News

17 Jun: COVID Shot in the First Trimester Not Tied to Birth Defects

TOPLINE: Compared with unvaccinated pregnant women, those who had received an mRNA COVID vaccine in the first trimester did not have a significantly increased risk for major congenital malformations. However, potential links to specific birth defects, such as cardiac anomalies, could not be ruled out. METHODOLOGY: Researchers in Germany conducted a prospective cohort study to

15 Jun: Early Smartphone-Activated Bystander CPR Can Boost Survival

An app that alerts bystanders trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a nearby out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can increase survival if volunteer responders arrive before emergency medical services (EMS), according to an Australian study. The analysis of more than 9000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Victoria, published in the Medical Journal of Australia…

11 Jun: New Guidelines Shift Diabetes Care Toward Behavior

New guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes include tools clinicians can use to help patients stick to lifestyle interventions. The guidelines, released on June 10 by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), largely mirror lifestyle guidelines by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) but add specifics about how clinicians can help

Women less likely to receive treatment for deadly heart condition

08 Jun: Women less likely to receive treatment for deadly heart condition

Forest plot showing adjusted hazard ratios for referral to secondary cardiology/cardiac surgery services and aortic valve intervention where the reference group for ethnic groups is the white group, males for females and Index of multiple deprivation (IMD) is level 1 (most affluent group). Credit: British Heart Foundation Women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those

Increasing numbers of US adults don’t know they have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol

06 Jun: Increasing numbers of US adults don’t know they have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol

Credit: Antoni Shkraba Studio from Pexels In a new report published in JAMA Cardiology, health policy experts at the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown that many US adults are unaware they have high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol—three major risk

P2Y12 drugs may be better than aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke in patients with coronary artery disease

05 Jun: P2Y12 drugs may be better than aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke in patients with coronary artery disease

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Giving a P2Y12 inhibitor anti-clotting drug to patients with coronary artery disease is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke compared with traditional aspirin, with no increased risk of major bleeding, finds a study published by The BMJ. P2Y12 inhibitors are often given to patients alongside aspirin