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ATLANTA — Potential once-daily male oral contraceptives have passed a first clinical hurdle, showing a degree of testosterone suppression that should be sufficient for a contraceptive effect without causing symptomatic hypogonadism, according to phase 1 study results to be presented at ENDO 2022. There are two pills in development and the studies so far suggest that
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One in three people with migraine said they frequently experienced migraine-related stigma, survey data showed. Among nearly 60,000 people in the OVERCOME study, a web-based study of adults with active migraine, 31.7% said they experienced migraine-related stigma often or very often, reported Robert Shapiro, MD, PhD, of the University of Vermont in Burlington, in a
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Early in the pandemic, multiple studies showed that about half of people with COVID lost their sense of smell (called anosmia) at some point during the course of infection. Roughly an additional 20% to 35% experienced a clinical reduction in their ability to smell (hyposmia). Although more recent evidence suggests omicron might not lead to
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Babies are at risk of suffering neurodevelopment problems when they become exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in the womb, according to a new study.  The European Psychiatric Association and the University of Barcelona reported in their study that babies exposed to COVID-19 during pregnancy may have brain development issues.  According to the study, infants born to moms
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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The Biden administration will stop requiring international air travelers to prove they’ve tested negative for COVID-19 before being allowed to enter the United States, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official. The rule change will be announced Friday and go into
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An FDA advisory committee on Friday unanimously recommended betibeglogene autotemcel (beti-cel) for approval in patients with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, a chronic inherited blood disorder. With a 13-0 vote, FDA’s Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee said the benefits of the one-time, first-in-class lentiviral vector (LVV) gene therapy outweigh any of the risks associated with the
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The death of a 31-year-old woman last year has been attributed to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS), a condition that may be causing hundreds of people to die annually in the Australian state of Victoria. Advertising executive Catherine Keane died in her sleep last July while living with two friends in Dublin, Ireland. Her mother, Margherita Cummins,
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Patients successfully resuscitated after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who did not have ST-segment elevation on their electrocardiogram did not benefit from emergency coronary angiography in a new randomized clinical trial. In the EMERGE trial, a strategy of emergency coronary angiography was not found to be better than a strategy of delayed coronary angiography with respect
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[embedded content] In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO — who goes by “Dr. Mike” on social media — reviews medical-themed memes. Following is a transcript of the video (note that errors are possible): Varshavski: “If a UTI [urinary tract infection] was an outfit.” I would say it’s more like heartburn, but it could be a
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Blocked fallopian tubes can be opened using a brief and “ridiculously simple” outpatient procedure, often enabling natural conception and avoiding costly infertility treatments, researchers have found.   For the technique, clinicians use x-rays to determine where a fallopian tube is blocked — if indeed it is — then use a fine wire to clear any
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How is it that mothers can soothe their distressed infants? A team of researchers has shed light on this unique process and how it can possibly be improved in mothers with postpartum depression. There’s no denying that moms have that special capability to soothe their babies when they’re distressed. However, the mechanisms behind it still aren’t well
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During the first year of the pandemic, profound changes in screen use and sleep timing occurred among US adolescents as a result of spending more time using electronic devices, going to bed later, and getting up later compared to before the pandemic, new research indicates. The excessive screen time negatively affected sleep, said lead investigator
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Evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was found in a small percentage of brains of deceased military personnel, researchers reported. Among 225 consecutive brains from a brain bank of deceased service members, investigators found signs of CTE in 4.4% (n=10), said Daniel Perl, MD, of the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues. Half
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A new experimental drug could be the breakthrough cure against cancer after showing promise in a clinical trial.  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center conducted a small clinical trial on the immunotherapy drug dostarlimab and found evidence that it could treat rectal cancer patients.  The results were startling since every single rectal cancer patient who received
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Investigators detected prions in one of 75 cadavers received by an institution in Japan for anatomical practice, according to a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “The potential for exposure to prions through accidental contact with prion-infected tissues…is of concern, since prions are not inactivated by formalin fixation,” the authors wrote, adding, ”Abnormal
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About 31% of adolescents reported feeling unsafe in their schools, a large international study found. The results show the importance of providing a safe environment for children, said the researchers. Having a safe school environment is critical for youths’ ”educational success and development,” the researchers noted in their paper, published in Frontiers in Psychology. This pertains to a
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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. A federal advisory panel strongly supported a bid for Novavax to win US emergency authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, which is based on a more traditional, protein-based approach than the cutting-edge technology used in mRNA-based shots. ​​The Vaccines and Related Biological
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The benefits of Novavax’s adjuvanted protein-based COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks, the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) said in a near-unanimous vote on Tuesday. With 21 members voting yes, and one abstention, VRBPAC recommended Novavax’s two-dose vaccine for adults, saying that it met the criteria for FDA emergency use authorization (EUA).
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No one wanted COVID-19. The pandemic has created misery, death and hardship, and it isn’t finished yet. Still, the lingering crisis has generated opportunities, by expediting research that may benefit humanity far beyond the pandemic. Inhaled vaccines are one example. I am part of a multidisciplinary team working to make these a practical reality, much
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Politics these days can feel like life or death. A new study shows that, at least in one respect, that’s true: Americans living in counties that primarily vote Democrat are dying at lower rates than their counterparts in Republican-voting counties.  The study, out Tuesday in the BMJ, found the mortality rate in counties that voted
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Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act led to substantial gains in insurance coverage and access to care but not in cardiovascular risk factor management or treatment, new research suggests. “We have a lot of work to do to improve cardiovascular care delivery to low-income vulnerable populations, irrespective of where they live,” Rishi K. Wadhera,
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WASHINGTON — Prior authorization, that oft-maligned process of getting insurer approval prior to performing a procedure or prescribing a drug, is in the spotlight once again, on several fronts. On Capitol Hill, the issue began to bubble up in late April, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)
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