Dell Medical School

FRIDAY, Dec. 13, 2024 -- A telephone-based layperson-delivered empathetic engagement is beneficial for improving glycemic control in patients with diabetes with low income, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in JAMA Network Open . Maninder K. Kahlon, Ph.D., from Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of layperson-delivered empathetic engagement over the telephone in helping improve glycemic management in a parallel-arm randomized study involving 260 patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Patients assigned to the intervention group received empathy-oriented telephone calls by community-hired laypeople for six months, while control group participants received usual care. The researchers found that at six months, participants in the intervention group had significant mean decreases in hemoglobin A1c level (from 10.0 to 9.3 percent) compared with the control group (from 9.8 to 9.7 percent). The within-person change in the hemoglobin A1c level was −0.7 and 0.02 percent for the intervention and control groups, respectively. For the subgroup with a 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score of 5 or more at baseline (patients with baseline depressive risk), the within-person change in hemoglobin A1c was −1.1 and 0.1 percent for the intervention and control groups, respectively, while for the subgroup with a PHQ-9 score of less than 5, the corresponding changes were −0.4 and −0.02 percent. At six months, 91.7 percent of the participants said that the program was very beneficial or extremely beneficial. "Identifying how such a workforce might accompany and be coordinated with clinical care could accelerate achieving meaningful outcomes for patients and the health system," the authors write. One author disclosed financial ties to Sandoz, Johnson & Johnson, and 3M. Abstract/Full Text Editorial Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 7, 2024 -- For pregnancies at high risk for early-onset severe hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN), intravenous nipocalimab can delay or prevent fetal anemia or intrauterine transfusions, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine . Kenneth J. Moise Jr., M.D., from Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues examined treatment with intravenous nipocalimab (30 or 45 mg/kg body weight per week) administered from 14 to 35 weeks of gestation in participants with pregnancies at high risk for recurrent early-onset severe HDFN. The researchers found that seven of 13 pregnancies in the study had live birth at 32 weeks of gestation or later without intrauterine transfusions (54 percent). There were no cases of fetal hydrops; in six cases (46 percent), participants did not receive any antenatal or neonatal transfusions. An intrauterine transfusion was received by six fetuses: five at 24 weeks of gestation or later and one before fetal loss at 22 weeks and five days of gestation. Twelve pregnancies had live births, with a median gestational age at delivery of 36 weeks and four days. One of the 12 live-born infants received one exchange transfusion and one simple transfusion, and five received only simple transfusions. Maternal samples and cord blood had treatment-related decreases in the alloantibody titer and immunoglobulin G level. "These preliminary efficacy results, together with the preliminary safety data and evidence of the anticipated drug mechanisms, support the further evaluation of nipocalimab in severe HDFN," the authors write. The study was funded by Janssen Research and Development, which is developing nipocalimab.

TUESDAY, Aug. 6, 2024 -- Diets high in fruits and vegetables are associated with lower blood pressure, reduced cardiovascular risk, and improved kidney health, possibly due to their base-producing effects, according to a study published online Aug. 6 in The American Journal of Medicine . Nimrit Goraya, M.D., from Baylor Scott and White Health in Temple, Texas, and colleagues randomly assigned 153 hypertensive macroalbuminuric patients receiving pharmacologic chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease protection to get fruits and vegetables, oral sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ), or usual care for five years. The researchers found that chronic kidney disease progression was slower in participants receiving fruits and vegetables or oral NaHCO 3 than usual care (mean −1.08 and −1.17 mL/min/1.73m 2 /year, respectively, versus −1.94 mL/min/1.73m 2 /year). Compared with those receiving NaHCO 3 or usual care, in participants receiving fruits and vegetables, systolic blood pressure was lower and cardiovascular disease risk indices showed greater improvement. These benefits of fruits and vegetables were achieved in conjunction with lower doses of pharmacologic chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease protection. "Dietary interventions for chronic disease management are often not recommended and even less often executed because of the many challenges to get patients to implement them," lead author Donald E. Wesson, M.D., from Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement. "Nevertheless, they are effective, and in this instance, kidney and cardiovascular protective. We must increase our efforts to incorporate them into patient management and more broadly, make healthy diets more accessible to populations at increased risk for kidney and cardiovascular disease." Abstract/Full Text Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.