Approval marks first triple-combination pill of telmisartan, amlodipine, and indapamide  read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help speed the approval of new drugs and medical devices. That’s one of several priorities federal officials detailed June 10 in JAMA. They said AI could help shorten review times, speeding delivery of treatments to people who need them.  “The F.D.A. will be focused on delivering faster cures and meaningful treatments for patients, especially those with neglected and rare diseases, healthier food for children and common-sense approaches to rebuild the public trust,” Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, and Dr. Vinay Prasad, who leads the agency’s vaccine and gene therapy division, wrote in the viewpoint article. One new tool, named Elsa, is similar to ChatGPT and may help the FDA review safety data, summarize reports and flag which drug or food facilities need inspection, The New York Times reported. Right now, reviewing applications for new drugs can take months or years. Elsa may help process up to 500,000 pages of submitted data, the agency said. But there are limits. Some FDA staff said Elsa often gave wrong answers — what experts call “hallucinations” — and has to be double-checked. Others said the tool can’t handle larger sets of data and doesn’t save much time yet. Still, Makary and Prasad said the agency hopes to cut final approval steps down…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help speed the approval of new drugs and medical devices. That’s one of several priorities federal officials detailed June 10 in JAMA. They said AI could help shorten review times, speeding delivery of treatments to people who need them. “The FDA will be focused on delivering faster cures and meaningful treatments for patients, especially those with neglected and rare diseases, healthier food for children and common-sense approaches to rebuild the public trust,” Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, and Dr. Vinay Prasad, who leads the agency’s vaccine and gene therapy division, wrote in the viewpoint article. One new tool, named Elsa, is similar to ChatGPT and may help the FDA review safety data, summarize reports and flag which drug or food facilities need inspection, The New York Times reported. Right now, reviewing applications for new drugs can take months or years. Elsa may help process up to 500,000 pages of submitted data, the agency said. But there are limits. Some FDA staff said Elsa often gave wrong answers — what experts call “hallucinations” — and has to be double-checked. Others said the tool can’t handle larger sets of data and doesn’t save much time yet. Still, Makary and Prasad said the agency hopes to cut final approval steps down…  read on >  read on >

Out of concern, many parents might be spoiling their child’s best chance to avoid developing a food allergy, a new study says. Allergy experts recommend children at risk of food allergies start being introduced to small amounts of highly allergenic foods starting at 4 to 6 months of age. But some parents are waiting a year or more to introduce these foods, increasing the risk that their children won’t be able to build up a sufficient tolerance, researchers reported recently in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. About 35% of infants haven’t been exposed to nuts by the time they’re a year old, according to a survey of parents in Portsmouth, U.K., participating in a long-term study of their children’s health. Likewise, about 21% of parents hadn’t fed their one-year-olds any egg, and 16% any sesame, results show. “For years, families were advised to avoid allergenic foods during pregnancy and early childhood, but research now shows this guidance may have actually increased the risk of allergies, particularly in children,” said lead researcher Suzannah Helps, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth School of Dental, Health and Care Professions in the U.K. “It’s vital that this updated understanding reaches the public, as delayed introduction of these foods continues to contribute to the allergy epidemic,” Helps added in a news release. For the study, researchers surveyed…  read on >  read on >

Out of concern, many parents might be spoiling their child’s best chance to avoid developing a food allergy, a new study says. Allergy experts recommend children at risk of food allergies start being introduced to small amounts of highly allergenic foods starting at 4 to 6 months of age. But some parents are waiting a year or more to introduce these foods, increasing the risk that their children won’t be able to build up a sufficient tolerance, researchers reported recently in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. About 35% of infants haven’t been exposed to nuts by the time they’re a year old, according to a survey of parents in Portsmouth, U.K., participating in a long-term study of their children’s health. Likewise, about 21% of parents hadn’t fed their one-year-olds any egg, and 16% any sesame, results show. “For years, families were advised to avoid allergenic foods during pregnancy and early childhood, but research now shows this guidance may have actually increased the risk of allergies, particularly in children,” said lead researcher Suzannah Helps, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth School of Dental, Health and Care Professions in the U.K. “It’s vital that this updated understanding reaches the public, as delayed introduction of these foods continues to contribute to the allergy epidemic,” Helps added in a news release. For the study, researchers surveyed…  read on >  read on >

Don’t get frustrated if switching to a healthy diet doesn’t result in any weight loss – your heart is thanking you nonetheless, a new study says. Even without weight loss, people who adopted a healthy diet received a significant boost to their heart health, researchers reported June 5 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. These included an increase in “good” HDL cholesterol, lower levels of the hunger hormone leptin, and less belly fat putting pressure on internal organs, researchers report. “We have been conditioned to equate weight loss with health, and weight loss-resistant individuals are often labeled as failures,” said lead researcher Anat Yaskolka Meir, a postdoctoral research fellow in epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our findings reframe how we define clinical success,” Yasolka Meir said in a news release. “People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That’s a message of hope, not failure.” For the study, researchers analyzed data from 761 people with obesity in Israel who participated in three landmark workplace-based clinical trials involving nutrition. In each trial, people were randomly assigned to adopt and stick with healthy diets for between 18 and 24 months. Results showed that nearly one-third of the participants did not lose any weight. However, people who were resistant to weight loss still showed…  read on >  read on >

Don’t get frustrated if switching to a healthy diet doesn’t result in any weight loss – your heart is thanking you nonetheless, a new study says. Even without weight loss, people who adopted a healthy diet received a significant boost to their heart health, researchers reported June 5 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. These included an increase in “good” HDL cholesterol, lower levels of the hunger hormone leptin, and less belly fat putting pressure on internal organs, researchers report. “We have been conditioned to equate weight loss with health, and weight loss-resistant individuals are often labeled as failures,” said lead researcher Anat Yaskolka Meir, a postdoctoral research fellow in epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our findings reframe how we define clinical success,” Yasolka Meir said in a news release. “People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That’s a message of hope, not failure.” For the study, researchers analyzed data from 761 people with obesity in Israel who participated in three landmark workplace-based clinical trials involving nutrition. In each trial, people were randomly assigned to adopt and stick with healthy diets for between 18 and 24 months. Results showed that nearly one-third of the participants did not lose any weight. However, people who were resistant to weight loss still showed…  read on >  read on >

Platform can help predict a woman’s five-year risk for developing breast cancer by analyzing routine mammograms  read on >

A morning cup of coffee might do more than momentarily boost your energy and spirits. Full-test java also appears to help women age more gracefully, a new study says. Middle-aged women who regularly drank caffeinated coffee were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically functional as they aged, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Each extra cup was tied to a 2% to 5% increased chance of aging gracefully, results show. “The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee — not tea or decaf — may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function,” researcher Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked more than 47,500 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term research project that has collected data since 1984. The team compared the women’s caffeine intake to their healthy aging, which was defined as living to 70, being free from 11 major chronic illnesses, maintaining physical function, having good mental health and exhibiting no memory or thinking difficulties. By 2016, more than 3,700 of the women met all the requirements for being considered a person who has aged gracefully, researchers said. In middle age, these women typically consumed about 315 milligrams of caffeine daily, roughly three small…  read on >  read on >

A morning cup of coffee might do more than momentarily boost your energy and spirits. Full-test java also appears to help women age more gracefully, a new study says. Middle-aged women who regularly drank caffeinated coffee were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically functional as they aged, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Each extra cup was tied to a 2% to 5% increased chance of aging gracefully, results show. “The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee — not tea or decaf — may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function,” researcher Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked more than 47,500 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term research project that has collected data since 1984. The team compared the women’s caffeine intake to their healthy aging, which was defined as living to 70, being free from 11 major chronic illnesses, maintaining physical function, having good mental health and exhibiting no memory or thinking difficulties. By 2016, more than 3,700 of the women met all the requirements for being considered a person who has aged gracefully, researchers said. In middle age, these women typically consumed about 315 milligrams of caffeine daily, roughly three small…  read on >  read on >