Articles related to MEDICAL SOCIETIES

ASCO and SGO have taken a proactive stance on the chemotherapy drug shortage, issuing comprehensive guidelines to aid physicians in treating six specific cancers, ensuring that the crisis does not impede effective patient care.

Delve into the nuances of vital pulp therapies and explore how an informed, biologic approach can enhance treatment outcomes for children with deep caries lesions. Discover the AAPD’s latest guidelines and redefine your treatment strategies.

Redefining Eating Disorders Treatment: Unveiling APA’s Comprehensive Updated Guidelines As we mark a notable pivot in the understanding and treatment of eating disorders, the APA heralds a seminal updated practice guideline, marking the first comprehensive refresh since 2006. This authoritative guide distills 17 years of clinical and diagnostic advances, fundamentally reshaping the approaches to diagnostics and therapies for eating disorders. Key Points: Additional Points: “Early identification and treatment of an eating disorder is critical for achieving positive long-term outcomes.” Joel Yager, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and chair of the writing group for all three previous editions of the eating disorder practice guideline

Delve into the changes in the updated Beers criteria and their implications for medication use in older patients. The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has recently revised the Beers criteria. Significantly, these guidelines advise physicians to be cautious when prescribing medications like warfarin and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for patients over 65. Importantly, warfarin is now a drug to avoid in initial therapy for venous thromboembolism or nonvalvular atrial fibrillation unless alternatives are contraindicated or face significant usage barriers. The Beers criteria are organized into five distinct categories. These include potentially inappropriate medications, ones that might be inappropriate for patients with certain conditions, medications requiring careful usage, potential drug-drug interactions, and medications needing renal function-based dosage adjustments. An expert panel sifted through evidence from June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2022, to create these updates. These guidelines apply to patients aged 65 years and older in most care settings in the US, excluding hospice and end-of-life care situations. Among the notable changes since 2019 is the inclusion of warfarin. For older patients using warfarin long-term, continuation might be reasonable if they show well-controlled international normalized ratios and no adverse effects. Additional drugs introduced since 2019 include ticagrelor and SGLT2 inhibitors (use […]

In a recent study presented at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Annual Meeting, researchers reported that more than 75% of patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) were still alive and event-free at 1 year. The treatment was also well-tolerated, with a manageable rate of side effects. The 1-year event-free survival rate was 78.3%, and the 1-year overall survival rate was 88.0%. The postoperative complication rate was 35.6%, and the rate of grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events was 18.1%. The most common side effects were leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, and hyperglycemia. Overall, the results of this study suggest that neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with an ICI is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with resectable esophageal cancer. The treatment was associated with a high rate of pCR and R0 resection, and the side effects were generally manageable.

A federal science panel has recommended revisions to a National Toxicology Program (NTP) report on the potential associations between fluoride and IQ. The NTP Board of Scientific Counselors unanimously voted to adopt the findings and recommendations of a working group that assessed the report. The systematic literature review, which has been ongoing for several years, aims to summarize the existing research on the relationship between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopmental and cognitive health. The panel identified potential biases in the study and suggested revisions to the meta-analysis based on reviewer comments. The American Dental Association (ADA) expressed concerns about the report’s methodology and transparency, urging the NTP not to publish it until the concerns are addressed. The draft report claims that higher fluoride exposure is associated with lower IQ in children, but several studies published after the study period ended in 2020 have questioned the methodology used and the strength of the conclusions. The BSC Working Group recommended that the NTP acknowledge potential publication bias and make improvements to the clarity and language used in the report. The recommendations will be forwarded to the NTP director for further consideration.