Geriatrics News

• Are Biosimilar Drugs Similar Enough to Switch From Biologics? The US Food and Drug Administration says biosimilars are as safe and effective as the biologics, and doctors agree ― but they are cautious about changing the treatment regimen of patients doing well.
  Kaiser Health News, September 23, 2021
• Older People May Be at Higher Risk for Hospitalization From Breakthrough COVID Older people vaccinated against COVID-19 may be more likely than younger individuals to develop severe breakthrough disease and need hospitalization.
  Reuters Health Information, September 22, 2021
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Alzheimer's Prevention? Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increased cerebral blood flow and improved cognition in a small study of older adults with memory problems.
  Medscape Medical News, September 21, 2021
• MDS 2021 Survey Identifies Clinicians' Unease With Genetic Testing in PD Ahead of new guideline development, a survey of Movement Disorders Society members worldwide shows a number of gaps in clinicians' comfort levels with genetic testing in Parkinson's disease.
  Medscape Medical News, September 21, 2021
• Support for ECT in Severely Depressed Older Adults Electroconvulsive therapy is associated with lower risk of death over 1 year, as well as short-lived protective effects on suicide risk, in older adults hospitalized with a mood disorder, according to results of an observational study.
  Reuters Health Information, September 17, 2021
• NY Governor Vows to Fight Lawsuit Over Vaccine Mandate A federal judge this week temporarily blocked the state from enforcing any part of its mandate that prohibits religious exemptions for healthcare workers.
  Associated Press, September 17, 2021
• Common Eye Diseases Linked to Higher Risk for Dementia The health of the retina may be a link to the health of the brain.
  Medscape Medical News, September 17, 2021
• ESOC 2021 Decompressive Surgery Saves Lives in Severe Cerebral Vein Thrombosis For patients with large hemorrhagic brain lesions caused by CVT, who are at a very high risk for death, decompressive surgery was associated with remarkably good outcomes in the DECOMPRESS2 study.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• US Seniors' Pandemic Care Worst Among Wealthy Nations: Survey Older adults in the US also report pandemic-related economic difficulties at a rate of up to six times that of other countries.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• Too Little, Too Much Sleep Tied to Impaired Cognition Short sleep duration is associated with impaired memory whereas long sleep is associated with impaired executive function, new research suggests. However, only one is linked to increased amyloid burden.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• ESOC 2021 What's the Right TIMING for NOAC After Ischemic Stroke? Early treatment with novel oral anticoagulants is noninferior to delayed treatment among patients with ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation, according to data from a registry-based randomized trial.
  Medscape Medical News, September 14, 2021
• Half the Residents in 26 States Fully Vaccinated Although unvaccinated people are a diminishing minority, hospitals across the country are still feeling the strain as beds fill up with patients who haven't yet received their shots.
  WebMD Health News, September 13, 2021
• ESOC 2021 Flying Stroke Team to Rural Patients Doesn't Beat Transfer A cohort study shows that flying interventionalists to provide EVT for rural stroke patients did not improve functional outcome in comparison with transfer to an interventional center, but more study is needed.
  Medscape Medical News, September 13, 2021
• HFSA 2021 Food Insecurity Contributes to HF Mortality in Populations Food insecurity was tied to greater heart failure mortality at the U.S. county and state levels, directly -- to some extent -- but perhaps also indirectly through other social and economic issues.
  Medscape Medical News, September 12, 2021
• COVID-19 Vaccines Hold Strong Against Delta, Protection Waning in Older Adults Three US studies suggest COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against hospitalization and death, even in the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant, but vaccine protection appears to be waning among older populations.
  Reuters Health Information, September 10, 2021
• ECMO Life Support Is a Last Resort for COVID, and in Short Supply Doctors often describe ECMO as a way to let the lungs "rest" — especially useful when even ventilation isn't fully oxygenating a patient's blood.
  Kaiser Health News, September 10, 2021
• Pre-op CT Findings Linked to Post-op Mechanical Ventilation CT findings may assist in determining which patients will need to be intubated after surgery.
  Medscape Medical News, September 10, 2021
• EURETINA 2021 AI Shows Promise for Geographic Atrophy in AMD Harnessing artificial intelligence, researchers hope to predict which patients will suffer the most from geographic atrophy.
  Medscape Medical News, September 09, 2021
• AD Doubles Risk of Mental Health Issues in Children These data along with previously published studies suggest that change in mental health outcomes should be included in the evaluation of new therapies.
  Medscape Medical News, September 09, 2021
• More Reassuring Data on COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy New data show no increase in risk for miscarriage associated with the COVID-19 vaccine; 8.6% of those who suffered miscarriages had had the vaccine, vs 8.0% of those with ongoing pregnancies.
  Medscape Medical News, September 09, 2021