Doublet Shows Activity in Rare, Aggressive Kidney Cancer
There is currently no effective therapy for patients with advanced HLRCC-associated papillary renal cell carcinoma. Treatment with bevacizumab and erlotinib resulted in a confirmed response of 72% in patients with hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma. The combination was approximately half as effective in patients with sporadic papillary renal cell carcinoma. Bevacizumab (Avastin) combined with erlotinib […]
Clinical Challenges: Early Disease in Axial Spondyloarthritis
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is the currently favored term for a spectrum of painful disorders affecting the spine, and most specifically the sacroiliac joints. Its prototypical form was ankylosing spondylitis, defined some 40 years ago as a condition characterized by the presence of radiographic sacroiliitis. However, ankylosing spondylitis today is considered a misnomer because while it […]
Cut salt, cut blood pressure
Nearly everyone can lower their blood pressure, even people currently on blood pressure-reducing drugs, by lowering their sodium intake, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “In the study, middle-aged to elderly participants reduced their salt intake by about 1 teaspoon a day compared […]
CDC: Bivalent COVID Vaccines Stop Illness From XBB.1.5
Currently authorized bivalent COVID-19 boosters demonstrated similar protection against symptomatic illness from the XBB/XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariants as from BA.5-related subvariants, according to a CDC study. From December 2022 to January 2023, the bivalent boosters’ vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic infection was a similar 48% versus XBB/XBB.1.5-related strains and 52% versus BA.5-related sublineages, reported Ruth Link-Gelles, […]
Monoclonal Antibodies May No Longer Be a Match for Emerging COVID Strains
Tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) and bebtelovimab are likely ineffective against approximately 60% of currently circulating Omicron variants, creating a big gap in protection, particularly for immunocompromised individuals, researchers from a Harvard Medical School-led consortium said at a briefing on Thursday. This is a “big loss,” said Jacob Lemieux, MD, PhD, of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness […]
Opinion | Three Key Strategies for Combatting Nurse Turnover
While we currently have over 3 million registered nurses in the U.S., demand for these professionals will continue to grow by at least 5% over the next 5 years. But according to research, with more than 900,000 nurses expected to permanently leave the profession during that same period due to retirement, burnout, or career change, […]
Alcohol may be more risky to the heart than previously thought
Levels of alcohol consumption currently considered safe by some countries are linked with development of heart failure, according to research presented at Heart Failure 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 “This study adds to the body of evidence that a more cautious approach to alcohol consumption is needed,” said study […]
India Stalls Updated COVID-19 Toll Showing Millions More Deaths: Report
The World Health Organization currently says on its website that 6.2 million people worldwide have died of COVID-19. But more than a year of research aimed at calculating the true death toll has led the public health authority to more than double that estimate, according to The New York Times. The WHO reportedly puts the […]
My Patient Had Declined the COVID Vaccine … Every. Single. Time.
I currently work part-time at a local HIV clinic in Atlanta. Our patient population is predominantly Black and uninsured, and sometimes ensuring their access to good care and antiretroviral treatment (ART) is more challenging than finding a politician who is 100% truthful. Since I started working there in February, I have had many conversations with […]
How I Learned to Stop Reacting to Overnight Calls
I’m currently reading What Happened to You by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, and being reminded that I react rather than respond when I am in a trauma activation. When that happens, I don’t have access to higher cortical functions like critical thinking. And as Gabor Maté, MD, would say, I don’t […]