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Black patients with brain tumors may be less likely to have surgery recommended to them than white patients are, according to a large U.S. study. The research, which looked at two national databases, found that on average, Black patients were less likely to have surgery recommended for any of four types of brain tumor. That included three considered benign (non-cancerous) and one that is a deadly type of brain cancer. Experts said the reasons for the disparity are unclear. But the nature of patients’ tumors — the size, stage or location in the brain — did not explain the gap. Nor did differences in health insurance coverage or any of the other factors the researchers were able to assess. The findings are being published Dec. 10 in The Lancet, as part of a special issue on racial disparities in health care globally. And they add to a body of research documenting gaps in U.S. health care, across medical specialties. Black people and Hispanic Americans often face more obstacles to accessing care, and often fare more poorly when they are diagnosed with a health condition, versus white Americans. When it comes to cancerous brain tumors, like glioblastoma, surgery is the standard of care, said Dr. Andrew Venteicher, one of the senior researchers on the study. Surgery may also be done to remove benign tumors, in order… read on > read on >

Owners whose cats have diabetes now have a new option to care for the condition in their otherwise healthy pets. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first pill to improve control of diabetes in some cats. The drug, called Bexacat (bexagliflozin tablets), is not insulin and is not meant for cats who have the type of diabetes that requires treatment with insulin. Rather, it is what is called a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. The active ingredient in this pill prevents the cat’s kidneys from reabsorbing glucose into the blood. This excess glucose leaves the body through the urine, lowering blood sugar levels. As part of the approval, the FDA requires that Bexacat labels include a boxed warning about the importance of patient selection. Only certain cats should take the drug, determined through careful screening. Potential patients must be screened for kidney, liver and pancreatic disease, as well as ketoacidosis, a high level of a type of acids known as ketones in the blood. Bexacat also shouldn’t be used in cats who are being treated with insulin or in those who have previously been treated with insulin. The drug should not be started in cats who are not eating well or who are dehydrated or lethargic at diagnosis. Cats taking this medication should be monitored regularly with exams and blood tests,… read on > read on >

Former elite football players may age faster than their more average peers, a new study suggests. NFL players, especially former linemen, had fewer disease-free years and earlier high blood pressure and diabetes diagnoses. Two age-related diseases, arthritis and dementia, were also more commonly found in former football players than in other men of the same age. This research was part of the ongoing Football Players Health Study at Harvard University. “We wanted to know: Are professional football players being robbed of their middle age? Our findings suggest that football prematurely weathers them and puts them on an alternate aging trajectory, increasing the prevalence of a variety of diseases of old age,” said senior investigator Rachel Grashow, director of epidemiological research initiatives for the Football Players Health Study. “We need to look not just at the length of life but the quality of life,” she said in a university news release. “Professional football players might live as long as men in the general population, but those years could be filled with disability and infirmity.” For this research, nearly 3,000 former NFL players completed a survey for investigators at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. “Our analysis raises important biological and physiological questions about underlying causes but, just as importantly, the results should serve as an alarm bell telling clinicians… read on > read on >

One might expect identical twins to have the same health outcomes. But it’s not just genetics that makes a notable difference in their weight and in how their genes behave, according to a new study. Exercise can alter genetic markers of metabolic disease — any of the diseases or disorders that disrupt normal metabolism. The study could help explain exercise’s key role in health. “The findings provide a molecular mechanism for the link between physical activity and metabolic disease,” explained study co-author Michael Skinner, a biologist at Washington State University, in Pullman. Scientists have previously found that a majority of identical twins develop different diseases as they get older, even though they have the same genes. Epigenetics — the study of how your behaviors and environment affect the day-to-day function of genes — may explain that, Skinner said. “Physical exercise is known to reduce the susceptibility to obesity, but now it looks like exercise through epigenetics is affecting a lot of cell types, many of them involved in metabolic disease,” he noted in a university news release. For this study, the researchers swabbed the cheeks of 70 pairs of identical twins, who also participated in an exercise study through the Washington State Twin Registry. The team, led by registry director Glen Duncan, collected data on the twins at several different points between 2012 and 2019.… read on >

With more American men turning to testosterone therapy as a way to boost energy levels, build muscle and tackle erectile dysfunction, it’s no wonder that web-based merchants have stepped into the breach, seeking to grab market share away from doctors and pharmacies. But are online testosterone purchases safe? No, a new investigation warns. The conclusion follows an anonymous testing of seven U.S.-based online entities that sell testosterone therapy to consumers across the country. The upshot: The vast majority of online portals are perfectly willing to sell the hormone to patients who are not, in fact, testosterone-deficient. Most also fail to inquire about potentially problematic underlying conditions and neglect to caution patients about the possible risks involved, including infertility. “We found that most of these platforms offer treatment to men who are not considered appropriate candidates according to existing medical guidelines, and many platforms were not offering appropriate counseling regarding the risks of treatment,” said study author Dr. Joshua Halpern. He is an andrology and infertility specialist and assistant professor with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. This is a potentially big and growing concern, the study team pointed out, given that between 2017 and 2019 there was a 1500% jump in the number of visits to direct-to-consumer online portals that claim to treat erectile dysfunction. That said, “testosterone therapy is a well-established medical… read on > read on >

The updated bivalent COVID-19 boosters are now approved for use in children as young as 6 months of age, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today. Children can receive either a Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster shot, although the rules differ depending on their age and what type of vaccine they got as their primary series, the FDA said. Kids 6 months to 5 years who received the original Moderna vaccine can receive the Moderna booster at least two months after completing their first round of shots. Children 5 and older also can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech booster at least two months after they’ve completed their first series of COVID shots. The new Pfizer-BioNTech booster will replace the third dose of the primary series of shots for that vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years of age, the FDA said. But children 4 and younger who already completed the three-dose Pfizer-BioNTech primary series will not be eligible for the bivalent booster at this time, the agency said. The FDA will decide on the updated booster for this group of kids after January, when fresh data is expected. The updated boosters contain two components to protect against both the original strain of COVID and widely circulating Omicron variants. “More children now have the opportunity to update their protection against COVID-19 with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,… read on > read on >

Older adults who harbor more vitamin D in their brains may stay mentally sharper, a new study suggests. Researchers found that when older adults had higher levels of vitamin D in their brain tissue, they tended to perform better on standard tests of memory and thinking. They were also less likely to have dementia or milder cognitive impairments. Experts stressed that the study does not prove that vitamin D, itself, protects against dementia — a complex brain disease that has many contributors. And no one should start downing supplements based on the findings, they said. For one, too much vitamin D can be harmful. And the study did not assess how much vitamin D participants were actually getting day to day. “We have no evidence that getting more than the recommended amount of vitamin D is better for the brain,” said senior researcher Sarah Booth, who directs the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Vitamin D is known to have critical roles such as keeping bones and muscles healthy, as well as supporting immune defenses. But whether it helps shield the aging brain is unclear. The new study — published Dec. 7 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia — adds to a mixed bag of research on vitamin D and the aging brain. Some studies have found… read on > read on >

An experimental therapy that uses the body’s own immune system cells may beat a standard treatment for patients with advanced melanoma, a new clinical trial finds. Researchers found that the therapy doubled the amount of time melanoma patients lived without their skin cancer progressing, versus a long-used drug called ipilimumab (Yervoy). The approach, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, harnesses the natural tumor-fighting ability of patients’ own immune system T cells. Experts stressed that TIL is still experimental, and for now, patients can only receive it if they enroll in a clinical trial. “It’s very promising, but it’s still investigational,” said Dr. Nikhil Khushalani, who specializes in treating melanoma at Moffitt Cancer Center, in Tampa, Fla. That said, the new findings show that for patients who are good candidates for TIL, it beats ipilimumab, according to Khushalani, who was not involved in the trial. “I’d definitely utilize TIL over ipilimumab in the appropriate patients,” he said. However, the TIL process is no easy feat. And Khushalani said he foresees it being offered only at certain medical centers with the necessary expertise and resources — akin to organ transplantation. The study was published in the Dec. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Melanoma is the least common but deadliest form of skin cancer. Historically, the prognosis has been dismal for people with metastatic melanoma… read on > read on >

THURSDAY, Dec. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Lasik eye surgery is a common vision-correcting procedure that many Americans view as safe and effective, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now drafted guidance that warns of potential complications. Although many patients are happy with the results after surgery, the recommended new guidance says complications can include dry eyes, double vision, difficulty with night driving and, in rare cases, chronic eye pain. Even after surgery, some patients will still need eyeglasses. The draft also notes that certain types of patients may be at higher risk of problems, including people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and those who take certain medications, the New York Times reported. Since the recommendations were first released this summer, more than 600 people and professional organizations have weighed in on the issue. “All we’re asking for is balance,”said Dr. Vance Thompson, incoming vice president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, told the Times. “This document mainly emphasizes the dangers and complications of Lasik, with no mention of the advantages, and the tone is negative enough that it will scare patients.” Thompson noted that more than 90% of patients in the FDA’s studies were satisfied because they were “achieving good vision without spectacles, which is the goal of most patients.” Surgeons and device manufacturers have sought to have… read on > read on >

Statins may do more than help your heart: New research shows the cholesterol-lowering drugs may also lower your risk for a bleeding stroke. An intracerebral hemorrhage, which involves bleeding in the brain, comprises about 15% to 30% of strokes, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. It is also the most deadly. With this type of stroke, arteries or veins rupture, and the bleeding itself can damage brain tissue. The extra blood in the brain may also increase pressure within the skull to a point that further harms the brain. “While statins have been shown to reduce the risk of stroke from blood clots, there has been conflicting research on whether statin use increases or decreases the risk of a person having a first intracerebral hemorrhage,” said study author Dr. David Gaist, of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. “For our study, we looked at the lobe and non-lobe areas of the brain, to see if location was a factor for statin use and the risk of a first intracerebral hemorrhage,” Gaist said. “We found that those who used a statin had a lower risk of this type of bleeding stroke in both areas of the brain. The risk was even lower with long-term statin use.” The researchers used health records in Denmark, identifying 989 people who had an intracerebral hemorrhage in the… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Black Patients With Brain Tumors Less Likely to Get Surgery Than Whites

Cats Now Have an FDA-Approved Pill to Treat Their Diabetes

Are Retired NFL Players Aging Faster Than Other Men?

Twins Study Shows Exercise Altering How Genes Behave

Buying Testosterone on the Internet Comes With Dangers: Study

FDA OKs Bivalent COVID Boosters for Kids 6 Months and Older

Vitamin D Might Help Shield the Aging Brain

Melanoma Patients Who Fail Standard Meds May Have Another Option

Lasik Surgery Should Carry Warnings of Possible Complications, FDA Says

Statins May Lower Risk of Deadly ‘Bleeding’ Strokes

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