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With this year’s COVID-19 pandemic, a major shift in focus has been placed on America’s mental health. According to CDC data released in August, almost 11% of American adults seriously contemplated suicide in June, and nearly a third reported symptoms of anxiety or a depressive disorder. To put this into context, comparative data from the

It’s been more than 12 years since a reporter from Allure magazine sounded alarms about the Brazilian Blowout hair treatment, a salon product that offered frizz-free hair straightening that would last for two to three months. The technique worked really well if you wanted shiny, pin-straight hair—but it also had terrible fumes that many stylists

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Several dozen Secret Service officers have tested positive for the coronavirus or are in self-isolation after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive. Several news outlets have reported different numbers — with potentially more than 130 officers infected

For a cyber criminal, healthcare records are one-stop shopping. Sell a Social Security number? Of course. Credit card numbers: They’re good on the black market, too. And for those criminals who love scams, there are phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays.  And of course there is always blackmail, which is what happened to psychotherapy patients in Finland whose

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine, in development to prevent COVID-19, yielded 94.5% efficacy in early results and is generally well tolerated, the company announced early Monday. The product can be stored at refrigeration temperatures common to many physician offices, pharmacies, and hospitals.

Dropping dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in favor of aspirin alone at 1 month after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation for stable coronary disease patients was not worse than longer DAPT regimens, a trial suggested. The 1-year composite of cardiac death, nonfatal MI, target-vessel revascularization, cerebrovascular accident, or major bleeding occurred in 5.9% of people treated with

It isn’t just what food makers say, it’s also how, and where, they say it. A new study has found that when manufacturers adopted a “Facts Up Front” style label, the food’s healthiness improved.  With a “Facts Up Front” label, the food manufacturer advertises the number of calories and the amounts of saturated fat, sugar, and salt per

Omega-3 fatty acids on top of standard care did not reduce major cardiovascular events or death in elderly survivors of an acute myocardial infarction (MI) in the randomized OMEMI trial. In addition to the lack of benefit observed at 2 years, there was a nonsignificant increase in new-onset atrial fibrillation in those taking 1.8 g

With Thanksgiving arriving in two weeks, families are making holiday plans. While some will share Thanksgiving dinner with their household, others hope to travel out of state to be with friends and loved ones. In the pre-pandemic world, it’s likely most didn’t think twice about flying long distances for the holidays. But in 2020, many have decided not to fly

Optical CT (OCT) plus cardiac MRI (CMR) provides a more specific diagnosis in the majority of women presenting with myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). The multimodal imaging strategy identified the underlying cause of MINOCA in 85% of women in the HARP-MINOCA study. Overall, 64% of women had a true MI and 21% had

Cardiac MRI paired with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in women who presented with myocardial infarction (MI) with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) on angiography identified potential mechanisms of injury in almost 85% of women, according to results from the HARP study. In the prospective, multicenter, international, observational study of over 300 women with a diagnosis of

For many, Thanksgiving means gathering around the dinner table with people they love, sharing food and friendship, maybe some politics, while filling and refilling plates and glasses. This year, however, to no one’s surprise, public health officials are suggesting caution-saturated contact. After enduring months of isolation, how can people manage to stay safe and be together on the holiday? (If

Ticagrelor failed to unseat clopidogrel as the guideline-recommended P2Y12 inhibitor of choice in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention for stable CAD in the randomized ALPHEUS trial. “The higher level of platelet inhibition obtained with ticagrelor does not translate into a reduction of periprocedural MI or myocardial injury within 48 hours of high-risk PCI performed

A Provo, Utah hospital has increased its security precautions after conspiracy theorists tried to sneak into the intensive care unit to see if it was full.   Kyle Hansen, administrator for Utah Valley Hospital, told the Provo City Council Thursday that five people, including a few with video cameras, have attempted to get inside the ICU

A Louisiana emergency department pediatrician was arrested Wednesday, accused of punching and verbally assaulting a woman walking on Monday near Louisiana State University, according to a Baton Rouge Police Department press release. According to WAFB News, the woman is a member of the track team at Southern University in Baton Rouge. She reportedly claims the

Male patients who identified as gay or bisexual were more likely to have discussions with their clinicians about sex compared with patients who identified as straight, a researcher reported. Healthcare providers asked a higher proportion of patients who identified as bisexual or homosexual, compared with those who identified as heterosexual, about how many sexual partners

The raging opioid epidemic in the United States should prompt eye doctors to cast a suspicious gaze on patients seeking care for red and inflamed eyes, which could signal a problem far worse than a minor eye infection.  That’s the conclusion of ophthalmologists whose new research revealed a 400% increase in hospitalizations among drug users

Clinical trials of omega-3 fatty acid or vitamin D supplements have followed a long and winding road in search of benefits in cardiovascular (CV) disease, with wildly mixed results. But the journey may be in vain in one of cardiology’s frontier research areas, primary prevention of atrial fibrillation (AF), suggest primary results of the VITAL-Rhythm

Social media networks have become highly effective marketing platforms for many businesses, including medical and healthcare companies. Medical businesses use social media networks, such as Instagram, to promote their products and services to individual consumers. This makes it easy for them to accumulate thousands of Instagram followers.  People today use the internet to learn virtually

Among patients with ulcerative colitis who were treated in routine practice, a point-based clinical scoring tool predicted nonresponse to vedolizumab therapy, according to study findings published online in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. A cutoff of 26 points or less was 93% sensitive (95% confidence interval, 79%-98%) for identifying patients who did not reach corticosteroid-free remission

As I’ve written before, I have to confess I’ve never been a huge fan of pathways and protocols. They often struck me as rigid and insensitive to the nuances of differences between patients. There are also times when pathways and protocols are just absurd when physicians, especially mid-level providers, implement them when analysis of the

A new app, designed for high-risk cancer patients, helps them and their physicians weigh the risks and benefits of delaying chemotherapy should the risk of contracting Covid-19 while getting their treatment is high.  According to STAT news, the app can show oncologists and patients whether immediate treatment could improve or hurt their chances of survival post-treatment. Developed by the University

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Coronavirus infections are expected to continue to climb in the upper Midwest and intermountain West of the United States, which will strain an already-maxed-out system as increased hospitalizations and deaths follow, say infectious diseases specialists. “I think the situation in 2

Lock downs during the pandemic have made life difficult for many. Aside from job loss, restrictions on movement prevent people from interacting personally. The result:  higher rates of social isolation, loneliness and even suicide. One especially vulnerable group is older adults, who may live alone and depend on others for company and support. To address an

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Protesters came out immediately after Utah Gov. Gary Herbert put a statewide face mask mandate into place. A crowd gathered outside the governor’s mansion to complain about the mask rule and other new restrictions put in place in an effort to

From 20-30% of patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) responded to the PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab (Libtayo) after resistance or intolerance to a hedgehog-pathway inhibitor, according to updated findings from a phase II trial. Overall response data included 21.4% of patients with locally advanced BCC and 31% of those with metastatic disease. Duration of response

    During sleep, the body rests while the brain recharges.  But in our digital age, the quality sleep we need can be held hostage by the high-energy emissions coming from computers, phones, tablets and laptops. This lighting, known as blue light, reduces the quality of sleep required for optimal functioning, often making us grouchy, snappy and less productive

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. About one in 11 patients discharged after COVID-19 treatment is readmitted to the same hospital, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Older age and chronic diseases are associated with increased risk, said senior author Adi