Author Archives: admin

Healthcare workers will be relieved to know that hospital coffee machines are not responsible for spreading disease and a general ban doesn’t seem necessary, finds a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. In a bid to eliminate hospital acquired (nosocomial) infections, various objects have been investigated as breeding grounds for bacteria including […]

Newly unionized resident physicians and fellows at Stanford Health Care in California will see a 21% pay increase over 3 years after reaching their first contract with the health system. The tentative deal for about 1500 physicians also includes paid rideshares, fertility benefits, and a new grievance process, the Committee of Interns and Residents , […]

Major depressive disorder affects 16.1 million adults in the United States and costs $210 billion annually. While the primary symptoms of depression are psychological, scientists and doctors have come to understand that depression is a complex disease with physical effects throughout the body. For example, measuring markers of cellular metabolism has become an important approach […]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved belzutifan (Welireg) for adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma following progression on a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and a vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGF-TKI). The approval makes belzutifan the first agent indicated for renal cell carcinoma that has progressed after checkpoint inhibition and a VEGF-TKI.  […]

SAN DIEGO — Two frontline therapy combinations for patients with multiple myeloma who are not eligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplant are listed as “preferred” regimens, according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines.  However, a new analysis of real-world patient outcomes suggests that one regimen may be significantly better. The study found that frontline triple […]

In a recent study published in BMJ, researchers performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to investigate the associations between genetically proxied (via a surrogate biomarker) suppression of phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), a recognized pharmacological target for erectile dysfunction, fertility, subjective wellness, and sexual behavior. Study: A drug target for erectile dysfunction to help improve fertility, sexual […]

The European Commission has granted approval to avapritinib (Ayvakit) to address moderate to severe symptoms in adult patients with indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) who are inadequately managed by current symptomatic treatments. This marks the first approved therapy for individuals with the condition in Europe. ISM is a rare blood disorder characterized by an abnormal build-up […]

San Francisco — In the first randomized controlled trial using the TriClip Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Repair system (Abbott) for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) of the tricuspid valve in patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR), patients showed sustained TR reduction and improvements in quality of life at 1 year as well as safety at 30 days.  […]

In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers used a convolutional neural network (CNN) to automate lagophthalmos diagnosis. Study: Diagnosing lagophthalmos using artificial intelligence. Image Credit: Joyseulay/Shutterstock.com Background Lagophthalmos is characterized by an inadequate or aberrant eyelid closure, which increases the risk of corneal ulcers and blindness. It is a frequent symptom of many diseases and […]

Changes in tissue thickness in the back of the eye can correlate with worsening or improvement of renal problems and could help predict who will have worsening of kidney function, a new analysis report finds.  The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, is the first to show an association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and […]