Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs

NPR: First FDA-Cleared Alzheimer’s Blood Test Set To Boost Diagnoses' Speed, Accuracy
A new blood test that detects a hallmark of Alzheimer's is poised to change the way doctors diagnose and treat the disease. The test, the first of its kind to be cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, is for people 55 and older who already have memory problems or other signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's. (Hamilton, 5/21)

MedPage Today: Link Between Viral Infection And Alzheimer's Emerges In New Data
People diagnosed with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the virus responsible for cold sores, were more likely to have a subsequent Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, an analysis of U.S. commercial insurance claims suggested. (George, 5/21)

ScienceDaily: Depression Linked To Physical Pain Years Later 
Middle-aged and older adults who experience pain are more likely to have had worsening symptoms of depression up to eight years before the pain began, according to a new study. (University College London, 5/20)

MedPage Today: MS Disability Progression May Vary By Race, Ethnicity
Racial and ethnic differences in the severity, prognosis, and mortality of multiple sclerosis (MS) have been the focus of intensifying research over the last decade, and emerging evidence suggests that Black and Hispanic MS patients have more disability risk than white patients. (Smyth, 5/21)

CIDRAP: Study Finds No Benefit From Early Antibiotics For Nonsevere COVID
A large observational study provides evidence that antibiotics provide no benefit for patients hospitalized with nonsevere COVID-19. (Dall, 5/21)

CIDRAP: Data Show Slight Increase In Menstrual Length After COVID Vaccines 
Investigators analyzing data on almost 2 million women participating in 17 studies observed a slight and transient increase in the length of menstruation after they received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study published late last week in PLOS One. The authors said the study offers clarity on the topic. "Given the extensive reporting by the media on the topic, a continued lack of clarity can fuel further vaccine hesitancy, not just for COVID-19 vaccines but also more broadly with serious implication," they wrote. (Soucheray, 5/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: The Conditions That Double Women's Heart Disease Death Rate: 5 Study Notes
Women with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or systemic sclerosis were more than twice as likely to suffer a cardiovascular disease-related death compared to men with the same conditions between 1999 and 2020, according to a study published May 5 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. “There is a common perception that people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases primarily die from infections or kidney disease,” Issam Motairek, MD, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic and the lead study author, said in a May 6 news release from the American Heart Association. (Gregerson, 5/20)

MedPage Today: Thyroid Storm Bumps Death Rate In Thyrotoxicosis 
Patients with thyrotoxicosis who developed thyroid storm died at nearly double the rate as those without thyroid storm, according to an analysis using National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data from 2016 to 2021. Among over 186,000 patients with thyrotoxicosis, age-adjusted mortality per 100,000 hospitalizations was 6,825 for patients who had thyroid storm compared with 3,601 for patients without, found Shehar Bano, MD, of AdventHealth Sebring in Florida. (Monaco, 5/18)

MedPage Today: Adding CT, Symptoms Improves COPD Diagnosis 
Incorporating chest CT imaging and respiratory symptoms into the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnostic schema improved identification of individuals with poor respiratory outcomes, two longitudinal cohorts showed. The schema newly classified 15.4% of persons without airflow obstruction as having COPD by minor diagnostic category, Surya P. Bhatt, MD, MSPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, reported at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting in San Francisco. (Phend, 5/18)