All News

Patients younger than 50 years who have multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive a gastrostomy tube to enable home enteral feeding live longer than those older than 50 years, according to a study published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal- Experimental, Translational, Clinical.

There are more than 36 million smokers in the United States today, and most (70%) admit they want to quit. Individuals who decide to quit see a smaller risk of heart disease within 1 to 2 years, along with reduced risks of stroke and peripheral vascular disease. However, annual deaths from smoking still exceed 480,000 in the United States, where over 16 million live with smoking-related diseases that include infertility, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Biomedical engineers at Duke University constructed an advanced disease model for blood vessels prompting insights into Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, according to a study published in Stem Cell Reports.

In-home noninvasive positive pressure ventilation via bilevel positive airway pressure devices exhibited lower risk of mortality, fewer patients with all-cause hospital admission, and less need for intubation, but had no significant difference in quality-of-life for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypercapnia, according to study findings.

Avalere Health released an analysis outlining estimated savings that states electing to opt into the Health Adult Opportunity program need to generate in order to remain below capped funding levels mandated in the Trump administration’s new Medicaid initiative.

The reported death toll of the coronavirus in China has exceeded that of the SARS crisis from 17 years ago; the Trump administration delayed a signature healthcare initiative aiming to increase dialysis at home and transplants for US kidney patients; nearly 170 organs could not be transplanted due to transportation issues on commercial flights.

Enrollment in AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs)–funded Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) is associated with viral suppression (VS) across states and demographic groups. People living with HIV who engage in care and have QHPs have a higher VS rate than those who received medications from direct ADAPs.

The researchers hope the findings could one day lead to cell replacement therapies for respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Where do migraines begin in the brain and what has neuroimaging identified so far about how the disease alters pain processes and functioning? A recent article reviewed what is known so far.

The article identifies issues such as poor socioeconomic background and lack of family and social support as factors in poor medication adherence, which today are recognized as social determinants of health

Scientists have long known that both microglia and blood-derived macrophages play roles in how the central nervous system responds to demyelination, which occurs in multiple sclerosis. A new study explains how the two interact.

In 2017, heart failure contributed to 1 in 8 deaths. This inability of the heart to function at its optimal level led to an estimated $30.7 billion in annual healthcare costs in 2012, including healthcare services, medicines, and missed work.

New research finds salivary antioxidants and oxidative stress could be important biomarkers for plaque psoriasis.

Scientists say they know which isoform of a key protein is most likely to lead to a rare type of muscular dystrophy.

A new review article says neuroinflammation and oxidative stress appear to act together to weaken the diabetic retina and optic nerve; the authors say these insights could someday lead to better therapies to prevent diabetic retinopathy.

This week, top managed care stories included survey results on oncology practices’ willingness to take on risk; a warning of flu among children in detention centers; study findings establishing a link between circadian rhythm and type 2 diabetes.

The plan represents the latest element of the Trump administration’s comprehensive approach to renal care, which seeks to keep patients from advancing to dialysis. For those who do, the plan promotes transplants and home dialysis options.

There are shortcomings in the ways we have approached value assessment to date, writes the executive director of the Innovation and Value Initiative.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

A study shows young adults prefer short-term perks to long-term benefits; $4 million has been stolen from Mississippi's welfare fund; Los Angeles has reported 5 confirmed cases of measles.

When effectively integrated into healthcare systems, well-vetted and scientifically backed healthcare quality measures can have significant impacts on patient health, stressed Shantanu Agrawal, MD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum, at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute’s Quality Breakfast on February 6.

Mortality and myelofibrosis varied depending on follow-up duration in this review of patients with polycythemia vera treated with hydroxyurea, and incidences of thrombosis and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were stable over time.

In a meta-analysis comparison of biologics and oral treatments for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, results suggest that brodalumab, guselkumab, ixekizumab, and risankizumab-rzaa were associated with the highest response rates in both short-term and long-term therapy.

The Patent Trial and Appeals Board delivered a setback to Gilead Sciences, rejecting its attempt to invalidate a pair of Truvada patents owned by the CDC; Merck is spinning off some businesses in order to focus on its oncology drug pembrolizumab, including its biosimilars operations; Republican and Democratic governors are worried that a proposed CMS fiscal accountability rule for Medicaid will reduce access to healthcare.

The most detailed look ever at data for rosiglitazone, the diabetes drug marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as Avandia, shows the one-time blockbuster significantly raises the overall risk of heart problems or cardiovascular death, calling attention to the need for more transparency in data collection.

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR NK) cells, derived from donor umbilical cord blood, produced a 73% objective response rate in 11 patients with lymphoid tumors who received just 1 dose of the infused therapy, with no occurrences of cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity, in preliminary study results out of MD Anderson. Seven patients had a complete remission.

A novel protein misfolding cyclic amplification technology was able to distinguish between 2 progressive neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy, signaling potential improvements in diagnosis of PD.