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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. COVID-19 has now killed at least 675,000 Americans, a death toll that has surpassed the estimates of the number of Americans who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Although the raw numbers match,

The delta variant of the novel coronavirus has brought forth massive spikes in COVID-19 transmissions in the country and across the globe. And though children are also seeing a surge in cases, there is no cause for alarm among the younger population.  COVID-19 In Kids In the U.S., transmissions involving children under 12 have soared

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first biosimilar for ophthalmology, Byooviz (ranibizumab-nuna), which will be indicated for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, and myopic choroidal neovascularization, a vision-threatening complication of myopia. The reference product for Byooviz (Samsung Bioepis/Biogen) is Lucentis (ranibizumab injection, Roche), which

Note that some links may require registration or subscription. “For me, it is 1972 all over again,” wrote Alan Braid, MD, a Texas physician who knowingly violated the state’s new law banning most abortions after 6 weeks, in a Washington Post editorial. Pfizer announced that a lower dose of its COVID-19 vaccine triggered a robust

A majority of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) experiencing “off” episodes  successfully tolerated titration to an effective and tolerable dose of sublingual apomorphine film (SL-apo; Kynmobi, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals) without the use of antiemetic medication, new research shows. “The bottom line was that the majority of patients did not have dose-limiting nausea or vomiting,” co-investigator William

Adjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) following complete melanoma resection could soon move to an earlier stage in the management of high-risk disease, suggest results from KEYNOTE 716. However, the results raise many questions, says an expert invited to discuss the new data. Adjuvant pembrolizumab is already approved in the USA for use in patients with melanoma with

Sixteen states — a jump from 12 states in 2019 — now officially have high obesity prevalence rates, defined as at least 35% of residents having obesity. New to the CDC’s list in 2020 were Delaware, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas. Might the carbohydrate-insulin model be able to better explain this obesity epidemic rather than simply

The visual disorder amblyopia, also known as “lazy eye,” can be impossible to treat once children reach adolescence. Now, a new Israel study links cases in older teenagers to higher rates of poverty, below-average cognitive scores, immigrant status, and obesity.   The research suggests that poorer children need more visual screening, especially in the United States

Details of what works, and what doesn’t, in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) come from long-term follow-up of the phase 3 randomized BrighTNess trial. The initial improvement that was seen in pathologic complete response (pCR) rates with the addition of carboplatin to paclitaxel and standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy translated into improved event-free survival (EFS) rates in patients

On September 1, Texas Senate Bill 8 went into effect. While the law’s stated goal is to severely limit a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in Texas, it also designates private citizens to sue not just abortion providers, but anyone “aiding and abetting” a woman seeking to obtain an abortion after 6 weeks of

New evidence suggesting that the benefit of ticagrelor outweighs the risk when added to aspirin for 30 days after a mild-to-moderate ischemic stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack (TIA) has been reported from a secondary analysis of the THALES trial. The new analysis was presented at the recent European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) and published

Latest figures have shown that obesity cases are on the rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Did the global health crisis play a role in the surge in obesity cases in sixteen states?  The Latest Figures The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Wednesday that there has been an increase in the number of

A single-arm, phase 2 clinical trial of atezolizumab with chemotherapy for patients with nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastases shows promise for improving progression-free survival, according to a study presented at the 2021 World Congress on Lung Cancer. The trial is noteworthy because to date, few patients with nonsquamous NSCLC and untreated

Note that some links may require registration or subscription. Moderna President Stephen Hoge, MD, said the fast-spreading Delta variant has “raised the bar on how good vaccines have to be” by exposing weaknesses in the current products. (CNBC) In Idaho, a state with one of the lowest COVID vaccination rates, health officials announced a statewide

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The largest nonprofit health system in Texas has secured a temporary restraining order against cardiologist Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH, a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic who allegedly continued to claim an affiliation with Baylor Scott & White Health months after he entered

A new study is shedding more light on what could be causing severe COVID-19 infection in SARS-CoV-2 patients.  Stanford researchers revealed this week their interesting discovery upon examining a number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. In a press release published on Stanford Medicine’s website Tuesday, the team indicated that they found self-attacking antibodies in 1 in

Patients with life-limiting advanced lung cancer often experience intense grief and loss. Addressing patients’ physical symptoms — drug side effects, trouble breathing, pain, fatigue — alongside their psychological and spiritual distress — depression, anxiety, fear of death — is critical to restoring their dignity and improving their quality of life, say palliative care experts. Palliative

An artificial intelligence-based system missed fewer adenomas and found more first-pass adenomas per colonoscopy than high-definition white light (HDWL) colonoscopies, a multicenter randomized trial found. In an analysis of 223 patients, the adenoma miss rate among those who initially underwent a computer aided detection (CADe) colonoscopy was significantly lower than those who initially underwent HDWL

SARS-CoV-2 has caused the greatest pandemic of the past 100 years. Understanding its origins is crucial for knowing what happened in late 2019 and for preparing for the next pandemic virus. These studies take time, planning and cooperation. They must be driven by science — not politics or posturing. The investigation into the origins of

  Surfing the web today, you may have noticed that the Google Doodle is a nurse, a Latin American one at that. In keeping with the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the tech giant today honored Panamanian American nurse and educator Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, who helped start the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN). According

Cat lover? We get it. Not only are cats great pets, but they are also generally less stressful to take care of. But when it comes to cat pee and poop, pet owners know that it’s a different story. Not only is cat pee and poop notorious for their smell, but they can also be a

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Republican legislators in more than half of U.S. states, spurred on by voters angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, are taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases. A KHN review of hundreds

“Are there specific ways empathy will be tested in the standardized patient exam?” a medical school classmate of mine earnestly asked following a lecture years ago. I laughed, thinking that teaching empathy was impossible. As an optimistic and naive medical student, I had thought of myself as naturally empathetic. During those days, I was able

If you’re serious about going on a diet, you really need to be watchful of what and how much you eat. Whether it’s the keto diet, paleo diet or even the Whole30 diet, you need to monitor your macros and calories. However, if you still want to enjoy some freedom when it comes to the food you eat

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The Chief Executive Officer of a high-volume national nurse staffing firm based in Overland Park, Kansas, has stepped down after questions were raised about his support of an antimask group reportedly started by his 19-year-old son. Brian Cleary had been CEO

The rise of coronavirus variants has highlighted the huge influence evolutionary biology has on daily life. But how mutations, random chance and natural selection produce variants is a complicated process, and there has been a lot of confusion about how and why new variants emerge. Until recently, the most famous example of rapid evolution was

Sleeping well through the night is associated with a lower risk for cardiac arrhythmias, new research suggests. In a large population study with more than 400,000 patients, researchers found a healthy sleep pattern was associated with lower risks for atrial fibrillation (AF) and bradyarrhythmias. A good night’s sleep was associated with a 29% lower risk

Actor Stanley Tucci is known for his roles in films such as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Hunger Games,” “The Lovely Bones,” “Spotlight,” and “Julie and Julia.” But now he is becoming known for another role — cancer survivor. In an interview in the September 2021 issue of Virgin Atlantic’s inflight magazine Vera, 60-year-old Tucci