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An Oregon law allowing women to obtain 12-month supplies of short-acting contraceptives has not led to an increase in these extended prescriptions, researchers have found. Dr Maria Rodriguez The 2016 provision was intended to help women avoid breaks in coverage for reproductive care, reduce the burdens of filling prescriptions, and reduce the risk of unintended

While cases of Omicron have waned in recent weeks, the number of Americans who have gained immunity from the COVID variant has skyrocketed. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention back in late January indicated that the Omicron variant made up 99.9% of all COVID cases as the strain of the highly contagious virus

Ophthalmologists report lower rates of clinical depression and higher rates of happiness outside of work than physicians in other specialties, according to the Medscape Ophthalmologist Lifestyle, Happiness, and Burnout Report 2022. One in four ophthalmologists (40%) said they were burned-out, less than in the general physician pool (47%). Emergency medicine (60%) and critical care (56%)

Back in early 2020, if you got ill with COVID there were no proven treatments for doctors to give you – it was one of the main things that made this disease so scary. Fast forward to 2021 and scientists have since uncovered a handful of options, but the hunt is continuing. More than 5,000

[embedded content] Rohin Francis, MBBS, joins the European Space Agency and NASA for a science-centered parabolic flight. The following is a partial transcript of this video; note that errors are possible. Francis: Oh, man. I’m dizzy as hell. Everything’s spinning. Space medicine is pretty cool. I have talked about it on the channel quite a

The use of a robotic-assisted device to perform transcranial Doppler ultrasound greatly improved the detection of right-to-left cardiac shunts in patients with presumed embolic strokes compared with the current standard of care — transthoracic echocardiography, in a new study. In the study, the robotic-assisted TCD device detected three times as many large shunts that were

Researchers followed up on a previous study wherein the psilocybin treatment proved helpful for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). They found that for some patients, the psychedelic treatment’s effect can last up to one year. The psychedelic known as psilocybin, which can be found in magic mushrooms, can have the effect of altering a

Women are at higher risk of severe adverse events (AEs) from cancer therapy than men, and this is seen with chemotherapy, targeted agents, and especially with immunotherapy. The finding comes from a review of more than 23,000 participants across 202 trials of various cancers (excluding sex-related cancers) that had been conducted over the past 40

With up to 300 million scent receptors, dogs are among the best smell detectors in the animal world. The human nose, by comparison, contains only around 6 million scent receptors. Dog brains also devote 40% more brain space than humans to analyzing odors. That’s why people train dogs to search for diverse targets via smell,

Sarah was recently booted off her parents’ family insurance plan after turning 26. She’s on her own now, but is in luck: the software company she works for offers decent health insurance, with an annual premium of $7,739 and a deductible of $1,945. Sarah is healthy and doesn’t frequently go to the doctor. Her only

Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s  Coronavirus Resource Center. In a first of its kind study, researchers found women who received two mRNA COVID vaccine doses during pregnancy were 61% less likely to have a baby hospitalized for COVID-19 during the first 6 months of life. In addition, two doses of the

Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when pregnant can have some benefits for the newborn child as well, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control.  Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman of the CDC explained that the odds of an infant below the age of six months being hospitalized because of COVID is reduced to around 60%

Florida lawmakers are again grappling with a state law aimed at parents of adult children who have died as the result of medical malpractice, says a story by CBS Miami, among other news sites. Currently, state law forbids such parents from seeking noneconomic damages — including pain-and-suffering awards — in cases in which the adult

A U.S. patient with leukemia has become the first woman and the third person to date to be cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus that causes AIDS, researchers reported on Tuesday. The case of a middle-aged woman of mixed race, presented at

To the uninitiated, a crash proof retirement can seem like a white whale — impossible to capture. That’s because to most physicians, investing in general seems like such a risky endeavor, best left to financial advisors or financial planners. That is how the financial industry makes a lot of its money. However, once you begin

Robert Califf, MD, on Tuesday narrowly won Senate confirmation to once again serve as the commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), overcoming protest votes from lawmakers about abortion and opioid issues. The Senate voted 50-46 in favor of Califf’s nomination. A cardiologist long affiliated with Duke University and a noted expert on

The torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time. There are an estimated 350,000 different manufactured chemicals on the market and large volumes of them end up in the environment. “The impacts

The study covered in this summary was published on researchsquare.com as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed. Key Takeaway Why This Matters The finding challenges the notion that ICI-induced vitiligo is limited to melanoma patients. With growing use of checkpoint inhibitors for nonmelanoma cancers, the diversity of patients’ skin color is expected

We’ve known since early on in the pandemic that COVID reinfections could occur. One of the first reinfections reported was in a 33-year-old man from Hong Kong. His initial infection was diagnosed on March 26 2020, with his second infection, with a genetically distinct virus, being diagnosed 142 days later. Since then reports of reinfection

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a higher risk of mortality, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. All-cause mortality was more than doubled in people with ASD (rate ratio [RR] 2.37, 95% CI 1.97-2.85, I2 89%) and in those with ADHD (RR 2.13, 95% CI 1.13-4.02, I2 98%),

The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has issued recommendations for treating depression in patients with epilepsy. The new guidance highlights the high prevalence of depression among patients with epilepsy while offering the first systematic approach to treatment, reported lead author Marco Mula, MD, PhD, of Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre at St George’s University Hospital, London,

Oral tofacitinib (Xeljanz), a JAK inhibitor, helped regrow hair in three quarters of pediatric patients with alopecia areata (AA) in a small study conducted at the University of Colorado and published in Pediatric Dermatology. The 11 pediatric patients, ages 8 to 18 years, all with a diagnosis of AA, were treated with tofacitinib. Eight patients,

“The body treats loneliness as a state of threat.” — Steve Cole, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, on how lonely older adults, otherwise free of risk factors, saw triple the dementia incidence. “The biggest misconception is that it’s really complicated.” — Justin Brandt, MD, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, on ob/gyns

Patients whose vision is impaired by atrophic age-related macular degeneration can integrate their natural peripheral vision with images supplied through a subretinal implant, researchers say. With magnification supplied by augmented reality glasses, patients reached a visual acuity in the range of 20/63–20/98 up to 2 years after implantation. These findings suggest that the next versions

Models using novel kidney and cardiac biomarkers were the most effective predictors of 10-year risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease patients, in a new study. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients may be at increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, but no ASCVD risk prediction models are currently in place to inform clinical

Stroke centers with advanced Joint Commission certifications did provide better care and outcomes for patients, the Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) stroke registry showed, and more and more hospitals appeared to be on their way to raising their status. Among U.S. hospitals offering reperfusion therapy to stroke patients, certified thrombectomy-capable stroke centers (TSCs) and comprehensive

Individuals with restless legs syndrome showed an increase in symptom severity in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in 2020, but this increase had waned by 2021, according to data from 500 participants in the National Restless Legs Syndrome Opioid Registry. Sufferers of restless legs syndrome (RLS) experience not only sleep

This month’s column is driven by the recent increase of youth in crisis, and COVID-19–related limitations of higher-level services. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth1 and populations who face discrimination are at increased risk.2,3 A pediatrician colleague recently asked me about how to support patients who may be at risk. With inpatient