Curated News: Medical Meetings

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The Zika virus is most commonly transmitted in humans as the result of a bite from an infected mosquito or from an infected human to another human. What is not well known is that the virus also can be transmitted via the environment if an individual is pricked with an infected needle or has an open cut and comes in contact with the live virus. While there are no known cases to date of the general public being infected with the Zika virus through the environment, there has been at least one documented case of laboratory acquired Zika virus infection.

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Atrial fibrillation patients who use the drug, warfarin, to prevent harmful blood clots from forming in their hearts to lower risk of stroke are at higher risk of developing dementia than patients who use warfarin for non-atrial fibrillation conditions, according to a new study from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

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Tuberculosis (TB) is responsible for more than 1.8 million deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization, yet there has been little significant improvement in therapies in the past 20 years. This chronic disease is systemic, meaning it affects not only the lungs but also other organs, such as the lymph nodes and spleen. But a promising new treatment may be on the horizon.

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Repeated binge drinking during adolescence can affect brain functions in future generations, potentially putting offspring at risk for such conditions as depression, anxiety, and metabolic disorders, a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study has found.

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A new study led by clinician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) testing the safety and effectiveness of anticoagulant strategies for patients with atrial fibrillation who undergo stenting procedures has shown that therapies combining the anticoagulant drug rivaroxaban with either single or dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) were more effective in preventing bleeding complications than the current standard of care.

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Many people who experience chest pain but don’t have a heart attack breathe a big sigh of relief when a stress test comes back negative for blockages in their blood vessels. But a new study by cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found they may not be off the hook after all.

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Stephen A. Tilles, MD, Seattle, WA was installed as president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) at the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco on November 14. Bradley E. Chipps, MD, Sacramento, CA, was elected ACAAI president-elect.

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Two differing blood clot prevention medications are just as safe and effective for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, a non-surgical procedure to open blood vessels narrowed by plaque buildup, according to a new study.

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Atrial fibrillation patients with a prior history of stroke who undergo catheter ablation to treat the abnormal heart rhythm lower their long-term risk of a recurrent stroke by 50 percent, according to new research from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute

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Two new studies measure the prevalence of myocardial inflammation in RA patients without known cardiovascular disease, assess how it is associated with high disease activity and show how disease-modifying therapy may decrease this type of inflammation, according to new research findings presented this week at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, a group of biologic drugs used to treat children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, are not associated with a significantly increased risk of cancer, according to new research findings presented this week at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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The U.S. adult rheumatology workforce is in jeopardy of a serious decline, and incentives to pursue rheumatology training, including help with graduate medical education funding, could provide critical relief, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Gender and disease duration can help predict which axial spondyloarthritis patients will develop extra-articular manifestations such as uveitis, or inflammation of the eye, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Outcomes such as pain, function, range of motion, and strength after total hip arthroplasty, or joint replacement surgery, are different for men & women, which could lead to the development of sex-specific rehabilitation programs, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Lupus patients who are African-American or Asian, or those who have attained only a high school education or less, had longer delays in seeing a rheumatologist or nephrologist for a confirmed diagnosis than other groups, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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A combination of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and TNF-inhibitors may help slow down spine damage in ankylosing spondylitis, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who also have lung involvement often have increased mortality, but first-line therapy with rituximab may help them live longer, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Rheumatoid arthritis patients who keep using their disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs prior to surgery do not face an increased risk of infection after their procedures, according to new research findings presented this week at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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The gut microbiomes of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome show higher levels of phospholipid-producing bacteria, and this findings point to microbes being a trigger for this life-threatening disease, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Chronic kidney disease patients who take urate-lowering therapy and achieve target urate levels show improvement in kidney function, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Distinct gene expression signatures in rheumatoid arthritis patients could help rheumatologists predict how these individuals will respond to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, and may one day enable a more personalized approach to RA therapy.

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Patients with RA whose rheumatologists and primary-care physicians coordinate their care have a higher likelihood of being screened for hyperlipidemia, a key risk factor for coronary heart disease, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Over a 15-year period, people with RA may have double the risk of CV events as those in the general population, rates that are similar to people with type-2 diabetes, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Patients with ankylosing spondylitis or psoriatic arthritis who take statins may have as much as a 33 percent lower mortality risk, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Three gene expression signatures can help rheumatologists predict which patients are more likely to respond to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) or B-cell depletion therapies in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

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While patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases such as RA or spondyloarthritis are at increased risk for CVD, too few are prescribed preventive medications or meeting target goals to prevent heart-related events, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Allopurinol, a widely used treatment for lowering serum urate levels, does not appear to increase risk of kidney deterioration in gout patients with normal or near-normal kidney function, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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According to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington, most people with knee OA actually already have the physical function necessary to walk at least 6,000 steps a day, the minimum amount needed to improve their arthritis and prevent disability.

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Rheumatology practices in the United States aren’t always meeting key quality measures for patient care that may affect them as new physician reimbursement laws go into effect in the next year, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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Injection of a Wnt inhibitor drug showed promise to ease pain, improve joint function, and even slow or reverse cartilage loss in patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

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A study being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting found most colleges don’t have integrated systems in place to support food-allergic students.

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Kids need flu shots to prevent asthma flares, and medications available in school to keep 86 percent in class, according to two studies being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting.

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A study being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting found only 18 percent of non-nursing school staff surveyed felt very confident in their ability to recognize anaphylaxis symptoms. Only 19 percent felt very confident that they could correctly treat a child having a severe allergic reaction.

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If you think you’re allergic to penicillin, but have never been tested, ask for a referral to an allergist to confirm the allergy. Many physicians whose patients have “penicillin allergy” in their charts don’t know that frequently, a penicillin allergy diagnosis is given to a child as the result of a rash, but without any follow up testing.

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Living in a food desert – an urban area where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food – means you’re at increased risk to have asthma. Children who were studied who did not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables had higher rates of asthma than children who did have access.

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Curiosity is a driving factor in why most kids start smoking, and the same is true for kids with asthma. A study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting found adolescents with asthma were twice as likely to smoke as kids without asthma. And they continue to smoke well into their teen years, even though they know smoking is particularly bad for their lungs.

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Parents may be confused with how and when to introduce peanut-containing foods to their infants. Presentations at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting will offer guidance, based on soon to be released guidelines, on how to approach this topic without going “nuts.”

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Giving severely depressed patients the arthritis drug celecoxib (Celebrex®) dramatically boosted the effectiveness of their antidepressant medication, a Loyola study has found.

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During the AVS 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition being held November 6-11, 2016, in Nashville, Tennessee, Stephane Evoy, an applied physicist from the University of Alberta, will explain how the team recognized the limited reliability of antibodies in providing bacteria detection with specificity. Instead they used phage-derived proteins, proteins developed from the bacteria-invading viruses, for detection of pathogenic bacteria to address this deficiency. This work has implications not only in disease diagnosis, but also in food and water safety.

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A research team from Shizuoka University in Japan has explored the permeability of skin and will present their work during the AVS 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition being held November 6-11, 2016, in Nashville, Tennessee. As a means to interact with skin, the team used plasma, a state of matter where electrons have dissociated from their corresponding ions and exhibit more collective behavior. Using plasma, which conducts electricity, they successfully decreased its barrier function for transdermal drug delivery.

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B12 deficiency during pregnancy may predispose children to metabolic problems such as type-2 diabetes, according to research presented today at the Society for Endocrinology’s annual Conference in Brighton. These findings could lead to a review of current vitamin B12 requirements for pregnant women, whether through an improved diet or supplements.

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Patients with obesity who swallowed gas-filled balloon capsules designed to help them eat less, lost 1.9 times more weight than patients who relied on diet, exercise and lifestyle therapy alone, according to new research* presented today at ObesityWeek 2016, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity. The annual conference is hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS).

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Women have about a 20 percent less chance of developing heart disease after weight-loss surgery than men, according to new research* presented today at ObesityWeek 2016, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity. The annual conference is hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS).

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NEW ORLEANS – NOV. 4, 2016 – Weight-loss surgery patients who stick to a schedule of 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up visits with their doctors see greater improvements or remission of their diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol than patients who skip their visits, according to new research* presented today at ObesityWeek 2016, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity. The annual conference is hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS).

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Understanding of Risks of Obesity is Improving, But Major Misperceptions About Causes and Treatments Persist

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Improving health insurance coverage for weight loss services could help people struggling with obesity lose weight, according to a new survey of non-physician health professionals (HPs). A second study found that three out of four patients are affected by obesity or overweight, yet less than half (48%) of these patients with a BMI higher than 30 received a formal diagnosis of obesity.

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Daniel Palanker, PhD, and Pradeep Y. Ramulu, MD, PhD, are recognized for their significant achievements in vision research.

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ISPOR recognized recipients at its 19th Annual European Congress. The ISPOR Awards Program is designed to foster and recognize excellence and outstanding technical achievement in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR).

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ISPOR held an issue panel entitled, "Using Observational (Real-World) Data in Health Technology Assessment: Route to Confusion or Better Decisions?" The session took place at the Society’s 19th Annual European Congress in Vienna, Austria.

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The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) hosted its third plenary session, "How to Control Costs and Improve Access to Medicines: Lessons from the InterQuality Project," at the Society’s 19th Annual European Congress in Vienna, Austria.