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Can a person live without the pancreas?
A 58-year-old man with severe abdominal pain underwent surgery to remove the pancreas and spleen after diagnosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm or pancreatic cancer in 2016. He received chemotherapy for nine months to get rid of residual cancer. Although the patient is diabetic now, he is living a new life and coping by taking insulin and other pills to compensate.
Cleveland Clinic
Laser therapy could help people with short-term memory problems
Transcranial photobiomodulation applied to the right prefrontal cortex of the brain was found to improve working or short-term memory by 10% several minutes after treatment, as per a study. The changes in the brain due to this treatment were trackable with an EEG. However, why this treatment produced positive results and how long these effects would last is yet to be known.
University of Birmingham
Dapagliflozin can lower hospitalizations in kidney patients
Patients with chronic kidney disease with or without type 2 diabetes and with a urinary albumin-creatinine ratio of 200 to 5,000 mg/g, eGFR of 25 to 75 mL/min/1.73 m2 were treated with dapagliflozin or placebo in a study. The drug reduces the chances of hospitalization in these patients compared to a placebo. This benefit was seen regardless of the presence of diabetes.
Physician's Weekly
Are COVID-19 vaccines effective against long Covid?
A meta-analysis revealed that one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccines are 29% effective in preventing symptoms that last for three weeks or more after infection. People who received the vaccine after infection also experienced some benefits. These findings might encourage and reassure unvaccinated people with persistent symptoms to get vaccinated.
CIDRAP
Which sutures are superior for vaginal cervical cerclage?
A study included pregnant women getting vaginal cervical cerclage because of a history of premature birth or abortions. They were randomized to braided sutures or monofilament sutures. The findings suggested monofilament sutures were not superior to braided sutures in reducing pregnancy loss. The pregnancy loss rates were similar in the two groups (8% vs 7.6%).
Twitter @TheLancet
AHA explains the difference between heart attack and cardiac arrest
Heart attacks occur when an artery gets blocked, preventing blood supply to a part of the heart and leading to the death of the artery. It can be immediate and start with mild to no symptoms. In contrast, cardiac arrest is sudden without warning when the heart stops beating and pumping blood due to electrical malfunctioning. Death can occur within minutes after cardiac arrest.
American Heart Association
Cancer regression without treatment is very rare
A pooled analysis was conducted on more than 5,000 cancer patients with advanced solid tumours who were treated with a placebo in 45 randomized controlled trials. The findings revealed that only 1% of them achieved some response without actual treatment. However, complete regression of cancer in the absence of treatment was extremely rare and almost 0%.
Twitter @oncology_bg
Rebound of COVID-19 after Paxlovid treatment is rare
A study from Hong Kong on hospitalized patients with COVID-19 revealed the rebound of the virus infection after treatment with Paxlovid ( nirmatrelvir-ritonavir) and molnupiravir was uncommon. It also showed these treatments were not associated with higher chances of mortality. These findings suggest using these treatments for treating patients with early COVID-19 infection.
Scienmag
New malaria drug should be given at higher doses to cure infection
Tafenoquine at a dose of 300 mg was found to reduce recurrent infections with Plasmodium vivax by 70%, as per a study. Increasing the dose to 450 mg also reduced the recurrence by 85%. The drug has the advantage of being single-dosed, unlike primaquine, which should be taken for 7 to 14 days. Some studies suggested that a 300 mg dose of the drug was inferior to primaquine.
Today UK News
A healthy lifestyle may prevent the risk of inflammatory bowel disease
An international study showed that adopting a healthy lifestyle could prevent around 60% of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease cases. A healthy lifestyle comprised a BMI of 18.5 to 25, a minimum of 7.5 weekly MET-hours, 8 daily servings of vegetables and fruits, less than half a daily serving of red meat, 25 g of fibre a day, 2 weekly servings of fish, and never smoking.
Today UK News
