Patients with treatment-resistant depression who engaged in a single day of treatment with inhaled mebufotenin reported significant symptom improvements at 8 days and again at 6 months, according to data published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Among patients with major depressive order, standard antidepressants lead to remission less than half the time, suggesting a role for psychedelics as alternative therapies, Wieslaw J. Cubala, MD, PhD, headdepartment of psychiatry, Medical University of Gdansk, and colleagues wrote.
The phase 2b clinical trial comprised 81 adults with major depressive disorder and

The standard infection-prevention practice of using an antibiotic ointment to decolonize a patient’s nasal passages in the ICU did not compromise the results of PCR nasal swab tests for MRSA, according to a study.
Jeffrey A. Freiberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and colleagues reported that the lack of detectable MRSA DNA in nasal swabs provides strong evidence of the absence of MRSA up to 7 days after a patient begins mupirocin, a topical antibiotic applied in the ICU to stop the spread of MRSA.
The

NEW ORLEANS — In stable patients without heart failure, discontinuing beta-blockers 1 year after a heart attack was noninferior to continued use for all-cause death, recurrent MI or HF hospitalization, researchers reported.
“The SMART-DECISION trial is the first randomized study to demonstrate the noninferiority of beta-blocker discontinuation in post-MI patients without left ventricular systolic dysfunction or heart failure,” Joo-Yong Hahn, MD, a cardiologist at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, said during a press conference at the American College of Cardiology Scientific

NEW ORLEANS — Smartphone notifications that alerted patients first, rather than their physicians, of early heart failure decompensation were feasible and safe, according to results from the NOTIFY-HF pilot study.
Exploratory analyses suggested this strategy may also reduce HF hospitalization and improve physical function, biomarkers and quality of life, according to data presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
The NOTIFY-HF trial evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of patient-directed notifications from a multisensor remote HF monitoring algorithm embedded in

Women with gestational diabetes who have good glycemic management have similar odds of having offspring with obesity as women without gestational diabetes, according to data published in Diabetes Care.
“Gestational diabetes can understandably feel overwhelming for many pregnant women,” Rana F. Chehab, PhD, RD, staff scientist in the division of research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, told Healio. “Our findings suggest that timely glucose regulation after diagnosis may play an important role in shaping a healthier metabolic environment for the developing baby. With appropriate care

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Zongertinib provided substantial clinical benefit for patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-mutant advanced non-small cell lung cancer, surpassing the historical standard of care efficacy for this population.
The FDA granted accelerated approval of zongertinib (Hernexeos, Boehringer Ingelheim) for previously treated individuals in August, and expanded that approval to the first line in February based on extended results from the Beamion LUNG-1 study.
Data presented at European Lung Cancer Congress showed first-line treatment with zongertinib conferred benefits in

PHILADELPHIA — In public schools that adopted a stock inhaler program, nurses and school staff responded positively to the program, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
“Stock inhalers are a Band-Aid for problems in this health care system where people can’t get the health care they require or the medications they need,” Andrea Pappalardo Wlochowicz, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, allergy service director at UI Health and member of Healio’s

PHILADELPHIA — More individuals with multiple food allergies receiving dupilumab vs. placebo after omalizumab tolerated 1,043 mg peanut protein after stopping treatment, but this was not significant, according to a poster presented here.
Despite this, Sayantani Sindher, MD, FAAAAI, clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, and colleagues noted that those receiving the omalizumab followed by dupilumab regimen had significantly “increased desensitization to 4,043 mg protein of a single allergen, reduced gastrointestinal symptoms and decreased adverse event-related

No significant link was observed between hormonal contraception use and the prevalence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in women, according to the results of a meta-analysis published in Neurology.
“Health advice for people living with idiopathic intracranial hypertension is inconsistent due to a concern that hormonal contraception, including birth control pills and [intrauterine devices], may be associated with a higher risk of the condition in certain individuals,” Arun N. E. Sundaram, MD, FRCPC, associate professor at the University of Toronto, said in a press release.
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Routine breast cancer screening that includes biennial MRIs rather than digital breast tomosynthesis alone could benefit patients aged 40 years or older with extremely dense breasts and higher cancer risk, data show.
An amendment to the Mammography Quality Standards Act, enacted in 2024, requires that all patients be notified of their breast density and discuss screening options with their providers.
However, uncertainty remains about the best screening approach for patients with dense breasts who make up about 43% of the population, according to study author Anna N. A. Tosteson, ScD, and her