Dr. House
Dr. House
Monday, July 29, 2019
Combination Oral Contraceptive Recalled On Fears Of Reduced Effectiveness
Jubilant Cadista Pharmaceuticals is recalling one lot of the combination oral contraceptive Drospirenone and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets, USP, 3mg/0.02mg. due to the possibility of decreased product” effectiveness. The company disclosed that “the recall is being initiated because of out-of-specification dissolution test results at the three-month stability time point.” Consequently, the effectiveness of the product “may be reduced due to incomplete absorption of the active ingredient.” https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/general-endocrinology/oral-contraceptive-recalled-due-to-possibility-of-reduced-efficacy/
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Excessive Prenatal Caffeine Exposure May Impact Liver In Offspring, Rat Study Suggests
reports a study of rats suggests excessive caffeine consumption during pregnancy may damage the liver of offspring. Caffeine “was found to disrupt the development of the liver before and after birth,” which may “be because the babies of the rats exposed to caffeine had lower levels of a liver hormone and higher levels of the stress hormone corticosteroid when they were born.” Among offspring of rats given the equivalent of two to three cups of coffee, the risk for liver disease later in life was elevated. The study was published in the Journal of Endocrinology. https://www.newsweek.com/drinking-coffee-pregnancy-damage-babys-liver-study-rats-1450922
Monday, July 22, 2019
Deadliest Cancers Receive the Least Amount of Research Funding
colon, endometrial, liver and bile duct, cervical, ovarian, pancreatic and lung cancers were all poorly funded compared to how common they are and how many deaths they cause, the study found. In contrast, breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and pediatric cancers were all well-funded, respective to their impact on society. https://www.technologynetworks.com/cancer-research/news/deadliest-cancers-receive-the-least-amount-of-research-funding-321947?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74870303&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--u_XqMVMU2YK2TlIqMAImG5fSMEll-4Jw4pppj07ic6gSXylNwovyIVsszoiQL6ekcuIE0xxq7r06aaoVuSijHaIbeAw&_hsmi=74870304
Children Born To Women Living Near Oil Wells May Face Elevated Risk For Heart Defects, Research Suggests
reported a study indicates “mothers living near oil and natural gas wells in Colorado have a higher chance of giving birth to children with heart defects.” Specifically, “the team found that mothers in these areas were between 40 and 70 percent more likely to have children with congenital heart defects.” The findings were published in Environment International. https://www.newsweek.com/oil-gas-well-mothers-intense-production-children-heart-defects-study-1450226
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Gut Infection Leads to Parkinson's-like Pathology in Mice
https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/gut-infection-leads-to-parkinsons-like-pathology-in-mice-321849?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74778677&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8odE_0LMqR88BSU9romIAFcjVXwvBkojbFu5OseQ0DSgSzMzeAfg4VQO7ejVA1ig_m48Bc3lSvC1D2Ifo-ecZw3Hn1_w&_hsmi=74778677
Trudeau and McBride, two specialists in the field of PD research, argue that the findings in this new study may explain this disparity: these animals are normally kept in germ-free facilities, conditions not representative of those encountered by human beings who are constantly exposed to infectious microorganisms. Gruenheid, a microbiologist, is confident that the link between infection and PD will stimulate further study of the immune response linked to the initiation of the disease, allowing researchers to develop and test novel therapeutic approaches.
PD is caused by the progressive death of a subset of neurons in the brain, called dopaminergic neurons. This loss of neurons is responsible for the typical motor symptoms observed in PD patients, including tremors and rigidity. What causes the death of the dopaminergic neurons is still unknown.
CVS Health To Launch Clinical Trial Of Its Own Home Dialysis System
reports CVS Health announced that it will launch “a clinical trial of its new home dialysis system this week, setting it up to compete directly with the two largest operators of U.S. dialysis centers, Fresenius Medical Care AG and DaVita Inc.” The company “is enrolling up to 70 patients at up to 10 medical centers in the” US, and if the trial is successful, CVS “plans to begin offering kidney care dialysis services in 2021.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cvs-health-dialysis/cvs-enters-home-dialysis-care-with-clinical-trial-of-new-system-idUSKCN1UC1F0
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Use of Hearing Aids Associated With Better Brain Function in Later Life
https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/use-of-hearing-aids-associated-with-better-brain-function-in-later-life-321764?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74684524&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9dpMiOxQMvVeMP7WD9P_AzrHDEGvaHRw5iNt1dbnwA5MkV1bt1NBln7SlHnA7rEHmJgJgHBi3ByikbxddQ034utrimNg&_hsmi=74684524
The findings provide early evidence that encouraging people to wear an effective hearing aid may help to protect their brains and reduce their risk of dementia.
Both groups undertook annual cognitive tests over two years. After that time, the group who wore hearing aids performed better in measures assessing working memory and aspects of attention than those who did not. On one attention measure, people who wore hearing aids showed faster reaction times - in everyday terms, this is a reflection of concentration, for example, 'straining to hear a sound', 'peering closely at an object of great interest', 'listening intently to someone speaking'.
Researchers Examine How Extreme Weather Events Can Expose People To Toxic Chemicals
reports researchers are examining how “the extreme weather and fires of recent years, similar to the flooding that has struck Louisiana and the Midwest, may be making Americans sick in ways.” Researchers have found that such events can expose people to toxic chemicals “by knocking chemicals loose from soil, homes, industrial-waste sites or other sources, and spreading them into the air, water and ground, disasters like these.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/climate/flooding-chemicals-health-research.html
New Contraceptive Vaginal Ring Appears Effective In Clinical Trials
reports two clinical trials suggest a novel contraceptive vaginal ring is safe and effective. The ring prevents pregnancy for up to one year and can be removed and reinserted by the user without assistance from a medical provider. The device, called “Annovera...was developed by the nonprofit Population Council and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August 2018. It will be sold in the U.S. market by TherapeuticsMD, Inc., starting later this year or in 2020.” A report on the device and results from the clinical trials were published in The Lancet Global Health. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-contraception/new-contraceptive-vaginal-ring-prevents-pregnancy-for-a-year-gives-women-more-control-idUSKCN1UA1OQ
Monday, July 15, 2019
Strain of Common Cold Virus Attacks and Destroys Bladder Cancer Cells
Researchers from the University of Surrey and Royal Surrey County Hospital investigated the safety and tolerability of exposure to the oncolytic (‘cancer-killing’) virus coxsackievirus (CVA21), a naturally occurring strain of the common cold, in fifteen patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). NMIBC is found in the tissue of the inner surface of the bladder and is the tenth most common cancer in the UK with approximately 10,000 people each year diagnosed with the illness.
Current treatments for this cancer are problematic. Transurethral resection, an invasive procedure that removes all visible lesions, has a high tumour recurrence rate ranging from 50 per cent to 70 per cent as well as a high tumour progression rate between 10 per cent and 20 per cent over a period of two to five years. Another common course of treatment, immunotherapy with Bacille Calmette-Guerin, a live bacterium used to treat bladder cancer, has been found to have serious side effects in one third of NMIBC patients while one third do not respond to the treatment at all. https://www.technologynetworks.com/cancer-research/news/strain-of-common-cold-virus-attacks-and-destroys-bladder-cancer-cells-321476?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74365052&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_YPhVOtH5IGeBy8v_Ttnn5VZSGaZsbpIMli_vPklBLl4Z3bDSU7sP8fA5rkRVl5sdg7tXXAzbZj9aaNR3oxbRVXRSadQ&_hsmi=74365052
Adults Born Premature May Be Less Likely To Experience Romantic Relationships, Have Children Than Their Full-Term Counterparts, Researchers Say
reported research indicated that “adults who were born premature were less likely to experience romantic relationships and have children than their full-term peers.” What’s more, “they were more than twice as likely to never have sex,” researchers concluded after conducting a meta-analysis that “included data from more than four million participants who were born preterm (under 37 weeks gestation) and with low birth weight.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/parenting/2019/07/12/study-adults-born-premature-2-times-less-likely-have-sex/1720971001/
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Not All Fat Is Equal
It has been unclear why fat cells, which appear so similar, are associated with such different health outcomes," says author Professor Katherine Samaras, Head of the Clinical Obesity, Nutrition and Adipose Biology lab at Garvan and endocrinologist at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney. "Now we start to understand that the different fat cells are wired differently right from the start."
In their study, the researchers isolated the fat-storing cells from visceral and subcutaneous fat biopsies from three individuals. The team compared the fat cells' epigenomes, the chemical tags attached to DNA that control how genes are read, and their transcriptomes, the genetic output of the cell.
By creating a comprehensive genomic map, the researchers discovered a number of fundamental epigenetic differences linked to changed genetic output, between the cells in subcutaneous and visceral fat.
Further, the team discovered these differences arise early in cell development, and are likely present in the precursor cells from which fat cells arise. This finding indicates that despite the fat cells' similar appearance, fat cells become 'hard-wired' early to be harmful or non-harmful.
"When compared with other cell types in the body, visceral and subcutaneous fat cells are very similar to each other in their function," says lead author Dr Stephen Bradford. "Our analysis revealed epigenetic differences that may control different genes being turned on in subcutaneous and visceral fat cells that could contribute to their different properties and health effects."
"This comprehensive study demonstrated that the epigenome can provide an unprecedented view into the differences of cells that seem apparently very similar," says co-senior author Dr Peter Molloy from the CSIRO. "We believe that such analyses will provide us with further crucial insight not only into the development of fat, but also for other cell types in future."
Reference: Bradford et al. 2019. Methylome and transcriptome maps of human visceral and subcutaneous adipocytes reveal key epigenetic differences at developmental genes. Scientific Reports. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45777-w. https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/not-all-fat-is-equal-321549?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74454458&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9wgcbWW_DCqgsrPqEihxn3tJwEkDgTleyrSYNYdhn9ZvtB4NG3VmeViOx5YeRDfQ32n8POTnIGDAInYR7ZNmhrIp2dbg&_hsmi=74454458
Little Proof Exists That Supplements, Some Widely Recommended Diets Have Power To Prevent Heart Disease, Review Suggests
eports research indicates that “there was strikingly little proof from rigorous studies that supplements and some widely recommended diets have the power to prevent heart disease,” researchers found after analyzing data on “24 supplements and diets...from 277 trials of cardiovascular prevention involving a total of 992,000 people.” The review’s findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The NBC News (7/8, Edwards) website reports, “Though the researchers did find that fish oil offered some benefit in reducing the risk of heart attack and overall heart disease, and that folic acid was associated with a lower risk of stroke, they said the majority of supplements analyzed offered no benefits” whatsoever. In some cases, taking supplements could even cause harm. For example, “taking calcium plus vitamin D, the researchers found, was associated with an increased risk for stroke.” The authors of an accompanying editorial observed that the Western diet “already has significant dietary fortification with calcium plus vitamin D.”
Also covering the story are CNN (7/8, Azad) and HealthDay (7/8, Reinberg). https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/most-dietary-supplements-do-not-protect-against-heart-attack-stroke-n1027366
More Evidence That Shorter Pneumonia Tx Is Better Study on excess duration adds to discussion about shorter-course therapy
The majority of patients hospitalized with pneumonia received too many antibiotics, with various patient characteristics associated with excess duration, researchers found.
More than two-thirds of patients received antibiotics for a length of time exceeding the shortest duration consistent with recommended guidelines, and most of this was due to excess prescribing at discharge, reported Valerie M. Vaughn, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues.
A multivariate analysis found that factors associated with excess use included having either a positive or negative respiratory culture or non-culture diagnostic test, a longer hospital stay, and high risk antibiotic use in the past 90 days, they wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
In addition, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was also a predictor of excess duration of therapy, they noted.
The authors wrote that the most common reason for both inpatient antibiotic use and overuse is pneumonia, as patients were traditionally prescribed long durations of therapy due to concerns about short courses leading to relapse or progression. But that school of thought is changing, especially given new information about multi-drug resistant infections and antibiotic-associated adverse events. This has led to hospital antibiotic stewardship guidelines calling for interventions that call for reducing antibiotic therapy "to the shortest effective duration," the authors said.
In an accompanying editorial, Brad Spellberg, MD, of the University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles and Louis B. Rice, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said that these findings add to the evidence "supporting the antibiotic mantra 'shorter is better.'"
Indeed, the editorialists called for an overhaul from regulatory agencies, payers, and professional societies to convert practice patterns to short-course therapy.
They argued short-course therapy is "underused by clinicians," in part because of the practices of these three stakeholder groups. For regulatory agencies, short-course therapy is not included in hospital regulations on antibiotic stewardship by U.S. and European government agencies, and the FDA requires new antibiotics to use traditional durations versus short-course durations in clinical trials, they said. In addition, payers cover the full duration of antibiotic therapy, regardless of evidence that indicates shorter courses might be more effective, and guidelines continue to recommend traditional length of therapy for many infections.
But Spellberg and Rice urged the profession to "overcome inertia and tradition and change practice" in light of the evidence about short-course therapy. Specifically, they referenced the more than 45 randomized controlled trials and two meta-analyses that found "no difference in efficacy" between shorter and traditional therapy across a variety of infections, including pneumonia.
"After dozens of [randomized controlled trials] and more than a decade since the initial clarion call to move to short-course therapy, it is time to adapt clinical practice for diseases that have been studied and adopt the mantra 'shorter is better,'" they wrote.
Vaughn and colleagues looked at data from 43 hospitals from the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium. Patients were included if they had a discharge diagnosis code for pneumonia, symptoms and radiographs consistent with pneumonia, at least 4 days of antibiotic therapy, and antibiotics on day 1 or 2 of hospitalization. Rate of excess antibiotic treatment duration was the primary outcome.
Overall, about 6,500 patients were included in the analysis, about half were women, almost 80% were white, and the median age was around 70. Almost three-quarters had CAP, and 57% had severe pneumonia. About a quarter had a concurrent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and more than three-quarters had at least one blood culture done. Moreover, the large majority of patients improved quickly, and were clinically stable or discharged by day 5.
But 67.8% of patients received antibiotic therapy for longer than the shortest time recommended by the guidelines, including 72% of those with CAP and 57% of those with healthcare-associated pneumonia. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/pneumonia/80898?xid=nl_mpt_morningbreak2019-07-09&eun=g721819d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBreak_070919&utm_term=NL_Daily_Morn_Break_Active
Monday, July 8, 2019
Exposure To “Common Paint Chemicals” Associated With Autism Disorder, Researchers Say
reported on a study published online June 27 in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, which found that women exposed to “common paint chemicals at work” such as benzene have a higher likelihood of having “a child with autism disorder. Further, the greater the exposure, the greater the autism risk, the study found.” According to the study abstract, included in the research were the parents of 537 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 414 typically developing youngsters without ASD. https://time.com/5619823/paint-fumes-harmful-research/
Researchers Examine How Aerobic Exercise And Resistance Training May Affect Cardiac Adipose Tissues
“Obese people who engaged in resistance training were more likely to see reductions in a type of heart fat that has been linked to cardiovascular disease,” research indicated. In the 32-adult study, investigators found that “pericardial adipose tissue was reduced in patients who did weight lifting, but not in those who worked on increasing their endurance with aerobic exercise.” However, “both forms of exercise resulted in the reduction of...epicardial adipose tissue, which has also been linked with heart disease.” The findings were published online in JAMA Cardiology. Consistent Exercise May Be Associated With Higher Physical Activity Levels Regardless Of Time Of Day, Researchers Say The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/6, Parker) reported that a 375-participant study published online in the journal Obesity sought “to determine the time of day to workout for the best weight loss.” The study of people who had successfully maintained weight loss revealed that “consistent exercise was associated with higher physical activity levels regardless of whether people exercised consistently during the morning, afternoon, or evening.” The study also revealed that “morning was the most common time” for exercise. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-heart-fitness/weightlifting-better-at-reducing-heart-fat-than-aerobic-exercise-idUSKCN1U027A
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Researchers Working To Develop Necklace That Can Detect Hypoglycemia Sooner Than Continuous Glucose Monitors
reports researchers in Indiana are working to develop a necklace that might be able to warn patients with diabetes “of impending hypoglycemia 15 minutes or more before continuous glucose monitors notice a problem.” The necklace “would detect changes in the volatile organic compounds...that patients exhale as their plasma glucose level drops.” The findings were presented at a conference. https://www.mdedge.com/endocrinology/article/204006/diabetes/voc-sniffing-necklace-may-support-early-detection-hypoglycemia
People Who Don’t Consistently Get Same Amount Of Sleep Or Go To Bed At Same Time May Be More Likely To Develop Diabetes And Other Conditions, Study Suggests
reports a recent study suggests that “people who don’t consistently get the same amount of sleep or go to bed at the same time each night may be more likely to develop health problems like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.” Researchers “had 2,003 patients do home-based sleep studies for one week using devices known as actigraphs, which assess nighttime movements and sleep-wake cycles.” The study was published in Diabetes Care. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-bedtime-metabolic-syndrome/varied-bedtimes-tied-to-obesity-diabetes-high-blood-pressure-idUSKCN1TX2YH
Antidepressants May Reduce Deaths In Patients With Diabetes And Depression, Study Indicates
reports researchers found that “antidepressants reduce deaths by more than a third in patients with diabetes and depression.” The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/antidepressants-reduce-deaths-by-more-than-a-third-in-patients-with-diabetes/
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Low Vitamin D at Birth Linked to Kids' High Blood Pressure Risk
reports, “Infants and young children with vitamin D deficiency may have a heightened risk for elevated blood pressure later in childhood and in their teens,” research indicated. The findings of the 775-child study were published in the journal Hypertension. MD Magazine (7/1, Campbell) also covers the study. https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/kids-ailments-health-news-434/low-vitamin-d-at-birth-linked-to-kids-high-blood-pressure-risk-747906.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)