Research Roundup: Covid, Weight Loss, Hearing Loss, Sinusitis And More

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Linked With Preeclampsia, Stillbirth, And More In Pregnant Women
Maternal COVID-19 infection is associated with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and stillbirth, and the disease is particularly associated with conditions that risk maternal and neonatal death, according to a review of 42 studies. The study, published today in CMAJ, used unadjusted data covering 438,548 pregnant women from studies published through Jan 29. (3/19)

ScienceDaily: Rare Genetic Variant Puts Some Younger Men At Risk Of Severe COVID-19
A study of young men with COVID-19 has revealed a genetic variant linked to disease severity. The discovery, published recently in eLife, means that men with severe disease could be genetically screened to identify who has the variant and may benefit from interferon treatment. For most people, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, causes only mild or no symptoms. However, severe cases can rapidly progress towards respiratory distress syndrome. (3/23)

New England Journal of Medicine: Once-Weekly Semaglutide In Adults With Overweight Or Obesity 
Obesity is a global health challenge with few pharmacologic options. Whether adults with obesity can achieve weight loss with once-weekly semaglutide at a dose of 2.4 mg as an adjunct to lifestyle intervention has not been confirmed. In this double-blind trial, we enrolled 1961 adults with a body-mass index (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of 30 or greater (≥27 in persons with ≥1 weight-related coexisting condition), who did not have diabetes, and randomly assigned them, in a 2:1 ratio, to 68 weeks of treatment with once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide (at a dose of 2.4 mg) or placebo, plus lifestyle intervention. The coprimary end points were the percentage change in body weight and weight reduction of at least 5%. The primary estimand (a precise description of the treatment effect reflecting the objective of the clinical trial) assessed effects regardless of treatment discontinuation or rescue interventions. (Wilding et al, 3/18)

The Lancet: Patterns Of Hearing Changes In Women And Men From Denarians To Nonagenarians 
Hearing loss needs to be diagnosed and treated early, especially in older individuals, since presbycusis increases the risk of depression and dementia. However, standard data on hearing thresholds across the life-span in Japanese individuals are lacking. Methods: In a retrospective consecutive sample of 10681 native-Japanese speakers (37.3% men; 10–99 years; left-right hearing threshold difference of <15 dB for all tested pure tones; free of external, middle, or inner ear disease), we determined standard age-decade and sex-specific pure-tone air-conduction (125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz) hearing threshold norms. The main outcome measures were pure-tone averages for both ears by age-decade and sex. (Wasano et al, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Trial Finds No Benefit From Additional Amoxicillin For Acute Sinusitis
The results of a randomized clinical trial indicate additional amoxicillin did not benefit adults receiving amoxicillin and clavulanate for acute sinusitis, researchers reported today in JAMA Network Open. In the double-blind, comparative effectiveness trial, adult patients at Albany Medical Center in New York who had symptoms of acute sinusitis were randomly allocated to two treatment groups: the standard treatment of 875 milligrams (mg) of amoxicillin and 125 mg of clavulanate plus a placebo tablet, or a high-dose treatment of 875 mg of amoxicillin and 125 mg of clavulanate plus 875 mg of amoxicillin twice a day for 7 days. The purpose was to replicate a previous trial in which an unplanned subgroup analysis had found that higher-dose amoxicillin might provide a benefit. (3/23)

Jama Network: Unmet Need For Equipment To Help With Bathing And Toileting Among Older US Adults
How many older adults who need equipment to help with bathing and toileting do not have it? Findings  In this nationally representative cohort study of 2614 adults 65 years or older, an estimated 42% of individuals who expressed or demonstrated diminished capability to bathe or toilet independently lacked grab bars or seats to help. This percentage represents 5 million individuals in the US with unmet need for equipment. (Lam et al, 3/22)

ScienceDaily: Total Knee Replacement A Cost-Effective Treatment For Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis  
Knee osteoarthritis is a painful condition that affects over 14 million U.S. adults, many of whom have extreme obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI) greater than 40kg/m2. Total knee replacement (TKR) is often recommended to treat advanced knee osteoarthritis, but surgeons may be hesitant to operate on patients with extreme obesity due to concerns about the increased risks of tissue infection, poor wound healing and higher risk of implant failure. Using an established, validated and widely published computer simulation called the Osteoarthritis Policy (OAPol) Model, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, together with collaborators from Yale and Boston University Schools of Medicine, quantified the tradeoff between the benefits and adverse events, taking into consideration costs of forgoing versus pursuing TKR. They found that across older and younger age groups, TKR is a cost-effective treatment for these patients. Findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. (3/23)

ScienceDaily: Do You Know The Way To Berkelium, Californium? Heavy Elements And A Really Powerful Microscope Help Scientists Map Uncharted Paths Toward New Materials And Cancer Therapies 
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have demonstrated how a world-leading electron microscope can image actinide samples as small as a single nanogram (a billionth of a gram) -- a quantity that is several orders of magnitude less than required by conventional approaches. Their findings were recently reported in Nature Communications, and are especially significant for co-senior author Rebecca Abergel, whose work on chelators -- metal-binding molecules -- has resulted in new advances in cancer therapies, medical imaging, and medical countermeasures against nuclear threats, among others. Abergel is a faculty scientist who leads the Heavy Element Chemistry program in the Chemical Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab, and assistant professor in nuclear engineering at UC Berkeley. (3/24)