Exploring gap between excess mortality, COVID-19 deaths in 67 countries

What The Study Did: N ational health care systems have different capacities to correctly identify people who died of COVID-19. Researchers in this study analyzed the gap between excess mortality and  COVID-19 confirmed mortality in 67 countries to determine the…

Association of remdesivir treatment with survival, length of hospital stay among US veterans hospitalized with COVID-19

What The Study Did: I n this observational study using data from the Veterans Health Administration for 2,344 U.S. veterans hospitalized with COVID-19, remdesivir treatment was associated with prolonged hospitalization but wasn’t associated with improved survival. Authors: Michael E. Ohl,…

New spray could someday help heal damage after a heart attack

Heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although modern surgical techniques, diagnostics and medications have greatly improved early survival from these events, many patients struggle with the long-term effects of permanently damaged tissue,…

The ethics of split liver transplantation: Analyzing case studies to make the right decision

Split liver transplantation (SLT) provides an opportunity to divide a donor liver and offer transplants to two small patients, one or both of whom could be a child. SLT, which is underused in the United States, could be used more…

Understanding frailty will lead to better care for older adults

Frailty is a better predictor than factors such as age when determining how older adults fare one year after receiving critical care. A team led by researchers from the University of Waterloo analyzed data from more than 24,000 community-dwelling older…

Interleukin-6 antagonists improve outcomes in hospitalised COVID-19 patients

Findings from a study published today [6 July] in the Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ) have prompted new World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to use interleukin-6 antagonists in patients with severe or critical COVID-19 along with…

Missing bile ducts offer clues to mechanism of liver injury

PITTSBURGH, July 6, 2021 – Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine described a new phenomenon in which the deletion of a single gene involved in liver embryogenesis completely wipes out bile ducts of newborn mice. But despite…

Do heart medications affect COVID-19 outcomes?

Cardiovascular drugs do not affect COVID-19 outcomes–such as disease severity, hospitalizations, or deaths–according to an analysis of all relevant studies published as of November 2020. The findings are published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology . Investigators included 429…

Estimating excess mortality rates among US assisted living residents during pandemic

What The Study Did: The results suggest assisted living residents experienced increased mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic consistent with increases observed among nursing home residents. Authors: Kali S. Thomas, Ph.D., of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is the corresponding…

Study reveals COVID-19 risk factors for those with IDD

Syracuse, N.Y. – A study of nearly 550 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving residential services in New York City found that age, larger residential settings, Down syndrome and chronic kidney disease were the most common risk factors for…

Anticoagulation in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

What The Study Did: This study of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 examines the association of anticoagulation treatment with mortality rates. Authors: Valerie M. Vaughn, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, is the corresponding author. To…

International medical graduate physician deaths from COVID-19 in US

What The Study Did: I nternational medical graduates often practice as physicians in locations and specialties less preferred by U.S. medical graduates. This study reports on physician mortality from COVID-19, and on the mortality of international medical graduates in particular.…

LSU Health New Orleans study reports compound blocks SARS-CoV-2 and protects lung cells

New Orleans, LA – Research conducted at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence reports that Elovanoids, bioactive chemical messengers made from omega-3 very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids discovered by the Bazan lab in 2017, may block the virus that…

Are social, behavioral risk factors associated with mortality among us veterans with COVID-19?

What The Study Did: An observational study of more than 27,000 veterans who received a positive test result for COVID-19 reports that risk factors such as housing problems, financial hardship, alcohol use, tobacco use and substance use weren’t associated with…

People who have trouble sleeping are at a higher risk of dying – especially diabetics

In a paper published by the Journal of Sleep Research , researchers reveal how they examined data* from half a million middle-aged UK participants asked if they had trouble falling asleep at night or woke up in the middle of…

New heart metric may increase survival for heart-failure patients

A new physiological measurement of heart function developed at UVA Health could improve survival for people with heart failure by identifying high-risk patients who require tailored treatments, a new study suggests. The study is the first to show a survival…

Lung ultrasound can efficiently diagnose volume overload in hemodialysis patients

An abbreviated lung ultrasound protocol can efficiently determine presence of lung congestion in patients receiving hemodialysis and help expedite care. Pulmonary congestion owing to fluid overload is common among patients with kidney failure on hemodialysis (HD) and contributes to excess…

Antibiotics no help for mysterious lung-scarring disease, large trial finds

Doctors have hoped that antibiotics could benefit patients with chronic lung diseases, but a new study has found no benefit for patients with life-threatening idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in preventing hospitalization or death. While there were no statistical benefits for patients…

Researchers create machine learning model to predict treatment with dialysis or death for hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Paper Title: Predictive Approaches for Acute Dialysis Requirement and Death in COVID-19 Journal: The Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (published online May 24, 2021) Authors: Girish Nadkarni, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine (Nephrology), Clinical…