SAN DIEGO — Non-FDA-approved GLP-1 receptor agonists remain largely available despite recent resolutions to drug shortages, data at the Obesity Medicine Association’s annual meeting indicate. Michael J. DiStefano, PhD, MBE, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, explained during a presentation that compounding is “a process where pharmacists or physicians mix or alter the ingredients of a drug to produce a medication that meets the specific need of an individual patient.” According
SAN DIEGO — Semaglutide use was not tied to a higher risk for non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, in patients with overweight or obesity, data presented here show. The study further showed that semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) lowered the risk for NAION by 64% in patients with type 2 diabetes. As Healio previously reported, prior research suggested that semaglutide use may raise the risk for NAION and other eye complications like diabetic retinopathy, although these occurrences are rare. But Richele Corrado, DO, MPH, FACP, DABOM, a clinical associate professor
SAN DIEGO — Structured de-escalation of GLP-1 receptor agonists may lead to sustained health benefits while reducing treatment burden, according to data shown at the Obesity Medicine Association’s annual conference. “What I found was actually surprising, where in addition to losing weight initially on the weekly regimen, people actually lost further weight on the every-other-week regimen,” Mitch Biermann, MD, PhD, an obesity medicine physician and scientist at Scripps Health, told Healio. “I was just hoping people would break even, not get an additional 2% weight loss.” Prior data have shown
SAN DIEGO — Weight loss plateaus do not mean that treatments are unsuccessful nor that patients are not benefiting in other ways, a speaker at the Obesity Medicine Association’s annual meeting said. According to Mayo Clinic, a weight loss plateau is when a person’s weight stops changing, and it “eventually happens to everyone who tries to lose weight.” Jaime Almandoz, MD, MBA, DABOM, FTOS, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, spoke with Healio about why these plateaus occur, how to define treatment success beyond weight displayed on the scale, and
If Medicaid work requirements enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are expanded nationwide, about half of adult beneficiaries could lose their coverage, according to experts. Because of the law, signed by President Donald J. Trump in July 2025, federal support for Medicaid will be cut by $930 billion over the next decade. Plus, for the first time in the program’s nearly 60-year history, certain able-bodied adults aged 19 years to 64 years will be required to work, participate in job training, volunteer or enroll in school at least 80 hours a month to maintain their Medicaid
NEW ORLEANS — In patients with post- and precapillary pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, sotatercept improved hemodynamics, according to the results of the CADENCE trial. “Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction have problems in which the heart’s left ventricle doesn’t relax fully, and may be stiff,” Mardi Gomberg-Maitland, MD, MSc, cardiologist and professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said during a press conference. “Some people with HFpEF develop high pressure in their lungs caused
SAN DIEGO — Semaglutide 25 mg tablets were tied to significantly greater mean weight loss vs. orforglipron 36 mg tablets, according to data presented at the Obesity Medicine Association’s annual conference. Orforglipron (Foundayo, Eli Lilly) was also associated with around four to 14 times higher odds of treatment discontinuation due to adverse effects compared with semaglutide (Wegovy, Novo Nordisk), according to a Novo Nordisk press release. The data “add to the growing body of evidence supporting the clinical strength of semaglutide and highlight attributes that patients value when choosing
NEW ORLEANS — A novel oral molecule significantly reduced inflammatory markers linked to development of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease in people with obesity when used alone and combined with a GLP-1, a speaker reported. Data on parunoflast (VTX3232, Ventyx Biosciences), a novel selective and orally bioavailable, brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor being evaluated for treatment of neuroinflammatory and cardiometabolic disease, were presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session. “The function of the NLRP3 inflammasome is to convert the inactive precursors of the
Women who have two or more cardiometabolic risk factors were linked to a higher likelihood of significant liver fibrosis compared to men with the same risk factors, according to cross-sectional study results. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, also showed that high waist circumference, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes were associated with higher odds of clinically significant liver fibrosis in women. These cardiometabolic risk factors can be modified with treatment, which could lead to improved outcomes among both women and men with liver disease, Jennifer L. Dodge, MPH, associate
A multifaceted initiative applied at the clinic, physician and patient levels improved blood pressure among low-income patients with uncontrolled hypertension, researchers reported. The intervention used in the IMPACTS-BP study, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, incorporated team-based care, protocol-based BP management, health coaching and home BP monitoring and was designed to address health disparities among patients with low income and uncontrolled hypertension receiving care at federally qualified health centers. “Hypertension is a major preventable risk
For a fulfilling career in ophthalmology, find the right cultural fit during every step of the journey, from training to residency and beyond. “If you don’t fit the institution’s culture, you are destined for unhappiness,” Jane C. Edmond, MD, of the University of Texas at Austin, told Healio in this episode of Steeped Insights, a video blog series produced by Women in Ophthalmology and Healio. “Residents who match into a program with a poor cultural fit will be miserable, and so will their attendings and staff.” {{VIDEO}} Over a cup of tea, host Karen Chen, MD, of The Permanente Medical Group,
DENVER — Patient encounters via portal messages have begun to outpace face-to-face visits, yet are often uncompensated, increasing the risk for physician burnout and a worse reported work-life balance, according to a speaker. Dermatologists received an average of 49 patient portal messages per day even before the pandemic, a number that has increased by more than 50% since 2020, Lia E. Gracey Maniar, MD, PhD, FAAD, director of teledermatology and digital health strategy at Ascension Texas and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School,
NEW ORLEANS — In patients with an atherosclerotic CVD event or at intermediate to high risk for one who were on statin therapy, a novel oral PCSK9 inhibitor lowered LDL by more than 60% at 56 days, researchers reported. In the CORALreef AddOn trial, the oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide decanoate (Merck) also conferred greater LDL lowering compared with ezetimibe, bempedoic acid (Nexletol, Esperion) or a combination of both (Nexlizet, Esperion) at 56 days. In a separate presentation, researchers reported that among patients who remained on-treatment in the CORALreef Lipids and CORALreef HeFH
AI is not going to replace doctors, Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, assured attendees during his keynote address at Cedars-Sinai’s Virtual Medical Conference. “Computers are great with data and information and knowledge, but not necessarily wisdom,” Spiegel, director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai and a founder of the vMed conference, told Healio. “Wisdom is what distinguishes not just doctors but humans in general from computer systems.” Spiegel coined the term “blended intelligence,” or BI, to reinforce the idea that clinicians can successfully integrate AI into practice without
The Obesity Medicine Association will host its annual conference in San Deigo from April 10-12, diving into the latest developments in obesity trends, treatment and management. Presentations during the conference will discuss timely topics, including physical activity prescriptions, GLP-1 receptor agonists, nutrition science and addressing body image. Healio spoke with Nicholas Pennings, DO, DABOM, MFOMA, FACOFP, FAAFP, director of clinical education for the Obesity Medicine Association and a professor of family medicine at Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, to
Compared with placebo, semaglutide lowered risks for adverse kidney outcomes and mortality across the chronic kidney disease spectrum, according to study data published in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. In the FLOW trial, semaglutide (Ozempic, Novo Nordisk) improved kidney outcomes and survival among patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD. Building off these findings, Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, FASN, FACP, FNKF, executive director for research at Providence Inland Northwest Health and professor of medicine in nephrology at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s
NEW ORLEANS — Percutaneous coronary intervention successfully alleviated chest pain symptoms in select patients with chronic total occlusion and reduced the frequency of anginal events, a speaker reported. ORBITA-CTO, the first randomized, sham-controlled trial to demonstrate that chronic total occlusion (CTO) PCI can improve angina symptoms, was presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “CTO PCI is offered to relieve angina. However, the evidence for CTO PCI is largely from open-label,
People born to mothers who had a placental abruption during pregnancy had a greater risk for CVD and death by age 28 years vs. those whose mothers did not experience this complication, data in Journal of the American Heart Association show. “Our study suggests that placental abruption needs to be taken as a very serious complication for the mother and also potentially affecting the baby’s cardiovascular health later in life,” Cande V. Ananth, PhD, MPH, Distinguished Professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson
NEW ORLEANS — More than one-quarter of patients with resistant hypertension had hypercortisolism, suggesting opportunities for screening, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session. Healio | Cardiology Today Editorial Board Member Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues conducted the MOMENTUM study to determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with resistant hypertension. “The purpose
The CDC issued a health advisory to warn health care professionals, laboratorians, veterinarians and people at risk for overdose about rising reports of medetomidine in the U.S. illicit drug supply. The agency also warned of severe withdrawal syndrome due to medetomidine exposure. According to the advisory, medetomidine — also known as “rhino tranq,” “dex” or “mede” — is approved for analgesia and sedation in dogs but not for use in people. The CDC said that the sedative — first identified in the illegal drug supply in 2021 — has been
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