As-Needed Budesonide–Formoterol on Par with Maintenance Therapy for Mild Asthma

A 52-week, randomized, open-label, controlled trial revealed that budesonide–formoterol used as needed was superior to albuterol used as needed and on par with budesonide maintenance for the prevention of asthma exacerbations. A total of 675 patients were randomly assigned to the albuterol (100 μg as needed for asthma symptoms) group; […]

Glucosamine Supplement Linked to Lower CVD Risk

A UK prospective cohort study suggested that habitual use of glucosamine supplement to relieve osteoarthritis pain might also be related to lower risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) events. The study enrolled 466 039 participants from 2006 to 2010. During a median follow-up of 7 years, there were 10 204 incident CVD events, […]

Dietary Change Reduced Breast Cancer Mortality

A US randomized, controlled clinical trial revealed that a dietary change with increased vegetable, fruit, and grain intake reduced the risk of death from breast cancer in postmenopausal women. A total of 48,835 postmenopausal women, aged 50-79 years, with no previous breast cancer and dietary fat intake ≥32% of total […]

BD’s Polygenic Genetic Architecture

A genome-wide study of bipolar disorder (BD) revealed an extensive polygenic genetic architecture of the disease, implicate brain calcium channels and neurotransmitter function in BD etiology, and confirmed that BD is part of a spectrum of highly correlated psychiatric and mood disorders. The study included 20,352 cases and 31,358 controls […]

ATTR Cardiomyopathy Drug Approved

The US FDA approved tafamidis meglumine (Vyndaqel) and tafamidis (Vyndamax) for the treatment of wild-type or hereditary transthyretin amyloid (ATTR) cardiomyopathy based on a trial that showed a significant reduction in mortality, cardiovascular hospitalizations, and in decline in functional capacity and quality of life. The multicenter, international, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase […]

Warnings Added to Common Sleep Pills

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring a Boxed Warning, the most prominent warning, to be added to certain common prescription insomnia medicines because of sleep behaviors, including sleepwalking, sleep driving, and engaging in other activities while not fully awake. These complex sleep behaviors have also resulted in deaths. […]

Exercise Reduced Sitting Linked Mortality

A longitudinal analysis in Australia revealed that sitting is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk among sedentary adults; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) doses equivalent to meeting the current recommendations attenuate or effectively eliminate such associations. During an 8.9-year (median) follow-up, a total of 8,689 deaths (1,644 due […]

Skipping Breakfast Linked to Mortality

A US prospective cohort study revealed that skipping breakfast was associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study included a nationally representative sample of 6,550 adults (mean age 53.2 years; 48.0% male) from 1988 to 1994, with 17 to 23 years of follow-up. In […]

Poor Diet a Major Contributor to Mortality and Morbidity

A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 found that suboptimal diet is responsible for more deaths than any other risks and that improvement of diet could potentially prevent one in every five deaths globally. By use of a comparative risk assessment approach and disease-specific population attributable […]

Alcohol Consumption Increases BP and Stroke Risk

A Chinese genetic epidemiological analyses revealed that alcohol intake uniformly increases blood pressure (BP) and stroke, indicating that the apparently protective effects of moderate alcohol intake against stroke suggested by conventional epidemiological analyses are largely non-causal. The study enrolled 512 715 adults between June 25, 2004, and July 15, 2008, from […]