News

The novel investigational peptide inhibitor zilucoplan (UCB) continues to show promise in the treatment of adults with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). Top-line results from the phase 3 RAISE trial showed the drug met the primary and all key secondary endpoints and was well tolerated, UCB has announced. Zilucoplan is a self-administered, subcutaneous peptide inhibitor of

Strength training, also known as resistance or weight training, is a form of training that uses resistance to muscular contraction. Thus, it builds strength, anaerobic endurance, and the size of skeletal muscles. This type of training has five main benefits: developing strong bones, managing your weight, managing chronic conditions, sharpening your cognitive skills, and improving

The study covered in this summary was published as a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed. Key Takeaways Clinical, environmental, and genetic risk measures show modest ability to distinguish between individuals for alcohol, drug, and any substance use disorders in young adulthood. The predictive power of polygenic scores and a clinical/environmental/risk index (CERI) was

Losing the sense of smell was considered a hallmark of a COVID-19 infection since the early days of the pandemic. Two years into the global health crisis, researchers have uncovered what could be causing such a phenomenon. Deciphering The Symptom In a new study published in the journal Cell Wednesday, a team of researchers presented

WASHINGTON — The Medicare program could easily become solvent if regulators cracked down harder on fraudsters and profiteers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth, said Wednesday. “The Medicare system is hemorrhaging money on scams and fraud,” Warren said at a hearing on Medicare financing. “It

Catching all solid cancers before they metastasize could prevent 26% to 32% of cancer deaths in women and 18% to 24% in men within 10 years of diagnosis, researchers in Australia estimate. Those figures translate to 2064 to 2677 fewer cancer deaths annually in the state of New South Wales between 2005 and 2014, the

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraged the public not to panic amid reports about the surge in COVID-19 cases brought about by the omicron variant. The national public health agency said the United States already has the “tools” to combat the new strain and prevent it from harming more people.  Omicron In

It seems obvious that increased use of mosquito bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa would decrease the incidence of malaria, but a lingering question remained: would controlling malaria in children under 5 years of age shift deaths to older children by delaying functional immunity?  A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine seems to

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against the negative effects and dangers of teleworking or working from home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The public health agency also called for crucial changes to protect the overall health of employees engaging in distance working.  Dangers Of Teleworking Although working from home has opened the doors

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were associated with vaccine hesitancy and distrust in government COVID-19 restrictions, U.K. researchers found. Vaccine hesitancy was three times higher among adults who reported at least four ACEs, and higher overall among younger people, reported Mark Bellis, DSc, of Bangor University in Wales, and colleagues. Likewise, ACEs were associated with lack

Feb. 2, 2022 — The Biden administration has enough doses for the 18 million children under 5 years old who may become eligible for COVID-19 shots in the coming weeks and has already started coordinating vaccination sites, according to White House officials. “We’re working closely with states, local health departments, pediatricians, family doctors, and pharmacies

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy may be associated with traumatic events in childhood that undermine trust, including domestic violence, substance abuse in the home, or neglect, data published Tuesday suggest. Findings by Prof. Mark A. Bellis, College of Human Sciences, Bangor University, United Kingdom,

People are understandably worn out, tired of thinking about COVID-19 and wanting to get back to a true normal. This so-called “pandemic fatigue” is real. But it’s also contributing to lapses in COVID-19 precautions and to more people getting infected with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. It is become starkly clear that this pandemic is

Facebook announced last year that it was committed to putting $10 billion into the virtual world: its metaverse division. And last week, news broke that Microsoft was nearing a $70 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard, the video game publisher of World of Warcraft and other top-selling games. As Microsoft’s biggest entry into gaming, the

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — If you are Black or Hispanic in a conservative state that already limits access to abortions, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one. And if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to further restrict or even ban abortions, minority women will bear the brunt of it,

Nearly two thirds (64%) of radiologists report being named in a malpractice lawsuit, placing them ninth in the top 10 specialties most likely to be sued, according to the Medscape Radiologist Malpractice Report 2021. Radiology ranked above cardiology (58%), and was surpassed by otolaryngology (68%), emergency medicine (70%), specialized surgery (74%), ob/gyn (79%), urology (80%),

Although experts said that the omicron variant causes mild symptoms, there is still fear that the growing number of cases could pose a big problem to the healthcare community. And even though the new variant is known to cause similar signs and symptoms as the earlier strains, there is mounting evidence that it could also

The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in 1948, set up the framework that healthcare is a human right. Article 25 of the document stated that, “everyone has a right to standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family including…medical care and necessary social services, and the

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. COVID-19 transmission may spike seasonally due to temperature and humidity, increasing at different times of the year in different regions, according to a new study in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Colder areas in the U.S., such as

Getting tested for COVID-19 has become a daunting task since newer variants, such as omicron, emerged. The long lines at clinics and the not-so-affordable at-home test kits also make it hard for everyone to know their COVID-19 status. But a promising solution is in the works.  The Bacticount App Researchers from the University of California,

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, The Washington Post wrote of the trailblazing cardiologist and scientist Jeremiah Stamler, MD: “You may not know him, but he may have saved your life.” Hyperbole, it was not. Over a career spanning more than 70 years, Stamler transformed medicine and the public’s understanding of diet and lifestyle

Despite the word “stealth” attached to the new omicron variant, experts said there is no reason to fear the new form of the novel coronavirus.  Understanding BA.2 The new strain with the scientific name BA.2 is one of the three derivatives of the omicron variant. It has since been making headlines after being nicknamed “stealth

“We are at the mercy of this virus and its variants.” — William Schaffner, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, on navigating the pandemic as Omicron subsides. “When we’ve looked at these numbers in the past, they’ve been inaccurate.” — Jeff Grainger, director of external communications for AdventHealth in Central Florida, on a

A new, randomized crossover study shows that individuals who ate specifically formulated snacks high in certain ingredients including fiber, phytosterols, and antioxidants reduced their LDL cholesterol, even in the absence of other dietary or lifestyle changes. Investigators randomized 54 adults to receive either the specially formulated snacks made by Step One Foods or control snacks

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Parents who keep up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines may help protect their unvaccinated children from the disease in the process, new research shows. Having one fully vaccinated parent reduced the risk for infection with the original strain of SARS-CoV-2

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 FDA restricting

Jan. 28, 2022 — Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and star of TV’s Shark Tank, is backing a new online pharmacy that aims to reduce the prices people pay for 100 generic medications. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC) plans to offer the leukemia therapy imatinib for $47

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved faricimab (Vabysmo, Genentech/Roche) to treat diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Compared with antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs currently in use, faricimab requires fewer intravitreal injections on average, so it may reduce the burden on both patients and their physicians while