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Life expectancy in the United States fell by nearly two years in 2020 to about 77 years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the sharpest drop compared to 21 other high-income countries, according to a global study. Americans on average are now expected to live for 76.99 years from 78.86 years in 2019, according to the study,

In the largest multicenter study to date on left bundle-branch area pacing (LBBAP), the technique was shown to be feasible as a primary pacing technique for treating bradyarrhythmias and heart failure. However, there is still a need for greater experience and better devices to improve success rates and safety for the heart failure indication. Basic

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 an increase

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer shared promising results Thursday regarding its COVID-19 booster dose for children aged 5 to 11.  The company said that an additional shot of its mRNA vaccine increased antibodies against Omicron by 36 times for the age group, based on data it conducted from a subset of its a 140-person study. The children participating in

Public health officials from several countries are investigating dozens of cases of severe hepatitis in young children. The source of the infections is unknown. Seventy-four cases have been reported in the United Kingdom, there are three documented cases in Spain, and there are also similar cases being reported in Denmark and the Netherlands, according to an

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reminding the public of the similarities and differences between the symptoms of COVID-19 and allergies amid allergy season. The common symptoms people with the coronavirus and those experiencing allergies share are cough, headaches and tiredness, the CDC pointed out in an infographic. Meanwhile, symptoms such as body

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to a first-of-its-kind test that can detect SARS-CoV-2 in the breath in less than 3 minutes. The COVID-19 Breathalyzer test (InspectIR Systems, LLC) will be available only in

Three years into the pandemic, moral distress, staffing problems, and workplace violence continue to plague nurses across the country, according to results of the latest survey in a series conducted by National Nurses United (NNU). “Nurses are experiencing alarming levels of moral distress and moral injury due to the unsafe working conditions,” NNU President Zenei

Around one in 10 Canadians has kidney disease and millions more are at risk. According to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, the number of people living with end-stage kidney disease or kidney failure has grown 35 per cent since 2009, with 46 per cent of new patients under the age of 65. Hemodialysis is a

Though the pandemic is by no means over, life has returned to something approaching normal. Practices have reopened, and elective procedures are beginning to fill physicians’ schedules once again. After taking a dip in 2020, when many practices were closed and most patients were staying home, physician compensation began to recover in 2021, according to

Despite a slowdown in dating due to mandatory lockdowns, isolation, and quarantines, sexually transmitted diseases were on the rise in the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, with several surpassing 2019 levels, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s 2020 STD Surveillance Report showed

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an imperfect screening biomarker for prostate cancer, but new data indicate that accounting for noncancer genetic factors that influence PSA levels could improve the test’s accuracy. In a large genome-wide association study of PSA levels in men without prostate cancer, researchers developed and validated a genetic score

[embedded content] In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO — who goes by “Doctor Mike” on social media — reacts to unique addictions. Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible): Trina: I’m addicted to coffee enemas. Narrator: For the past two years, Trina hasn’t been able to function without her

Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years and is one of the most popular drugs today. With effects such as feelings of joy and relaxation, it is also legal to prescribe or take in several countries. But how does using the drug affect the mind? In three recent studies, published in The

A number of new studies in lung cancer have started in recent months. Could one of your patients benefit from participating? EGFR-positive stage 1A2–1A3 non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after tumor resection. Adult patients in this clinical scenario can join a phase 3 study testing the effectiveness of osimertinib (Tagrisso). This third-generation oral kinase inhibitor

Two studies published Monday concluded that the risk of heart inflammation following COVID-19 vaccination is quite low.  A study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation found that two in every 1,000 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 experienced myocarditis, or heart inflammation.  “We have much to learn about the pathology of this disease but

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. A fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective in reducing the short-term risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death in people who got a third dose at least 4 months before, a large study published Wednesday shows. However, Paul Offit,

In new draft guidelines, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for the first time recommends that healthcare providers screen children for anxiety, regardless of whether they are showing signs and symptoms. USPSTF is recommending anxiety screening for children ages 8 and older (B grade) and reaffirmed their recommendations to screen for major depression in

Cases of a new COVID-19 variant first detected at the start of the year continue to be reported across the globe, but health officials claim there is still not enough evidence to conclude whether or not it is more transmissible or severe than other variants. Omicron XE, which was first identified in the U.K. in January,

Lawmakers in California are considering a pilot program that would financially support would-be physicians from underrepresented groups while addressing the shortage of healthcare workers in underserved communities. Lupe Alonzo-Diaz In late March, California assembly member Carlos Villapudua (D-13) announced the introduction of bill AB 2132, also known as “the California Future Physician Fund.” The bill

Can kindness help improve families’ brain health? It has been found in a recent study that kindness training can increase parents’ resilience and children’s empathy, proving to be a “powerful brain booster.” For their study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, a team of researchers from the Center for BrainHealth had a close look at whether practices of kindness by

A widely approved vaccine for meningitis may provide up to 40% protection against gonorrhea in young adults and adolescents, according to new research. This moderate efficacy paired with a targeted risk-based approach could reduce cases as well as lead to healthcare savings over 10 years, an additional modeling study showed. The results — in three

There may be 87 fewer billionaires on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s richest people this year, but healthcare leaders still managed to climb the list. Thomas Frist Jr., MD, founder of the sprawling, publicly traded health system Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), topped the U.S. healthcare billionaires on the list, followed by Carl Cook,

Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancer pandemic has raged on for centuries, though it similarly afflicts people in all corners of the world. In 2020 alone, over 19 million people were diagnosed with cancer globally, and almost 10 million people die from cancer every year. The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to those infected with

BOSTON – Although skin biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosing early-stage melanoma, advances in genetic expression profiling are helping dermatologists provide a nuanced approach to managing suspicious lesions. One such test, the Pigmented Lesional Assay (PLA) uses adhesive patches applied to lesions of concern at the bedside to extract RNA from the stratum corneum

Health authorities are warning of a meningococcal disease outbreak in Florida. It has primarily been affecting gay and bisexual men, as well as those living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) announced on April 7 that it has been responding to a meningococcal disease outbreak in the state. According to the agency,

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation should be considered after the first implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shock in patients with ischemic or nonischemic cardiomyopathy, the PARTITA trial suggests. After a first appropriate ICD shock, the primary composite endpoint of all-cause death or hospitalization for worsening heart failure occurred over 2 years of follow-up in 4.3% of 24

Weeks after political leaders and media elites put the U.S. on a course to “return to normalcy,” the country finds itself again contending with an uptick in cases fueled by the highly transmissible BA.2 Omicron subvariant and the ending of public health measures. Some regions and cities, like Washington, D.C. and New York, are seeing