Posts in category: Uncategorized

The gut microbiome, a community of trillions of microbes living in the human intestines, has an increasing reputation for affecting not only gut health but also the health of organs distant from the gut. For most microbes in the intestine, the details of how they can affect other organs remain unclear, but for gut resident bacteria L. reuteri the pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare newborn genetic disease that impacts between 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 20,000 people, depending on the individuals’ genetic ancestry. PKU causes an amino acid—called phenylalanine (Phe)—to build up in the bloodstream. Uncontrolled PKU can lead to intellectual disability, psychiatric issues, and seizures. While current therapies can partially improve outcomes, they require meticulous, lifelong compliance that is very difficult for most patients.

Investigators have implemented an automated health maintenance tool created by the National Kidney Foundation into electronic medical records to prompt primary care physicians to screen for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adult patients with type 2 diabetes. The impact of the tool will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2023 from November 1–November 5.

Professor Chai Hong Rim of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Korea University’s Ansan Hospital, along with student Jungsue Lee and Sooyeon Kim of the College of Medicine, Korea University, proved the efficacy of active local treatment such as radiotherapy and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in liver cancer oligometastases (less than 3 to 5 metastatic foci) through a meta-analysis study.

New research in rodents indicates that altering gut microbes may affect the development of organ damage associated with hypertension. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2023, November 1–5.

In analyses of data from western US states, increases in wildfire-related air pollution around dialysis clinics were linked to higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths among patients. The research will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2023, November 1–5.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have heart- and kidney-related benefits for patients with and without diabetes that go beyond their initial indication for lowering blood sugar levels. In clinical trials, the risk of serious adverse events with SGLT2i has been low, but the safety outcomes of SGLT2i in patients with cancer are unknown.

Researchers at National Jewish Health found that Indigenous coal miners may develop disabling black lung disease but are less likely to qualify for medical benefits using currently required lung function standards rather than standards specific to Indigenous populations.

A researcher with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and collaborators have penned a commentary highlighting how petrochemicals are a major contributor to cancer risks, resulting in a profoundly negative impact on overall health.

Depression, suicidal ideation, burnout, and moral injury are on the rise among physicians working in the US health care system. A collection of articles in the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (JPRM), addresses the stressors leading to physicians’ moral injury among practitioners of pediatric rehabilitation medicine and more broadly among all health care professionals, and provides insightful recommendations for improving health care professionals’ mental wellness, emphasizing that “lives may depend on it.”