American Society of Nephrology members visited lawmakers in Washington D.C. on March 10 to advocate during their Hill Day for increasing visibility and research for kidney care.
The centerpiece of the agenda was a report spearheaded by ASN titled “Transforming Kidney Health Research.”
“This report lays out a clear and comprehensive roadmap for the federal government to boost its investment in kidney health research, accelerate breakthroughs in every major domain from prevention and early diagnosis up through treatment and even cures,” Samir M. Parikh, MD, FASN, president

In this Putting It Into Practice column, Jonathan D. Leffert, MD, FACP, MACE, ECNU, talks with Jyothi Mamidi Juarez, MD, ECNU, FEAA, about hiring a virtual medical assistant for an endocrinology practice.
Leffert: What was the impetus for you to investigate the possibility of hiring a virtual medical assistant?
Juarez: Hiring quality medical assistants at reasonable rates started to become more of a challenge during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Large institutions were paying high rates to medical assistants, which I could not justify as a solo private practice endocrinologist.

Some GLP-1 receptor agonists, particularly semaglutide, reduced the risk for worsening mental health in people with anxiety or depression, data show.
“As mental health is now the most common reason people are on sick leave, or absent from work due to ill-health, this has major implications for public health,” Mark Taylor, MD, a study co-author and professor at Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry in Australia, told Healio.
Multiple studies have indicated that GLP-1s may improve a wide range of mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms and alcohol and substance use

PHILADELPHIA — Among adults hospitalized for anaphylaxis, outcomes were worse for those who also had cardiovascular disease, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
Integrated cardiovascular risk assessments and multidisciplinary care strategies should be considered in managing severe allergic reactions, Diala Merheb, MD, second year internal medicine resident, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, and colleagues wrote.
“We did analyze if inpatient mortality or other complications like acute respiratory failure,

The effect of low to moderate alcohol consumption on mortality varied by alcohol type, according to findings to be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
Low to moderate wine consumption was linked to reduced mortality risk while low to moderate consumption of spirits, beer or cider and high consumption of any type of alcohol were associated with increased mortality risk, according to the analysis of 340,924 participants from UK Biobank.
“We undertook this study because the health effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption remain highly controversial and

Deaths among young women due to hypertensive heart disease have increased over the past 2 decades, with disparities reported among Black women and those living in the southern U.S., researchers reported.
These findings highlight the need for increased CVD screening — particularly high blood pressure — among U.S. women aged 25 to 44 years, according to data to be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
“Women have historically been underrepresented in CV research. The 25- to 44-year age range represents a critical period when hypertension may emerge