Federal Practitioner

NEW ORLEANS – Don’t treat suspected cases of onychomycosis before confirming the diagnosis with a laboratory test, Boni E. Elewski, MD, advises.

“The PAS [periodic acid-Schiff] stain is very popular because it can identify the presence or absence of fungal elements, but a fungal culture will identify the organism living in the nail,” Dr. Elewski, professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. “You also could do a PCR to identify the organism, with or without a KOH or PAS stain. It is often helpful to know what organism is causing the infection.”

University of Alabama, Birmingham

While waiting for lab results, there are three clinical clues to look for – the first being that an infection likely resides in the toenail. “You almost never see dermatophyte onychomycosis in the fingernails without it being in the toenails, too,” Dr. Elewski said.

The presence of tinea pedis is a second clinical clue. “Sometimes it’s subtle, so I will ask the patient, ‘Have you been treating yourself for athlete’s foot?’ If they say ‘no, I’ve never had it,’ put down on your list that it’s unlikely they have onychomycosis. How is the fungus going to jump from the floor into the nail without taking a little vacation on the bottom of the foot? It just isn’t going to happen.”

The presence of dermatophytoma is the third clinical clue. “These are dermatophyte abscesses encased in a biofilm, and they’re really hard to treat,” she said.

Treatments

Clinicians typically turn to one of three oral drugs for treating onychomycosis: terbinafine, itraconazole, and fluconazole, Dr. Elewski noted. Referring to terbinafine as “the gold standard,” she said that she typically writes a prescription for 90 250-mg pills. “When I give terbinafine, I often do baseline liver profiling, depending on the patient’s age, their state of health, their comorbidities, and other medications they’re taking,” she said. “If they’re 18 years old and otherwise healthy, I probably don’t.” While she generally prescribes 90 pills, she added, “keep in mind that 90 pills are not going to cure everybody. I see the patient 4 months later because the drug should stay in the nail for 30 days or more at therapeutic levels after you take that 90-day course.”

Another option is itraconazole, which can be taken at a dose of 200 mg a day for 12 weeks, or at a pulse dose, where patients take 400 mg every day for 1 week, 1 week a month, for 4 consecutive months. “I’ll often do a baseline liver profile with itraconazole, too,” Dr. Elewski said. “I don’t think you have to, but it makes sense if it’s feasible for you. Decide that based on each patient.”

Itraconazole can’t be given concomitantly with statins because of the potential for rhabdomyolysis. For patients taking statins, she consults with their physicians to make sure it’s safe to stop the statin a couple of days before and after their scheduled pulse dose of itraconazole. “This involves 1 week per month of taking itraconazole without the statin,” she said. “Or they could stop statins for the time you treat, if cleared by their doctor.”

As for fluconazole, Dr. Elewski usually prescribes 200 mg once or twice per week until the nail is normal. She offers patients the mnemonic for “Fungal Fridays” or Toesdays” as a way for them to remember which day to take the fluconazole.

According to data in the package inserts, rates of complete and mycologic cures are 38% and 70% for terbinafine, respectively, 14% and 54% for itraconazole, and 37% to 48% and 47% to 62% for fluconazole. “These cures are not 100% based on the standard course [of the drug],” Dr. Elewski noted. “I don’t use the standard course. I believe in treating to terminate. You want to kill the fungus.”
 

Resistant dermatophytes ‘are coming’

Halting treatment with an oral drug at a particular time point instead of when the nail is fungal-free likely contributes to resistant strains, she added, noting that she has at least two dozen patients in her practice with dermatophyte resistance documented in labs. “We need to be antifungal stewards, because resistant dermatophytes are coming to us,” she said. “They’re here already, and we don’t want it to be endemic in the U.S.”

In a published study from 2020, researchers from India enrolled 200 patients with relapsing tinea corporis, tinea cruris, and tinea faciei and allocated 50 each to treatment with either fluconazole, griseofulvin, itraconazole, or terbinafine. At week 4, all treatment arms had cure rates of less than 8%. At week 8, the cure rates were 42% for fluconazole, 16% for griseofulvin, 28% for terbinafine, and 66% for itraconazole.

Based in part on these study findings, Dr. Elewski said that she has become more aggressive in her therapeutic approach, including treating some of her patients on terbinafine for a minimum of 6 months. “If that’s not enough, I keep treating,” she said. “But, patients may not respond to terbinafine; we see resistance. So, itraconazole may be our best drug going forward for treating onychomycosis. You just have to watch out for side effects of itraconazole, mainly drug-drug interactions.”

Dr. Elewski reported having no relevant financial disclosures related to her presentation.

NEW ORLEANS – Don’t treat suspected cases of onychomycosis before confirming the diagnosis with a laboratory test, Boni E. Elewski, MD, advises.

“The PAS [periodic acid-Schiff] stain is very popular because it can identify the presence or absence of fungal elements, but a fungal culture will identify the organism living in the nail,” Dr. Elewski, professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. “You also could do a PCR to identify the organism, with or without a KOH or PAS stain. It is often helpful to know what organism is causing the infection.”

University of Alabama, Birmingham

While waiting for lab results, there are three clinical clues to look for – the first being that an infection likely resides in the toenail. “You almost never see dermatophyte onychomycosis in the fingernails without it being in the toenails, too,” Dr. Elewski said.

The presence of tinea pedis is a second clinical clue. “Sometimes it’s subtle, so I will ask the patient, ‘Have you been treating yourself for athlete’s foot?’ If they say ‘no, I’ve never had it,’ put down on your list that it’s unlikely they have onychomycosis. How is the fungus going to jump from the floor into the nail without taking a little vacation on the bottom of the foot? It just isn’t going to happen.”

The presence of dermatophytoma is the third clinical clue. “These are dermatophyte abscesses encased in a biofilm, and they’re really hard to treat,” she said.

Treatments

Clinicians typically turn to one of three oral drugs for treating onychomycosis: terbinafine, itraconazole, and fluconazole, Dr. Elewski noted. Referring to terbinafine as “the gold standard,” she said that she typically writes a prescription for 90 250-mg pills. “When I give terbinafine, I often do baseline liver profiling, depending on the patient’s age, their state of health, their comorbidities, and other medications they’re taking,” she said. “If they’re 18 years old and otherwise healthy, I probably don’t.” While she generally prescribes 90 pills, she added, “keep in mind that 90 pills are not going to cure everybody. I see the patient 4 months later because the drug should stay in the nail for 30 days or more at therapeutic levels after you take that 90-day course.”

Another option is itraconazole, which can be taken at a dose of 200 mg a day for 12 weeks, or at a pulse dose, where patients take 400 mg every day for 1 week, 1 week a month, for 4 consecutive months. “I’ll often do a baseline liver profile with itraconazole, too,” Dr. Elewski said. “I don’t think you have to, but it makes sense if it’s feasible for you. Decide that based on each patient.”

Itraconazole can’t be given concomitantly with statins because of the potential for rhabdomyolysis. For patients taking statins, she consults with their physicians to make sure it’s safe to stop the statin a couple of days before and after their scheduled pulse dose of itraconazole. “This involves 1 week per month of taking itraconazole without the statin,” she said. “Or they could stop statins for the time you treat, if cleared by their doctor.”

As for fluconazole, Dr. Elewski usually prescribes 200 mg once or twice per week until the nail is normal. She offers patients the mnemonic for “Fungal Fridays” or Toesdays” as a way for them to remember which day to take the fluconazole.

According to data in the package inserts, rates of complete and mycologic cures are 38% and 70% for terbinafine, respectively, 14% and 54% for itraconazole, and 37% to 48% and 47% to 62% for fluconazole. “These cures are not 100% based on the standard course [of the drug],” Dr. Elewski noted. “I don’t use the standard course. I believe in treating to terminate. You want to kill the fungus.”
 

Resistant dermatophytes ‘are coming’

Halting treatment with an oral drug at a particular time point instead of when the nail is fungal-free likely contributes to resistant strains, she added, noting that she has at least two dozen patients in her practice with dermatophyte resistance documented in labs. “We need to be antifungal stewards, because resistant dermatophytes are coming to us,” she said. “They’re here already, and we don’t want it to be endemic in the U.S.”

In a published study from 2020, researchers from India enrolled 200 patients with relapsing tinea corporis, tinea cruris, and tinea faciei and allocated 50 each to treatment with either fluconazole, griseofulvin, itraconazole, or terbinafine. At week 4, all treatment arms had cure rates of less than 8%. At week 8, the cure rates were 42% for fluconazole, 16% for griseofulvin, 28% for terbinafine, and 66% for itraconazole.

Based in part on these study findings, Dr. Elewski said that she has become more aggressive in her therapeutic approach, including treating some of her patients on terbinafine for a minimum of 6 months. “If that’s not enough, I keep treating,” she said. “But, patients may not respond to terbinafine; we see resistance. So, itraconazole may be our best drug going forward for treating onychomycosis. You just have to watch out for side effects of itraconazole, mainly drug-drug interactions.”

Dr. Elewski reported having no relevant financial disclosures related to her presentation.

NEW ORLEANS – Don’t treat suspected cases of onychomycosis before confirming the diagnosis with a laboratory test, Boni E. Elewski, MD, advises.

“The PAS [periodic acid-Schiff] stain is very popular because it can identify the presence or absence of fungal elements, but a fungal culture will identify the organism living in the nail,” Dr. Elewski, professor and chair of dermatology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. “You also could do a PCR to identify the organism, with or without a KOH or PAS stain. It is often helpful to know what organism is causing the infection.”

University of Alabama, Birmingham

While waiting for lab results, there are three clinical clues to look for – the first being that an infection likely resides in the toenail. “You almost never see dermatophyte onychomycosis in the fingernails without it being in the toenails, too,” Dr. Elewski said.

The presence of tinea pedis is a second clinical clue. “Sometimes it’s subtle, so I will ask the patient, ‘Have you been treating yourself for athlete’s foot?’ If they say ‘no, I’ve never had it,’ put down on your list that it’s unlikely they have onychomycosis. How is the fungus going to jump from the floor into the nail without taking a little vacation on the bottom of the foot? It just isn’t going to happen.”

The presence of dermatophytoma is the third clinical clue. “These are dermatophyte abscesses encased in a biofilm, and they’re really hard to treat,” she said.

Treatments

Clinicians typically turn to one of three oral drugs for treating onychomycosis: terbinafine, itraconazole, and fluconazole, Dr. Elewski noted. Referring to terbinafine as “the gold standard,” she said that she typically writes a prescription for 90 250-mg pills. “When I give terbinafine, I often do baseline liver profiling, depending on the patient’s age, their state of health, their comorbidities, and other medications they’re taking,” she said. “If they’re 18 years old and otherwise healthy, I probably don’t.” While she generally prescribes 90 pills, she added, “keep in mind that 90 pills are not going to cure everybody. I see the patient 4 months later because the drug should stay in the nail for 30 days or more at therapeutic levels after you take that 90-day course.”

Another option is itraconazole, which can be taken at a dose of 200 mg a day for 12 weeks, or at a pulse dose, where patients take 400 mg every day for 1 week, 1 week a month, for 4 consecutive months. “I’ll often do a baseline liver profile with itraconazole, too,” Dr. Elewski said. “I don’t think you have to, but it makes sense if it’s feasible for you. Decide that based on each patient.”

Itraconazole can’t be given concomitantly with statins because of the potential for rhabdomyolysis. For patients taking statins, she consults with their physicians to make sure it’s safe to stop the statin a couple of days before and after their scheduled pulse dose of itraconazole. “This involves 1 week per month of taking itraconazole without the statin,” she said. “Or they could stop statins for the time you treat, if cleared by their doctor.”

As for fluconazole, Dr. Elewski usually prescribes 200 mg once or twice per week until the nail is normal. She offers patients the mnemonic for “Fungal Fridays” or Toesdays” as a way for them to remember which day to take the fluconazole.

According to data in the package inserts, rates of complete and mycologic cures are 38% and 70% for terbinafine, respectively, 14% and 54% for itraconazole, and 37% to 48% and 47% to 62% for fluconazole. “These cures are not 100% based on the standard course [of the drug],” Dr. Elewski noted. “I don’t use the standard course. I believe in treating to terminate. You want to kill the fungus.”
 

Resistant dermatophytes ‘are coming’

Halting treatment with an oral drug at a particular time point instead of when the nail is fungal-free likely contributes to resistant strains, she added, noting that she has at least two dozen patients in her practice with dermatophyte resistance documented in labs. “We need to be antifungal stewards, because resistant dermatophytes are coming to us,” she said. “They’re here already, and we don’t want it to be endemic in the U.S.”

In a published study from 2020, researchers from India enrolled 200 patients with relapsing tinea corporis, tinea cruris, and tinea faciei and allocated 50 each to treatment with either fluconazole, griseofulvin, itraconazole, or terbinafine. At week 4, all treatment arms had cure rates of less than 8%. At week 8, the cure rates were 42% for fluconazole, 16% for griseofulvin, 28% for terbinafine, and 66% for itraconazole.

Based in part on these study findings, Dr. Elewski said that she has become more aggressive in her therapeutic approach, including treating some of her patients on terbinafine for a minimum of 6 months. “If that’s not enough, I keep treating,” she said. “But, patients may not respond to terbinafine; we see resistance. So, itraconazole may be our best drug going forward for treating onychomycosis. You just have to watch out for side effects of itraconazole, mainly drug-drug interactions.”

Dr. Elewski reported having no relevant financial disclosures related to her presentation.

Even relatively small changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with “considerable” impact on clinical symptoms and mortality risk among individuals with and without cardiovascular disease, new observational data in United States veterans suggest.

“We had a few surprises,” Peter Kokkinos, PhD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N. J., and the VA Medical Center, Washington, told this news organization. “First, the mortality risk was greatly attenuated in those who were moderate- and high-fit at baseline, despite a decline in fitness over time. In fact, in those with no CVD, the risk was not significantly elevated even when CRF declined by at least one MET [metabolic equivalent of task] for the moderate-fit and two or more METs for the high-fit group.”

“Second,” he said, “Our findings suggest that the impact of CRF on human health is not ephemeral, but rather carries a certain protection over time. Third, the changes in CRF necessary to impact mortality risk are relatively small (> 1.0 METs). This has a substantial clinical and public health significance.”

The study was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

CRF up, mortality risk down

Dr. Kokkinos and colleagues analyzed data from 93,060 U.S. veterans; of these, 95% were men (mean age, 61.4 years) and 5% were women (mean age, 57.1 years). Overall, 72% of participants were White; 19.8%, African American; 5.2%, Hispanic; 1.9%, Native American, Asian, or Hawaiian; and 1.2%, unknown.

Participants were assigned to age-specific fitness quartiles based on peak METs achieved on a baseline exercise treadmill test (ETT). Each CRF quartile was stratified based on CRF changes (increase, decrease, no change) on the final ETT, with at least two ETT assessments at least 1 year apart.

The mean follow-up was 5.8 years (663,522 person-years), during which 18,302 deaths (19.7%) occurred, for an average annual mortality rate of 27.6 events per 1,000 person-years.

CRF was unchanged in 25.1% of the cohort, increased in 29.3%, and decreased in 45.6%. The trend was similar for those with and without CVD.

Significant differences were seen in all variables across CRF categories. In general, body weight, body mass index, CVD risk factors, and overall disease burden were progressively more unfavorable for those in the lowest CRF categories.

Conversely, medication use was progressively higher among those in low CRF categories.

After adjustment, higher CRF was inversely related to mortality risk for the entire cohort, with and without CVD. Cumulative survival rates across CRF categories declined progressively with increased fitness.

For patients with CVD (hazard ratio, 1.11), other significant predictors of all-cause mortality for patients were age (HR, 1.07), body mass index (HR, 0.98), chronic kidney disease (HR, 1.85), smoking (HR, 1.57), type 2 diabetes (HR, 1.42), hypertension (HR, 1.39), and cancers (HR, 1.37).

Generally, changes in CRF of at least 1.0 MET were associated with inverse and proportionate changes in mortality risk, regardless of baseline CRF status. For example, they note, a CRF decline of > 2.0 METs was associated with a 74% increased mortality risk for low-fit individuals with CVD, and a 69% increase for those without CVD.

A second analysis was done after excluding patients whose CRF declined and who died within 2 years of their last ETT, to account for the possibility that higher mortality rates and CRF declines were consequences of underlying disease (reverse causality). The association between changes in CRF and mortality risk persisted and remained similar to that observed in the entire cohort.

The authors add, “It is noteworthy that CRF increased by at least 1 MET in approximately 29% of the participants in the current study and decreased in approximately 46% of participants. This finding underscores the need to promote physical activity to maintain or increase CRF levels in middle-aged and older individuals.”

“Our findings make a persuasive argument that CRF is a strong and independent determinant of all-cause mortality risk, independent of genetic factors,” Dr. Kokkinos said. “We know that CRF is determined to some degree by genetic factors. However, improvements in aerobic capacity or CRF over time are largely the outcomes of regular engagement in aerobic activities of adequate intensity and volume.”

“Conversely,” he said, “a decline in CRF is likely the result of sedentary behavior, the onset of a chronic condition, or aging.”

If genetics were the sole contributor to mortality risk, then changes in CRF would not influence mortality risk, he concluded.
 

CRF impact “woefully underestimated”

Barry A. Franklin, PhD, past chair of both the American Heart Association’s Council on Physical Activity and Metabolism and the National Advocacy Committee, said the study substantiates previous smaller studies and is a “seminal” work.

“CRF is woefully underestimated as an index of health outcomes and survival,” said Dr. Franklin, director of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Mich. “Moderate to vigorous physical activity should be regularly promoted by the medical community.”

Dr. Franklin’s recent review, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, provides evidence for other exercise benefits that clinicians may not be aware of, he noted. These include:

• Each 1 MET increase in CRF is generally associated with approximately 16% reduction in mortality.
• At any given risk factor profile or coronary calcium score, unfit people have 2-3 times the mortality as their fit counterparts.
• Fitness is inversely related to annual health care costs (each 1 MET increase in CRF is associated with approximately 6% lower annual health care costs).
• Physically active people hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes have better short-term outcomes (likely because of a phenomenon called ‘exercise preconditioning’).
• Fit people who undergo elective or emergent surgical procedures have better outcomes.
• Regular physical activity is a common characteristic in population subsets who routinely live into their 90s and to 100+.

Dr. Franklin had this advice for clinicians seeking to promote CRF increases of 1 MET or more among patients: “Sedentary people who embark on a walking program, who over time increase their walking speed to 3 mph or faster, invariably show at least a 1 MET increase in CRF during subsequent peak or symptom-limited treadmill testing.”

“Another general rule is that if an exercise program decreases heart rate at a given or fixed workload by about 10 beats per minute [bpm], the same treadmill workload that initially was accomplished at a heart rate of 120 bpm is now being accomplished at a heart rate of 110 bpm,” likely resulting in about a 1 MET increase in fitness.

“Accordingly,” he added, “a 20-bpm decrease would suggest a 2 MET increase in fitness!”

In a related editorial, Leonard A. Kaminsky, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. and colleagues, write, “We agree with and believe the conclusion, reached by Kokkinos et al., bears repeating. We (again) call on both clinicians and public health professionals to adopt CRF as a key health indicator.”

“This should be done by coupling routine assessments of CRF with continued advocacy for promoting physical activity as an essential healthy lifestyle behavior,” they write.

No funding or relevant financial relationships were disclosed.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Even relatively small changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with “considerable” impact on clinical symptoms and mortality risk among individuals with and without cardiovascular disease, new observational data in United States veterans suggest.

“We had a few surprises,” Peter Kokkinos, PhD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N. J., and the VA Medical Center, Washington, told this news organization. “First, the mortality risk was greatly attenuated in those who were moderate- and high-fit at baseline, despite a decline in fitness over time. In fact, in those with no CVD, the risk was not significantly elevated even when CRF declined by at least one MET [metabolic equivalent of task] for the moderate-fit and two or more METs for the high-fit group.”

“Second,” he said, “Our findings suggest that the impact of CRF on human health is not ephemeral, but rather carries a certain protection over time. Third, the changes in CRF necessary to impact mortality risk are relatively small (> 1.0 METs). This has a substantial clinical and public health significance.”

The study was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

CRF up, mortality risk down

Dr. Kokkinos and colleagues analyzed data from 93,060 U.S. veterans; of these, 95% were men (mean age, 61.4 years) and 5% were women (mean age, 57.1 years). Overall, 72% of participants were White; 19.8%, African American; 5.2%, Hispanic; 1.9%, Native American, Asian, or Hawaiian; and 1.2%, unknown.

Participants were assigned to age-specific fitness quartiles based on peak METs achieved on a baseline exercise treadmill test (ETT). Each CRF quartile was stratified based on CRF changes (increase, decrease, no change) on the final ETT, with at least two ETT assessments at least 1 year apart.

The mean follow-up was 5.8 years (663,522 person-years), during which 18,302 deaths (19.7%) occurred, for an average annual mortality rate of 27.6 events per 1,000 person-years.

CRF was unchanged in 25.1% of the cohort, increased in 29.3%, and decreased in 45.6%. The trend was similar for those with and without CVD.

Significant differences were seen in all variables across CRF categories. In general, body weight, body mass index, CVD risk factors, and overall disease burden were progressively more unfavorable for those in the lowest CRF categories.

Conversely, medication use was progressively higher among those in low CRF categories.

After adjustment, higher CRF was inversely related to mortality risk for the entire cohort, with and without CVD. Cumulative survival rates across CRF categories declined progressively with increased fitness.

For patients with CVD (hazard ratio, 1.11), other significant predictors of all-cause mortality for patients were age (HR, 1.07), body mass index (HR, 0.98), chronic kidney disease (HR, 1.85), smoking (HR, 1.57), type 2 diabetes (HR, 1.42), hypertension (HR, 1.39), and cancers (HR, 1.37).

Generally, changes in CRF of at least 1.0 MET were associated with inverse and proportionate changes in mortality risk, regardless of baseline CRF status. For example, they note, a CRF decline of > 2.0 METs was associated with a 74% increased mortality risk for low-fit individuals with CVD, and a 69% increase for those without CVD.

A second analysis was done after excluding patients whose CRF declined and who died within 2 years of their last ETT, to account for the possibility that higher mortality rates and CRF declines were consequences of underlying disease (reverse causality). The association between changes in CRF and mortality risk persisted and remained similar to that observed in the entire cohort.

The authors add, “It is noteworthy that CRF increased by at least 1 MET in approximately 29% of the participants in the current study and decreased in approximately 46% of participants. This finding underscores the need to promote physical activity to maintain or increase CRF levels in middle-aged and older individuals.”

“Our findings make a persuasive argument that CRF is a strong and independent determinant of all-cause mortality risk, independent of genetic factors,” Dr. Kokkinos said. “We know that CRF is determined to some degree by genetic factors. However, improvements in aerobic capacity or CRF over time are largely the outcomes of regular engagement in aerobic activities of adequate intensity and volume.”

“Conversely,” he said, “a decline in CRF is likely the result of sedentary behavior, the onset of a chronic condition, or aging.”

If genetics were the sole contributor to mortality risk, then changes in CRF would not influence mortality risk, he concluded.
 

CRF impact “woefully underestimated”

Barry A. Franklin, PhD, past chair of both the American Heart Association’s Council on Physical Activity and Metabolism and the National Advocacy Committee, said the study substantiates previous smaller studies and is a “seminal” work.

“CRF is woefully underestimated as an index of health outcomes and survival,” said Dr. Franklin, director of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Mich. “Moderate to vigorous physical activity should be regularly promoted by the medical community.”

Dr. Franklin’s recent review, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, provides evidence for other exercise benefits that clinicians may not be aware of, he noted. These include:

• Each 1 MET increase in CRF is generally associated with approximately 16% reduction in mortality.
• At any given risk factor profile or coronary calcium score, unfit people have 2-3 times the mortality as their fit counterparts.
• Fitness is inversely related to annual health care costs (each 1 MET increase in CRF is associated with approximately 6% lower annual health care costs).
• Physically active people hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes have better short-term outcomes (likely because of a phenomenon called ‘exercise preconditioning’).
• Fit people who undergo elective or emergent surgical procedures have better outcomes.
• Regular physical activity is a common characteristic in population subsets who routinely live into their 90s and to 100+.

Dr. Franklin had this advice for clinicians seeking to promote CRF increases of 1 MET or more among patients: “Sedentary people who embark on a walking program, who over time increase their walking speed to 3 mph or faster, invariably show at least a 1 MET increase in CRF during subsequent peak or symptom-limited treadmill testing.”

“Another general rule is that if an exercise program decreases heart rate at a given or fixed workload by about 10 beats per minute [bpm], the same treadmill workload that initially was accomplished at a heart rate of 120 bpm is now being accomplished at a heart rate of 110 bpm,” likely resulting in about a 1 MET increase in fitness.

“Accordingly,” he added, “a 20-bpm decrease would suggest a 2 MET increase in fitness!”

In a related editorial, Leonard A. Kaminsky, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. and colleagues, write, “We agree with and believe the conclusion, reached by Kokkinos et al., bears repeating. We (again) call on both clinicians and public health professionals to adopt CRF as a key health indicator.”

“This should be done by coupling routine assessments of CRF with continued advocacy for promoting physical activity as an essential healthy lifestyle behavior,” they write.

No funding or relevant financial relationships were disclosed.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Even relatively small changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with “considerable” impact on clinical symptoms and mortality risk among individuals with and without cardiovascular disease, new observational data in United States veterans suggest.

“We had a few surprises,” Peter Kokkinos, PhD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N. J., and the VA Medical Center, Washington, told this news organization. “First, the mortality risk was greatly attenuated in those who were moderate- and high-fit at baseline, despite a decline in fitness over time. In fact, in those with no CVD, the risk was not significantly elevated even when CRF declined by at least one MET [metabolic equivalent of task] for the moderate-fit and two or more METs for the high-fit group.”

“Second,” he said, “Our findings suggest that the impact of CRF on human health is not ephemeral, but rather carries a certain protection over time. Third, the changes in CRF necessary to impact mortality risk are relatively small (> 1.0 METs). This has a substantial clinical and public health significance.”

The study was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

CRF up, mortality risk down

Dr. Kokkinos and colleagues analyzed data from 93,060 U.S. veterans; of these, 95% were men (mean age, 61.4 years) and 5% were women (mean age, 57.1 years). Overall, 72% of participants were White; 19.8%, African American; 5.2%, Hispanic; 1.9%, Native American, Asian, or Hawaiian; and 1.2%, unknown.

Participants were assigned to age-specific fitness quartiles based on peak METs achieved on a baseline exercise treadmill test (ETT). Each CRF quartile was stratified based on CRF changes (increase, decrease, no change) on the final ETT, with at least two ETT assessments at least 1 year apart.

The mean follow-up was 5.8 years (663,522 person-years), during which 18,302 deaths (19.7%) occurred, for an average annual mortality rate of 27.6 events per 1,000 person-years.

CRF was unchanged in 25.1% of the cohort, increased in 29.3%, and decreased in 45.6%. The trend was similar for those with and without CVD.

Significant differences were seen in all variables across CRF categories. In general, body weight, body mass index, CVD risk factors, and overall disease burden were progressively more unfavorable for those in the lowest CRF categories.

Conversely, medication use was progressively higher among those in low CRF categories.

After adjustment, higher CRF was inversely related to mortality risk for the entire cohort, with and without CVD. Cumulative survival rates across CRF categories declined progressively with increased fitness.

For patients with CVD (hazard ratio, 1.11), other significant predictors of all-cause mortality for patients were age (HR, 1.07), body mass index (HR, 0.98), chronic kidney disease (HR, 1.85), smoking (HR, 1.57), type 2 diabetes (HR, 1.42), hypertension (HR, 1.39), and cancers (HR, 1.37).

Generally, changes in CRF of at least 1.0 MET were associated with inverse and proportionate changes in mortality risk, regardless of baseline CRF status. For example, they note, a CRF decline of > 2.0 METs was associated with a 74% increased mortality risk for low-fit individuals with CVD, and a 69% increase for those without CVD.

A second analysis was done after excluding patients whose CRF declined and who died within 2 years of their last ETT, to account for the possibility that higher mortality rates and CRF declines were consequences of underlying disease (reverse causality). The association between changes in CRF and mortality risk persisted and remained similar to that observed in the entire cohort.

The authors add, “It is noteworthy that CRF increased by at least 1 MET in approximately 29% of the participants in the current study and decreased in approximately 46% of participants. This finding underscores the need to promote physical activity to maintain or increase CRF levels in middle-aged and older individuals.”

“Our findings make a persuasive argument that CRF is a strong and independent determinant of all-cause mortality risk, independent of genetic factors,” Dr. Kokkinos said. “We know that CRF is determined to some degree by genetic factors. However, improvements in aerobic capacity or CRF over time are largely the outcomes of regular engagement in aerobic activities of adequate intensity and volume.”

“Conversely,” he said, “a decline in CRF is likely the result of sedentary behavior, the onset of a chronic condition, or aging.”

If genetics were the sole contributor to mortality risk, then changes in CRF would not influence mortality risk, he concluded.
 

CRF impact “woefully underestimated”

Barry A. Franklin, PhD, past chair of both the American Heart Association’s Council on Physical Activity and Metabolism and the National Advocacy Committee, said the study substantiates previous smaller studies and is a “seminal” work.

“CRF is woefully underestimated as an index of health outcomes and survival,” said Dr. Franklin, director of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Mich. “Moderate to vigorous physical activity should be regularly promoted by the medical community.”

Dr. Franklin’s recent review, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, provides evidence for other exercise benefits that clinicians may not be aware of, he noted. These include:

• Each 1 MET increase in CRF is generally associated with approximately 16% reduction in mortality.
• At any given risk factor profile or coronary calcium score, unfit people have 2-3 times the mortality as their fit counterparts.
• Fitness is inversely related to annual health care costs (each 1 MET increase in CRF is associated with approximately 6% lower annual health care costs).
• Physically active people hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes have better short-term outcomes (likely because of a phenomenon called ‘exercise preconditioning’).
• Fit people who undergo elective or emergent surgical procedures have better outcomes.
• Regular physical activity is a common characteristic in population subsets who routinely live into their 90s and to 100+.

Dr. Franklin had this advice for clinicians seeking to promote CRF increases of 1 MET or more among patients: “Sedentary people who embark on a walking program, who over time increase their walking speed to 3 mph or faster, invariably show at least a 1 MET increase in CRF during subsequent peak or symptom-limited treadmill testing.”

“Another general rule is that if an exercise program decreases heart rate at a given or fixed workload by about 10 beats per minute [bpm], the same treadmill workload that initially was accomplished at a heart rate of 120 bpm is now being accomplished at a heart rate of 110 bpm,” likely resulting in about a 1 MET increase in fitness.

“Accordingly,” he added, “a 20-bpm decrease would suggest a 2 MET increase in fitness!”

In a related editorial, Leonard A. Kaminsky, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. and colleagues, write, “We agree with and believe the conclusion, reached by Kokkinos et al., bears repeating. We (again) call on both clinicians and public health professionals to adopt CRF as a key health indicator.”

“This should be done by coupling routine assessments of CRF with continued advocacy for promoting physical activity as an essential healthy lifestyle behavior,” they write.

No funding or relevant financial relationships were disclosed.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Sports-related sudden cardiac arrest (Sr-SCA) appears to be extremely rare in women, compared with men, despite similar characteristics and circumstances of occurrence, data from three European population-based registries suggest.

“Our study shows that cardiac arrest during sports activities is up to 13 times less frequent in women, which means that the risk of sports-related cardiac arrest is substantially lower in women than in men. This tighter risk is consistent across all age subgroups and registries,” Orianne Weizman, MD, MPH, Université Paris Cité, said in an interview.

“Even if it is a nonconsensual suggestion, the question of risk-adapted screening in women must be asked,” Dr. Weizman and colleagues propose.

Their study was published online  in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

Annual incidence

Among 34,826 cases of SCA in the registries that occurred in adults between 2006 and 2017, 760 (2.2%) were related to sports, and the vast majority occurred in men (706, 92.9%). Only 54 (7.1%) occurred in women.

Viktor Cap/Thinkstock

Overall, the average annual incidence of Sr-SCA in women was 0.19 per million, compared with 2.63 per million in men (P < .0001).

When extrapolating to the total European population and accounting for age and sex, this translates into 98 expected cases of Sr-SCA each year in women versus 1,350 cases annually in men.

The average age of Sr-SCA was similar in women and men (59 years). Most cases occurred during moderate-vigorous physical activity, although data on the types of sports and time spent on sports per week or month were not defined.

However, the investigators note that women with Sr-SCA were more likely than men to be engaged in light or moderate physical activity at the time of arrest (17.5% vs. 4.2%) – suggesting a potential higher propensity for women to present with SCA at moderate workloads.

The incidence of Sr-SCA increased only slightly in postmenopausal women, while there was an 8-fold increase in men aged 60-74 years, relative to peers younger than 40 years.

History of heart disease was relatively uncommon in both men and women. Previous myocardial infarction was the most frequent preexisting condition in men (26.8%), whereas nonischemic heart disease (cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease) was more frequent among women (29.0%).

Cardiovascular risk factors were frequently present in both men and women, with at least one factor present in two-thirds of the patients, regardless of sex.

Pulseless electrical activity and asystole were more common in women than in men (40.7% vs. 19.1%), as has been shown in previous studies of resuscitation from SCA in the general population. Ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation was the initial rhythm in 80.9% of men and 59.3% of women.

The cause of SCA was MI in 31.4% of women and 29.0% of men. Other cases were related to dilated cardiomyopathy (5.6% in women, 1.8% in men) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (1.9% in women, 1.3% in men). Electrical heart disease was found in two women (3.7%) and 15 men (2.1%).

In most cases (86%), one or more witnesses were present and assisted after the collapse. There was no significant difference between men and women in bystander response, time to defibrillation, and survival, which approached 60% at hospital discharge with early bystander cardiorespiratory resuscitation and automatic external defibrillator use.

A limitation of the study is a predominantly White European population, meaning that the findings may not be extrapolated to other populations.
 

Tailored screening?

“These findings raise questions about the causes of this extremely low risk, which are not yet clear, and the extent to which we should revise our pre-sport screening methods,” Dr. Weizman told this news organization.

“We suggest that extensive, routinely conducted screening in women would not be cost-effective because of the extremely rare incidence of serious events,” Dr. Weizman said.

What’s lacking, however, is sport-specific data on whether specific activities (endurance or resistance) would be more risky for women. Further information, particularly on the sports at highest risk for Sr-SCA in women, is needed to propose tailor-made screening algorithms, Dr. Weizman noted.

The value of preparticipation screening for occult heart disease beyond the history and physical examination has been debated, with some organizations recommending electrocardiogram in addition to baseline assessments.

But this can lead to false-positives, “with the anxiety and cost associated with additional testing,” Anne Curtis, MD, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo General Medical Center, and Jan Tijssen, PhD, University of Amsterdam, write in a linked editorial.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends screening before sports participation, with a focused personal and family history and physical examination.

Dr. Curtis told this news organization that the U.S. guidelines “should stay as they are, but if one were to change them, it would be important to recognize that male athletes are much more likely to suffer arrhythmic events during sports than female athletes.”

“That to me means that female athletes in particular should not need to have ECGs prior to sports participation unless the history and physical examination detects a potential problem that needs further investigation,” Dr. Curtis said.

“Both women and men should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors during routine primary care, with appropriate interventions for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and other risk factors,” Dr. Curtis and Dr. Tijssen advise in their editorial.

“In asymptomatic individuals who wish to become more active, in most cases they should be given the green light to proceed, starting slow and increasing intensity/duration over time, without specific additional testing. This advice is particularly relevant for women, given the findings of the current and prior studies,” they add.

This research was funded by Horizon 2020 and COST Action PARQ, supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Additional support was provided by INSERM, University of Paris, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Fondation Coeur et Artères, Global Heart Watch, Fédération Française de Cardiologie, Société Française de Cardiologie, Fondation Recherche Medicale, as well as unrestricted grants from industrial partners. The authors and Dr. Tijssen have declared no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Curtis has disclosed relationships with Janssen several pharmaceutical companies.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Sports-related sudden cardiac arrest (Sr-SCA) appears to be extremely rare in women, compared with men, despite similar characteristics and circumstances of occurrence, data from three European population-based registries suggest.

“Our study shows that cardiac arrest during sports activities is up to 13 times less frequent in women, which means that the risk of sports-related cardiac arrest is substantially lower in women than in men. This tighter risk is consistent across all age subgroups and registries,” Orianne Weizman, MD, MPH, Université Paris Cité, said in an interview.

“Even if it is a nonconsensual suggestion, the question of risk-adapted screening in women must be asked,” Dr. Weizman and colleagues propose.

Their study was published online  in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

Annual incidence

Among 34,826 cases of SCA in the registries that occurred in adults between 2006 and 2017, 760 (2.2%) were related to sports, and the vast majority occurred in men (706, 92.9%). Only 54 (7.1%) occurred in women.

Viktor Cap/Thinkstock

Overall, the average annual incidence of Sr-SCA in women was 0.19 per million, compared with 2.63 per million in men (P < .0001).

When extrapolating to the total European population and accounting for age and sex, this translates into 98 expected cases of Sr-SCA each year in women versus 1,350 cases annually in men.

The average age of Sr-SCA was similar in women and men (59 years). Most cases occurred during moderate-vigorous physical activity, although data on the types of sports and time spent on sports per week or month were not defined.

However, the investigators note that women with Sr-SCA were more likely than men to be engaged in light or moderate physical activity at the time of arrest (17.5% vs. 4.2%) – suggesting a potential higher propensity for women to present with SCA at moderate workloads.

The incidence of Sr-SCA increased only slightly in postmenopausal women, while there was an 8-fold increase in men aged 60-74 years, relative to peers younger than 40 years.

History of heart disease was relatively uncommon in both men and women. Previous myocardial infarction was the most frequent preexisting condition in men (26.8%), whereas nonischemic heart disease (cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease) was more frequent among women (29.0%).

Cardiovascular risk factors were frequently present in both men and women, with at least one factor present in two-thirds of the patients, regardless of sex.

Pulseless electrical activity and asystole were more common in women than in men (40.7% vs. 19.1%), as has been shown in previous studies of resuscitation from SCA in the general population. Ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation was the initial rhythm in 80.9% of men and 59.3% of women.

The cause of SCA was MI in 31.4% of women and 29.0% of men. Other cases were related to dilated cardiomyopathy (5.6% in women, 1.8% in men) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (1.9% in women, 1.3% in men). Electrical heart disease was found in two women (3.7%) and 15 men (2.1%).

In most cases (86%), one or more witnesses were present and assisted after the collapse. There was no significant difference between men and women in bystander response, time to defibrillation, and survival, which approached 60% at hospital discharge with early bystander cardiorespiratory resuscitation and automatic external defibrillator use.

A limitation of the study is a predominantly White European population, meaning that the findings may not be extrapolated to other populations.
 

Tailored screening?

“These findings raise questions about the causes of this extremely low risk, which are not yet clear, and the extent to which we should revise our pre-sport screening methods,” Dr. Weizman told this news organization.

“We suggest that extensive, routinely conducted screening in women would not be cost-effective because of the extremely rare incidence of serious events,” Dr. Weizman said.

What’s lacking, however, is sport-specific data on whether specific activities (endurance or resistance) would be more risky for women. Further information, particularly on the sports at highest risk for Sr-SCA in women, is needed to propose tailor-made screening algorithms, Dr. Weizman noted.

The value of preparticipation screening for occult heart disease beyond the history and physical examination has been debated, with some organizations recommending electrocardiogram in addition to baseline assessments.

But this can lead to false-positives, “with the anxiety and cost associated with additional testing,” Anne Curtis, MD, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo General Medical Center, and Jan Tijssen, PhD, University of Amsterdam, write in a linked editorial.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends screening before sports participation, with a focused personal and family history and physical examination.

Dr. Curtis told this news organization that the U.S. guidelines “should stay as they are, but if one were to change them, it would be important to recognize that male athletes are much more likely to suffer arrhythmic events during sports than female athletes.”

“That to me means that female athletes in particular should not need to have ECGs prior to sports participation unless the history and physical examination detects a potential problem that needs further investigation,” Dr. Curtis said.

“Both women and men should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors during routine primary care, with appropriate interventions for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and other risk factors,” Dr. Curtis and Dr. Tijssen advise in their editorial.

“In asymptomatic individuals who wish to become more active, in most cases they should be given the green light to proceed, starting slow and increasing intensity/duration over time, without specific additional testing. This advice is particularly relevant for women, given the findings of the current and prior studies,” they add.

This research was funded by Horizon 2020 and COST Action PARQ, supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Additional support was provided by INSERM, University of Paris, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Fondation Coeur et Artères, Global Heart Watch, Fédération Française de Cardiologie, Société Française de Cardiologie, Fondation Recherche Medicale, as well as unrestricted grants from industrial partners. The authors and Dr. Tijssen have declared no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Curtis has disclosed relationships with Janssen several pharmaceutical companies.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Sports-related sudden cardiac arrest (Sr-SCA) appears to be extremely rare in women, compared with men, despite similar characteristics and circumstances of occurrence, data from three European population-based registries suggest.

“Our study shows that cardiac arrest during sports activities is up to 13 times less frequent in women, which means that the risk of sports-related cardiac arrest is substantially lower in women than in men. This tighter risk is consistent across all age subgroups and registries,” Orianne Weizman, MD, MPH, Université Paris Cité, said in an interview.

“Even if it is a nonconsensual suggestion, the question of risk-adapted screening in women must be asked,” Dr. Weizman and colleagues propose.

Their study was published online  in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

Annual incidence

Among 34,826 cases of SCA in the registries that occurred in adults between 2006 and 2017, 760 (2.2%) were related to sports, and the vast majority occurred in men (706, 92.9%). Only 54 (7.1%) occurred in women.

Viktor Cap/Thinkstock

Overall, the average annual incidence of Sr-SCA in women was 0.19 per million, compared with 2.63 per million in men (P < .0001).

When extrapolating to the total European population and accounting for age and sex, this translates into 98 expected cases of Sr-SCA each year in women versus 1,350 cases annually in men.

The average age of Sr-SCA was similar in women and men (59 years). Most cases occurred during moderate-vigorous physical activity, although data on the types of sports and time spent on sports per week or month were not defined.

However, the investigators note that women with Sr-SCA were more likely than men to be engaged in light or moderate physical activity at the time of arrest (17.5% vs. 4.2%) – suggesting a potential higher propensity for women to present with SCA at moderate workloads.

The incidence of Sr-SCA increased only slightly in postmenopausal women, while there was an 8-fold increase in men aged 60-74 years, relative to peers younger than 40 years.

History of heart disease was relatively uncommon in both men and women. Previous myocardial infarction was the most frequent preexisting condition in men (26.8%), whereas nonischemic heart disease (cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease) was more frequent among women (29.0%).

Cardiovascular risk factors were frequently present in both men and women, with at least one factor present in two-thirds of the patients, regardless of sex.

Pulseless electrical activity and asystole were more common in women than in men (40.7% vs. 19.1%), as has been shown in previous studies of resuscitation from SCA in the general population. Ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation was the initial rhythm in 80.9% of men and 59.3% of women.

The cause of SCA was MI in 31.4% of women and 29.0% of men. Other cases were related to dilated cardiomyopathy (5.6% in women, 1.8% in men) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (1.9% in women, 1.3% in men). Electrical heart disease was found in two women (3.7%) and 15 men (2.1%).

In most cases (86%), one or more witnesses were present and assisted after the collapse. There was no significant difference between men and women in bystander response, time to defibrillation, and survival, which approached 60% at hospital discharge with early bystander cardiorespiratory resuscitation and automatic external defibrillator use.

A limitation of the study is a predominantly White European population, meaning that the findings may not be extrapolated to other populations.
 

Tailored screening?

“These findings raise questions about the causes of this extremely low risk, which are not yet clear, and the extent to which we should revise our pre-sport screening methods,” Dr. Weizman told this news organization.

“We suggest that extensive, routinely conducted screening in women would not be cost-effective because of the extremely rare incidence of serious events,” Dr. Weizman said.

What’s lacking, however, is sport-specific data on whether specific activities (endurance or resistance) would be more risky for women. Further information, particularly on the sports at highest risk for Sr-SCA in women, is needed to propose tailor-made screening algorithms, Dr. Weizman noted.

The value of preparticipation screening for occult heart disease beyond the history and physical examination has been debated, with some organizations recommending electrocardiogram in addition to baseline assessments.

But this can lead to false-positives, “with the anxiety and cost associated with additional testing,” Anne Curtis, MD, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo General Medical Center, and Jan Tijssen, PhD, University of Amsterdam, write in a linked editorial.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends screening before sports participation, with a focused personal and family history and physical examination.

Dr. Curtis told this news organization that the U.S. guidelines “should stay as they are, but if one were to change them, it would be important to recognize that male athletes are much more likely to suffer arrhythmic events during sports than female athletes.”

“That to me means that female athletes in particular should not need to have ECGs prior to sports participation unless the history and physical examination detects a potential problem that needs further investigation,” Dr. Curtis said.

“Both women and men should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors during routine primary care, with appropriate interventions for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and other risk factors,” Dr. Curtis and Dr. Tijssen advise in their editorial.

“In asymptomatic individuals who wish to become more active, in most cases they should be given the green light to proceed, starting slow and increasing intensity/duration over time, without specific additional testing. This advice is particularly relevant for women, given the findings of the current and prior studies,” they add.

This research was funded by Horizon 2020 and COST Action PARQ, supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Additional support was provided by INSERM, University of Paris, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Fondation Coeur et Artères, Global Heart Watch, Fédération Française de Cardiologie, Société Française de Cardiologie, Fondation Recherche Medicale, as well as unrestricted grants from industrial partners. The authors and Dr. Tijssen have declared no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Curtis has disclosed relationships with Janssen several pharmaceutical companies.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Both tooth loss and diabetes can lead to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults, most specifically in those 65-74 years of age, new findings suggest.

The data come from a 12-year follow-up of older adults in a nationally representative U.S. survey.

“From a clinical perspective, our study demonstrates the importance of improving access to dental health care and integrating primary dental and medical care. Health care professionals and family caregivers should pay close attention to the cognitive status of diabetic older adults with poor oral health status,” lead author Bei Wu, PhD, of New York University, said in an interview. Dr. Wu is the Dean’s Professor in Global Health and codirector of the NYU Aging Incubator.

Moreover, said Dr. Wu: “For individuals with both poor oral health and diabetes, regular dental visits should be encouraged in addition to adherence to the diabetes self-care protocol.”

Diabetes has long been recognized as a risk factor for cognitive decline, but the findings have been inconsistent for different age groups. Tooth loss has also been linked to cognitive decline and dementia, as well as diabetes.

The mechanisms aren’t entirely clear, but “co-occurring diabetes and poor oral health may increase the risk for dementia, possibly via the potentially interrelated pathways of chronic inflammation and cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Wu said.

The new study, published in the Journal of Dental Research, is the first to examine the relationships between all three conditions by age group.  
 

Diabetes, edentulism, and cognitive decline

The data came from a total of 9,948 participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 2006 to 2018. At baseline, 5,440 participants were aged 65-74 years, 3,300 were aged 75-84, and 1,208 were aged 85 years or older.

They were assessed every 2 years using the 35-point Telephone Survey for Cognitive Status, which included tests of immediate and delayed word recall, repeated subtracting by 7, counting backward from 20, naming objects, and naming the president and vice president of the U.S. As might be expected, the youngest group scored the highest, averaging 23 points, while the oldest group scored lowest, at 18.5 points.

Participants were also asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes. Another question was: “Have you lost all of your upper and lower natural permanent teeth?”

The condition of having no teeth is known as edentulism.

The percentages of participants who reported having both diabetes and edentulism were 6.0%, 6.7%, and 5.0% for those aged 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85 years or older, respectively. The proportions with neither of those conditions were 63.5%, 60.4%, and 58.3% in those three age groups, respectively (P < .001).

Compared with their counterparts with neither diabetes nor edentulism at baseline, older adults with both conditions aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and aged 75-84 years had worse cognitive function (P < .001).

In terms of the rate of cognitive decline, compared with those with neither condition from the same age cohort, older adults aged 65-74 years with both conditions declined at a higher rate (P < .001).

Having diabetes alone led to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001). Having edentulism alone led to accelerated decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and older adults aged 75-84 years (P < 0.01).

“Our study finds the co-occurrence of diabetes and edentulism led to a worse cognitive function and a faster cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years,” say Wu and colleagues.
 

Study limitations: Better data needed

The study has several limitations, most of them due to the data source. For example, while the HRS collects detailed information on cognitive status, edentulism is its only measure of oral health. There were no data on whether individuals had replacements such as dentures or implants that would affect their ability to eat, which could influence other health factors.

“I have made repeated appeals for federal funding to collect more oral health-related information in large national surveys,” Dr. Wu told this news organization.

Similarly, assessments of diabetes status such as hemoglobin A1c were only available for small subsets and not sufficient to demonstrate statistical significance, she explained.

Dr. Wu suggested that both oral health and cognitive screening might be included in the “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit. In addition, “Oral hygiene practice should also be highlighted to improve cognitive health. Developing dental care interventions and programs are needed for reducing the societal cost of dementia.”

The study was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health. The authors have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Both tooth loss and diabetes can lead to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults, most specifically in those 65-74 years of age, new findings suggest.

The data come from a 12-year follow-up of older adults in a nationally representative U.S. survey.

“From a clinical perspective, our study demonstrates the importance of improving access to dental health care and integrating primary dental and medical care. Health care professionals and family caregivers should pay close attention to the cognitive status of diabetic older adults with poor oral health status,” lead author Bei Wu, PhD, of New York University, said in an interview. Dr. Wu is the Dean’s Professor in Global Health and codirector of the NYU Aging Incubator.

Moreover, said Dr. Wu: “For individuals with both poor oral health and diabetes, regular dental visits should be encouraged in addition to adherence to the diabetes self-care protocol.”

Diabetes has long been recognized as a risk factor for cognitive decline, but the findings have been inconsistent for different age groups. Tooth loss has also been linked to cognitive decline and dementia, as well as diabetes.

The mechanisms aren’t entirely clear, but “co-occurring diabetes and poor oral health may increase the risk for dementia, possibly via the potentially interrelated pathways of chronic inflammation and cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Wu said.

The new study, published in the Journal of Dental Research, is the first to examine the relationships between all three conditions by age group.  
 

Diabetes, edentulism, and cognitive decline

The data came from a total of 9,948 participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 2006 to 2018. At baseline, 5,440 participants were aged 65-74 years, 3,300 were aged 75-84, and 1,208 were aged 85 years or older.

They were assessed every 2 years using the 35-point Telephone Survey for Cognitive Status, which included tests of immediate and delayed word recall, repeated subtracting by 7, counting backward from 20, naming objects, and naming the president and vice president of the U.S. As might be expected, the youngest group scored the highest, averaging 23 points, while the oldest group scored lowest, at 18.5 points.

Participants were also asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes. Another question was: “Have you lost all of your upper and lower natural permanent teeth?”

The condition of having no teeth is known as edentulism.

The percentages of participants who reported having both diabetes and edentulism were 6.0%, 6.7%, and 5.0% for those aged 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85 years or older, respectively. The proportions with neither of those conditions were 63.5%, 60.4%, and 58.3% in those three age groups, respectively (P < .001).

Compared with their counterparts with neither diabetes nor edentulism at baseline, older adults with both conditions aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and aged 75-84 years had worse cognitive function (P < .001).

In terms of the rate of cognitive decline, compared with those with neither condition from the same age cohort, older adults aged 65-74 years with both conditions declined at a higher rate (P < .001).

Having diabetes alone led to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001). Having edentulism alone led to accelerated decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and older adults aged 75-84 years (P < 0.01).

“Our study finds the co-occurrence of diabetes and edentulism led to a worse cognitive function and a faster cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years,” say Wu and colleagues.
 

Study limitations: Better data needed

The study has several limitations, most of them due to the data source. For example, while the HRS collects detailed information on cognitive status, edentulism is its only measure of oral health. There were no data on whether individuals had replacements such as dentures or implants that would affect their ability to eat, which could influence other health factors.

“I have made repeated appeals for federal funding to collect more oral health-related information in large national surveys,” Dr. Wu told this news organization.

Similarly, assessments of diabetes status such as hemoglobin A1c were only available for small subsets and not sufficient to demonstrate statistical significance, she explained.

Dr. Wu suggested that both oral health and cognitive screening might be included in the “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit. In addition, “Oral hygiene practice should also be highlighted to improve cognitive health. Developing dental care interventions and programs are needed for reducing the societal cost of dementia.”

The study was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health. The authors have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Both tooth loss and diabetes can lead to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults, most specifically in those 65-74 years of age, new findings suggest.

The data come from a 12-year follow-up of older adults in a nationally representative U.S. survey.

“From a clinical perspective, our study demonstrates the importance of improving access to dental health care and integrating primary dental and medical care. Health care professionals and family caregivers should pay close attention to the cognitive status of diabetic older adults with poor oral health status,” lead author Bei Wu, PhD, of New York University, said in an interview. Dr. Wu is the Dean’s Professor in Global Health and codirector of the NYU Aging Incubator.

Moreover, said Dr. Wu: “For individuals with both poor oral health and diabetes, regular dental visits should be encouraged in addition to adherence to the diabetes self-care protocol.”

Diabetes has long been recognized as a risk factor for cognitive decline, but the findings have been inconsistent for different age groups. Tooth loss has also been linked to cognitive decline and dementia, as well as diabetes.

The mechanisms aren’t entirely clear, but “co-occurring diabetes and poor oral health may increase the risk for dementia, possibly via the potentially interrelated pathways of chronic inflammation and cardiovascular risk factors,” Dr. Wu said.

The new study, published in the Journal of Dental Research, is the first to examine the relationships between all three conditions by age group.  
 

Diabetes, edentulism, and cognitive decline

The data came from a total of 9,948 participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 2006 to 2018. At baseline, 5,440 participants were aged 65-74 years, 3,300 were aged 75-84, and 1,208 were aged 85 years or older.

They were assessed every 2 years using the 35-point Telephone Survey for Cognitive Status, which included tests of immediate and delayed word recall, repeated subtracting by 7, counting backward from 20, naming objects, and naming the president and vice president of the U.S. As might be expected, the youngest group scored the highest, averaging 23 points, while the oldest group scored lowest, at 18.5 points.

Participants were also asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes. Another question was: “Have you lost all of your upper and lower natural permanent teeth?”

The condition of having no teeth is known as edentulism.

The percentages of participants who reported having both diabetes and edentulism were 6.0%, 6.7%, and 5.0% for those aged 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85 years or older, respectively. The proportions with neither of those conditions were 63.5%, 60.4%, and 58.3% in those three age groups, respectively (P < .001).

Compared with their counterparts with neither diabetes nor edentulism at baseline, older adults with both conditions aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and aged 75-84 years had worse cognitive function (P < .001).

In terms of the rate of cognitive decline, compared with those with neither condition from the same age cohort, older adults aged 65-74 years with both conditions declined at a higher rate (P < .001).

Having diabetes alone led to accelerated cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001). Having edentulism alone led to accelerated decline in older adults aged 65-74 years (P < .001) and older adults aged 75-84 years (P < 0.01).

“Our study finds the co-occurrence of diabetes and edentulism led to a worse cognitive function and a faster cognitive decline in older adults aged 65-74 years,” say Wu and colleagues.
 

Study limitations: Better data needed

The study has several limitations, most of them due to the data source. For example, while the HRS collects detailed information on cognitive status, edentulism is its only measure of oral health. There were no data on whether individuals had replacements such as dentures or implants that would affect their ability to eat, which could influence other health factors.

“I have made repeated appeals for federal funding to collect more oral health-related information in large national surveys,” Dr. Wu told this news organization.

Similarly, assessments of diabetes status such as hemoglobin A1c were only available for small subsets and not sufficient to demonstrate statistical significance, she explained.

Dr. Wu suggested that both oral health and cognitive screening might be included in the “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit. In addition, “Oral hygiene practice should also be highlighted to improve cognitive health. Developing dental care interventions and programs are needed for reducing the societal cost of dementia.”

The study was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health. The authors have reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Urine drug testing can be valuable for monitoring patients undergoing treatment with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, some patients alter their test results by adding buprenorphine directly to their urine sample to imply adherence, a new study shows.

In the study, nearly 2% of all urine drug test specimens analyzed were suggestive of spiking and nearly 8% of patients had at least one specimen that was possibly spiked.

“I anticipate a much-needed increase” in the number of people gaining access to buprenorphine therapy, given elimination of the X waiver, first author Jarratt D. Pytell, MD, with University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, said in a statement.

“New prescribers of buprenorphine will need to learn how to conduct the increasingly complex initiation of treatment and then gauge whether it is successful or not,” added Dr. Pytell, a general internist and addiction medicine specialist.

“Spiking suggests that treatment is not working – especially in patients continuing illicit drug use. Detecting spiking allows clinicians to adjust or intensify the treatment plan,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

The study was published online in JAMA Psychiatry.
 

A sign of elevated patient risk

In a cross-sectional study using Millennium Health’s proprietary urine drug test (UDT) database, researchers analyzed 507,735 urine specimens from 58,476 OUD patients collected between January 2017 and April 2022.

A total of 9546 (1.9%) specimens from 4,550 patients (7.6%) were suggestive of spiking.

UDT specimens suggestive of spiking had two times the odds of being positive for other opioids (fentanyl or heroin), compared with opioid negative samples.

UDT specimens obtained from primary care clinics, from patients aged 35-44 years, and from patients living in the South Atlantic region of the United States were also more likely to be suggestive of buprenorphine spiking.

“Our study demonstrated that a buprenorphine to norbuprenorphine ratio of less than 0.02 indicates the possibility of spiking,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

“Nevertheless, it is important to note that this cutoff is not a definitive standard and further controlled studies are necessary to determine its predictive value for spiking. But recognizing possible spiking is very important since it demonstrates a point of elevated risk for the patient and the treatment approach should be reconsidered,” Dr. Pytell said.

“At Millennium Health, we have been tracking the enormity of the drug use crisis. This study suggests that spiking is an important patient safety issue, and it is not uncommon,” study coauthor Eric Dawson, PharmD, vice president of clinical affairs, Millennium Health, said in a statement.

“Detection of spiking requires definitive drug testing. Immunoassay-based, point-of-care tests cannot detect spiking because they are generally incapable of quantitative analysis and differentiating buprenorphine from norbuprenorphine,” Dr. Dawson said.
 

Best practices?

“We need to develop best practices specific for this situation where a patient has added buprenorphine to the urine drug test specimen,” said Dr. Pytell.

“As with all unexpected findings, it is crucial for clinicians to approach this finding in a nonjudgmental manner and work with the patient to understand what might have motivated them to alter their urine specimen,” he added.

Dr. Pytell said a common reaction for clinicians might be to discontinue treatment. However, this is actually a time to try and engage with the patient.

“Clinicians should work collaboratively with patients to identify potential reasons for spiking and determine what changes may need to be made to better support the patient’s recovery,” Dr. Pytell said.

“This could include more frequent monitoring or referral to a higher level of care. In addition, clinicians should be aware that patients who engage in spiking may be experiencing other challenges that impact their ability to adhere to treatment, such as inadequate housing, mental health issues, or financial strain. Addressing these underlying issues may help patients overcome barriers to treatment adherence and reduce the likelihood of future spiking,” Dr. Pytell said.

This study was supported by Millennium Health. The authors have no relevant disclosures.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Urine drug testing can be valuable for monitoring patients undergoing treatment with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, some patients alter their test results by adding buprenorphine directly to their urine sample to imply adherence, a new study shows.

In the study, nearly 2% of all urine drug test specimens analyzed were suggestive of spiking and nearly 8% of patients had at least one specimen that was possibly spiked.

“I anticipate a much-needed increase” in the number of people gaining access to buprenorphine therapy, given elimination of the X waiver, first author Jarratt D. Pytell, MD, with University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, said in a statement.

“New prescribers of buprenorphine will need to learn how to conduct the increasingly complex initiation of treatment and then gauge whether it is successful or not,” added Dr. Pytell, a general internist and addiction medicine specialist.

“Spiking suggests that treatment is not working – especially in patients continuing illicit drug use. Detecting spiking allows clinicians to adjust or intensify the treatment plan,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

The study was published online in JAMA Psychiatry.
 

A sign of elevated patient risk

In a cross-sectional study using Millennium Health’s proprietary urine drug test (UDT) database, researchers analyzed 507,735 urine specimens from 58,476 OUD patients collected between January 2017 and April 2022.

A total of 9546 (1.9%) specimens from 4,550 patients (7.6%) were suggestive of spiking.

UDT specimens suggestive of spiking had two times the odds of being positive for other opioids (fentanyl or heroin), compared with opioid negative samples.

UDT specimens obtained from primary care clinics, from patients aged 35-44 years, and from patients living in the South Atlantic region of the United States were also more likely to be suggestive of buprenorphine spiking.

“Our study demonstrated that a buprenorphine to norbuprenorphine ratio of less than 0.02 indicates the possibility of spiking,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

“Nevertheless, it is important to note that this cutoff is not a definitive standard and further controlled studies are necessary to determine its predictive value for spiking. But recognizing possible spiking is very important since it demonstrates a point of elevated risk for the patient and the treatment approach should be reconsidered,” Dr. Pytell said.

“At Millennium Health, we have been tracking the enormity of the drug use crisis. This study suggests that spiking is an important patient safety issue, and it is not uncommon,” study coauthor Eric Dawson, PharmD, vice president of clinical affairs, Millennium Health, said in a statement.

“Detection of spiking requires definitive drug testing. Immunoassay-based, point-of-care tests cannot detect spiking because they are generally incapable of quantitative analysis and differentiating buprenorphine from norbuprenorphine,” Dr. Dawson said.
 

Best practices?

“We need to develop best practices specific for this situation where a patient has added buprenorphine to the urine drug test specimen,” said Dr. Pytell.

“As with all unexpected findings, it is crucial for clinicians to approach this finding in a nonjudgmental manner and work with the patient to understand what might have motivated them to alter their urine specimen,” he added.

Dr. Pytell said a common reaction for clinicians might be to discontinue treatment. However, this is actually a time to try and engage with the patient.

“Clinicians should work collaboratively with patients to identify potential reasons for spiking and determine what changes may need to be made to better support the patient’s recovery,” Dr. Pytell said.

“This could include more frequent monitoring or referral to a higher level of care. In addition, clinicians should be aware that patients who engage in spiking may be experiencing other challenges that impact their ability to adhere to treatment, such as inadequate housing, mental health issues, or financial strain. Addressing these underlying issues may help patients overcome barriers to treatment adherence and reduce the likelihood of future spiking,” Dr. Pytell said.

This study was supported by Millennium Health. The authors have no relevant disclosures.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Urine drug testing can be valuable for monitoring patients undergoing treatment with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, some patients alter their test results by adding buprenorphine directly to their urine sample to imply adherence, a new study shows.

In the study, nearly 2% of all urine drug test specimens analyzed were suggestive of spiking and nearly 8% of patients had at least one specimen that was possibly spiked.

“I anticipate a much-needed increase” in the number of people gaining access to buprenorphine therapy, given elimination of the X waiver, first author Jarratt D. Pytell, MD, with University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, said in a statement.

“New prescribers of buprenorphine will need to learn how to conduct the increasingly complex initiation of treatment and then gauge whether it is successful or not,” added Dr. Pytell, a general internist and addiction medicine specialist.

“Spiking suggests that treatment is not working – especially in patients continuing illicit drug use. Detecting spiking allows clinicians to adjust or intensify the treatment plan,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

The study was published online in JAMA Psychiatry.
 

A sign of elevated patient risk

In a cross-sectional study using Millennium Health’s proprietary urine drug test (UDT) database, researchers analyzed 507,735 urine specimens from 58,476 OUD patients collected between January 2017 and April 2022.

A total of 9546 (1.9%) specimens from 4,550 patients (7.6%) were suggestive of spiking.

UDT specimens suggestive of spiking had two times the odds of being positive for other opioids (fentanyl or heroin), compared with opioid negative samples.

UDT specimens obtained from primary care clinics, from patients aged 35-44 years, and from patients living in the South Atlantic region of the United States were also more likely to be suggestive of buprenorphine spiking.

“Our study demonstrated that a buprenorphine to norbuprenorphine ratio of less than 0.02 indicates the possibility of spiking,” Dr. Pytell said in an interview.

“Nevertheless, it is important to note that this cutoff is not a definitive standard and further controlled studies are necessary to determine its predictive value for spiking. But recognizing possible spiking is very important since it demonstrates a point of elevated risk for the patient and the treatment approach should be reconsidered,” Dr. Pytell said.

“At Millennium Health, we have been tracking the enormity of the drug use crisis. This study suggests that spiking is an important patient safety issue, and it is not uncommon,” study coauthor Eric Dawson, PharmD, vice president of clinical affairs, Millennium Health, said in a statement.

“Detection of spiking requires definitive drug testing. Immunoassay-based, point-of-care tests cannot detect spiking because they are generally incapable of quantitative analysis and differentiating buprenorphine from norbuprenorphine,” Dr. Dawson said.
 

Best practices?

“We need to develop best practices specific for this situation where a patient has added buprenorphine to the urine drug test specimen,” said Dr. Pytell.

“As with all unexpected findings, it is crucial for clinicians to approach this finding in a nonjudgmental manner and work with the patient to understand what might have motivated them to alter their urine specimen,” he added.

Dr. Pytell said a common reaction for clinicians might be to discontinue treatment. However, this is actually a time to try and engage with the patient.

“Clinicians should work collaboratively with patients to identify potential reasons for spiking and determine what changes may need to be made to better support the patient’s recovery,” Dr. Pytell said.

“This could include more frequent monitoring or referral to a higher level of care. In addition, clinicians should be aware that patients who engage in spiking may be experiencing other challenges that impact their ability to adhere to treatment, such as inadequate housing, mental health issues, or financial strain. Addressing these underlying issues may help patients overcome barriers to treatment adherence and reduce the likelihood of future spiking,” Dr. Pytell said.

This study was supported by Millennium Health. The authors have no relevant disclosures.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

People with epilepsy have a twofold increased risk for death, compared with their counterparts without the condition, irrespective of comorbidities or disease severity, new research shows.

“To our knowledge, this is the only study that has assessed the cause-specific mortality risk among people with epilepsy according to age and disease course,” investigators led by Seo-Young Lee, MD, PhD, of Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea, write. “Understanding cause-specific mortality risk, particularly the risk of external causes, is important because they are mostly preventable.”

The findings were published online  in Neurology.
 

Higher mortality risk

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea from 2006 to 2017 and vital statistics from Statistics Korea from 2008 to 2017.

The study population included 138,998 patients with newly treated epilepsy, with an average at diagnosis of 48.6 years.

Over 665,928 person years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 4.79 years), 20.095 patients died.

People with epilepsy had more than twice the risk for death, compared with the overall population (standardized mortality ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 2.22-2.28). Mortality was highest in children aged 4 years or younger and was higher in the first year after diagnosis and in women at all age points.

People with epilepsy had a higher mortality risk, compared with the general public, regardless of how many anti-seizure medications they were taking. Those taking only one medication had a 156% higher risk for death (SMR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.53-1.60), compared with 493% higher risk in those taking four or more medications (SMR, 4.93; 95% CI, 4.76-5.10).

Where patients lived also played a role in mortality risk. Living in a rural area was associated with a 247% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy who lived in the same area (SMR, 2.47; 95% CI, 2.41-2.53), and the risk was 203% higher risk among those living in urban centers (SMR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.98-2.09).

Although people with comorbidities had higher mortality rates, even those without any other health conditions had a 161% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy (SMR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.50-1.72).
 

Causes of death

The most frequent causes of death were malignant neoplasm and cerebrovascular disease, which researchers noted are thought to be underlying causes of epilepsy.

Among external causes of death, suicide was the most common cause (2.6%). The suicide rate was highest among younger patients and gradually decreased with age.

Deaths tied directly to epilepsy, transport accidents, or falls were lower in this study than had been previously reported, which may be due to adequate seizure control or because the number of older people with epilepsy and comorbidities is higher in Korea than that reported in other countries.

“To reduce mortality in people with epilepsy, comprehensive efforts [are needed], including a national policy against stigma of epilepsy and clinicians’ total management such as risk stratification, education about injury prevention, and monitoring for suicidal ideation with psychological intervention, as well as active control of seizures,” the authors write.
 

Generalizable findings

Joseph Sirven, MD, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, said that although the study included only Korean patients, the findings are applicable to other counties.

That researchers found patients with epilepsy were more than twice as likely to die prematurely, compared with the general population wasn’t particularly surprising, Dr. Sirven said.

“What struck me the most was the fact that even patients who were on a single drug and seemingly well controlled also had excess mortality reported,” Dr. Sirven said. “That these risks occur should be part of what we tell all patients with epilepsy so that they can better arm themselves with information and help to address some of the risks that this study showed.”

Another important finding is the risk for suicide in patients with epilepsy, especially those who are newly diagnosed, he said.

“When we treat a patient with epilepsy, it should not just be about seizures, but we need to inquire about the psychiatric comorbidities and more importantly manage them in a comprehensive manner,” Dr. Sirven said.

The study was funded by Soonchunhyang University Research Fund and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project. The study authors and Dr. Sirven report no relevant financial conflicts.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

People with epilepsy have a twofold increased risk for death, compared with their counterparts without the condition, irrespective of comorbidities or disease severity, new research shows.

“To our knowledge, this is the only study that has assessed the cause-specific mortality risk among people with epilepsy according to age and disease course,” investigators led by Seo-Young Lee, MD, PhD, of Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea, write. “Understanding cause-specific mortality risk, particularly the risk of external causes, is important because they are mostly preventable.”

The findings were published online  in Neurology.
 

Higher mortality risk

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea from 2006 to 2017 and vital statistics from Statistics Korea from 2008 to 2017.

The study population included 138,998 patients with newly treated epilepsy, with an average at diagnosis of 48.6 years.

Over 665,928 person years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 4.79 years), 20.095 patients died.

People with epilepsy had more than twice the risk for death, compared with the overall population (standardized mortality ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 2.22-2.28). Mortality was highest in children aged 4 years or younger and was higher in the first year after diagnosis and in women at all age points.

People with epilepsy had a higher mortality risk, compared with the general public, regardless of how many anti-seizure medications they were taking. Those taking only one medication had a 156% higher risk for death (SMR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.53-1.60), compared with 493% higher risk in those taking four or more medications (SMR, 4.93; 95% CI, 4.76-5.10).

Where patients lived also played a role in mortality risk. Living in a rural area was associated with a 247% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy who lived in the same area (SMR, 2.47; 95% CI, 2.41-2.53), and the risk was 203% higher risk among those living in urban centers (SMR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.98-2.09).

Although people with comorbidities had higher mortality rates, even those without any other health conditions had a 161% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy (SMR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.50-1.72).
 

Causes of death

The most frequent causes of death were malignant neoplasm and cerebrovascular disease, which researchers noted are thought to be underlying causes of epilepsy.

Among external causes of death, suicide was the most common cause (2.6%). The suicide rate was highest among younger patients and gradually decreased with age.

Deaths tied directly to epilepsy, transport accidents, or falls were lower in this study than had been previously reported, which may be due to adequate seizure control or because the number of older people with epilepsy and comorbidities is higher in Korea than that reported in other countries.

“To reduce mortality in people with epilepsy, comprehensive efforts [are needed], including a national policy against stigma of epilepsy and clinicians’ total management such as risk stratification, education about injury prevention, and monitoring for suicidal ideation with psychological intervention, as well as active control of seizures,” the authors write.
 

Generalizable findings

Joseph Sirven, MD, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, said that although the study included only Korean patients, the findings are applicable to other counties.

That researchers found patients with epilepsy were more than twice as likely to die prematurely, compared with the general population wasn’t particularly surprising, Dr. Sirven said.

“What struck me the most was the fact that even patients who were on a single drug and seemingly well controlled also had excess mortality reported,” Dr. Sirven said. “That these risks occur should be part of what we tell all patients with epilepsy so that they can better arm themselves with information and help to address some of the risks that this study showed.”

Another important finding is the risk for suicide in patients with epilepsy, especially those who are newly diagnosed, he said.

“When we treat a patient with epilepsy, it should not just be about seizures, but we need to inquire about the psychiatric comorbidities and more importantly manage them in a comprehensive manner,” Dr. Sirven said.

The study was funded by Soonchunhyang University Research Fund and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project. The study authors and Dr. Sirven report no relevant financial conflicts.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

People with epilepsy have a twofold increased risk for death, compared with their counterparts without the condition, irrespective of comorbidities or disease severity, new research shows.

“To our knowledge, this is the only study that has assessed the cause-specific mortality risk among people with epilepsy according to age and disease course,” investigators led by Seo-Young Lee, MD, PhD, of Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea, write. “Understanding cause-specific mortality risk, particularly the risk of external causes, is important because they are mostly preventable.”

The findings were published online  in Neurology.
 

Higher mortality risk

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea from 2006 to 2017 and vital statistics from Statistics Korea from 2008 to 2017.

The study population included 138,998 patients with newly treated epilepsy, with an average at diagnosis of 48.6 years.

Over 665,928 person years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 4.79 years), 20.095 patients died.

People with epilepsy had more than twice the risk for death, compared with the overall population (standardized mortality ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 2.22-2.28). Mortality was highest in children aged 4 years or younger and was higher in the first year after diagnosis and in women at all age points.

People with epilepsy had a higher mortality risk, compared with the general public, regardless of how many anti-seizure medications they were taking. Those taking only one medication had a 156% higher risk for death (SMR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.53-1.60), compared with 493% higher risk in those taking four or more medications (SMR, 4.93; 95% CI, 4.76-5.10).

Where patients lived also played a role in mortality risk. Living in a rural area was associated with a 247% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy who lived in the same area (SMR, 2.47; 95% CI, 2.41-2.53), and the risk was 203% higher risk among those living in urban centers (SMR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.98-2.09).

Although people with comorbidities had higher mortality rates, even those without any other health conditions had a 161% higher risk for death, compared with people without epilepsy (SMR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.50-1.72).
 

Causes of death

The most frequent causes of death were malignant neoplasm and cerebrovascular disease, which researchers noted are thought to be underlying causes of epilepsy.

Among external causes of death, suicide was the most common cause (2.6%). The suicide rate was highest among younger patients and gradually decreased with age.

Deaths tied directly to epilepsy, transport accidents, or falls were lower in this study than had been previously reported, which may be due to adequate seizure control or because the number of older people with epilepsy and comorbidities is higher in Korea than that reported in other countries.

“To reduce mortality in people with epilepsy, comprehensive efforts [are needed], including a national policy against stigma of epilepsy and clinicians’ total management such as risk stratification, education about injury prevention, and monitoring for suicidal ideation with psychological intervention, as well as active control of seizures,” the authors write.
 

Generalizable findings

Joseph Sirven, MD, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, said that although the study included only Korean patients, the findings are applicable to other counties.

That researchers found patients with epilepsy were more than twice as likely to die prematurely, compared with the general population wasn’t particularly surprising, Dr. Sirven said.

“What struck me the most was the fact that even patients who were on a single drug and seemingly well controlled also had excess mortality reported,” Dr. Sirven said. “That these risks occur should be part of what we tell all patients with epilepsy so that they can better arm themselves with information and help to address some of the risks that this study showed.”

Another important finding is the risk for suicide in patients with epilepsy, especially those who are newly diagnosed, he said.

“When we treat a patient with epilepsy, it should not just be about seizures, but we need to inquire about the psychiatric comorbidities and more importantly manage them in a comprehensive manner,” Dr. Sirven said.

The study was funded by Soonchunhyang University Research Fund and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project. The study authors and Dr. Sirven report no relevant financial conflicts.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Substance use disorders (SUDs), including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or opioids, appear to share a common genetic signature, suggest new findings that researchers say could eventually lead to universal therapies to treat multiple and comorbid addictions.

“Genetics play a key role in determining health throughout our lives, but they are not destiny. Our hope with genomic studies is to further illuminate factors that may protect or predispose a person to substance use disorders – knowledge that can be used to expand preventative services and empower individuals to make informed decisions about drug use,” Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in news release.

“A better understanding of genetics also brings us one step closer to developing personalized interventions that are tailored to an individual’s unique biology, environment, and lived experience in order to provide the most benefits,” Dr. Volkow added.

The research was published online in Nature Mental Health.
 

Global research

Led by a team at the Washington University in St. Louis, the study included more than 150 collaborating investigators from around the world.

The risk of developing SUDs is influenced by a complex interplay between genetics and environmental factors. In a genomewide association study, the investigators looked for variations in the genome that were closely associated with SUDs in more than 1 million people of European ancestry and 92,630 people of African ancestry.

Among the European ancestry sample, they discovered 19 single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were significantly associated with general addiction risk and 47 genetic variants linked to specific SUDs – 9 for alcohol, 32 for tobacco, 5 for cannabis, and 1 for opioids.

The strongest gene signals consistent across the various SUDs mapped to areas in the genome involved in dopamine-signaling regulation, which reinforces the role of the dopamine system in addiction.

The genomic pattern also predicted higher risk of mental and physical illness, including psychiatric disorders, suicidal behavior, respiratory disease, heart disease, and chronic pain conditions. In children aged 9 or 10 years, presumably without any SUD, these genes correlated with parental substance use and externalizing behavior.

“Substance use disorders and mental disorders often co-occur, and we know that the most effective treatments help people address both issues at the same time. The shared genetic mechanisms between substance use and mental disorders revealed in this study underscore the importance of thinking about these disorders in tandem,” Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a news release.
 

Repurpose existing drugs for SUDs?

Separately, the genomic analysis of individuals of African ancestry showed only one genetic variation associated with general addiction risk and one substance-specific variation for risk of alcohol use disorder. The smaller sample size may be one reason for the more limited findings in this population.

“There is a tremendous need for treatments that target addiction generally, given patterns of the use of multiple substances, lifetime substance use, and severity seen in the clinic,” lead researcher Alexander Hatoum, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a news release.

“Our study opens the door to identifying medications that may be leveraged to treat addiction broadly, which may be especially useful for treating more severe forms, including addiction to multiple substances,” Dr. Hatoum added.

As part of the study, the researchers compiled a list of approved and investigational pharmaceutical drugs that could potentially be repurposed to treat SUDs.

The list includes more than 100 drugs to investigate in future clinical trials, including those that can influence regulation of dopamine signaling.

This research was supported by NIDA, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIMH, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Aging.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Substance use disorders (SUDs), including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or opioids, appear to share a common genetic signature, suggest new findings that researchers say could eventually lead to universal therapies to treat multiple and comorbid addictions.

“Genetics play a key role in determining health throughout our lives, but they are not destiny. Our hope with genomic studies is to further illuminate factors that may protect or predispose a person to substance use disorders – knowledge that can be used to expand preventative services and empower individuals to make informed decisions about drug use,” Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in news release.

“A better understanding of genetics also brings us one step closer to developing personalized interventions that are tailored to an individual’s unique biology, environment, and lived experience in order to provide the most benefits,” Dr. Volkow added.

The research was published online in Nature Mental Health.
 

Global research

Led by a team at the Washington University in St. Louis, the study included more than 150 collaborating investigators from around the world.

The risk of developing SUDs is influenced by a complex interplay between genetics and environmental factors. In a genomewide association study, the investigators looked for variations in the genome that were closely associated with SUDs in more than 1 million people of European ancestry and 92,630 people of African ancestry.

Among the European ancestry sample, they discovered 19 single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were significantly associated with general addiction risk and 47 genetic variants linked to specific SUDs – 9 for alcohol, 32 for tobacco, 5 for cannabis, and 1 for opioids.

The strongest gene signals consistent across the various SUDs mapped to areas in the genome involved in dopamine-signaling regulation, which reinforces the role of the dopamine system in addiction.

The genomic pattern also predicted higher risk of mental and physical illness, including psychiatric disorders, suicidal behavior, respiratory disease, heart disease, and chronic pain conditions. In children aged 9 or 10 years, presumably without any SUD, these genes correlated with parental substance use and externalizing behavior.

“Substance use disorders and mental disorders often co-occur, and we know that the most effective treatments help people address both issues at the same time. The shared genetic mechanisms between substance use and mental disorders revealed in this study underscore the importance of thinking about these disorders in tandem,” Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a news release.
 

Repurpose existing drugs for SUDs?

Separately, the genomic analysis of individuals of African ancestry showed only one genetic variation associated with general addiction risk and one substance-specific variation for risk of alcohol use disorder. The smaller sample size may be one reason for the more limited findings in this population.

“There is a tremendous need for treatments that target addiction generally, given patterns of the use of multiple substances, lifetime substance use, and severity seen in the clinic,” lead researcher Alexander Hatoum, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a news release.

“Our study opens the door to identifying medications that may be leveraged to treat addiction broadly, which may be especially useful for treating more severe forms, including addiction to multiple substances,” Dr. Hatoum added.

As part of the study, the researchers compiled a list of approved and investigational pharmaceutical drugs that could potentially be repurposed to treat SUDs.

The list includes more than 100 drugs to investigate in future clinical trials, including those that can influence regulation of dopamine signaling.

This research was supported by NIDA, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIMH, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Aging.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Substance use disorders (SUDs), including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or opioids, appear to share a common genetic signature, suggest new findings that researchers say could eventually lead to universal therapies to treat multiple and comorbid addictions.

“Genetics play a key role in determining health throughout our lives, but they are not destiny. Our hope with genomic studies is to further illuminate factors that may protect or predispose a person to substance use disorders – knowledge that can be used to expand preventative services and empower individuals to make informed decisions about drug use,” Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in news release.

“A better understanding of genetics also brings us one step closer to developing personalized interventions that are tailored to an individual’s unique biology, environment, and lived experience in order to provide the most benefits,” Dr. Volkow added.

The research was published online in Nature Mental Health.
 

Global research

Led by a team at the Washington University in St. Louis, the study included more than 150 collaborating investigators from around the world.

The risk of developing SUDs is influenced by a complex interplay between genetics and environmental factors. In a genomewide association study, the investigators looked for variations in the genome that were closely associated with SUDs in more than 1 million people of European ancestry and 92,630 people of African ancestry.

Among the European ancestry sample, they discovered 19 single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were significantly associated with general addiction risk and 47 genetic variants linked to specific SUDs – 9 for alcohol, 32 for tobacco, 5 for cannabis, and 1 for opioids.

The strongest gene signals consistent across the various SUDs mapped to areas in the genome involved in dopamine-signaling regulation, which reinforces the role of the dopamine system in addiction.

The genomic pattern also predicted higher risk of mental and physical illness, including psychiatric disorders, suicidal behavior, respiratory disease, heart disease, and chronic pain conditions. In children aged 9 or 10 years, presumably without any SUD, these genes correlated with parental substance use and externalizing behavior.

“Substance use disorders and mental disorders often co-occur, and we know that the most effective treatments help people address both issues at the same time. The shared genetic mechanisms between substance use and mental disorders revealed in this study underscore the importance of thinking about these disorders in tandem,” Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a news release.
 

Repurpose existing drugs for SUDs?

Separately, the genomic analysis of individuals of African ancestry showed only one genetic variation associated with general addiction risk and one substance-specific variation for risk of alcohol use disorder. The smaller sample size may be one reason for the more limited findings in this population.

“There is a tremendous need for treatments that target addiction generally, given patterns of the use of multiple substances, lifetime substance use, and severity seen in the clinic,” lead researcher Alexander Hatoum, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a news release.

“Our study opens the door to identifying medications that may be leveraged to treat addiction broadly, which may be especially useful for treating more severe forms, including addiction to multiple substances,” Dr. Hatoum added.

As part of the study, the researchers compiled a list of approved and investigational pharmaceutical drugs that could potentially be repurposed to treat SUDs.

The list includes more than 100 drugs to investigate in future clinical trials, including those that can influence regulation of dopamine signaling.

This research was supported by NIDA, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIMH, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Aging.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz), an intravenous programmed death–1 (PD-1) inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), the agency announced.

This marks the first regulatory approval for the PD-1 inhibitor. The FDA granted accelerated approval for the drug on the basis of tumor response rate and duration of response from the POD1UM-201 trial. Drugmaker Incyte said that “continued approval of Zynyz for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.”

MCC is a rare and aggressive skin cancer with a high rate of metastatic disease and an estimated 5-year overall survival of just 14% among those who present with metastatic disease. Incidence is rapidly increasing in the United States, particularly among adults older than 65 years, Incyte noted.

“More than a third of patients with MCC present with regional or distant metastases, which are associated with high rates of mortality,” principal author Shailender Bhatia, MD, of the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, both in Seattle, said in a news release. “The approval of Zynyz offers health care providers another first-line treatment option against MCC that can result in durable responses in patients with metastatic disease.”

POD1UM-201 was an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 study that evaluated the agent in 65 systemic treatment–naive adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced MCC.

Overall, 52% of patients had an objective response rate. A complete response was observed in 12 patients (18%), and a partial response was observed in 22 patients (34%).

Duration of response ranged from 1.1 to 24.9 months; 76% of responders experienced responses of 6 months or longer, and 62% experienced responses of 12 months or longer.

Study participants received a 500-mg dose of retifanlimab every 4 weeks for up to 24 weeks or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Serious adverse events occurred in 22% of patients and most often included fatigue, arrhythmia, and pneumonitis; 11% of patients discontinued treatment because of serious adverse events.

Retifanlimab may cause a severe or life-threatening immune response during treatment or after discontinuation. Patients should be advised to immediately report any new or worsening signs or symptoms to their health care provider. Side effects can also be reported to the FDA.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz), an intravenous programmed death–1 (PD-1) inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), the agency announced.

This marks the first regulatory approval for the PD-1 inhibitor. The FDA granted accelerated approval for the drug on the basis of tumor response rate and duration of response from the POD1UM-201 trial. Drugmaker Incyte said that “continued approval of Zynyz for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.”

MCC is a rare and aggressive skin cancer with a high rate of metastatic disease and an estimated 5-year overall survival of just 14% among those who present with metastatic disease. Incidence is rapidly increasing in the United States, particularly among adults older than 65 years, Incyte noted.

“More than a third of patients with MCC present with regional or distant metastases, which are associated with high rates of mortality,” principal author Shailender Bhatia, MD, of the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, both in Seattle, said in a news release. “The approval of Zynyz offers health care providers another first-line treatment option against MCC that can result in durable responses in patients with metastatic disease.”

POD1UM-201 was an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 study that evaluated the agent in 65 systemic treatment–naive adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced MCC.

Overall, 52% of patients had an objective response rate. A complete response was observed in 12 patients (18%), and a partial response was observed in 22 patients (34%).

Duration of response ranged from 1.1 to 24.9 months; 76% of responders experienced responses of 6 months or longer, and 62% experienced responses of 12 months or longer.

Study participants received a 500-mg dose of retifanlimab every 4 weeks for up to 24 weeks or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Serious adverse events occurred in 22% of patients and most often included fatigue, arrhythmia, and pneumonitis; 11% of patients discontinued treatment because of serious adverse events.

Retifanlimab may cause a severe or life-threatening immune response during treatment or after discontinuation. Patients should be advised to immediately report any new or worsening signs or symptoms to their health care provider. Side effects can also be reported to the FDA.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz), an intravenous programmed death–1 (PD-1) inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), the agency announced.

This marks the first regulatory approval for the PD-1 inhibitor. The FDA granted accelerated approval for the drug on the basis of tumor response rate and duration of response from the POD1UM-201 trial. Drugmaker Incyte said that “continued approval of Zynyz for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.”

MCC is a rare and aggressive skin cancer with a high rate of metastatic disease and an estimated 5-year overall survival of just 14% among those who present with metastatic disease. Incidence is rapidly increasing in the United States, particularly among adults older than 65 years, Incyte noted.

“More than a third of patients with MCC present with regional or distant metastases, which are associated with high rates of mortality,” principal author Shailender Bhatia, MD, of the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, both in Seattle, said in a news release. “The approval of Zynyz offers health care providers another first-line treatment option against MCC that can result in durable responses in patients with metastatic disease.”

POD1UM-201 was an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 study that evaluated the agent in 65 systemic treatment–naive adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced MCC.

Overall, 52% of patients had an objective response rate. A complete response was observed in 12 patients (18%), and a partial response was observed in 22 patients (34%).

Duration of response ranged from 1.1 to 24.9 months; 76% of responders experienced responses of 6 months or longer, and 62% experienced responses of 12 months or longer.

Study participants received a 500-mg dose of retifanlimab every 4 weeks for up to 24 weeks or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Serious adverse events occurred in 22% of patients and most often included fatigue, arrhythmia, and pneumonitis; 11% of patients discontinued treatment because of serious adverse events.

Retifanlimab may cause a severe or life-threatening immune response during treatment or after discontinuation. Patients should be advised to immediately report any new or worsening signs or symptoms to their health care provider. Side effects can also be reported to the FDA.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

I’m going to open this week with a case.

A 56-year-old musician presents with diffuse abdominal pain, cramping, and jaundice. His medical history is notable for years of diffuse abdominal complaints, characterized by disabling bouts of diarrhea.

In addition to the jaundice, this acute illness was accompanied by fever as well as diffuse edema and ascites. The patient underwent several abdominal paracenteses to drain excess fluid. One consulting physician administered alcohol to relieve pain, to little avail.

The patient succumbed to his illness. An autopsy showed diffuse liver injury, as well as papillary necrosis of the kidneys. Notably, the nerves of his auditory canal were noted to be thickened, along with the bony part of the skull, consistent with Paget disease of the bone and explaining, potentially, why the talented musician had gone deaf at such a young age.

An interesting note on social history: The patient had apparently developed some feelings for the niece of that doctor who prescribed alcohol. Her name was Therese, perhaps mistranscribed as Elise, and it seems that he may have written this song for her.

This week, we unravel the curious case of Ludwig van Beethoven, thanks to modern DNA extraction techniques, genome-wide association studies, and eight locks of hair.

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

We’re talking about this paper in Current Biology, by Tristan Begg and colleagues, which gives us a look into the very genome of what some would argue is the world’s greatest composer.

The ability to extract DNA from older specimens has transformed the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and history, and now, perhaps, musicology as well.

The researchers identified eight locks of hair in private and public collections, all attributed to the maestro.

Kevin Brown

Current Biology

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University

Current Biology

Current Biology

Dr. Wilson is associate professor, department of medicine, and director, Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator, at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. He reported no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

I’m going to open this week with a case.

A 56-year-old musician presents with diffuse abdominal pain, cramping, and jaundice. His medical history is notable for years of diffuse abdominal complaints, characterized by disabling bouts of diarrhea.

In addition to the jaundice, this acute illness was accompanied by fever as well as diffuse edema and ascites. The patient underwent several abdominal paracenteses to drain excess fluid. One consulting physician administered alcohol to relieve pain, to little avail.

The patient succumbed to his illness. An autopsy showed diffuse liver injury, as well as papillary necrosis of the kidneys. Notably, the nerves of his auditory canal were noted to be thickened, along with the bony part of the skull, consistent with Paget disease of the bone and explaining, potentially, why the talented musician had gone deaf at such a young age.

An interesting note on social history: The patient had apparently developed some feelings for the niece of that doctor who prescribed alcohol. Her name was Therese, perhaps mistranscribed as Elise, and it seems that he may have written this song for her.

This week, we unravel the curious case of Ludwig van Beethoven, thanks to modern DNA extraction techniques, genome-wide association studies, and eight locks of hair.

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

We’re talking about this paper in Current Biology, by Tristan Begg and colleagues, which gives us a look into the very genome of what some would argue is the world’s greatest composer.

The ability to extract DNA from older specimens has transformed the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and history, and now, perhaps, musicology as well.

The researchers identified eight locks of hair in private and public collections, all attributed to the maestro.

Kevin Brown

Current Biology

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University

Current Biology

Current Biology

Dr. Wilson is associate professor, department of medicine, and director, Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator, at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. He reported no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

I’m going to open this week with a case.

A 56-year-old musician presents with diffuse abdominal pain, cramping, and jaundice. His medical history is notable for years of diffuse abdominal complaints, characterized by disabling bouts of diarrhea.

In addition to the jaundice, this acute illness was accompanied by fever as well as diffuse edema and ascites. The patient underwent several abdominal paracenteses to drain excess fluid. One consulting physician administered alcohol to relieve pain, to little avail.

The patient succumbed to his illness. An autopsy showed diffuse liver injury, as well as papillary necrosis of the kidneys. Notably, the nerves of his auditory canal were noted to be thickened, along with the bony part of the skull, consistent with Paget disease of the bone and explaining, potentially, why the talented musician had gone deaf at such a young age.

An interesting note on social history: The patient had apparently developed some feelings for the niece of that doctor who prescribed alcohol. Her name was Therese, perhaps mistranscribed as Elise, and it seems that he may have written this song for her.

This week, we unravel the curious case of Ludwig van Beethoven, thanks to modern DNA extraction techniques, genome-wide association studies, and eight locks of hair.

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

We’re talking about this paper in Current Biology, by Tristan Begg and colleagues, which gives us a look into the very genome of what some would argue is the world’s greatest composer.

The ability to extract DNA from older specimens has transformed the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and history, and now, perhaps, musicology as well.

The researchers identified eight locks of hair in private and public collections, all attributed to the maestro.

Kevin Brown

Current Biology

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University

Current Biology

Current Biology

Dr. Wilson is associate professor, department of medicine, and director, Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator, at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. He reported no conflicts of interest.