Caitlyn Fitzpatrick

Patients with severe asthma whose disease is driven by eosinophilic inflammation may experience improvement with a first-in-class biologic. In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI 2017) in Atlanta, Georgia, researchers found that mepolizumab (Nucala/GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)) provides clinically and statistically significant improvements. Mepolizumab was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2…

People with low back pain have a 13% higher risk of dying of any cause, according to an Australian study. Chronic back pain is becoming an increasing problem in the United States. Evidence supports that opioids shouldn’t be used for acute cases, and literature is shaky when it comes to chronic cases. But how much does low back pain impact patients’ overall health? Researchers from The University of Sydney explored how spinal pain, including back and neck, impacted all-cause and disease-spe…

Besides getting a king size bed to yourself, there appears to be another upside to being divorced or separated—at least for postmenopausal women. A recent study from the University of Arizona (UA) found totally opposite results from other studies on the same subject. “Earlier studies on marriage and divorce have shown that marriage is usually associated with a longer lifespan and fewer health problems, while divorce is associated with higher mortality,” lead author, Randa Kutob, MD, MPH, a…

Cirrhosis has long been thought to be a major risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. Cirrhosis also limits cancer treatments. But a new study finds the cancer incidence in people with cirrhosis is lower than thought—at most, about 4%. Noting that there is little research that actually supports the cirrhosis-cancer link, researchers from The University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom set out to identify the cumulative incidence of HCC in peo…

They are a birthday party staple, but also an audiologist’s nightmare. Balloons appear to be an enemy to eardrums, according to a new study from the University of Alberta. “This research is a conversation starter,” Bill Hodgetts, PhD, an associate professor of audiology, said in a news release. Hodgetts, along with Dylan Scott, BSc, MSc, an expert in acoustic engineering, measured how popping balloons impact hearing and how they can ultimately lead to hearing loss. The idea came to Hodget…

Unprotected sexual exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) doesn’t necessary lead to infection. In fact, some studies have gone as far as to saying that successful HIV-1 transmission occurs only one out of 1,000 times. HIV doesn’t have it easy when trying to establish a new infection. Between genital mucosa, tightly packed epithelial cells, and initial immune responses, there are a number of innate barriers to overcome. But even still, thousands of new infections occur in the Un…

Higher maternal blood pressure before getting pregnant? Better start painting the baby’s room blue. Ravi Retnakaran, MD, MSc, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues examined the possibility of a mother’s blood pressure impacting the baby’s gender. This isn’t a completely foreign concept. Previous studies suggested that adverse societal conditions could influence if a fetus is male or female. A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B found t…

What does a sore shoulder have to do with cardiovascular health? Quite a bit actually, according to researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine. In a recent study, the team examined the connection between shoulder pain, including joint pain and rotator cuff injury, and heart disease. Past studies have connected heart disease with other conditions, like carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, and all musculoskeletal disorders. “If someone has rotator cuff problems,…

Officials at the Public Health England (PHE) are investigating the spread of blood-borne viruses with the use of a cosmetic skin treatment growing in popularity. Needle microdermabrasion, in its simplest terms, is rolling tiny needles over the face. Repeatedly doing so causes microscopic injury, which promotes the growth of collagen—the skin’s main structural protein. Multiple cosmetic treatments focus on the collagen in order to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. However, the PHE is looking…

Combining the common cold virus and a DNA-based vaccine revs up the immune system to fight the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. With antiretroviral therapy (ART) reducing viral loads down to undetectable levels, researchers are focusing on developing an HIV vaccine now more than ever. Branka Grubor-Bauk, PhD, and colleagues are the latest to report their findings on the matter by concentrating on a pr…

“November 7, 1991 was a life changing day that I never saw coming,” Earvin “Magic” Johnson wrote on his site, The Playbook. That was the day that Johnson was diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Although the acronym still carries a heavy burden, it held even more weight 25 years ago. Back then it was considered to be a death sentence and a disease called “gay cancer.” Many early diagnoses were traced back to blood transfusions, especially in babies. But Johnson was one of the…

Patients with HIV are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than the general population, which means that about 40% of people with HIV are smokers.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has certainly gotten more sophisticated over the years. The proper treatment can enable a patient to achieve an undetectable viral load in their blood — which greatly reduces the risk of transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to someone else. However, even if a patient achieves this level, the virus can still be found in their tissues. This part isn’t a new piece of information, but researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)…

Previous research has concluded that acetaminophen (Tylenol) worsens disease activity in children with asthma; however, a new study refutes that finding in The New England Journal of Medicine. A collaborative team from Boston Children’s Hospital for the National Heart and Lung and Blood Institute’s Asthma Network (AsthmaNet) carried out the Acetaminophen Versus Ibuprofen in Children with Asthma (AVICA) trial. As the name suggests, the analysis compares the use of acetaminophen and ibup…

As with many areas of medicine, the ratio of male doctors in gastroenterology to female counterparts is considerable — although work is being done to lessen that gap across the field. The gap is even more noticeable in leadership positions across the medical community in gastroenterology and hepatology. Susan Orloff, MD, from Oregon Health & Science University discussed this topic during the annual Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2016 meeting in San Diego, California. While there has been some…

A recent study in the United Kingdom looked at the 6-month outcomes of those with hepatitis C cirrhosis on antiviral treatment. Michelle Cheung, BSc, MBBS, from Queen Mary University of London, discussed the results of this research during the International Liver Congress (EASL 2016) in Barcelona, Spain. As hepatitis C becomes treatable, and even curable in many cases, doctors must still find ways to treat these patients and any potential comorbidities they may develop during their treatment…

Mattel has announced a new plus-sized Barbie line. What does that say about attitudes toward obesity? Psychologists weigh in.