8 Space-Saving Water Flossers To Use At Home Or On The Road
Did you know clean teeth are the secret to longevity? I’m being hyperbolic, of course. But it is true that improper oral hygiene has been linked to serious health issues like heart disease and stroke — so if improved oral hygiene is on your mind, consider adding a water flosser routine. I’m personally devoted to […]
Ketamine Clinics Diverge From APA Recommendations
The proliferation of ketamine clinics in the U.S. has veered far off course from the recommendations of the nation’s premier psychiatric association when it comes to using the anesthetic to treat mood disorders, experts say. In 2017, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a consensus statement on the use of ketamine in treating mood disorders, […]
Morphine Quieted Cough in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
A brief course of morphine provided some relief for patients with cough related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in a small, phase II double-blind crossover trial. Two weeks of low-dose controlled-release morphine reduced objective awake cough frequency by 39.4% over a placebo treatment phase (95% CI -54.4 to -9.4), reported Philip Molyneaux, PhD, of Imperial […]
Inhaled Antibiotic Cuts Risk of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia
A short course of an inhaled antibiotic helped prevent the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the intensive care unit (ICU), a randomized trial in France showed. In critically ill patients intubated for between 3 to 4 days, administration of amikacin (Arikayce) reduced the rate of first ventilator-associated pneumonia compared with an inhaled placebo (15% vs […]
Antibody Slows Beta-Cell Loss Early in Type 1 Diabetes
A course of teplizumab (Tzield) may help preserve beta-cells when given early after a type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis, similar to the anti-CD3 antibody’s delay on progression from preclinical disease, the randomized PROTECT trial showed. Two 12-day courses of the drug resulted in 59.3% less loss of beta-cell function, with higher stimulated C-peptide levels at […]
Opinion | ‘Not Going to Change a Hardened Racist’: What We Heard This Week
“Taking some dippy course is not going to change a hardened racist.” — Marilyn Singleton, MD, a Los Angeles-based anesthesiologist, discussing implicit bias training as part of continuing medical education course work. “It would be very helpful to be able to tell my patient ‘lay off of the sugary sodas, but if you need a […]
How COVID Lawsuits and Media Coverage Keep Misinformation Churning
Public health has had its day in court lately. And another day. And another day. Over the course of the pandemic, lawsuits came from every direction, questioning public health policies and hospitals’ authority. Petitioners argued for care to be provided in a different way, they questioned mandates on mask and vaccine use, and they attacked […]
Blinatumomab Plus Chemo Effective in Aggressive Infant ALL
Adding a postinduction course of blinatumomab (Blincyto) to chemotherapy appeared safe and highly effective for treating an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants, according to results from a phase II study. Of the 30 infants with newly diagnosed KMT2A-rearranged ALL, 16 achieved minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative status following the 28-day infusion with […]
Long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water may be a risk factor for prostate cancer
The nitrate ingested over the course of a person’s adult lifetime through the consumption of tap water and bottled water could be a risk factor for prostate cancer, particularly in the case of aggressive tumours and in younger men. This is the conclusion of a study conducted in Spain and led by the Barcelona Institute […]
Prenatal Steroids May Improve Outcomes in Extremely Preterm Infants
A complete course of antenatal steroids was associated with higher survival in extremely preterm infants, a cohort study showed. Among infants born at 22 weeks to less than 24 weeks, 53.9% who had full exposure to antenatal steroids at gestational age 21 to 22 weeks survived to discharge, compared with 37.5% who had partial steroid […]