An investigational stent retriever device delivered successful revascularization in more than 85% of patients with primary distal vessel occlusion ischemic stroke at 24 hours, researchers reported at the International Stroke Conference. In addition, no symptomatic intracranial hemorrhages occurred among participants assigned to distal vessel revascularization with the investigational device (Tigertriever 13, Rapid Medical). “The intent was to identify an unmet need of a population that is roughly 25% of all ischemic strokes that have historically been undertreated, as we only had one treatment
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, has been picked to also serve as acting director of the CDC, a White House official confirmed to Healio. Bhattacharya will oversee both agencies until a permanent CDC director is nominated and confirmed, the official said. Jim O’Neill, who served as acting CDC director for 5-plus months until last Friday, will be nominated to be the next head of the National Science Foundation, according to the official. “Both are eminently qualified for these positions, and the White House has confidence in them to deliver on the President’s agenda,” the official told
Last month, HHS released the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which garnered both applause and backlash from the medical community. The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) feature a new food pyramid that emphasizes more consumption of protein, whole foods, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables. They also advise limiting ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), added sugars, alcohol and artificial additives. Healio spoke with Talia Hauser, RD, LDN, a telehealth-registered dietitian at HUSK Wellness, to learn how the DGAs may be put into practice, what she would change about them and
The cardiology landscape is rapidly evolving. Novel risk factors and new tools are reshaping CV risk assessment and management. Healio | Cardiology Today asked cardiologists: What are the most important advances or issues in cardiology heading into 2026? One area of interest is the CV outcomes data for pelacarsen (Novartis/Ionis), a novel lipoprotein(a)-lowering drug, expected to be presented later this year. Other topics cardiologists are watching include soon to be reported research on CV outcomes related to anti-inflammatory therapies, FDA approval of an aldosterone synthase inhibitor for
Certain social determinants and psychological factors may elevate a person’s risk for new persistent opioid use after surgery, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. Enrollment in Medicaid and preoperative use of benzodiazepines — widely prescribed to treat anxiety disorders, insomnia and seizures — both correlated with 77% higher odds for new persistent opioid use (NPOU). Individuals with mood disorders and anxiety also exhibited elevated risk. “We know patients are going to experience postoperative pain,” lead author Yoonjae Lee, DNP, APRN, a doctoral student at Penn Nursing,
Expert witnesses discussed the impact of federal regulations and administrative burden on physician burnout in a recent hearing held by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. “Today, we will look at how Washington’s regulations and red tape play into this crisis, and what we can do to fix it so our doctors can spend more time caring for patients and less time navigating bureaucracy,” committee chairman Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), said in his opening statement. “We’ll hear from witnesses who interact with physicians at all levels.” Key points of discussion included difficulties managing
Among middle-aged U.S. individuals, risk factors for heart disease appeared earlier in South Asian adults compared with adults of other races and ethnicities, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “For years, my patients and physician colleagues have been asking: ‘Why are South Asian Americans experiencing heart disease earlier than what we see in other population groups — we’ve seen South Asians having heart attacks in their 40s and 50s.’ We didn’t have a clear answer. So we launched longterm studies to understand when risk
Patients with ischemic stroke whose door-in-door-out times exceeded 90 minutes had lower odds for endovascular therapy and greater odds for complications and worse functional outcomes, according to data published in The Lancet Neurology. System-level strategies that optimize patient evaluation and accelerate interhospital transfer may improve outcomes, Shyam Prabhakaran, MD, MS, chair of neurology, University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division, and colleagues wrote. “This study is the product of 10+ years of research interest in stroke systems of care led by this group and others,”
Neither medical management nor revascularization improved cognitive decline associated with asymptomatic carotid stenosis, suggesting neurologic injury from significant stenosis may be irreversible, a speaker reported. The results of the carotid revascularization and medical management for asymptomatic carotid stenosis trials, CREST-2, were presented at the International Stroke Conference. “We and many others in the past have shown that prior to revascularization, there is diminished cognition in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis,” Ronald M. Lazar, PhD, endowed chair and director to
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine, or ACLM, announced updates to its dietary position statement aimed at helping clinicians address chronic disease. “ACLM’s original dietary position statement was a brief, simple statement about the optimal foods to include for the treatment, reversal and prevention of lifestyle-related chronic diseases,” Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH, ACLM senior director of research, told Healio. “That original statement has now been expanded to include four points.” The updated statement “coincides with a key time of increased national attention on nutrition,” ACLM
Adherence to healthier versions of low-fat or low-carb diet patterns may be more cardioprotective compared with focusing on macronutrients or animal or vegetable intake, researchers reported. A prospective study evaluating the link between low-carb and low-fat diet quality and coronary heart disease among U.S. adults was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “Low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets are widely practiced in the U.S., yet the effects of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on reducing heart disease risk is a topic of ongoing debate. We designed this study to
Women who begin using menopausal hormone therapy at age 65 years or older may have higher risk for cancer and cardiovascular events than those who never use HT, according to data published in Menopause. In a retrospective cohort analysis of 83,147 women aged 50 years or older in the Clalit Health Services database in Israel, women initiating HT at aged 65 years or older had more than twice as high of a risk for developing cancer or for cerebrovascular accident as women who did not use HT. Alon Carney, MD, family physician at Clalit Health Services and clinical instructor in the department of
Patients with stroke who do not feel comfortable expressing their feelings to their loved ones felt greater loneliness and experienced more disability, according to data presented at the International Stroke Conference. “Changes in social relationships after a stroke may lead to social isolation and undermine recovery,” E. Alison Holman, FNP, PhD, associate dean for academic personnel, UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, told attendees. Often, Holman continued, people do not know what to say to support family and friends who have had a stroke and may make these survivors
A U.S. District Court judge in Illinois granted a temporary restraining order to reinstate $602 million in public health grants allocated for four states that the Trump administration had moved to cancel. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget ordered the CDC to cancel the grants to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, as well as $943 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation that had been allocated to the states — both effective Feb. 11. Combined, the cuts totaled more than $1.5 billion in grant funding for the four states. The cuts were first reported by
Many warnings, such as muscle pain and new-onset diabetes, found on packaging of popular statins were not supported by data from randomized clinical trials, according to new data published in The Lancet. Statin labeling may overstate undesirable effects of statin therapy, misleading physicians and their patients, and revisions should be considered, according to a new meta-analysis from the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration. “Statin product labels list certain adverse health outcomes as potential treatment-related effects based mainly on information from nonrandomized studies which
In men with type 2 diabetes, higher baseline testosterone may reduce risk for cardiovascular events, whereas greater change in estradiol after weight loss may raise CV risk. However, there was no relationship between sex hormones and CV events in women with type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis of data from the Look AHEAD trial published in Diabetes Care. In Look AHEAD, researchers assessed risk for adverse cv outcomes among adults with type 2 diabetes plus overweight or obesity who participated in intensive lifestyle intervention compared with those receiving diabetes education. As Healio
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Social media is a vital component for running a successful practice that attracts and maintains patients, according to a speaker at South Beach Symposium. “A study from 2019 revealed that almost 80% of Americans have a social media profile,” Karan Lal, DO, MS, FAAD, a double board-certified pediatric and cosmetic dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona, said during the presentation. “Over 99% of United States hospitals use at least one social media platform to interact with patients.” Social media has transitioned from a source of entertainment to a necessity for professional
The FDA approved changes to the labels for six menopausal hormone therapy products in a move the agency said clarifies risk considerations for the drugs. As Healio previously reported, the FDA initiated the warning removals in November 2025 after experts called for label changes during an FDA panel discussion in July 2025. Since then, 29 drug companies have submitted proposed labeling changes, and the six products announced with approved labeling changes are just the first batch, according to a press release from the FDA. They include products from all four categories of hormone replacement
When building a career as a young ophthalmologist, there are no rules or set paths. In the inaugural episode of Steeped Insights, a video blog series produced by Women in Ophthalmology and Healio, host Karen Chen, MD, of The Permanente Medical Group, and cohost Andrea L. Kossler, MD, FACS, of Stanford University and Byers Eye Institute, sat down with Andrea Tooley, MD, of Mayo Clinic. Over a cup of tea, they discussed Tooley’s early use of social media and blogging to inspire young people to pursue careers in medicine by “pulling back the curtain” on life as a medical student. {{VIDEO}} In
The couples match helps partners stay together during residency, and it can make a real difference, according to physicians who completed the process. Matching to a residency program can already be complicated, stressful and time consuming for an individual applicant, so it can be even more challenging when also considering the “hopes, dreams and rank list of your significant other to a life-altering equation,” according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Luckily, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) offers a process in which two applicants can link their rank orders. Then,
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