PHOENIX — Optometrists are set to play a key role in managing chronic conditions and monitoring systemic disease risk through the emerging field of oculomics, according to a speaker at Optometry’s Meeting.
“Right now ... pretty much what we do is reactive care. We wait for something to happen before doing something about it,” Roya Attar, OD, MBA, DHA, associate professor and director of optometric services at University of Mississippi Medical Center, said during a presentation. “AI, oculomics and this whole new field is going to allow us to be more proactive.”
The concept behind oculomics is to

Attendees at a wedding in Pennsylvania last year were sickened with a bacterial illness that investigators linked to untreated water from a spring contaminated with animal feces.
At least one guest tested positive for campylobacteriosis — a gastrointestinal illness caused by Campylobacter jejuni — and more than 20 additional attendees experienced similar symptoms, according to a summary of the investigation published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Investigators linked the outbreak to an on-site springhouse with a broken roof and a kitchen UV treatment unit

An exhibition that debuted at the 2026 European Epilepsy Congress showcased the works of artists with epilepsy to help attendees look beyond the clinical lens of the disorder and better understand its emotional and social realities.
The project was organized by the pharmaceutical company UCB. It featured the works of three artists, telling the stories of their journeys of living with epilepsy, said Andrea Wilkinson, global head of patient advocacy and engagement for epilepsy and neuromuscular with UCB.
“We hoped to give people a different perspective on epilepsy, one that comes directly from

A healthy 14-year-old girl is seen after several days of gradually worsening pain and swelling on the left side of her face. She reports that chewing makes the pain worse, and her mother reports a fever of 101.5°F on the day of the visit.
Her medical history is that of an otherwise healthy adolescent girl, with a couple of common, uncomplicated dental caries addressed over the last few years. The patient states that she brushes her teeth once or twice a day, but her mother is not so sure.
The patient’s exam showed a mildly febrile adolescent girl with notable painful swelling of the left side

Results presented at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting showed National Basketball Association players with prior calf strains had significantly increased odds of experiencing an Achilles tendon rupture.
“If you have a calf strain, it puts you at risk for a rupture,” Amiethab Aiyer, MD, FAOA, FAAOS, chief of foot and ankle service and professor in the department of orthopedics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Healio. “I will not say it is causal, but we know having a history of [calf strain] does increase that risk.”
Aiyer and colleagues

Editor’s note: This is a developing news story. Please check back soon for updates.
Remigromig was noninferior to ranibizumab at 52 weeks in patients with diabetic macular edema, according to a press release from Merck.
The investigational therapy was well tolerated, but there were “higher rates of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage and treatment discontinuations due to adverse events” in those who received remigromig compared with ranibizumab, according to the release.
Researchers assessed the safety and efficacy of remigromig, also known as MK-3000 and formerly known as

Established evidence has long supported the use of red light therapy for radiation oncology, but emerging data suggest benefits for photoaging and acne as well.
In this Beneath the Surface video interview, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, FAAD, the James J. Leyden Professor of Clinical Investigation and professor of dermatology and epidemiology at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Healio Dermatology’s Chief Medical Editor, spoke with David M. Ozog, MD, FAAD, FACMS, chair of the department of dermatology at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, about the

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — According to results from a systematic review and meta-analysis, platelet-rich plasma was not associated with pain relief or functional improvements in patients with lateral epicondylitis vs. placebo.
“PRP has been proposed as an option for noninvasive treatment for lateral epicondylitis. However, despite numerous studies, the results are heterogeneous, and the quality of evidence is often questionable,” Ramon Sampaio Souza Santos, MD, from the Center for Sports Traumatology and Orthopedics at the Federal University of São Paulo, said in his

MUNICH — Evolocumab was linked with 20% reduced risk for death compared with placebo in patients who were at high risk for a first heart attack or stroke, according to a prespecified analysis of the phase 3 VESALIUS-CV trial.
The results were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and simultaneously published in Circulation.
VESALIUS-CV was a double-blind study of 12,257 patients with qualifying atherosclerosis or high-risk diabetes who had not had a previous MI or stroke. According to the researchers, the patients had LDL cholesterol of at least 90 mg/dL, or non-HDL

Results from a recent study linked five major adverse pregnancy outcomes to elevated risk for peripheral artery disease up to 4 decades after delivery.
It is known that women with pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and preterm delivery, have increased risk for heart disease later in life, but the association with future risk for PAD is less clear, researchers wrote in PLoS Medicine.
“Peripheral artery disease, despite being common and clinically important, is understudied compared with other cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we looked at long-term risk of peripheral