Kathleen Doheny

3 days ago | medscape.com | Kathleen Doheny

As cases of long COVID — often defined as symptoms that weren’t present before persisting for 3 or more months after the infection — became more prevalent and alarming, researchers began to zero in on the commonly reported cardiovascular symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, and palpitations, among others. Long-COVID patients, much research has found, have significantly higher odds of developing cardiac complications than those without long COVID.

3 days ago | medscape.com | Kathleen Doheny

Is it time for universal screening for atrial fibrillation (AF), the most commonly treated type of arrhythmia that sets people up for strokes? The question is important. While estimates of prevalence vary, a recent study found AF affects about 4% of the adult population or about 10 million in the United States. More than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year, and AF is blamed for 1 in 7.

6 days ago | medscape.com | Kathleen Doheny

SAN DIEGO — Boston Pharmaceuticals’ once-monthly efimosfermin alfa (formerly BOS-580) prescribed for metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH) with F2 and F3 fibrosis significantly improved MASH resolution and fibrosis after 24 weeks, according to results of a phase 2 trial presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2025. An analogue of the fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) protein, the agent regulates metabolic processes to reduce liver fat.

1 week ago | medscape.com | Kathleen Doheny

SAN DIEGO — The session started with a question that many in the audience at a May 4 session of Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2025 seemed to relate to: “How many of you find yourself squeezing workouts into a weekend after a hectic work week?”Although regular exercise three or more times a week is often viewed as preferable, Shiyi Yu, MD, a resident physician in the Department of Gastroenterology at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital in Guangzhou, China, had good news for weekend warriors.

1 week ago | webmd.com | Kathleen Doheny

May 7, 2025 -- It was the kind of news that made scientists grab their phones and start texting colleagues. H5N1, commonly called bird flu, had been detected in cows. Scientists had been closely watching avian flu for years, worried about the potential jump to livestock. But their money was on pigs next. This was late March 2024. Seema Lakdawala, PhD, remembers texting associates while on vacation with her family.