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Texas A&M University, says caffeine should be ingested in moderation and with caution. Credit: Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications Whether it’s brewing a cup of coffee at home, ordering a specialty $6 latte from a local…
When doctors began using the drug sotorasib in 2021 with high expectations for its innovative approach to attacking lung cancer, retired medical technician Don Crosslin was an early beneficiary. Crosslin started the drug that July. His tumors shrank, then stabilized. But while the drug has helped keep him alive, its side effects have gradually narrowed…
The number of Americans seeking permanent forms of contraception has surged in the nearly 2 years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned a federal right to abortion, according to a study presented on May 5 at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Urological Association (abstract PD40-03). Several other…
Irish researchers are using cutting-edge sleep monitoring technology to study body clock changes in people with bipolar disorder. Researchers at Maynooth University’s Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research aim to collect information on sleep timing and circadian rhythms over an extended period of time to provide a clear picture of the complexity of daily…
Michael Scaturro When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he said, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.” At issue is not just whether people are using enough sunscreen, but…
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Editor’s note: A livestream of the event will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET. It took decades for scientists to come up with treatments that could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Now patients and physicians face a new challenge: actually getting the medicines to people who might benefit from them. Join us for…
Cryo-soft X-ray tomography 3D reconstructions of segmented mitochondria (brown) in the cytoplasm around the nucleus (blue) in herpes simplex virus type 1 infected cell. Credit: Maija Vihinen-Ranta Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell. The new information could…
Broken String Biosciences (“Broken String”), a genomics company driving development of the next generation of more precise, safe, and effective cell and gene therapies, today announced it has entered a research collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute, a world-leading biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the biology underlying health and disease. In partnership with leading researchers at the Crick, the…