Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
The Washington Post: A Remarkable New Picture Is Emerging Of How The Air Around Us Could Harm The Brain
Researchers from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and other institutions examined, in extraordinary detail, brain tissue from 11 people who died at ages 80 to 91. They discovered that some particles had penetrated deep into the brain, reaching the amygdala, a region that helps shape emotion and memory. (Eunjung Cha, 10/22)
Stat: A German Biotech Has Big Ambitions In Cancer. Now It Needs To Get A Medicine Approved
Presidential sessions at top cancer meetings typically feature practice-changing clinical trials, detailed in front of thousands of global experts packed into rooms so cavernous they merit their own ZIP codes. But last year, at the most important European oncology conference, one slot was reserved for a presentation of early results from a German biotech’s study of just 16 patients. (Joseph, 10/21)
MedPage Today: FDA Expands Ryzumvi Approval To Include Presbyopia
People with aging-associated farsightedness gained a new topical treatment option as the FDA expanded the approval of phentolamine ophthalmic solution 0.75% (Ryzumvi) to include presbyopia, according to Opus Genetics and Viatris. The eye drops, designed to improve near vision while preserving distance vision, reduce pupillary dilation by means of a sympatholytic mechanism that does not involve the ciliary muscle. (Bankhead, 10/19)
CIDRAP: Study Links Antibiotic Use With Subsequent Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by age 24 than those who had not, Swedish researchers reported today at the annual United European Gastroenterology (UEG) conference. The findings are from an analysis of 2,853 participants enrolled in the BAMSE study, which began in Stockholm in 1994 and was originally established to study environmental and nutritional factors involved in the development of allergies and other chronic conditions. (Dall, 10/19)
MedPage Today: Novel Imaging Method For Skin Disease Passes Early Scleroderma Test
An emerging technique called spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) proved its mettle for evaluating skin fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc), also called scleroderma, in an early clinical study. Comparing SFDI parameters with modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS) values and findings from histological biopsy analyses yielded correlations strong enough that the new approach deserves additional testing in larger samples, according to Andreea M. Bujor, MD, PhD, of Boston University (BU), and colleagues writing in Lancet Rheumatology. (Gever, 10/15)
MedPage Today: 'Constipation' Lands Patient In Surgery For Unusual Anatomy
In an "exceptionally" rare case, an infant was found to have a second colon, researchers reported. (Jeffrey, 10/19)
HealthDay: How You Use Weed Affects Sedation During Medical Procedures, Study Says
People who smoke or vape weed — but not those who use edibles — might need more anesthesia, researchers say. Weed smokers required substantially higher levels of the general anesthetic propofol than non-users during colonoscopy or upper endoscopy, researchers reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. However, people who consumed weed edibles wound up requiring less anesthesia, researchers found. (Thompson, 10/19)
