Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. We can tell because countless birds are chirping outside our window, the pace of motor vehicles passing by our window is picking up, and the official mascots are busy foraging for snacks on the official grounds. As for us, we are engaged in the…
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Heart failure patients who are vaccinated against COVID-19 have an 82% greater likelihood of living longer than those who are not vaccinated, according to research presented at Heart Failure 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), held 11–14 May in Lisbon, Portugal. Heart Failure is a life-threatening…
A UCLA-led study suggests women who are 65 years old or older with high-risk breast cancer and are treated with chemotherapy are more likely to develop a substantial decline in physical function. The study, published in a special issue of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship, found over 30% of older women who have early-stage breast cancer…
TOPLINE: Higher doses of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared with lower doses. METHODOLOGY: NSAIDs can suppress inflammation and relieve pain in patients with AS, but long-term treatment with NSAIDs poses concerns regarding…
KFF Health News senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health Céline Gounder discussed the latest bird flu updates and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims that a parasitic worm ate part of his brain on CBS’ “CBS Mornings” on May 9. Click here to watch Gounder on “CBS Mornings” Click here to watch Gounder…
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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. Congratulations on almost making it to the end of the week! For that, I have a little treat for you at the bottom of the newsletter. But first, the biotech news of…
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Countries trying to strike a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics decided to keep negotiating for another fortnight after their deadline passed on Friday. Scarred by the devastation caused by COVID-19—which killed millions, shredded economies and crippled health systems—the World Health Organization’s 194 member states have spent two years trying…
A team led by Dr. Eddie Imada, assistant professor of research in pathology and laboratory medicine, has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million United States Department of Defense grant for research on a cellular process called alternative polyadenylation and its role in prostate cancer. The grant was awarded under DoD’s long-running Prostate Cancer Research Program,…
PHOENIX — Immunosuppression is an independent risk factor for poorer outcomes in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), according to new research that was presented at the American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) 2024 Annual Meeting. Even though immunosuppression is strongly associated with an increased risk for cSCC, studies to date have generally not…
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This is the online edition of Adam’s Biotech Scorecard, a new subscriber-only newsletter. STAT+ subscribers can sign up here to get it delivered every Thursday to their inbox. I love the Cytokinetics story. There’s so much at stake with aficamten, not to mention all the ups and downs from previous drug-development efforts and now the speculation about…
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research being presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024) in Venice, Italy (12–15 May) suggests that it is possible to predict if someone is going to gain weight based on the size of their fat cells. Individuals with large fat cells tend to lose weight over time, while…
Bob Wilbur thought he’d found a retirement home that would be a place of peace. Nestled against Admiralty Bay on the western edge of Whidbey Island, the three-story house is surrounded by trees and shoreline. It offers the kind of quiet that only an island can provide. Except when the Growlers fly. As often as…
The Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC) has just updated its guidelines on hypertension and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), ergometry, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The new versions of the recommendations were presented at the SBC’s 1st Meeting of Cardiology Departments in São Paulo. The event was attended by 12 departments of the society and the…
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BALTIMORE — Gene and cell therapies have transformed a handful of devastating disorders in the U.S. and Europe, with more treatments on the way. But those technologies have largely failed to reach most of the world. These lags are ubiquitous in the current drug development system, where new therapies are approved in wealthy countries and…
Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (12–15 May), and published in the International Journal of Obesity, could help explain why type 2 diabetes is more common in men than in women. “Previous studies have shown that men develop type 2 diabetes (TD2) at a…
When it comes to improving the lives of children with genetic conditions, medical research often focuses solely on the children. But there is an equally important population in need of research that a faculty member at the University of Colorado Department of Medicine is highlighting -; the caregivers. We need to think very broadly about how…
Morning exercise offers many benefits, but for people with eczema, hitting the gym and then going to work presents a complex set of challenges. Getting hot and sweaty can lead to flare-ups. The breakfast you eat for post-workout energy may do more harm than good. And after a heavy workout that taxes your body, the…
An alarming lack of compliance with assessments to prevent ophthalmologic and neuropathic complications associated with diabetes has been detected in nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Only three territories (Chile, Brazil, and the British Virgin Islands) had more than 50% of patients with diabetes who had received an eye examination in the previous…
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What happens when a common virus jumps from birds to cows? And should we be concerned? This week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT senior infectious diseases reporter Helen Branswell walks us through ongoing H5N1 outbreak in the U.S. and issues with monitoring the spread. It’s also Pulitzer week at “The Readout LOUD”! In a bit…
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Male rats exposed to moderate and repeated stress during adolescence may have reduced fertility, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 11-14 May, in Stockholm. This study sheds light on the harmful effects that early-life stress has on health and could help to uncover future prevention…
Melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer that accounts for 75% of all skin-cancer-related deaths, is often detected later in people with darker skin complexions -; and the consequences can be devastating, a Mayo Clinic study reveals. While melanoma may be found less frequently in people with darker complexions than fair ones, this potentially serious form of…
May 7, 2024, LinkedIn Live — It’s the Age of Aquarius. Representatives from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) held a virtual meeting for researchers, journalists, and other interested parties, where it announced plans to revisit the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds for mental health conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, addictive disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and…
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A 30-year-old farm worker in North Carolina died last September on a day that was fairly typical for the state. Temperatures were in the mid-90s and the heat index, which includes humidity, was 96 degrees F. This index is often referred to as the “feels like” temperature, and is commonly used to gauge heat stress…
Our research empirically links social media conversations to national health outcomes related to COVID-19. We introduce Role-Based Incremental Coaching (RBIC), a Large Language Model (LLM) prompting framework. (A) Collecting Reddit datasets focused on communities known for opposing COVID-19 health practices. (B) Guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, we introduce a novel LLM framework called Role-Based Incremental Coaching…
What do infants see? What do they look at? The answers to these questions are very different for the youngest babies than they are for older infants, children and adults. Characterized by a few high-contrast edges in simple patterns, these early scenes also contain the very materials needed to build a strong foundation for human vision. That…
TOPLINE: US counties with higher rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening have lower rates of advanced/metastatic prostate cancer and prostate cancer mortality in later years, a county-level population-based study suggests. METHODOLOGY: Clinicians continue to debate the benefits and harms of PSA screening. To help clarify the value of PSA screening, researchers assessed the association between…
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Pizza. Coloring books. Goody bags. They could be activities at a 5-year-old’s birthday party. But they’re not: These are many employers’ attempts to lift the morale of nurses on the frontlines of chronically understaffed organizations. What nurses really want are better working conditions so they can deliver the best care possible to their patients. As…
Credit: CC0 Public Domain Higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol during the third trimester of pregnancy may impede intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in boys aged 7 years old, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 11–14 May, in Stockholm. Surprisingly, cortisol levels in the blood are not associated with…
A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 11) on April 25, 2024, entitled, “Therapeutic opportunities for hypermutated urothelial carcinomas beyond immunotherapy.” In this new editorial, researcher Ioannis A. Voutsadakis from Sault Area Hospital and Northern Ontario School of Medicine discusses tumor mutation burden (TMB)-;a novel clinical biomarker for prediction of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy…
TOPLINE: A diagnostic model based on the concentrations of four metabolites and one lipid ratio can reliably predict cancer in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) or paraneoplasia, providing high sensitivity and specificity. METHODOLOGY: The metabolome profile can differentiate between nonspecific inflammatory symptoms such as those associated with paraneoplastic conditions or RMDs, which can…
Following a 3 day meeting, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted to recommend that the FDA pursue withdrawal of Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection) from the US market. Makena is indicated to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women with a singleton pregnancy who have a history of…
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In 1995, when Marion Nestle was on the committee drafting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, things were run differently. She and other experts handled it all: deciding on nutrition-related research questions, collecting the evidence, issuing a scientific report, and then writing guidance for how Americans should eat. When it came time for that last part…
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Fezolinetant reduces the frequency and severity of hot flushes during menopause for 24 weeks, without serious side effects, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 11–14 May, in Stockholm. These findings provide further evidence of the benefits of using this non-hormonal preventative drug in women experiencing…
A breakthrough study, published in Science Translational Medicine, features a biomedical engineering innovation with the potential to transform trauma care and surgical practices. Chapman University’s Fowler School of Engineering Founding Dean and Professor, Andrew Lyon, is a member of this multidisciplinary, multi-university scientific research team developing platelet-like particles that integrate into the body’s clotting pathways…
Isabella Rosario Blum was wrapping up medical school and considering residency programs to become a family practice physician when she got some frank advice: If she wanted to be trained to provide abortions, she shouldn’t stay in Arizona. Blum turned to programs mostly in states where abortion access — and, by extension, abortion training —…
The Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) has released updated recommendations for clinicians who are prescribing opioids for adult outpatients with acute (duration <1 month), subacute (duration of 1 to 3 months), and chronic (duration of >3 months) pain, excluding pain management related to sickle cell disease, cancer-related pain treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care….
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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. Hi all. Today we’re talking about improving the global reach of gene therapies, and about why offering access to ancestral populations could be so powerful. We see in a KFF survey that a majority…
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research being presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (12–15 May) has found that poor muscle health is associated with a higher risk of an early death in people living with obesity. Individuals with adverse muscle composition were up to three times more likely to die…
Common conditions such as indigestion and heartburn as well as peptic ulcers, autoimmune gastritis and stomach and esophageal cancers have one thing in common – they involve disruptions of the normal activity of parietal cells (PCs) in the stomach, the only cells in the body that produce acid. Despite their medical importance, little is known…
Clinicians interested in treating patients with symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia should carefully analyze the potential benefits and harms of monoclonal amyloid beta therapy, including likelihood of side effects and overall burden on the patient, according to researchers at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society. Lecanemab (Leqembi) may help…
ŌURA, a wearable device company, announced Friday that it has two new heart health features that will become available in late May. One feature is for understanding users’ cardiovascular age and one is for estimating their cardio capacity. ŌURA, which was founded in Finland, offers a wearable ring called the Oura Ring that tracks users’…
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted in favor (9 to 4) of the use of tenapanor (Xphozah®) as monotherapy for the control of serum phosphorus in adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis, as well as its use in combination with phosphate binders (10 to 2,…