People reporting a high level of loneliness, but not those with social isolation, had elevated risk for developing valvular heart disease, according to the results of a prospective cohort study.
“Degenerative valvular heart disease is becoming more common as populations age,” Zhaowei Zhu, MD, PhD, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in Changsha, China, said in a press release. “Our findings suggest that loneliness may be an independent and potentially modifiable risk factor for degenerative valvular heart disease. Identifying

An investigational targeted therapy doubled survival compared with standard chemotherapy for pretreated individuals with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to topline data released by the agent’s manufacturer.
The “unprecedented” efficacy for pretreated pancreatic cancer surpasses even what has historically been observed with frontline chemotherapy, immunotherapy and biomarker-targeted treatments, E. Gabriela Chiorean, MD, FASCO, professor of medicine and clinical director for the gastrointestinal medical oncology program at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, told Healio.
“In my 25-year career as a

AKI incidence and outcomes appear to dynamically change among men and women across different age groups, according to study data published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.
Recent studies have suggested that kidney injury could be influenced by age- and sex- related factors, according to Pasquale Esposito, MD, PhD, associate professor of nephrology in the department of internal medicine and medical specialties at University of Genoa, Italy, and colleagues. Thus, the researchers aimed to explore the associations between age or sex with AKI outcomes in a retrospective analysis.
“AKI is a

Most patient-reported outcomes for patients with low-risk thyroid cancer who underwent active surveillance are similar to those who opted for surgery, according to findings published in Thyroid.
As Healio previously reported, adults diagnosed with low-risk papillary thyroid cancer at a University Health Network clinic in Toronto had low levels of treatment decision regret at 1 year, regardless of whether they selected active surveillance or surgery. In new data published from the same health system, researchers found few differences in patient-reported outcomes between the active surveillance

A study failed to show significant cognitive benefits with exercise over 2 years, but the rewards are more likely to manifest in a long-term perspective, according to an expert.
“Lifestyle factors such as physical activity/exercise and cardiovascular health likely play an important role in dementia prevention,” Rong Zhang, PhD, director of the Cerebrovascular Laboratory at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, told Healio.
“However, well-designed, randomized clinical trials are lacking to confirm the potential

MIAMI — In this video from Sunshine Eye & Retina, Sumitra Khandelwal, MD, discusses the treatment options available for patients with neurotrophic keratitis.
Khandelwal, professor of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine, said that one such option is scleral lenses, which are “excellent” for neurotrophic keratitis to protect the cornea, provide a barrier and provide good vision.
“In 2026, it’s just exciting that we have so many different options, and we can guide our patients in their treatment based on what fits their lifestyle,” Khandelwal told

Among adults with COPD, those with vs. without cost-related nonadherence had worse symptom burden, health status and lung function, according to data published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.
“Inhalers are a unique challenge for everyday pulmonologist and primary care physicians,” Rajat Suri, MD, MPH, of the division of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at University of California, San Diego, told Healio. “For example, when prescribing a medium dose [inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting beta agonist], there are many different options by

In the last 10 years, several advancements in peanut allergy management have emerged, including Palforzia, omalizumab and neffy. A new review published in JAMA offers a concise and informative look at these and other developments.
The review covers severe peanut allergic reaction treatment (notably neffy epinephrine nasal spray; ARS Pharma), peanut allergy diagnosis, peanut protein product introduction to infant diet, immunotherapy (oral [Palforzia; Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Allergen Powder-dnfp, Stallergenes Greer], sublingual and epicutaneous) and the biologic omalizumab (Xolair; Genentech,

Episodic heavy drinking is prevalent among individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and increases risk for advanced liver fibrosis, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
If these heavy episodic drinkers were reclassified as having metabolic and alcohol-associated liver disease (MetALD), rather than MASLD, it would more than double the estimated prevalence of MetALD, Brian P. Lee, MD, MAS, hepatologist and liver transplant specialist at Keck School of Medicine of USC and principal investigator of the study, told Healio.
“MASLD is meant

I completed my internship and residency in the U.S. Army at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. At the time, there was no rheumatology division there and I was interested in pursuing gastroenterology.
I needed to serve 2 years practicing in the field before being eligible for an Army fellowship, or getting out and doing a fellowship at a university. While practicing internal medicine at McDonald Army Hospital in Fort Eustis, Virginia, I became less interested in GI and found my rheumatology patients interesting.
A good friend, Paul Killian, MD, was doing a rheumatology fellowship at