Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women. Despite advancements in awareness and research, gaps remain in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women.
February is American Heart Month, a highlight of which is Wear Red Day, on the first Friday of the month, which aims to increase awareness about heart disease in women.
Healio spoke with Janet Wei, MD, FACC, associate professor of cardiology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Research, Education and Innovation and a Healio | Cardiology

Pet owners should be careful handling minoxidil, as this popular hair loss topical can be severely toxic to cats and dogs, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Minoxidil, a blood pressure medication and vasodilator, is FDA-approved for the treatment of hair loss. In its topical form, minoxidil must remain on the scalp for 4 hours prior to shampooing and must completely dry for 2 to 4 hours before going to bed, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If not handled carefully, minoxidil can pose a serious risk to the health of household pets, according to

Congress passed a bipartisan spending package on Feb. 3 that carries ramifications for telehealth, pharmacy benefit managers, funding for physicians’ mental health resources and more.
The five-bill, $1.2 trillion spending package was signed into law by President Donald J. Trump, ending a partial 3-day government shutdown.
According to the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), among the telehealth provisions extended through the “minibus” include:
“This is a significant and hard-earned win for the telehealth community and for ATA and ATA Action,” Alexis Apple, ATA vice president of public

The FDA has placed clinical holds on a pair of investigational gene therapies developed to address two rare neurodevelopmental disorders in children, according to the manufacturer.
In a press release, RegenXBio Inc. said that a study of RGX-111 for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), also known as Hurler syndrome, has been halted due to a single case of neoplasm (intraventricular CNS tumor) discovered in a participant treated in a phase 1/2 clinical trial.
The FDA put a similar hold on a study investigating RGX-121 to treat mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), also known

Click here to read the Cover Story, “ Options for presbyopia treatment continue to evolve . ”
When presbyopia eye drops first came out, there was a real fear among surgeons about whether drops would replace surgery. Are fewer people looking for refractive surgical options? I do not see that at all. I see drops as a bridge.
Vision is the most precious sense, and I think that we as eye care providers can sometimes forget how important sight is. It is scary to lose your vision. It is scary to age. Nobody wants to get older, but we all do. The benefit of these drops is that they can provide a

In patients with diabetes and a prior major adverse limb event, GLP-1s were associated with better outcomes compared with DPP-IV inhibitors, researchers reported.
“Patients with diabetes and a history of major adverse limb events (MALEs) face a significantly higher risk of further cardiovascular and limb complications,” Pao-Hsien Chu, MD, professor and physician in the department of cardiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University in Taoyuan, Taiwan, told Healio. “While current guidelines recommend GLP-1 receptor agonists to reduce

The rates of new diagnoses for COPD and asthma between March 2020 and November 2024 in England were less than what was expected based on patterns before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data published in BMJ.
“Our findings suggest that there is likely to be a substantial burden of undiagnosed chronic lung disease as a consequence of pandemic-related disruption,” Mark D. Russell, MD, honorary consultant rheumatologist at King’s College Hospital and National Institute for Health and Care Research advanced fellow and clinical senior lecturer at King’s College London, told Healio.
“Delays in

AI-detected extranodal extension could help predict which patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma would benefit from de-escalated treatment and who could use intensified therapies.
A retrospective analysis of more than 1,700 patients showed the number of nodes AI identified from CT scans had significant associations with OS and disease control, and increased nodes significantly worsened outcomes.
“I think we’re going to see it’s a powerful prognosticator. It’s a powerful biomarker,” Benjamin H. Kann, MD, associate professor in the department of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and

LAS VEGAS — Adjunctive use of GLP-1 receptor agonists may reduce steroid dependence and lead to fewer hospitalizations among patients with Crohn’s disease and overweight or obesity, according to data presented at Crohn’s & Colitis Congress.
Researchers described results of the retrospective, real-world analysis as the first large-scale evidence that supports the potential benefit of GLP-1 use in the management of Crohn’s disease.
“While GLP-1 receptor agonists are not IBD-specific therapies, our findings suggest they may play a supportive role in patients with Crohn’s disease and obesity,”

Individuals with knee osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes who reported higher levels of pain were 40% less likely to meet glycemic control targets, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.
“We wanted to better understand the link between symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes,” Lauren K. King, MD, PhD, a rheumatologist and clinician scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, and assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, told Healio. “Prior research had shown that having symptomatic knee osteoarthritis was