Before ocular surgery, subtle inflammation on the eye’s surface should be controlled with lubricating eye drops, eyelid wipes, diet changes and other methods as necessary, according to a review.
This process of “biological cleansing” may help lower the risk for surgical complications, including pain, irritation, ectasia, corneal haze and dry eye disease, Rohit Shetty, DNB, FRCS, PhD, of the department of cornea and refractive surgery at Narayana Nethralaya, India, and colleagues wrote in Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.
“A growing body of evidence points to preexisting ocular surface

The North American Spine Society, along with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons, is calling for an end to insurance denials of titanium or polyetheretherketone cages for spine surgery.
“Patients, surgeons and hospitals should have a choice. We are in an age where we have technology that works better. The modern cages have surface technology that heals much better than old fashioned cages, and it integrates into the bone more like total hip and knee implants. There is just no reason in this day and age to keep having the same denial

Zasocitinib demonstrated high rates of psoriasis clearance for hard-to-treat areas and high-impact sites, Takeda announced in a press release.
Approximately 75% of participants with scalp psoriasis and 70% of those with palmoplantar psoriasis who received zasocitinib — a selective oral tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor that blocks interleukin-23 and other pathways driving psoriasis — achieved clear or almost clear skin within 16 weeks, according to new phase 3 results presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Innovation Academy.
“We have a lot of biologics and quite a

Among former smokers with COPD, increased consumption of isoflavones — generally found in legumes and soy products — was linked to improved health status and cough symptoms, according to study results.
These data were published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.
“This study adds to the evidence that a diet that emphasizes foods like vegetables and lean proteins may be good for your lungs in addition to your heart,” Daniel C. Belz, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at

Use of an electronic health record-based marker could help clinicians identify liver transplant recipients who are at risk for organ rejection due to medication nonadherence.
Study findings published in American Journal of Transplantation showed adolescents and young adults assigned to a 2-year remote behavioral intervention after transplantation experienced half as many primary events — a combination of rejection, retransplantation and consent withdrawal — as those assigned standard of care.
The study did not reach statistical significance for its primary endpoint, but demonstrated that use of

About four in five patients may never reach the kidney transplant waitlist due to individual- and center-level factors, according to study data published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
In a cohort study, Conor B. Donnelly, MD, a general surgeon in the department of surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and colleagues aimed to characterize individual- and center-level differences associated with the likelihood of transplant referral, evaluation, wait-listing and transplantation. The data included 720,348 patients (median age, 55 years; 47% white; 52% men; 85% living

This month, I had the privilege of participating in a Healio Exclusive with Allan Gibofsky, MD, JD, MACR, FACP, FCLM; Kenneth G. Saag, MD, MSc; and Grace C. Wright, MD, PhD; on the emergence and use of ambient AI in the exam room.
As many of you know, I am an enthusiastic supporter of ambient AI and now use it in virtually every patient encounter. Along the way, I have learned a great deal, not only about the technology itself but also about how it can reshape the clinical experience. I encourage you to read the full discussion, which highlights many of the nuances, opportunities and differing

Although hearing loss is associated with a greater risk for dementia, those who rated their hearing aids as fair or poor saw no significant difference in risk as hearing-impaired adults with no hearing aids, according to a study.
Shanquan Chen, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Division of Community Medicine and Public Health Practice at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, presented the findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2026. The results were previously published in Cell Reports Medicine.
“The clinical implications cannot be stated more

Weight bias and stigma have been increasingly recognized as a major barrier to effective obesity care and the mental well-being of patients.
Patients with obesity often encounter judgement, negative assumptions and weight-based discrimination across many settings, including health care. Understanding the psychological and physical effects of weight bias and stigma, and how to reduce it in clinical practice, is crucial to delivering compassionate, comprehensive obesity care.
Weight stigma is defined as social rejection and prejudice directed at those with excess weight. Weight bias is negative

People are continuing to search for lifestyle obesity interventions online even as interest in GLP-1s and other medications rises, according to data presented at the International Congress on Obesity.
In an analysis of Google search trends, researchers examined how popular search inquiries were for obesity medications compared with lifestyle-based treatment such as physical activity and nutrition. Researchers did not observe a sustained decline in lifestyle intervention search volume from 2015 to 2025.
“The findings suggest that patients are seeking information on multiple aspects of obesity