Cold drink- or food-induced atrial fibrillation/flutter, termed “cold drink heart,” is understudied and underrecognized, but may represent an opportunity to improve AF prevention, researchers wrote.
David R. Vinson, MD, emergency medicine physician and researcher at Kaiser Permanente, previously described a case of cold drink heart in an otherwise healthy young adult who recently drank a slushed ice beverage, which was published in the American Journal of Case Reports. Soon thereafter, Vinson received emails from patients around the world, one even reaching out from the ED, who

Adolescents and young adults are increasingly using GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight management, raising concerns among some dermatologists who may also prescribe a teratogenic drug like isotretinoin for acne.
Emerging data suggest that GLP-1 receptor agonists may also increase fertility, in addition to promoting weight loss, likely due to direct effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. As women lose weight, they often regain ovulatory cycles and have improved insulin sensitivity, both improving the odds for pregnancy, according to Travis W. Blalock, MD, MBA, associate professor

Psychedelics as an adjunctive therapy to psychiatric counseling may be feasible for anxiety and mood disorders, but proper blinding in future clinical trials presents an ongoing obstacle to wider acceptance, according to a speaker.
“I am not in favor of widespread availability of psychedelics,” Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-director of the McGill Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy in the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, Austin, told attendees at the American Psychiatric Association Annual

Jerry A. Shields, MD, a world-renowned leader in ocular oncology, died June 22, according to a press release from Wills Eye Hospital.
Born in Kentucky in 1937, Shields was emeritus director of the ocular oncology service at Wills Eye Hospital and professor of ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
He attended Murray State University for his undergraduate degree and earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School.
Shields served as a Marine battalion surgeon during the Vietnam War and also spent time in the U.S. Navy. After his service, he completed

MINNEAPOLIS — Treatment with 300 mg IV eptinezumab in adults with chronic migraine resulted in rapid and sustained reduction in the number of headache days that was largely sustained up to 84 weeks, according to a poster presentation.
“Patients want something that works quickly but they also want something that will give them sustained benefit, that’s very reliable, safe over time but also sustained over time,” Amaal J. Starling, MD, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic Arizona, told Healio at the American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting.
The phase 3 PREVAIL study was

CHICAGO — The use of a smart speaker with preprogrammed diabetes care features may help older adults manage their diabetes and improve their quality of life, according to a speaker at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.
In the IVAM-ED open-label randomized controlled trial conducted in Brazil, older adults with type 2 diabetes who used an Amazon EchoDot smart speaker for 12 weeks had significantly greater improvements in self-reported mental distress, adherence to diabetes self-care and quality of life as well as a significantly lower HbA1c than adults receiving usual

SAN FRANCISCO — A fixed-dose of albuterol-budesonide used as needed reduced risks for severe exacerbations for patients with mild uncontrolled asthma, according to data presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.
Compared with 1,212 patients who used albuterol alone, 1,209 patients who used AstraZeneca’s Airsupra rescue therapy had 47% less risk for a severe exacerbation over 12 to 52 weeks in the phase 3b BATURA study.
The Airsupra group, comprising patients aged 12 years and older, also had 62.5% less exposure to total systemic corticosteroids. Further,

A higher proportion of sleep medicine providers vs. patients reported CPAP over tirzepatide as their preferred treatment option for comorbid obesity and obstructive sleep apnea, according to data presented at the SLEEP 2025 Annual Meeting.
Further, the proportion of patients who preferred tirzepatide (Zepbound, Eli Lilly) over CPAP was larger than the proportion of providers who preferred this option, according to researchers.
As Healio previously reported, the SURMOUNT-OSA trial found that the GIP/GLP-1 dual agonist tirzepatide reduced OSA symptoms and body weight for adults with obesity and

CHICAGO — The majority of patients with the most common advanced or metastatic cancers in the United States do not undergo next-generation sequencing testing, according to study results presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.
Data also showed that of those who did undergo testing over the past decade, up to about 25% received results late in their disease course — specifically, within 3 months of death.
“Next-generation sequencing has defined a new era of personalized approaches in the treatment of patients with cancer, as it allows clinicians to uncover mutations which can be

Serum S100A8/A9 levels are “significantly higher’ among patients with cognitive impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus, and changes in S100A8/A9 correspond to changes in cognition over 1 year, according to data.
“Cognitive impairment (CI) is common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),” Carolina Munoz-Grajales, MD, PhD, an assistant professor and clinician scientist in the division of rheumatology at the University of Manitoba, and colleagues wrote in Arthritis Care & Research. “Despite its prevalence, the immune mechanisms are not well