2025 TT HealthWatch Archive

TT HealthWatch - Friday, March 7, 2025

This week's topics include implications of protein S, endothelial cell genetic assessment and lipid lowering, cardiac rehab on an app, and vitamin D and respiratory infectious disease.

0: 44 Protein S 1:44 If you have it you're 14 times more likely to form a clot
2:41 Survey of oral conditions worldwide
3:41 Untreated caries and periodontitis most common
4:41 Highest in 45-62 year olds
5:01 Deliver cardiac rehab via phone app
6:01 Comparison with normal cardiac rehab
7:03 Having access used to be limiting
7:28 Endothelial cell polygenic risk score
8:30 Used in three cohorts to assess benefit
9:30 Relative risk reductions significant
10:30 On par with other factors that predict risk
11:12 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, February 28, 2025

This week's topics include genetic and environmental contributions to aging and mortality, diet during pregnancy for gestational diabetes, telemedicine and low value medical tests, and vitamin D and respiratory infectious disease.

0:40 Genetics, environment, aging and mortality
1:40 22 major diseases
2:40 Polygenic risk score prediction
3:40 Maternal smoking during infancy
4:41 UK Biobank biased
5:00 Vitamin D supplements and acute respiratory infections
6:00 Had to take a medium dose
7:00 In those with low D
7:15 Prepackaged meals and gestational diabetes
8:15 200+ women in each arm
9:15 Good glucose levels in blood
10:05 Telemedicine and low value care use
11:05 About a million with low use of telemedicine
12:05 Can provide care remotely
13:18 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, February 21, 2025

This week's topics include predicting preeclampsia, improving ablation for atrial fibrillation, wastewater surveillance in aircraft for infectious disease, and platform trials for ALS treatments.

0:36 Platform trials for ALS
1:39 All agents negative
2:40 In trials like ALS why not use historical controls
3:40 In favor of such controls
4:10 Predicting preeclampsia
5:09 Represented 85% of the area under the curve
6:09 Representative population at large
6:40 Using AI to treat artificial intelligence
7:40 Measure electrical activity inside the heart
8:40 Effective in those who'd had longest
9:06 Pandemic monitoring by looking at aircraft lavatories
10:09 Networks of 10-20 sites can provide information
11:10 Plug in additional information to predict
12:38 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, February 14, 2025

This week's topics include patient reported symptoms in advanced cancer management, the impact of remnant cholesterol, TIAs, and blood markers for AD and other dementias.

0:43 TIAs maybe not so benign
1:40 Extensive neurocognitive testing
2:40 Unable to impact problem
3:20 AD biomarkers and other dementias
4:24 Three biomarkers in use
5:22 Plasma tau marker only helped
6:23 Positive biomarkers but no symptoms?
6:42 Remnant cholesterol impact
7:42 Explained about 15% of excess risk
8:42 Lifestyle correction
9:15 Self report of symptoms among those with advanced cancer
10:15 Almost 1200 patients
11:15 Almost 92% completed all their questionnaires
12:16 Applicable in a number of situations
13:44 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, February 7, 2025

This week's topics include staving off cognitive decline, prehabilitation, age, sex, and diabetes treatments, and putting type 2 diabetes into remission..

0:38 Putting type 2 diabetes into remission
1:37 HbA1c decline
2:35 Age, sex, and response to newer diabetes meds
3:35 Reduction in MACEs
4:35 The more you lower HbA1c the better?
5:35 How cardioprotective in older people
6:00 Lifestyle interventions to prevent cognitive decline
7:00 6500 people over 55
8:00 Contributes to quality of life?
9:00 Decline over time
9:20 Prehabilitation interventions
10:19 Low or very low certainty of evidence
11:19 Three patients and ten knowledge users
12:12 Don't discourage these strategies
13:02 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, January 31, 2025

This week's topics include neuropathy after chemotherapy, a comprehensive approach, to dementia care, mortality and falls, and life expectancy and educational attainment.

0:37 Comprehensive care for dementia patients
1:35 Outcome of cognitive impairment progression
2:35 Subgroup analysis
3:30 Mortality and falls
4:30 Older adults at risk
5:30 Increased numbers of older people
6:15 Educational attainment and life expectancy
7:15 Lifespan difference 11 or 12 years
8:15 May have greater access to resources
8:30 Peripheral neuropathy following chemo
9:31 Reporting highest among those treated with platinum-based agents
10:31 Reduce dose or duration?
12:03 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, January 24, 2025

This week's topics include a polygenic risk score and COPD, an antibody to reduce bleeding risk in those with AFIB, aspirin use in cardiovascular risk reduction, and best treatments for local esophageal cancer.

0:37 Trends in aspirin use
1:37 Five cycles of NHANES data
2:37 Takes a long time to change habits
3:01 Polygenic risk score added to strategies to identify COPD
4:01 Spirometry confirmed
5:01 Can improve quality of life
6:01 If questionnaire suggests
6:50 Reducing bleeding risk in those taking blood thinners
7:50 Antibody to factor XI
8:55 How to balance bleeding versus clotting
9:39 Strategies for treating esophageal cancer
10:39 Chemo and radiation before surgery
11:36 Incidence increasing worldwide
12:25 Adjuvant nivolumab under investigation
13:23 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, January 17, 2025

This week's topics include palliative care in the ED, attempting to improve outcomes in large strokes, lung and associated cancers worldwide, and eyeing risk factors for stroke.

0:40 Eyeing up stroke
1:40 How does it compare to traditional risk factors?
2:40 Large language models to analyze
3:14 Evolving trends in lung cancers worldwide
4:15 Air pollution associated increased
5:15 25% of lung cancers with air pollution
6:15 Less fruit consumption
6:30 improving outcomes in large strokes
7:30 Use of clot-busting agents didn't help
8:27 Palliative care initiated in ED
9:30 Gagne comorbidity score
10:30 Same rate of admission to hospital
11:30 Most palliative care teams available during business hours
12:30 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, January 10, 2025

This week's topics include catheter material for PICC lines, a diabetes medication for kidney stones, driver mutation clearance and relapse prediction, and exercise and heart failure.

0:44 Exercise and heart failure 1:44 322 patients with heart failure and normal ejection fraction
2:45 What percentage continued?
3:30 Kidney stone prevention with empagliflozin
4:30 Once-daily followed by placebo
5:30 Also effective in heart failure
6:30 Also in gout?
6:40 Driver mutations in myelofibrosis
7:42 Tested blood for mutations
8:42 Looking for driver mutations for other cancers
9:05 Materials for PICC lines
10:05 Rates of device failure
11:05 Clots or infection possible
12:24 End

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TT HealthWatch - Friday, January 3, 2025

This week's topics include warming mittens for hand osteoarthritis, pediatric firearm and motor vehicle fatalities, buprenorphine in young adults with opioid use disorder, and electronic cigarettes and respiratory symptoms.

0:40 Heated mittens and hand osteoarthritis
1:40 Majority women, average 71 years of age
2:40 American College of Rheumatology ambivalent
3:44 Respiratory symptoms and e-cigarettes
4:44 Reduced risk for worsening symptoms by 30%
5:44 Less harmful?
6:05 Use of buprenorphine in adolescents and young adults
7:05 Rate of dispensing decreased 25%
8:05 Young adults driving decreased dispensing
9:05 Ten to 19 are getting more
9:20 Report on firearm and motor vehicle pediatric deaths
10:20 Absolute percentage increase in homicide
11:20 Highway death increasing
12:09 End

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