Among people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the fibrosis progression rate was higher among those who also had diabetes, according to new findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

NAFLD patients with type 2 diabetes progressed by one stage about every 6 years, compared with one stage about every 8 years among patients without diabetes, said Daniel Huang, MBBS, a visiting scholar at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) NAFLD Research Center and a transplant hepatologist at National University Hospital in Singapore.

The top three contact allergens in patients younger than 18 years of age are hydroperoxides of linalool, nickel sulfate, and methylisothiazolinone, according to an analysis of data from the Pediatric Allergic Contact Dermatitis Registry. The registry is the first multicenter prospective database in the United States with a focus on pediatric allergic contact dermatitis

@preyashi The new study included 125 patients (104 women, 21 men) in three groups: 38 received a placebo, 42 received 30 g of donor feces, and 45 received 60 g of donor feces. The feces — all from one male donor — was administered to the duodenum. The response rates for those who received FMT were significantly higher than for those who received placebo. Those receiving 30 g of feces had a response rate of 69.1%, and those in the 60-g group had a response rate of 77.8%, whereas the response rate in the placebo group was 26.3%.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a biomarker previously measured in blood or cerebrospinal fluid and used to indicate neurodegeneration, is detectable in the vitreous humor of the eye, opening the door to a potential new method of predicting neurodegenerative disease, new research suggests.

@santanu There is currently no guidance on how to identify patients with COVID-related cognitive changes, said Hellmuth. "The term 'brain fog' is not based in science or medicine, but that's the most common term we use to describe this." The analysis included adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection not requiring hospitalization who were enrolled in the Long-term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus (LIINC) study. Participants underwent a structured interview that covered COVID-19 illness, past medical history, preexisting cognitive risk factors, medications, and cognitive symptoms following onset of COVID-19. They also completed an in-person battery of cognitive tests.

@lipi Amid our aging population, the number of patients with AD — the most common form of dementia — continues to increase. Neuropathological hallmarks of AD arise decades earlier than the onset of clinical symptoms, yet patients are often diagnosed late in the disease trajectory. Although brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) metabolites differentiate AD cases from controls with a high level of accuracy, they require invasive methods, such as lumbar puncture, to collect samples. As a result, significant motivation remains for more easily identifying measured plasma AD biomarkers, as is starting to be shown for plasma amyloid-beta, which could enhance our understanding of early disease etiology.

Before working to create standards for electronic prior authorization, the entire process itself needs some work. That was the message from groups representing physicians, medical practices, and hospitals in response to a request for input from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). In January, ONC requested public feedback on how making the process for insurer approvals digital can "ease the burden of prior authorization tasks on patients, providers, and payers."

Venous thromboembolism (VTE, including deep vein thrombosis [DVT] and pulmonary embolism [PE]) in surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia has been extensively studied. The risk of VTE remains high for up to 2 months after noncancer general surgery. Fatal PE rates range from 0.1% to 0.8% for all patients and may be as high as 7% for patients undergoing surgery for fractured hips. A study of patients with pelvic or lower-extremity fracture (N = 3295) by Pan et al found a 2.08% incidence of PE in patients with below-knee DVT and a 3.17% incidence in patients with above-knee DVT. In many patients who undergo foot and ankle surgery, DVT may develop without clinically apparent symptoms or signs. Many different forms of therapy have been evaluated in this group. Studies of pneumatic compression in cardiac surgery and neurosurgical patients have shown a distinct improvement in the incidence of DVT without the added risk of bleeding. However, the effect is less impressive in higher-risk patients, and compliance can be difficult.

Mood disorders are the most common chronic psychiatric disorders in the world and are a leading cause of morbidity. In patients with these disorders, mood can range from elation or mania to deep depression. Patients with bipolar I disorder typically demonstrate at least one major manic episode and usually also a major depressive episode, while those with bipolar II disorder typically show a pattern of depressive symptoms and hypomanic episodes.

Some people believe that coffee causes acid reflux or GERD. While coffee and caffeine may trigger symptoms, researchers have not conclusively shown a link between coffee and GERD. Does coffee cause indigestion?