DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Syphilis is at its highest levels since the 1950s. Here's how experts are trying to fix that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-08 | by ( Simar Bajaj | Simar Bajaj Is A Marshall Scholar | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Stigmatized Diseases | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Soon after, the mother’s syphilis test — given to all women before delivery — came back positive. In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 200,000 syphilis cases — the highest counts since 1950. Spreading the word about syphilisSome public health departments have launched eye-popping awareness campaigns, trying to raise the alarm among both the public and health care providers. Make syphilis testing convenientBeyond greater awareness, access to testing and treatment needs to be quick, easy and convenient, Chokshi said. But permanently bending the syphilis curve will require scaling these efforts nationally and promoting greater coordination between health care and public health.

Persons: Irene Stafford, Stafford, —, It’s, could’ve, they’re, ”, Kenneth Mayer, Mayer, Dave Chokshi, Donna Fox, Fox, ” Fox, “ We’re, “, Lucas, they’ve, we’re, ” Stafford, Chokshi, Jessica Leston, Jessica Leston “ We’re, ” Leston, Trojan Carvajal, Jai Winchell, Winchell, Arlene Seña, it’s, ” Seña, don’t, Seña, that’s, ” Chokshi Organizations: University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Fenway Institute, Common Health Coalition, Health, Lucas County Health Department, Alaska Natives, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, STI, Mobile Care Clinic, Shasta, University of North, Hospital, University of Chicago, U.S, Fenway Health Locations: Houston, U.S, Boston, New York, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, Texas, Alaska, Cass, Minnesota, California, Shasta County, Oregon, Shasta, University of North Carolina, Grady, Atlanta, America

☆ CNN Exclusive: Adderall prescriptions have been filled less often amid ongoing shortage in the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —About 1 in every 10 people in the US who uses Adderall or similar combination drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been affected by an ongoing shortage, a new analysis suggests. The US Food and Drug Administration announced that Adderall was in shortage in mid-October 2022, and the share of people with ADHD who filled their prescriptions for Adderall and related medications plunged in the following months. Patients were considered eligible for a monthly prescription fill if they had filled one within the previous two years. Prescriptions for medications used to treat ADHD surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially among young adults and women, one study found. But it’s been about a year and a half since she’s been able to fill her Adderall prescription in a “totally uneventful” way, she said.

Persons: Adderall, Robert Califf, Anne Milgram, David Goodman, ”, Mary Beth King, it’s, she’s, ” King, King, ” Goodman, John Mitchell, ” Mitchell, they’re, ’ ”, –, “, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, hasn’t Organizations: CNN, US Food and Drug Administration, Drug, of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, American Professional Society, New, Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Get CNN, CNN Health Locations: Sweden

☆ People taking ADHD medications should closely monitor their heart health, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Long-term use of ADHD medications can raise the risk of cardiovascular disease in both children and adults, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. The researchers found that people taking ADHD medications had a higher risk of hypertension and arterial disease, and the risk increased over time. Careful attention to the heart health of patients with ADHD is not new, experts say. “I don’t want to minimize this,” he said, highlighting the importance of screening for heart health in ADHD patients before starting treatment and checking in regularly. The risk for cardiovascular disease may be underestimated in the new study, the researchers wrote, as some heart disease that does not yet require medical care may not be diagnosed.

Persons: CNN —, Mitch Elkind, there’s, “, ”, David Goodman, ” Goodman, ‘, ” Elkind, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, Psychiatry, American Heart Association . Children, US Centers for Disease Control, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, American Professional Society, CNN Health Locations: Sweden

☆ New study says 800,000 Americans die or are disabled by misdiagnoses each year — but there are 3 simple questions to ask to lower your risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Cork Gaines | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nearly 800,000 Americans suffer permanently or die each year when doctors make diagnostic errors. The top five most misdiagnosed diseases — represented 38.7% of all misdiagnosed cases — were stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism (blood clots in veins), and lung cancer. According to the research, these diagnostic errors often occur when patients exhibit symptoms other than those most commonly associated with the disease. While adverse outcomes are still rare, according to Gupta, there are some simple questions patients can ask their doctor to lower their risk even further:What could be causing my problem? The good news, according to the research authors, is that only 15 account for more than 50% of the misdiagnoses.

Persons: there's, David Newman, Johns Hopkins, Jake Tapper, Sanjay Gupta, Gupta Organizations: Service, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, American Cancer Society Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Prescription Drug Shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( German Lopez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Americans are confronting a shortage of several major drug treatments. medication shortage, which is reflective of many of the broader drug supply problems. The Food and Drug Administration first acknowledged the shortage in October. Patients complain that they have to shop around at pharmacies to get their medications, if they can find them at all. After a week without the drug, he went to bed one day at 7 a.m. “It’s a bit of a curse to not have control over your own energy,” he said.

☆ Tantrums: Screens hurt kids' emotional regulation, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Frequently using digital devices to distract from unpleasant and disruptive behavior like tantrums was associated with more emotional dysregulation in kids — particularly boys and children who were already struggling with emotional regulation, according to the study. It can be helpful for caregivers to help kids name their emotions and offer solutions when they are responding inappropriately to those feelings, she said. To reinforce it, adults can talk about their own emotions in terms of colors in front of their kids, Radesky said. And there is some content that can help teach emotional regulation when your tank is empty. The study isn’t saying to never distract a child with media, but rather to keep your go-to tools ones that encourage emotional regulation, Radesky said.

But doctors often recommended the monoclonal antibody for people taking certain immunosuppressive medications, such as cancer patients or transplant recipients, since Paxlovid can interact negatively with several of those drugs. Casadevall said convalescent plasma is an effective alternative to monoclonal antibodies, but it's more complicated to administer and oversee. Pharma companies haven't given up on the promise of new monoclonal antibody drugs, however. A spokesperson for Eli Lilly said the company is searching for and evaluating monoclonal antibody candidates. Casadevall said new monoclonal antibody drugs are still worth pursuing, since they have proven safe and effective against Covid.

☆ Adderall users struggle amid ongoing medication shortage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Raenu Charles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A report from data analytics firm Trilliant Health found that nationally, prescriptions for Adderall among people ages 22 to 44 increased 15% between 2020 and 2021. “I’ve had patients call 10,15, 20 pharmacies in order to get their medication,” Goodman said. Clara is headed to her doctor to seek an alternative medication until Adderall is back in stock. It took five days for his pharmacy to fill his prescription in late October, and those days took a toll. Goodman strongly warns against this, offering a reminder that not only is selling your own prescription medication a felony, so is sharing it with others.

☆ Experimental therapy gantenerumab fails to slow or improve Alzheimer’s memory loss in clinical trials
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Gantenerumab is part of a class of injected drugs that are designed to remove sticky protein pieces called beta amyloid from the brain. Beta amyloid buildup is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Roche said Monday that gantenerumab appears to have removed less beta amyloid from the brains of study participants than anticipated. The results for gantenerumab follow positive results for a different beta amyloid reducing drug, lecanemab. An estimated 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2022, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

☆ Staff shortages make patient surges harder for children’s hospitals – and the situation won’t get better soon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“We’re extremely overwhelmed,” said Dr. Rishi Lulla, director of pediatric hematology/oncology at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Seasonal respiratory viruses fill children’s hospitals every year, but the number of beds that are full now is well above the average. Driving much of the current need for beds at children’s hospitals is a spike in cases of RSV, which are 60% higher than at 2021’s peak. Nurse turnover is up 50% across the country since 2019, according to Mark Wietecha, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.

☆ The world is running out of helium. Here's why doctors are worried.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Caroline Hopkins | Nbc News Contributor Caroline Hopkins Is A Health | Science Journalist Who Covers Cancer Treatment For Precision Oncology News. She Is A Graduate Of The Columbia University Graduate School Of Journalism. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

A global helium shortage has doctors worried about one of the natural gas’s most essential, and perhaps unexpected, uses: MRIs. Now, four of five major U.S. helium suppliers are rationing the element, said Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting. That’s where helium comes in: With a boiling point of minus 452 degrees Fahrenheit, liquid helium is the coldest element on Earth. “Without helium, MRIs would have to shut down.”Manufacturers like GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers recognize this vulnerability. As doctors dread possible worst-case scenarios, scientists who use liquid helium for research are already there.

There has been evidence that the omicron variant tends not to burrow deeply into the lungs as much as previous variants. How quickly do omicron symptoms appear? What is the duration of omicron symptoms? Although much about the omicron variant remains unknown, some experts say it could lead to long Covid, even with mild cases. The BA.5 omicron subvariant accounted for nearly 80% of new Covid cases as of Oct. 8, according to the CDC.

☆ Experimental Alzheimer's drug: After promising data, experts say many questions remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —The experimental Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab made big news last week when the companies testing it released trial results that showed the drug met its goals, making it one of the first dementia drugs to return positive results. By some counts, lecanemab is the 16th drug that’s been developed to clear toxic amyloid plaques from the brain. Or did the companies that are testing it – Biogen and Eisai – run a smarter clinical trial that finally showcased the potential of these kinds of medications? Clinical trial results were mixed, with only one showing a small benefit to patients. He says he might change his mind if analysis of the clinical trial shows that one group of people got more of a benefit than others.

Search resuls for: "Johns Hopkins School of Medicine"

13 mentions found