There was a decrease in early prenatal care across the United States in the last few years, nearly reversing years of prior growth, according to recently published CDC data.
The results show “that delayed or absent prenatal care is becoming increasingly common, driven by a combination of access barriers and ongoing system strain,” Kim Bruno, DC, CCN, associate director medical science liaison at Sera Prognostics, the developer of the PreTRM test, told Healio.
In the analysis, Michelle J.K. Osterman, MHS, a nurse consultant at the Health Resources and Services Administration, and

In this video from the Macula Society meeting, Theodore Leng, MD, FACS, discusses MCO-010, an optogenetic therapy from Nanoscope Therapeutics under study for advanced retinitis pigmentosa and geographic atrophy.
“This program is actually planning to launch a phase 2 trial for GA in 2026,” Leng, professor of ophthalmology and director of clinical and translational research at Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University, said. “I think this represents a completely different approach to GA, shifting from slowing disease progression via the complement inhibition to potentially

In this video from the Macula Society meeting, Theodore Leng, MD, FACS, discusses 5-year data on pegcetacoplan, from Apellis, for geographic atrophy.
“This presentation really supported the notion that earlier and continuous treatment yielded better outcomes for preserving retinal tissue and delaying GA progression in the long term,” Leng, professor of ophthalmology and director of clinical and translational research at Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University, said.

In this video from the Macula Society meeting, Theodore Leng, MD, FACS, discusses research on managing coexisting geographic atrophy and neovascular age-related macular degeneration in the same eye.
“Historically, we haven’t had much real-world data looking at how dual therapies interact outside of clinical trials,” Leng, professor of ophthalmology and director of clinical and translational research at Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University, said.
Leng explained how the treatments work in terms of efficacy and scheduling.
“The main takeaway was that we found that managing these two conditions

Nearly half of TikTok’s videos about hidradenitis suppurativa in people with skin of color were created by patients, many of which were focused on treatment testimonials, according to a research letter published in JMIR Dermatology.
“Platforms such as TikTok shape how patients understand HS, including how they identify symptoms, interpret treatments and form beliefs about the disease,” Arsema K. Zadu, MS, study author and student at Howard University College of Medicine, told Healio. “Our paper highlights important gaps in online patient knowledge, including common questions patients have, the

Bariatric surgery uptake has decreased since the fourth quarter of 2022, coinciding with a rise in prescriptions of semaglutide and tirzepatide for adults with obesity, according to a research letter published in JAMA Surgery.
In data collected from the Epic Cosmos electronic health record database, 24.17% of adults with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or higher without an obesity-related comorbidity or those with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or higher with an obesity-related comorbidity received a prescription for semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound, Eli Lilly) in the third

PHILADELPHIA — Presentations among children with multiple food allergies vary by allergen combination, indicating distinct phenotypes, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
Screenings and interventions that target these variations may benefit these children, Christopher Warren, PhD, director of population health research, Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.
“There’s just a lot of different constellations of food allergies that people have,”

When compared with the cost of CPAP treatment, individual-level annual workplace productivity loss costs associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome were greater in both U.S. and U.K. populations, according to data published in Thorax.
“These findings reinforce that symptoms associated with OSA are common and should not be dismissed as benign,” Matt Lechner, MD, PhD, FRCS, FHEA, professor at University College London, consultant ENT surgeon and co-director of the London Nose Clinic, told Healio.
“Clinicians play a crucial role in recognizing early warning signs, arranging appropriate

The risk for future incident mild cognitive impairment or dementia in older women was elevated with higher levels of plasma phosphorylated tau 217, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.
“Our findings underscore the value of plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) as a blood-based biomarker that can identify women at higher risk of future mild cognitive impairment and dementia,” Aladdin H. Shadyab, PhD, MPH, associate professor of public health and medicine at University of California, San Diego, told Healio.
Using data from the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study that followed

ACG published its first complete guideline on the diagnosis and management of hepatic encephalopathy, with practical tools for clinicians and interventions to help ease the negative impact on both patients and their caregivers.
“Hepatic encephalopathy continues to be a big burden for patients and not only patients, but also family members,” Jasmohan S. Bajaj, MD, MS, FACG, professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Virginia Commonwealth University, told Healio in an interview. “To manage hepatic encephalopathy, we have to put the focus beyond the