News

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the week. Topics include adverse events

The survival rate following a sports-related cardiac arrest (SrSCA) almost tripled over a recent 12-year period, due in large part to increased bystander use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), results of a new study from France suggest. Lead author Nicole Karam, MD, PhD, associate professor in interventional cardiology, University of Paris, credits

Canada may have passed the peak of the Omicron wave but the number of people hospitalized because of COVID-19 is now at its highest level since the pandemic began, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said today. “In the weeks since the modelling update, there are early indications that infections may have peaked at the national level,

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved risankizumab-rzaa (Skyrizi) for a second indication — treating adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) — making it the second anti-interleukin 23 monoclonal antibody available to treat PsA, according to an announcement from manufacturer AbbVie. The agency previously approved risankizumab in April 2019 for adults with moderate-to-severe

Black patients were more than twice as likely to have their patient behavior and history characterized in negative terms compared to white patients, data from electronic health records (EHRs) revealed. This higher likelihood of having a negative descriptor in their EHRs — with terms such as “resistant,” “noncompliant,” or “agitated” — showed up even after

The heart has played a central role in COVID-19 since the beginning. Cardiovascular conditions are among the highest risk factors for hospitalization. A significant number of patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infections have signs of heart damage, and many recover from infection with lasting cardiovascular injury.   It’s not surprising that debates over COVID-19 vaccines frequently

Black and white people had similar levels of hesitancy in getting COVID-19 vaccines when they first became available, but new data suggest that Black Americans overcame their hesitancy more quickly compared with whites. The results of a new study suggest that hesitancy is likely not the main driver behind comparatively low vaccine uptake in the

When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped. But officials credited the draconian measures with preventing a full collapse of the health system. Lives were

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) — the standard of care for treating venous thrombosis in noncancer patients — should also be the go-to for treating cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), except in patients with a high risk of bleeding, a new analysis suggests. “Our meta-analysis finds that cancer patients who experience acute venous thrombosis events (VTEs) and [who]

Rapid antigen testing using a nasal swab with the BinaxNOW test was able to detect the Omicron variant at an urban community testing site, whereas other swabbing routes did not perform as well, researchers found. Sensitivity of the BinaxNOW assay for detecting PCR-positive cases within a cycle threshold (Ct) of <30, indicating a higher viral

The study covered in this summary was published on medRxiv.org as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.  Key Takeaways Intermittent caloric restriction is associated with reduced memory T cell subsets in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Changes in circulating levels of lipid metabolites, such as acyl carnitines and specific glycerophospholipids, may mediate

Protection against the previously-dominant Delta variant was highest among people who were both vaccinated and had survived a previous COVID-19 infection, according to a report published Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report also found those who had previously been infected with COVID-19 were better protected against the Delta variant

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is still breaking records for hospital overcrowding and new cases. The US is logging nearly 800,000 cases a day, hospitals are starting to fray, and deaths in the US have topped 850,000. Schools

Following the emergence of the Delta variant, individuals who had a prior COVID-19 infection with or without vaccination had lower case rates than those who were vaccinated alone, data from California and New York found. “Infection-derived protection was higher after the Delta variant became predominant, a time when vaccine-induced immunity for many persons declined because

An estimated 132 million COVID vaccines were given to people in Britain in 2021. Yet despite this, over a year into the UK’s vaccination program, a significant number of people still don’t have any vaccine-based protection against the coronavirus. Around one in ten eligible people in the UK still haven’t had a first COVID vaccine

Patients with metastatic HER2-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received prior treatment may benefit from the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu), a new phase 2 trial suggests. The research, published today in The New England Journal of Medicine, revealed durable anticancer activity and encouraging survival outcomes in this patient population, reporting a median progression-free

Inside a busy intensive care unit in Toronto’s east end, Dr. Martin Betts often sees patients grappling with a double diagnosis: a serious health issue coupled with — or caused by — COVID-19. As chief of critical care for the Scarborough Health Network, Betts has treated several patients with diabetic ketoacidosis, a build-up of acids in

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The study covered in this summary was published in medRxiv.org as a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed. Key Takeaways Medication prescribing and dispensing in the United Kingdom were hampered during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not recovered to prepandemic

My respected neurosurgery colleague just ended his career inauspiciously — having had an affair with a resident. While I don’t know the details, I do know that many a male leader, like my friend, has fallen from his perch due to “zipper malfunction.” Had they stronger zippers, maybe they would have kept their sensitive parts

The omicron variant quickly took over the global coronavirus landscape after it was first reported in South Africa in late November, 2021. The U.S. became the 24th country to report a case of omicron infection when health officials announced on Dec. 1, 2021, that the new strain had been identified in a patient in California.

Specially designed spectacles can slow the progression of myopia, even during the lockdowns mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say. Myopia progressed 46% more slowly in children prescribed defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) lenses than in children prescribed standard prescription spectacles during 12 months when the children attended school at a distance, said Henry Chan,

Doctors say an allegation out of Beijing that China’s first Omicron case may be linked to mail received from Toronto should be treated with deep skepticism. Chinese health authorities said earlier Monday that a case of Omicron in Beijing may have spread from a package received from Canada. They urged citizens to stop ordering parcels from abroad