An experimental blood test might be able to predict whether glaucoma patients will continue to lose their vision following treatment, researchers report. A biochemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) tends to be lower in people with glaucoma compared to those without the eye disease, researchers found. What’s more, glaucoma patients with lower NAD levels than others tended to lose their vision more quickly, even after receiving treatment to lower fluid pressure in the eye. A clinical test based on NAD levels “would enable clinicians to predict which patients are at higher risk of continued vision loss, allowing them to be prioritized for more intensive monitoring and treatment,” said senior researcher David Garway-Heath, a professor with the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. NAD is made from the vitamin B3 and is linked to how much oxygen is used by blood cells in the body, researchers explained. Glaucoma occurs when pressure builds up inside the eye, damaging the optic nerve that sends signals from the eye to the brain. As nerve cells die, vision diminishes until patients eventually go blind. For this study, researchers studied 139 people receiving standard treatment for glaucoma, which involves medication or surgery intended to lower the fluid pressure within the eyeball. They compared those glaucoma patients to 50 people with good eye health. The team found that people with lower levels…  read on >  read on >

Roughly 20% of Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in their lives, but it’s not inevitable. Skin cancer is not only the most common cancer, it’s also the most preventable. Most of the time, too much sun exposure is to blame. “When it comes to skin cancer, prevention is key,” surgical oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Farma said in a news release. “My goal is to ensure patients can enjoy their lives, including time in the sun, while being mindful that even a small skin lesion can quickly escalate into a very serious issue.” Even if you don’t burn easily, whether you’re young or old, you can still get skin cancer, Farma emphasized.  Since 2011, rates of the most malignant skin cancer — melanoma — have risen roughly 7% a year, and skin cancer rates have held steady among young people. “We have seen young patients in their 20s who tan a lot and use tanning salons and are unfortunately diagnosed with skin cancer. That diagnosis can completely change their life,” said Farma, co-director of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He is also state chairman of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. To protect yourself while enjoying time outdoors, Farma offers these tips: Use sunscreen properly: Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of…  read on >  read on >

Three of four patients stop taking Ozempic or Wegovy two years after being prescribed the blockbuster drugs for weight loss, a new analysis shows. Conducted by Prime Therapeutics and Magellan Rx Management (MRx), the review sifted through pharmacy and medical claims data for 3,364 people with insurance plans that cover the GLP-1 drugs. Patients had received new prescriptions between January and December 2021, and all were diagnosed with obesity. Importantly, the analysis excluded patients using the drugs for type 2 diabetes, for which GLP-1 medicines were originally developed. While the report did not delve into why patients quit, it does offer a sobering view of the real-world experiences of people taking the drugs. “GLP-1s are unlikely to deliver therapeutic value when so many individuals stop treatment after two years, but the findings also illustrate the need for obesity care management programs to improve adherence,” David Lassen, chief clinical officer at Prime/MRx, said in a news release. Wegovy and similar GLP-1 medicines can cost more than $1,000 a month and extended use is required for meaningful health benefits. “GLP-1s for all isn’t cost-effective,” Dr. Rekha Kumar, an obesity specialist at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, told Reuters. “People want to provide obesity care to their employees, but they want to do it in a way that doesn’t bankrupt them.” For patients, it may just be…  read on >  read on >

Mounjaro outperforms Ozempic in helping people lose weight, a new study shows. People taking tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) dropped significantly more pounds than those taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), researchers reported July 8 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. “Individuals with overweight or obesity treated with tirzepatide were significantly more likely to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss and larger reductions in body weight compared with those treated with semaglutide,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Nicholas Stucky, vice president of research with Truveta Inc., a medical research collective. For the study, researchers tracked more than 18,000 overweight and obese people who were prescribed either drug to help control their type 2 diabetes between May 2022 and September 2023. Both drugs initially were developed as type 2 diabetes medications, but were later approved for use in weight loss. Results show that both drugs are effective in promoting some weight loss. Nearly 82% of patients taking Mounjaro lost 5% or more of their body weight, compared to nearly 67% of those taking Ozempic, researchers found. However, Mounjaro users were more likely to achieve greater weight gain. About 42% of Mounjaro patients lost 15% or more of their body weight, compared to about 18% of those taking Ozempic. Overall, patients on Mounjaro were 76% more likely than those on Ozempic to lose 5% or more of their body weight; 2.5…  read on >  read on >

Trendy weight-loss drugs appear to increase the risk of a rare and potentially blinding eye condition, a new study warns. People with diabetes prescribed semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) were more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with NAION, researchers reported July 3 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. Further, those who were overweight were more than seven times more likely to be diagnosed with NAION, results showed. “The use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialized countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk,” said lead researcher Dr. Joseph Rizzo, director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Service at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston. “It is important to appreciate, however, that the increased risk relates to a disorder that is relatively uncommon,” he added in a hospital news release. NAION typically causes sudden vision loss in one eye, without any pain, Rizzo said. It’s thought to be caused by reduced blood flow to the front of the optic nerve, where the nerve meets the eye. NAION is the most common cause of sudden blindness due to damage of the optic nerve, and is second only to glaucoma as an overall cause of optic nerve blindness, researchers said. There currently are no effective treatments for NAION, and vision loss…  read on >  read on >

As millions of Americans grapple with blistering heat this summer, the Biden Administration on Tuesday proposed a new rule to address excessive heat in the workplace. If the first major federal safety standard of its kind becomes final, the measure would aim to protect an estimated 36 million U.S. workers from injuries related to heat exposure on the job. That includes delivery and construction workers, landscapers and workers in warehouses, factories and kitchens. “From the record-shattering heat wave across the Midwest and Northeast, to devastating flooding in Iowa and Minnesota, to raging wildfires in New Mexico, Oregon and California, communities in every corner of the country are being directly impacted by the compounding effects of extreme weather,” the White House said in a statement announcing the proposal. “Today, the President is receiving an operational briefing on extreme weather forecasts for this summer, and he will announce new actions to protect workers and families from the impacts of extreme weather.” Under the proposed rule, employers would be required to identify heat dangers, develop emergency response plans related to heat illness and train employees and supervisors on the signs of heat illnesses. They would also have to provide rest breaks, provide shade and water and allow new workers to build their tolerance for heat on the job. Penalties for heat-related violations in workplaces would also increase significantly,…  read on >  read on >

Cutting-edge weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic can help treat alcoholism, a new study says. People taking semaglutide had 50% to 56% decreased odds for either becoming alcoholic or relapsing into alcoholism, researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Communications. Few drugs are now available to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD), so adding semaglutide to their number would provide a much-needed extra option, researchers said. “This is very promising news in that we may have a new therapeutic method to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD),” lead researcher Rong Xu, a professor of biomedical informatics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said in a news release. Semaglutide helps regulate blood sugar levels, and was first approved as a diabetes treatment. The drug also reduces appetite and slows digestion, which eventually led to its approval as a weight-loss drug as well. For the study, researchers analyzed medical records of nearly 84,000 patients with obesity, as well as about 600,000 patients with type 2 diabetes. In both sets of data, researchers found consistent reductions in alcoholism among people treated with semaglutide. “While the findings are promising and provide preliminary evidence of the potential benefit of semaglutide in real-world populations, further randomized clinical trials are needed to support its use clinically for AUD,” study co-author Dr. Pamela Davis, a research professor at Case Western, said in a…  read on >  read on >