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Mindfulness and meditation can improve overall health for people with diabetes

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BALTIMORE — Practicing meditation and mindfulness can reduce diabetes distress and improve diet, HbA1c, sleep and overall quality of life for people with diabetes, according to two speakers.

During a presentation at the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists annual meeting, Peter Friedfeld and Brooke Cassoff, CHWC, co-founders and facilitators at Diabetes Sangha, an online group dedicated to meditation and mindfulness practices for people with diabetes, described how the practices can be incorporated into diabetes self-management and how diabetes care and education specialists can teach the principles to people with diabetes. Read the full story in Healio.

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Organ transplants reached their peak in 2021. Here are the busiest hospitals and common donor types

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During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, organ transplants plummeted by half. Though there was an increase in deceased donors in 2020 from the year before, there were fewer living donors, possibly explained by the postponement of elective surgeries.

In 2021, however, the rate recovered and the U.S. reached a record number of transplants, at more than 41,300, though a significant waitlist for organs remains and may grow; experts expect there may grow a significant demand for kidney transplants in the years to come due to COVID.  Read the full story in Fierce Healthcare.

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Researchers identify factors that predict future lung function in children with asthma

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Obesity, fractional exhaled nitric oxide and maximum bronchodilator reversibility were among the factors that precited lower FEV1 over time among children with asthma, according to a study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Also, boys with recurrent exacerbations had higher risks for lower FEV1 in childhood, Jonathan M. Gaffin, MD, MMSc, co-director of the severe asthma program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues wrote. Read the full story in Healio.

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Is Metformin Now in Our Armamentarium for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)?

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Treatment options for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) are sparse despite the detrimental course of the disease. Tolvaptan, a vasopressin V2 receptor (V2R) antagonist, is the only FDA approved treatment so far to decelerate decline in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in ADPKD. There has been a pressing need for additional therapeutic strategies that can prevent kidney enlargement and progression to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), which occurs in almost half of the patients with ADPKD. In that regard, metformin has been investigated in preclinical and clinical studies with a proposed mechanism of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation.

For the past 20 years, researchers have used rodent models of ADPKD to investigate efficacious therapies for ADPKD. Read the full article in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases blog.

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For chronic pain, AI-assisted therapy may be just as good as standard care

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Using artificial intelligence to facilitate cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain can provide outcomes that are as good as typical interventions while requiring less time with a therapist, according to researchers.

Evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP) is a safe and effective alternative to opioid analgesics, John D. Piette, MSc, PhD, a professor at the University of Michigan, and colleagues wrote in the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Read the full article in Healio.

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Robotic kidney cancer surgery shows desirable outcomes in study

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Robotic surgery compared favorably with standard surgery in a review and analysis of data from 1,375 patients who underwent surgery to remove cancer from the kidney and inferior vena cava. The inferior vena cava (IVC), the body’s biggest vein, carries blood out of the kidneys back to the heart. Cancer can infiltrate this vein and advance to the liver and heart. Robotic IVC thrombectomy resulted in fewer blood transfusions and fewer complications overall in patients compared to standard, open IVC thrombectomy. The findings should compel further studies of the benefits of robotic IVC thrombectomy. Read the full study from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in ScienceDaily.

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New technique identifies ‘hot’ disease in arteries that can lead to CV events

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Using noninvasive 18F-sodium fluoride PET and coronary CTA to detect “hot” disease in arteries, researchers were able to predict which patients with recent MI would have recurrent coronary events.

PET “is often used in cancer; it uses positrons to produce a signal so you can see externally the biology of what’s going on in the body without inserting catheters,” David E. Newby, MD, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, U.K., said during a press conference at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. 
Read the full story in Healio.

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Skin Cancer After an Organ Transplant: Risks, Prevention and Treatment

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As a transplant recipient, you seek to protect your health in many ways, including taking immunosuppressant medications. By preventing your immune system from rejecting your new organ, these therapies play a critical role in your care. But they also come with side effects, including an increased risk for skin cancer.

Fortunately, you can work with your doctors to prevent skin cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable. Getting screened for skin cancer during appointments, checking yourself for skin changes at home and following sun protection guidelines can help keep you healthy. Read the full article on CareDx.com.

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Concurrent Liver Diseases See Increase Among Adult Liver Transplant Recipients

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New findings suggest concurrent liver diseases are increasing among adult liver transplant recipients in Australia and New Zealand, but do not seem to affect posttransplant survival.

The data additionally suggest these increases were predominantly driven by an increase in metabolic-associated fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease. Read more in HCP Live.

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The psychosocial needs of adolescent and young adult kidney transplant recipients, and associated interventions: a scoping review

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Renal transplantation is considered the gold standard treatment for end-stage kidney disease. Adolescent and young adult kidney transplant recipients have the highest rate of graft loss amongst transplanted patients. It is largely accepted this is due to psychosocial and behavioural difficulties, which impact adherence to prescribed therapies. This phenomenon is not isolated to a particular healthcare system having been observed in multiple countries across different continents. It is a global issue of concern. We sought to review the psychosocial needs of these patients, and the interventions designed to meet these needs. Read more from BMC Psychology.

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