International Women’s Day, dedicated to celebrating women’s social and political achievements and raising awareness of gender inequities, is observed every March 8.
In recognition of the observance, Healio spoke with Louise P. King, MD, JD, a surgeon and assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, about addressing past and present gender inequities in medical research and practice.
King, who also serves as director of reproductive bioethics at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, said she could think of “a million areas” where

While misinformation continues to appear on online platforms, like Reddit, community engagement tends to favor discussions that align with dermatologist guidelines, according to a study.
Reddit is one of the world’s largest social platforms, centered on community-driven discussion on a range of topics, including eczema, according to Ugwumsinachi D. Nwaubani, MSc, MIB, a medical student at the State University of New York Downstate School of Medicine.
“Atopic dermatitis is a condition that affects more than 200 million people worldwide and with it comes significant psychosocial burden,” Nwaubani

Radiation doses during coronary artery disease testing varied widely based on global region, with patients in lower-income countries being exposed to higher doses vs. those in higher-income countries, according to data published in JAMA.
The dose exceeded guideline-recommended safety thresholds in more than 20% of patients who had a nuclear cardiology test and in more than 40% of those who underwent CT angiography, the researchers found.
These findings highlight areas where improved training, equipment and standardized protocols could reduce radiation exposure around the globe, according to the

Poor mental health and suicide attempts among Irish youth have returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, but repetitive self-harm has increased, according to a study published in Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology.
Also, youth who leave school early and who identify as transgender or gender diverse have experienced exponentially greater rates of mental distress than their peers, Niamh Dooley, MSc, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London, and colleagues wrote.
“The last large-scale study of teenage mental

An allocation memorandum may have contributed to lower rates of kidney recovery, transplants and out-of-sequence allocations by organ procurement organizations, according to study data.
Organ procurement organizations may allocate kidney transplants out of sequence for transplant centers willing to use them, according to Syed A. Husain, MD, MPH, an assistant professor in the departments of surgery and medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and colleagues. An email memorandum from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) sent in August raised concerns about potential

NEW ORLEANS — Corticosteroid injections may be the most impactful nonoperative treatment modality in delaying total shoulder arthroplasty, according to results presented here.
“From the patient perspective, steroid injections are the most impactful modality in delaying shoulder replacement,” Nabil Mehta, MD, of EmergeOrtho, told Healio about results presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. “When a clinician is considering nonsurgical management for a patient with shoulder arthritis, injections are probably the most impactful tool they have to potentially delay

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — In this expert perspective from Retina 2026, Ehsan Rahimy, MD, a retina specialist at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, discussed promising advancements in the treatment of retinal diseases.
Rahimy said there was a plethora of real-world data published in 2025 on switching patients who had an incomplete or suboptimal response to certain anti-VEGF therapies to “more durable” next-generation therapies, such as Eylea HD (aflibercept 8 mg, Regeneron).
“I’ve been encouraged to see that patients on average have been able to extend treatment intervals out to about 2 to 3 weeks

Among treatment-naïve adults with obesity-hypoventilation syndrome, a combination of acetazolamide and atomoxetine taken for 2 weeks improved hypoventilation and sleep-related breathing, according to data published in CHEST.
“These findings suggest that a pharmacologic approach may eventually become an option for selected patients with obesity-hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), particularly those intolerant to PAP," Elisa Perger, MD, PhD, of the sleep disorder center at San Luca Hospital in Italy, told Healio. "However, this was a proof-of-concept study, and the combination is not currently

PHILADELPHIA — Food allergy diagnostic accuracy improved with machine learning models vs. current diagnostic criteria, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
Additionally, food allergy diagnostic performance was better with deep vs. machine learning models, according to researchers.
According to presenter and Howard University Karsh STEM Scholar McKenzie Williams and study authors Kyung Won Lee, PhD, and Mayte Suarez-Farinas, PhD, both of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Carla M. Davis, MD, of Howard University College

The gut microbiome at time of surgery may significantly impact recurrence of colorectal cancer.
An analysis of nearly 300 patients showed that eight different bacteria had associations with locoregional, distant or overall recurrence, with high amounts of Porphyromonas nearly tripling the risk for overall recurrence.
“Not only does the tumor itself matter, but also the environment in which it develops and exists,” Anne E. Petersen, MD, PhD candidate in pediatric surgery at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, told Healio.
Disease recurrence is the primary cause of death in patients with