About one-third of children using peritoneal dialysis experienced a touch contamination event, according to study data published in Pediatric Nephrology.
Infections are common among children using PD, often result in hospitalization and are the second most common cause of death, according to Rebecca G. Same, MD, attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues. Infections can be triggered by contact with the sterile portion of the PD catheter, also known as touch contamination.
“Young children may be more likely to touch the

The direct, informal and indirect costs of Parkinson’s disease in Europe hit 22.8 billion, or about $26.5 billion, in 2019, indicating key burdens on patients, caregivers and society, according to data published by Movement Disorders.
The prevalence of Parkinson’s also is growing due to an aging population and improvements in diagnostics, Richard Dodel, MD, professor, department of geriatric medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, and colleagues wrote.
“The last evaluation of the costs of neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease on a European level took place in 2010,”

The availability of therapies to delay progression of type 1 diabetes provides opportunity for programs that track children with early stages of the disease, according to two speakers.
During a talk at the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists annual meeting, Mikyla Peres, MS, RDN, LD/CN, CDCES, MLDE, director of diabetes education and programming, and Jaime Walker, DNP, MSN, RN, CDCES, MLDE, clinical nurse manager, both at Norton Children’s – Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, outlined a program at their clinic for following children with early-stage

Patients with COPD had improved dyspnea severity and health status after performing pursed-lip breathing exercises or laughter therapy for 8 weeks, according to data presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.
“These findings offer clinicians practical, equipment-free tools that patients can easily maintain at home via hybrid tele-health models to complement standard COPD treatments and pulmonary rehabilitation,” Goncagul Aldan, RN, PhD, lecturer and nurse, told Healio.
In an assessor- and statistician-blinded, three-arm randomized controlled trial, Aldan and

The odds for clinical remission achievement in patients with type 2 inflammatory severe asthma were greater with dupilumab vs. other biologics, according to a poster presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.
“While dupilumab is already approved for eligible patients with asthma, including those with higher levels of type 2 inflammatory biomarkers, these results provide additional evidence about the potential for increased odds of patients achieving clinical remission with dupilumab compared to other biologics and can help guide clinical decision-making,” Giorgio

The proportion of U.S. women who have never been screened for cervical cancer increased at a “troubling” rate over the past couple decades, according to researchers.
As recently as a few years ago, nearly one-third of women aged 21 to 29 years reported never having been screened, results of a cross-sectional study showed.
About one in seven women aged 30 to 64 years indicated they had never undergone screening.
“The results are truly shocking and very concerning,” first author Kalyani Sonawane, PhD, assistant director for data science and analytics at Medical University of South Carolina’s

Preoperative GLP-1 receptor agonist use did not impact bariatric surgery outcomes, including weight loss at 1 year, diabetes control and postsurgical complications, according to a research letter published in JAMA Surgery.
GLP-1s have become an integral part of obesity care, but clinicians still have questions about how pharmacologic therapy and surgical intervention interact.
“Since the most effective treatment for obesity remains bariatric surgery, many have wondered how best to combine bariatric surgery with GLP-1 RAs and whether being on a GLP-1 RA affects the results of subsequent

An estimated 58.5% of U.S. adults with arthritis have moderate to severe joint pain, a prevalence that surpasses the Healthy People 2030 goal of 52.4%, according to an analysis of National Health Interview Survey data from 2019 and 2023.
“Severe joint pain is associated with reporting fair or poor health status, lower quality of life, disability, serious psychological distress and prescriptions for pain medications, including opioids,” Elizabeth A. Fallon, PhD, DrPH, and colleagues wrote in Arthritis Care & Research. “Joint pain is also a commonly reported barrier to

Hospitals and insurers are buying doctors' practices, and patients are landing in pricier settings. What to check before you schedule care.

FDA found filth and unverifiable test records at a plant supplying sildenafil and tadalafil to US compounding pharmacies. All its ingredients were recalled.