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About 42% of American adults had obesity in 2017-2018, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data showed. Among adults ages 20 and older, 42.4% were identified as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, while 9.2% had severe obesity, defined as a BMI of 40 or higher, reported Cheryl Fryar, MSPH,

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Federal advisers will vote today on whether Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective enough to merit an emergency use authorization (EUA). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has put Pfizer’s application before its  Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory

Low plasma transthyretin, also known as prealbumin, is associated with incident heart failure in the general population, new research suggests. In two prospective, population-based studies done in the Danish general population, individuals with very low concentration of plasma transthyretin (at the 5th percentile or lower) had a 1.4-fold to 1.6-fold increased risk of incident heart

A new study has found that a low-fat vegan diet could contribute to better overall health. The study followed just under 250 people for four months. Over the four months, people in the vegan group lost weight, upped their insulin resistance, and lost fat.  The study was conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). The PCRM

Youth depression was tied to increased risk for 66 medical conditions. “It underscores how important it is that these children and teenagers receive the help they need and that medical personnel monitor for subsequent psychiatric and somatic diseases,” said study author Sarah Bergen, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute, in a statement. (JAMA Psychiatry) Google recently

Giving steroids to patients with relapsed/refractory high-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL) following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may place them at substantially increased risk of infection, suggests a real-world analysis of UK patient data. The analysis also indicated that patients who have undergone multiple prior lines of chemotherapy are also at particular risk after

Sniffles? Sore throat? Chills? Could it be Covid-19? “The reality is, any symptom at all seems to be possible with Covid,” said Kathryn Boling, MD, a family medicine specialist with Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, MD.  Dr. Boling has had patients who thought they had allergies, the common cold, or strep throat – and test positive for Covid-19. “I’m

TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada on Wednesday approved its first COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for doses of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE shots to be delivered and administered across the country. Canada is the third country after the United Kingdom and Bahrain to give the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Canada has a

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 has taken another big step forward after the FDA released the findings of its safety report. This document will provide the information needed for the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, slated to meet this week, to decide whether to grant an Emergency Use Authorization for

A chemotherapy-free investigational combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death versus chemoimmunotherapy with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a phase III trial showed. Among over 400 patients in UNITY-CLL, which involved both treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory disease, median progression-free survival (PFS) reached 31.9 months with umbralisib plus ublituximab

The battle lines between anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists are being drawn even sharper as both sides respond to the possibility that Medicare will allow the latter to continue practicing without physician supervision after the pandemic ends. In a request for information posted to the Federal Register on November 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Can smoking CBD affect someone’s driving? Study authors who published in JAMA asked that question. Their 22 study participants smoked and all did inhale: cannabis with CBD, cannabis with CBD and THC, cannabis with THC alone, and placebo. Each participant then completed eight driving tests. The authors measured the drug’s effects by how much the

An experimental drug reversed age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a study from the University of California-San Francisco. The study was peer reviewed and published in the open-access journal eLife. It says the drug, called ISRIB, restored cognitive abilities in older mice and rejuvenated brain and immune cells. “ISRIB’s extremely rapid

The U.S. drug supply chain works well in the middle, but the beginning and end leave much room for improvement, according to Stephen Schondelmeyer, PharmD, PhD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “When a manufacturer imports a drug into the U.S. and sells it to wholesalers and then it goes to group purchasing organizations

Thrombophilic patients who have had an ischemic stroke and have a patent foramen ovale (PFO) benefit from having the PFO closed, a new study suggests. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest prospective study on recurrent events in hypercoagulable patients with PFO associated embolism,” the authors, led by Kai Liu, MD, Massachusetts

Experts in public health offered quick praise for President-elect Joe Biden’s choice of a noted HIV expert to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, describing this as a key post in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Rochelle Walensky. Image courtesy of Mass. General Hospital Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Infectious

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina and City University New York found that the majority of those who developed anxiety during the pandemic were facing financial problems. Nearly half, 45 %, of participants reported loss of income due to the pandemic and 17% reported losing their job. The study, which has not

Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts may not be recognized in pediatric epilepsy patients and may occur more frequently than previously thought, a single-center study suggested. In a group of children and adolescent epilepsy patients ages 10 and older, 41.2% reflected symptoms of depression, 33.3% showed signs of anxiety, and 10.9% said they had suicidal thoughts,

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding clinicians about the need for “at least yearly, lifelong follow-up” to monitor for type III endoleaks in patients with any type of Endologix AFX endovascular graft, including AFX with Strata, AFX with Duraply, or AFX2. In an updated safety communication released today, the FDA said data

Remember the 1995 movie, Billy Madison? The characters discussed shampoos and conditioners and debated which was more important. We’d have told Billy and company that with regards to hair care, both are equally important. Why? While shampoo is in charge of cleaning your hair and scalp, conditioners help restore moisture in your hair, which of

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. A majority of hospitals and healthcare facilities surveyed report operating according to “crisis standards of care” as they struggle to provide sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE). For example, in a national survey, 73% of 1083 infection prevention experts said respirator shortages

Guys, luscious hair isn’t just for the ladies. To keep our manes healthy, it’s important to pick the right products — which means not washing your hair with just anything. You may not need to use shampoo every day, but when you do, you want to make sure it takes care of hair and scalp.

Prophylactic antifibrinolytic therapy with tranexamic acid (TXA) failed to reduce bleeding during treatment for hematologic malignancies, a first-of-its-kind randomized trial showed. The incidence of grade 2+ bleeding decreased from 48.8% with transfusion plus placebo to 45.4% with TXA in addition to transfusion, a difference that failed to achieve statistical significance. Stratification of patients by allogeneic

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Kurt Papenfus is the lone full-time emergency room doctor in Cheyenne Wells, Colo., a town of 900 not far from the Kansas line. Kurt Papenfus, a doctor in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, started to feel sick around Halloween. He developed a scary

To many pet owners, the news that animals make people feel better is likely not surprising. New research out of the University of South Australia supports what pet owners already know:  These companions have played a bigger role in the Covid-19 pandemic than previously suspected.  Janette Young, PhD, led a team to research the impact pets have had on people stuck

New results suggest that allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), which is typically reserved for younger patients, may well be offered to older patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In patients with a median age of 66 years who had received a donor transplant, the overall survival (OS) at 3 years was almost double compared with

The effects of pregnancy and birth on a woman’s body do not dispel with time: New research from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has found a connection between the number of times a woman has given birth and the way she has aged, as judged by bodily functions.  The researchers found that any effects on aging weren’t seen until

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve been able to “use” Epic on your iPad for years now using the Citrix app. But you clearly have not been able to use Epic in a functional way. You could pull up patient charts, review labs, and phone calls, but the process was cumbersome, complicated, and painful.