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What We're Reading: Cancer Clinical Trials; Affordable Housing From CVS; Drug Developed via Artificial Intelligence
Cancer drug trials often do not report on cardiovascular outcomes; CVS is investing in affordable housing to reduce overall healthcare costs; a drug for obsessive compulsive disorder that was developed through artificial intelligence will soon be tested in humans.
CVD Data Are Often Missing From Cancer Trials
CVS Is Addressing Social Determinants of Health Through Affordable Housing
An upcoming issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology contains study results showing how almost 40% of cancer clinical trials do not contain data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, according to MedPage Today. The study authors expressed concern, because a main goal of cancer treatment is to limit CVD as an adverse effect, also finding discrepancies in how CVD is defined among trials and calling for “more objective thresholds of CVD identification.” They suggest more optimized cancer trials that make a point to include patients with CVD risk factors.CVS Health will invest $75 million in affordable housing in 2020, reports Forbes, which is close to 12% more than its $67-million investment in 2019. The move is meant to address upfront social determinants of health, such as food insecurity and homelessness, that drive up patient costs. UnitedHealth Group and Anthem are doing the same. Down the line, insurers could see reduced costs through avoided hospital stays and averted health crises. Since 1997, CVS and Aetna—its health insurance unit and partner since 2018—have invested over $1 billion in this space, for more than 93,000 affordable rental units.
Human Trials Will Soon Test an AI-Developed Drug for OCD
Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a potential new treatment, with the recent start of a phase 1 clinical trial of an artificial intelligence (AI)-developed medicine, says European Pharmaceutical Review. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma in Japan and Exscienta in the United Kingdom jointly developed the long-acting, potent serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonist in less than 12 months via AI—compared with the typical 5 years through conventional means. AI has been used before, to positive results, with a recent study in Nature showing its success in diagnosing breast cancer compared with physicians.
Drug Overdoses Leading to Cardiac Arrest Rising, Particularly With Stimulant-Opioid Combination
November 25th 2023A population-based study found that out-of-hospital cardiac arrest events resulting from drug overdoses have significantly increased from 2015 to 2021, particularly among patients who have taken a combination of stimulants and opioids.
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For National Women’s Health Week, One Company Emphasizes Cardiovascular Risk Management
May 10th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Joanne Armstrong, MD, MPH, vice president and chief medical officer for Women’s Health and Genomics at CVS Health, on the distinct pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease in women and how her own health experiences have influenced her perspective on cardiovascular disease management.
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New Study Links Sphingolipids With Palmitic Acid to Increased Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death
November 17th 2023Plasma ceramides and sphingomyelins with palmitic acid were linked to a 34% and 37% increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) per higher SD of log sphingolipid levels, respectively.
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Rates of Elevated LDL-C Have Decreased, but Awareness, Treatment Still Suboptimal
November 6th 2023The prevalence of severely elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) has declined in recent decades, but 1 in 17 US adults in a recent analysis had levels of LDL-C that would warrant consideration of pharmacotherapy, and 1 in 48 had high levels of LDL-C that are indicated for medication.
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