MD Magazine's Top 10 Stories of September
Catch up on our biggest headlines you missed before the end of the month!
It's only fitting that a month as busy as it was hot ends with a slowed-down, breezy weekend. September blurred into a busy summer season here at MD Magazine, but we were lucky to get a minute to share our 10 biggest headlines from the month before kicking off October — and really, the autumn season — with more of the same in-depth clinical coverage.
This weekend, go get a pumpkin-flavored beverage, throw on a flannel, and put off the start of your Halloween movie marathon until you've caught up on the Top 10 Stories of September:
Men With Chronic Hepatitis C Infection See Faster Progression of Disease
Some previous studies have found that sex hormones play a role in faster progression. Along with older age and male sex, established risk factors also include excessive alcohol consumption, higher body mass index and co-infections with either HBV or HIV.
A Biosimilar Cure for Sky-High Drug Prices
In 2013, it was estimated that the US could save $250 billion throughout the next 10 years because of biosimilars. As prescription drug costs continue to rise, biosimilars have great potential to lower costs improving patient access to life-saving medicines.
Researchers Find Cause, Possible Treatment for Cardiovascular Risks in HIV Patients
Researchers called the discovery involving a factor found in tick saliva a “potential therapeutic avenue,” noting it holds interesting potential for researching its ability to limit HIV conditions in patients.
Integration Between Primary Care Physicians, Psychologists Examined
The provision and quality of primary mental healthcare is improved when PCPs work in close collaboration with mental health professionals. The qualitative study bolsters evidence of the benefit of interprofessional care while reporting on the collaborative process, and its perceived success.
Could Influenza Trigger a Multiple Sclerosis Relapse?
Patients with MS are at risk for relapse when they have upper respiratory infections, but the cause for relapse was not known. During this time, immune cells want to get to the brain.
Now that TD treatment has finally reached the market, new issues come to the forefront. The first line of clinicians to come across TD in a patient are still gastroenterologists and psychiatrists, and the known rate of TD in patients is as well-known as it is initially recognized.
Hospital length of stay decreased by about 1 day for patients with a principal diagnosis of C. difficile. In 2004, the average length was 6.9 days, but in 2014 it measured 5.8 days.
23andMe Tackles Depression, Bipolar Disorder​​​​​​​
“The hope is to gain a greater understanding of how genetics is related to brain functions such as attention, decision-making and reaction time. This knowledge of the biological underpinnings of disease could ultimately inform the development of novel, disease-modifying therapies."
A once-in-lifetime intervention of bronchial thermoplasty was found comparably effective to once or twice-monthly injections of omalizumab for uncontrolled severe asthma.
Lampalizumab Fails AMD Trial Goals, Delays Study
The failure to reach efficacy standards means trial patients will no longer be dosed with the potential treatment until the second phase 3 trial results are evaluated. For patients, there are no other options in sight.
