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Dupilumab safe, effective in kids 6-11 with moderate-to-severe asthma
Dupilumab (Dupixent, Sanofi and Regeneron) significantly reduced exacerbations compared with placebo in children ages 6-11 years who had moderate-to-severe asthma in a phase 3 trial.
A fully human monoclonal antibody, dupilumab also improved lung function versus placebo by week 12, an improvement that lasted the length of the 52-week trial.
Dupilumab previously had been shown to be safe and effective in adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe asthma, patients 6 years and older with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, and adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, but its safety and effectiveness for moderate-to-severe asthma in the 6-11 years age group was not known.
Results from the randomized, double-blind VOYAGE study conducted across several countries were presented Saturday, July 10, at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021.
Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, professor of pediatrics, allergy/immunology/pulmonary medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, presented the results from the trial, which was funded by Sanofi/Regeneron.
Researchers enrolled 408 children ages 6-11 years with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma. Children on high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone or medium-to-high–dose ICS with a second controller were randomly assigned either to add-on subcutaneous dupilumab 100 mg or 200 mg, based on body weight at study start, or to placebo every 2 weeks for 52 weeks.
Analyses were done in two populations: 350 patients with markers of type 2 inflammation (baseline blood eosinophils ≥150 cells/μl or fractional exhaled nitric oxide [FeNO] ≥20 ppb) and 259 patients with baseline blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µl.
“The primary endpoint was the annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations,” Dr. Bacharier said. “The key secondary endpoint was change in percent predicted prebronchodilator FEV1 [forced expiratory volume at 1 second] from baseline to week 12.”
At week 12, the annualized severe asthma exacerbation rate was reduced by 59% (P < .0001) in children with blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µL and results were similar in those with the type 2 inflammatory phenotype compared with placebo.
Results also indicate a favorable safety profile for dupilumab.
James M. Tracy, DO, an expert with the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, told this news organization that adding the dupilumab option for children in the 6-11 age group is “huge.”
Dr. Tracy, who was not involved with the study, said although omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech) is also available for these children, dupilumab stands out because of the range of comorbidities it can treat.
“[Children] don’t have the same rhinosinusitis and polyposis that adults would have, but a lot of them have eczema, and this drug with multiple prongs is incredibly useful and addresses a broad array of allergic conditions,” Dr. Tracy said.
More than 90% of children in the study had at least one concurrent type 2 inflammatory condition, including atopic dermatitis and eosinophilic esophagitis. Dupilumab blocks the shared receptor for interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13, which are key drivers of type 2 inflammation in multiple diseases.
Dr. Tracy said that while dupilumab is not the only drug available to treat children 6-11 years with moderate-to-severe asthma, it is “a significant and unique addition to the armamentarium of the individual practitioner taking care of these very severe asthmatics in the 6-11 age group.”
Dupilumab also led to rapid and sustained improvement in lung function. At 12 weeks, children assigned dupilumab improved their lung function as measured by FEV1 by 5.21% (P = .0009), and that continued through the 52-week study period.
“What we know is the [improved lung function] effect is sustained. What we don’t know is how long you have to keep on the drug for a more permanent effect, which is an issue for all these biologics,” Tracy said.
Dr. Bacharier reported speaker fees and research support from Sanofi/Regeneron. Dr. Tracy has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Dupilumab (Dupixent, Sanofi and Regeneron) significantly reduced exacerbations compared with placebo in children ages 6-11 years who had moderate-to-severe asthma in a phase 3 trial.
A fully human monoclonal antibody, dupilumab also improved lung function versus placebo by week 12, an improvement that lasted the length of the 52-week trial.
Dupilumab previously had been shown to be safe and effective in adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe asthma, patients 6 years and older with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, and adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, but its safety and effectiveness for moderate-to-severe asthma in the 6-11 years age group was not known.
Results from the randomized, double-blind VOYAGE study conducted across several countries were presented Saturday, July 10, at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021.
Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, professor of pediatrics, allergy/immunology/pulmonary medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, presented the results from the trial, which was funded by Sanofi/Regeneron.
Researchers enrolled 408 children ages 6-11 years with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma. Children on high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone or medium-to-high–dose ICS with a second controller were randomly assigned either to add-on subcutaneous dupilumab 100 mg or 200 mg, based on body weight at study start, or to placebo every 2 weeks for 52 weeks.
Analyses were done in two populations: 350 patients with markers of type 2 inflammation (baseline blood eosinophils ≥150 cells/μl or fractional exhaled nitric oxide [FeNO] ≥20 ppb) and 259 patients with baseline blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µl.
“The primary endpoint was the annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations,” Dr. Bacharier said. “The key secondary endpoint was change in percent predicted prebronchodilator FEV1 [forced expiratory volume at 1 second] from baseline to week 12.”
At week 12, the annualized severe asthma exacerbation rate was reduced by 59% (P < .0001) in children with blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µL and results were similar in those with the type 2 inflammatory phenotype compared with placebo.
Results also indicate a favorable safety profile for dupilumab.
James M. Tracy, DO, an expert with the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, told this news organization that adding the dupilumab option for children in the 6-11 age group is “huge.”
Dr. Tracy, who was not involved with the study, said although omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech) is also available for these children, dupilumab stands out because of the range of comorbidities it can treat.
“[Children] don’t have the same rhinosinusitis and polyposis that adults would have, but a lot of them have eczema, and this drug with multiple prongs is incredibly useful and addresses a broad array of allergic conditions,” Dr. Tracy said.
More than 90% of children in the study had at least one concurrent type 2 inflammatory condition, including atopic dermatitis and eosinophilic esophagitis. Dupilumab blocks the shared receptor for interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13, which are key drivers of type 2 inflammation in multiple diseases.
Dr. Tracy said that while dupilumab is not the only drug available to treat children 6-11 years with moderate-to-severe asthma, it is “a significant and unique addition to the armamentarium of the individual practitioner taking care of these very severe asthmatics in the 6-11 age group.”
Dupilumab also led to rapid and sustained improvement in lung function. At 12 weeks, children assigned dupilumab improved their lung function as measured by FEV1 by 5.21% (P = .0009), and that continued through the 52-week study period.
“What we know is the [improved lung function] effect is sustained. What we don’t know is how long you have to keep on the drug for a more permanent effect, which is an issue for all these biologics,” Tracy said.
Dr. Bacharier reported speaker fees and research support from Sanofi/Regeneron. Dr. Tracy has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Dupilumab (Dupixent, Sanofi and Regeneron) significantly reduced exacerbations compared with placebo in children ages 6-11 years who had moderate-to-severe asthma in a phase 3 trial.
A fully human monoclonal antibody, dupilumab also improved lung function versus placebo by week 12, an improvement that lasted the length of the 52-week trial.
Dupilumab previously had been shown to be safe and effective in adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe asthma, patients 6 years and older with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, and adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, but its safety and effectiveness for moderate-to-severe asthma in the 6-11 years age group was not known.
Results from the randomized, double-blind VOYAGE study conducted across several countries were presented Saturday, July 10, at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021.
Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, professor of pediatrics, allergy/immunology/pulmonary medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, presented the results from the trial, which was funded by Sanofi/Regeneron.
Researchers enrolled 408 children ages 6-11 years with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma. Children on high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone or medium-to-high–dose ICS with a second controller were randomly assigned either to add-on subcutaneous dupilumab 100 mg or 200 mg, based on body weight at study start, or to placebo every 2 weeks for 52 weeks.
Analyses were done in two populations: 350 patients with markers of type 2 inflammation (baseline blood eosinophils ≥150 cells/μl or fractional exhaled nitric oxide [FeNO] ≥20 ppb) and 259 patients with baseline blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µl.
“The primary endpoint was the annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations,” Dr. Bacharier said. “The key secondary endpoint was change in percent predicted prebronchodilator FEV1 [forced expiratory volume at 1 second] from baseline to week 12.”
At week 12, the annualized severe asthma exacerbation rate was reduced by 59% (P < .0001) in children with blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µL and results were similar in those with the type 2 inflammatory phenotype compared with placebo.
Results also indicate a favorable safety profile for dupilumab.
James M. Tracy, DO, an expert with the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, told this news organization that adding the dupilumab option for children in the 6-11 age group is “huge.”
Dr. Tracy, who was not involved with the study, said although omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech) is also available for these children, dupilumab stands out because of the range of comorbidities it can treat.
“[Children] don’t have the same rhinosinusitis and polyposis that adults would have, but a lot of them have eczema, and this drug with multiple prongs is incredibly useful and addresses a broad array of allergic conditions,” Dr. Tracy said.
More than 90% of children in the study had at least one concurrent type 2 inflammatory condition, including atopic dermatitis and eosinophilic esophagitis. Dupilumab blocks the shared receptor for interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13, which are key drivers of type 2 inflammation in multiple diseases.
Dr. Tracy said that while dupilumab is not the only drug available to treat children 6-11 years with moderate-to-severe asthma, it is “a significant and unique addition to the armamentarium of the individual practitioner taking care of these very severe asthmatics in the 6-11 age group.”
Dupilumab also led to rapid and sustained improvement in lung function. At 12 weeks, children assigned dupilumab improved their lung function as measured by FEV1 by 5.21% (P = .0009), and that continued through the 52-week study period.
“What we know is the [improved lung function] effect is sustained. What we don’t know is how long you have to keep on the drug for a more permanent effect, which is an issue for all these biologics,” Tracy said.
Dr. Bacharier reported speaker fees and research support from Sanofi/Regeneron. Dr. Tracy has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Vaccine mandates, passports, and Kant
Houston Methodist Hospital in June 2021 enforced an April mandate that all its employees, about 26,000 of them, must be vaccinated against COVID-19. In the following weeks, many other large health care systems adopted a similar employer mandate.
Compliance with Houston Methodist’s mandate has been very high at nearly 99%. There were some deferrals, mostly because of pregnancy. There were some “medical and personal” exemptions for less than 1% of employees. The reasons for those personal exemptions have not been made public. A lawsuit by 117 employees objecting to the vaccine mandate was dismissed by a federal district judge on June 12.
Objections to the vaccine mandate have rarely involved religious-based conscientious objections, which need to be accommodated differently, legally and ethically. The objections have been disagreements on the science. As a politician said decades ago: “People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.” A medical institution is an excellent organization for determining the risks and benefits of vaccination. The judge dismissing the case was very critical of the characterizations used by the plaintiffs.
The vaccine mandate has strong ethical support from both the universalizability principle of Kant and a consequentialist analysis. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on May 28, 2021, released technical assistance that has generally been interpreted to support an employer’s right to set vaccine requirements. HIPAA does not forbid an employer from asking about vaccination, but the EEOC guidance reminds employers that if they do ask, employers have legal obligations to protect the health information and keep it separate from other personnel files.
In the past few years, many hospitals and clinics have adopted mandates for influenza vaccines. In many children’s hospitals staff have been required to have chicken pox vaccines (or, as in my case, titers showing immunity from the real thing – I’m old) since the early 2000s. Measles titers (again, mine were acquired naturally – I still remember the illness and recommend against that) and TB status are occasionally required for locum tenens positions. I keep copies of these labs alongside copies of my diplomas. To me, the COVID-19 mandate is not capricious.
Some people have pointed out that the COVID-19 vaccines are not fully Food and Drug Administration approved. They are used under an emergency use authorization. Any traction that distinction might have had ethically and scientifically in November 2020 has disappeared with the experience of 9 months and 300 million doses in the United States. Dr. Fauci on July 11, 2021, said: “These vaccines are as good as officially approved with all the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed.”
On July 12, 2021, French President Macron, facing a resurgence of the pandemic because of the delta variant, announced a national vaccine mandate for all health care workers. He also announced plans to require proof of vaccination (or prior disease) in order to enter amusement parks, restaurants, and other public facilities. The ethics of his plans have been debated by ethicists and politicians for months under the rubric of a “vaccine passport.” England has required proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test before entering soccer stadiums. In the United States, some localities, particularly those where the local politicians are against the vaccine, have passed laws proscribing the creation of these passport-like restrictions. Elsewhere, many businesses have already started to exclude customers who are not vaccinated. Airlines, hotels, and cruise ships are at the forefront of this. Society has started to create consequences for not getting the vaccine. President Macron indicated that the goal was now to put restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on everyone.
Pediatricians are experts on the importance of consequences for misbehavior and refusals. It is a frequent topic of conversation with parents of toddlers and teenagers. Consequences are ethical, just, and effective ways of promoting safe and fair behavior. At this point, the public has been educated about the disease and the vaccines. In the United States, there has been ample access to the vaccine. It is time to enforce consequences.
Daily vaccination rates in the United States have slowed to 25% of the peak rates. The reasons for hesitancy have been analyzed in many publications. Further public education hasn’t been productive, so empathic listening has been urged to overcome hesitancy. (A similar program has long been advocated to deal with hesitancy for teenage HPV vaccines.) President Biden on July 6, 2021, proposed a program of going door to door to overcome resistance.
The world is in a race between vaccines and the delta variant. The Delta variant is moving the finish line, with some French epidemiologists advising President Macron that this more contagious variant may require a 90% vaccination level to achieve herd immunity. Israel has started giving a third booster shot in select situations and Pfizer is considering the idea. I agree with providing education, using empathic listening, and improving access. Those are all reasonable, even necessary, strategies. But at this point, I anchor my suggestions with the same advice pediatricians have long given to parents. Set rules and create consequences for misbehavior.
Dr. Powell is a retired pediatric hospitalist and clinical ethics consultant living in St. Louis. He has no financial disclosures. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.
Houston Methodist Hospital in June 2021 enforced an April mandate that all its employees, about 26,000 of them, must be vaccinated against COVID-19. In the following weeks, many other large health care systems adopted a similar employer mandate.
Compliance with Houston Methodist’s mandate has been very high at nearly 99%. There were some deferrals, mostly because of pregnancy. There were some “medical and personal” exemptions for less than 1% of employees. The reasons for those personal exemptions have not been made public. A lawsuit by 117 employees objecting to the vaccine mandate was dismissed by a federal district judge on June 12.
Objections to the vaccine mandate have rarely involved religious-based conscientious objections, which need to be accommodated differently, legally and ethically. The objections have been disagreements on the science. As a politician said decades ago: “People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.” A medical institution is an excellent organization for determining the risks and benefits of vaccination. The judge dismissing the case was very critical of the characterizations used by the plaintiffs.
The vaccine mandate has strong ethical support from both the universalizability principle of Kant and a consequentialist analysis. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on May 28, 2021, released technical assistance that has generally been interpreted to support an employer’s right to set vaccine requirements. HIPAA does not forbid an employer from asking about vaccination, but the EEOC guidance reminds employers that if they do ask, employers have legal obligations to protect the health information and keep it separate from other personnel files.
In the past few years, many hospitals and clinics have adopted mandates for influenza vaccines. In many children’s hospitals staff have been required to have chicken pox vaccines (or, as in my case, titers showing immunity from the real thing – I’m old) since the early 2000s. Measles titers (again, mine were acquired naturally – I still remember the illness and recommend against that) and TB status are occasionally required for locum tenens positions. I keep copies of these labs alongside copies of my diplomas. To me, the COVID-19 mandate is not capricious.
Some people have pointed out that the COVID-19 vaccines are not fully Food and Drug Administration approved. They are used under an emergency use authorization. Any traction that distinction might have had ethically and scientifically in November 2020 has disappeared with the experience of 9 months and 300 million doses in the United States. Dr. Fauci on July 11, 2021, said: “These vaccines are as good as officially approved with all the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed.”
On July 12, 2021, French President Macron, facing a resurgence of the pandemic because of the delta variant, announced a national vaccine mandate for all health care workers. He also announced plans to require proof of vaccination (or prior disease) in order to enter amusement parks, restaurants, and other public facilities. The ethics of his plans have been debated by ethicists and politicians for months under the rubric of a “vaccine passport.” England has required proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test before entering soccer stadiums. In the United States, some localities, particularly those where the local politicians are against the vaccine, have passed laws proscribing the creation of these passport-like restrictions. Elsewhere, many businesses have already started to exclude customers who are not vaccinated. Airlines, hotels, and cruise ships are at the forefront of this. Society has started to create consequences for not getting the vaccine. President Macron indicated that the goal was now to put restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on everyone.
Pediatricians are experts on the importance of consequences for misbehavior and refusals. It is a frequent topic of conversation with parents of toddlers and teenagers. Consequences are ethical, just, and effective ways of promoting safe and fair behavior. At this point, the public has been educated about the disease and the vaccines. In the United States, there has been ample access to the vaccine. It is time to enforce consequences.
Daily vaccination rates in the United States have slowed to 25% of the peak rates. The reasons for hesitancy have been analyzed in many publications. Further public education hasn’t been productive, so empathic listening has been urged to overcome hesitancy. (A similar program has long been advocated to deal with hesitancy for teenage HPV vaccines.) President Biden on July 6, 2021, proposed a program of going door to door to overcome resistance.
The world is in a race between vaccines and the delta variant. The Delta variant is moving the finish line, with some French epidemiologists advising President Macron that this more contagious variant may require a 90% vaccination level to achieve herd immunity. Israel has started giving a third booster shot in select situations and Pfizer is considering the idea. I agree with providing education, using empathic listening, and improving access. Those are all reasonable, even necessary, strategies. But at this point, I anchor my suggestions with the same advice pediatricians have long given to parents. Set rules and create consequences for misbehavior.
Dr. Powell is a retired pediatric hospitalist and clinical ethics consultant living in St. Louis. He has no financial disclosures. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.
Houston Methodist Hospital in June 2021 enforced an April mandate that all its employees, about 26,000 of them, must be vaccinated against COVID-19. In the following weeks, many other large health care systems adopted a similar employer mandate.
Compliance with Houston Methodist’s mandate has been very high at nearly 99%. There were some deferrals, mostly because of pregnancy. There were some “medical and personal” exemptions for less than 1% of employees. The reasons for those personal exemptions have not been made public. A lawsuit by 117 employees objecting to the vaccine mandate was dismissed by a federal district judge on June 12.
Objections to the vaccine mandate have rarely involved religious-based conscientious objections, which need to be accommodated differently, legally and ethically. The objections have been disagreements on the science. As a politician said decades ago: “People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.” A medical institution is an excellent organization for determining the risks and benefits of vaccination. The judge dismissing the case was very critical of the characterizations used by the plaintiffs.
The vaccine mandate has strong ethical support from both the universalizability principle of Kant and a consequentialist analysis. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on May 28, 2021, released technical assistance that has generally been interpreted to support an employer’s right to set vaccine requirements. HIPAA does not forbid an employer from asking about vaccination, but the EEOC guidance reminds employers that if they do ask, employers have legal obligations to protect the health information and keep it separate from other personnel files.
In the past few years, many hospitals and clinics have adopted mandates for influenza vaccines. In many children’s hospitals staff have been required to have chicken pox vaccines (or, as in my case, titers showing immunity from the real thing – I’m old) since the early 2000s. Measles titers (again, mine were acquired naturally – I still remember the illness and recommend against that) and TB status are occasionally required for locum tenens positions. I keep copies of these labs alongside copies of my diplomas. To me, the COVID-19 mandate is not capricious.
Some people have pointed out that the COVID-19 vaccines are not fully Food and Drug Administration approved. They are used under an emergency use authorization. Any traction that distinction might have had ethically and scientifically in November 2020 has disappeared with the experience of 9 months and 300 million doses in the United States. Dr. Fauci on July 11, 2021, said: “These vaccines are as good as officially approved with all the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed.”
On July 12, 2021, French President Macron, facing a resurgence of the pandemic because of the delta variant, announced a national vaccine mandate for all health care workers. He also announced plans to require proof of vaccination (or prior disease) in order to enter amusement parks, restaurants, and other public facilities. The ethics of his plans have been debated by ethicists and politicians for months under the rubric of a “vaccine passport.” England has required proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test before entering soccer stadiums. In the United States, some localities, particularly those where the local politicians are against the vaccine, have passed laws proscribing the creation of these passport-like restrictions. Elsewhere, many businesses have already started to exclude customers who are not vaccinated. Airlines, hotels, and cruise ships are at the forefront of this. Society has started to create consequences for not getting the vaccine. President Macron indicated that the goal was now to put restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on everyone.
Pediatricians are experts on the importance of consequences for misbehavior and refusals. It is a frequent topic of conversation with parents of toddlers and teenagers. Consequences are ethical, just, and effective ways of promoting safe and fair behavior. At this point, the public has been educated about the disease and the vaccines. In the United States, there has been ample access to the vaccine. It is time to enforce consequences.
Daily vaccination rates in the United States have slowed to 25% of the peak rates. The reasons for hesitancy have been analyzed in many publications. Further public education hasn’t been productive, so empathic listening has been urged to overcome hesitancy. (A similar program has long been advocated to deal with hesitancy for teenage HPV vaccines.) President Biden on July 6, 2021, proposed a program of going door to door to overcome resistance.
The world is in a race between vaccines and the delta variant. The Delta variant is moving the finish line, with some French epidemiologists advising President Macron that this more contagious variant may require a 90% vaccination level to achieve herd immunity. Israel has started giving a third booster shot in select situations and Pfizer is considering the idea. I agree with providing education, using empathic listening, and improving access. Those are all reasonable, even necessary, strategies. But at this point, I anchor my suggestions with the same advice pediatricians have long given to parents. Set rules and create consequences for misbehavior.
Dr. Powell is a retired pediatric hospitalist and clinical ethics consultant living in St. Louis. He has no financial disclosures. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.
Dogs know their humans, but humans don’t know expiration dates
An extreme price to pay for immortality
We know that men don’t live as long as women, but the reasons aren’t entirely clear. However, some New Zealand scientists have a thought on the subject, thanks to a sheep called Shrek.
The researchers were inspired by a famous old sheep who escaped captivity, but was captured 6 years later at the age of 10. The sheep then lived 6 more years, far beyond the lifespan of a normal sheep, capturing the hearts and minds of Kiwis everywhere. Look, it’s New Zealand, sheep are life, so it’s only natural the country got attached. Scientists from the University of Otago suspected that Shrek lived such a long life because he was castrated.
So they undertook a study of sheep, and lo and behold, sheep that were castrated lived significantly longer than their uncastrated kin, thanks to a slowing of their epigenetic clocks – the DNA aged noticeably slower in the castrated sheep.
Although the research can most immediately be applied to the improvement of the New Zealand sheep industry, the implication for humanity is also apparent. Want to live longer? Get rid of the testosterone. An extreme solution to be sure. As previously reported in this column, researchers wanted to torture our mouths to get us to lose weight, and now they want to castrate people for longer life. What exactly is going on down there in New Zealand?
Man’s best mind reader
There are a lot of reasons why dogs are sometimes called “man’s best friend,” but the root of it may actually have something to do with how easily we communicate with each other. Researchers dug deeper and fetched something that Fido is born with, but his wild wolf cousin isn’t.
That something is known as the “theory of mind” ability. Have you noticed that when you point and tell dogs to grab a leash or toy, they react as if they understood the language you spoke? Researchers from Duke University wondered if this ability is a canine thing or just a domesticated dog thing.
They compared 44 canine puppies and 37 wolf pups between 5 and 18 weeks old. The wolf pups were taken into human homes and raised with a great amount of human interaction, while the dog pups were left with their mothers and raised with less human interaction.
All the puppies were then put through multiple tests. In one test, they were given clues to find a treat under a bowl. In another test, a block of wood was placed next to the treat as a physical marker. During yet another test, researchers pointed to the food directly.
The researchers discovered that the dog puppies knew where the treat was every time, while their wild relatives didn’t.
“This study really solidifies the evidence that the social genius of dogs is a product of domestication,” senior author Brian Hare said in a separate statement.
The domestication hypothesis theorizes that dogs picked up the human social cues through thousands of years of interaction. The more friendly and cooperative a wolf was with humans, the more likely it was to survive and pass on those same traits and practices. Even within the study, the dog puppies were 30 times more likely to approach a stranger than were the wolf pups.
You may think your dog understands everything you say, but it’s actually body language that Fido is most fluent in.
I’m not a dentist, but I play one on TikTok
In last week’s column, it was garlic cloves up the nose to treat a cold. This week, TikTok brings us a new way to whiten teeth.
Familiar with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? If not, we’ll save you the trouble of Googling it: Check it out here and here.
Have you heard anything about using it to clean your teeth? No, neither did we, and we did a lot of Googling. Proctor & Gamble, which makes the Magic Eraser, goes so far as to say on the package: “Do not use on skin or other parts of the body. Using on skin will likely cause abrasions.” (The warning is actually in all caps, but we are stylistically forbidden by our editorial overlords to do that.)
But it’s magic, right? How can you not use it on your teeth? Enter TikTok. Heather Dunn posted a video in which she rubbed a bit of a Magic Eraser on her teeth – being careful to avoid her gums, because you can never be too careful – “as the product squeaked back and forth,” the Miami Herald reported. The video has almost 256,000 likes so far.
“Yeah, your teeth are white because you scrubbed all the enamel off them. So don’t do this,” Dr. Benjamin Winters, aka the Bentist, said in a YouTube video that has 105,000 likes.
In this race for common sense, common sense is losing. Please help the Bentist restore sanity to the dental world by liking his video. It would make Mr. Clean happy.
Don’t let an expiration date boss you around
Surely you’ve been there: It’s Taco Tuesday and you’re rummaging through the refrigerator to find that shredded cheese you’re sure you have. Jackpot! You find it, but realize it’s probably been in the refrigerator for a while. You open the bag, it smells and looks fine, but the expiration date was 2 days ago. Now you have a decision to make. Maybe you’ll be fine, or maybe you’ll risk food poisoning right before your brother’s wedding.
But here’s the truth: Americans throw away perfectly good food every day. The average American family throws out $1,365 to $2,275 worth of food a year, according to a 2013 study.
Truthfully, expiration dates are not for buyers, rather they’re for stores to have an idea of their stock’s freshness. Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food and Policy Clinic and lead author of the 2013 study, told Vox that manufacturers use the dates as a way of “protecting the brand” to keep consumers from eating food that’s just a little past its peak.
With approximately 40 million people in the United States concerned about where their next meal is coming from, the Vox article noted, we need to reevaluate our system. Our national misunderstanding of expiration labels is hurting both suppliers and consumers because perfectly good food is wasted.
Sure, there is always that chance that something might be a little funky after a certain amount of time, but all in all, food probably stays fresh a lot longer than we think. Don’t always judge the shredded cheese by its expiration date.
An extreme price to pay for immortality
We know that men don’t live as long as women, but the reasons aren’t entirely clear. However, some New Zealand scientists have a thought on the subject, thanks to a sheep called Shrek.
The researchers were inspired by a famous old sheep who escaped captivity, but was captured 6 years later at the age of 10. The sheep then lived 6 more years, far beyond the lifespan of a normal sheep, capturing the hearts and minds of Kiwis everywhere. Look, it’s New Zealand, sheep are life, so it’s only natural the country got attached. Scientists from the University of Otago suspected that Shrek lived such a long life because he was castrated.
So they undertook a study of sheep, and lo and behold, sheep that were castrated lived significantly longer than their uncastrated kin, thanks to a slowing of their epigenetic clocks – the DNA aged noticeably slower in the castrated sheep.
Although the research can most immediately be applied to the improvement of the New Zealand sheep industry, the implication for humanity is also apparent. Want to live longer? Get rid of the testosterone. An extreme solution to be sure. As previously reported in this column, researchers wanted to torture our mouths to get us to lose weight, and now they want to castrate people for longer life. What exactly is going on down there in New Zealand?
Man’s best mind reader
There are a lot of reasons why dogs are sometimes called “man’s best friend,” but the root of it may actually have something to do with how easily we communicate with each other. Researchers dug deeper and fetched something that Fido is born with, but his wild wolf cousin isn’t.
That something is known as the “theory of mind” ability. Have you noticed that when you point and tell dogs to grab a leash or toy, they react as if they understood the language you spoke? Researchers from Duke University wondered if this ability is a canine thing or just a domesticated dog thing.
They compared 44 canine puppies and 37 wolf pups between 5 and 18 weeks old. The wolf pups were taken into human homes and raised with a great amount of human interaction, while the dog pups were left with their mothers and raised with less human interaction.
All the puppies were then put through multiple tests. In one test, they were given clues to find a treat under a bowl. In another test, a block of wood was placed next to the treat as a physical marker. During yet another test, researchers pointed to the food directly.
The researchers discovered that the dog puppies knew where the treat was every time, while their wild relatives didn’t.
“This study really solidifies the evidence that the social genius of dogs is a product of domestication,” senior author Brian Hare said in a separate statement.
The domestication hypothesis theorizes that dogs picked up the human social cues through thousands of years of interaction. The more friendly and cooperative a wolf was with humans, the more likely it was to survive and pass on those same traits and practices. Even within the study, the dog puppies were 30 times more likely to approach a stranger than were the wolf pups.
You may think your dog understands everything you say, but it’s actually body language that Fido is most fluent in.
I’m not a dentist, but I play one on TikTok
In last week’s column, it was garlic cloves up the nose to treat a cold. This week, TikTok brings us a new way to whiten teeth.
Familiar with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? If not, we’ll save you the trouble of Googling it: Check it out here and here.
Have you heard anything about using it to clean your teeth? No, neither did we, and we did a lot of Googling. Proctor & Gamble, which makes the Magic Eraser, goes so far as to say on the package: “Do not use on skin or other parts of the body. Using on skin will likely cause abrasions.” (The warning is actually in all caps, but we are stylistically forbidden by our editorial overlords to do that.)
But it’s magic, right? How can you not use it on your teeth? Enter TikTok. Heather Dunn posted a video in which she rubbed a bit of a Magic Eraser on her teeth – being careful to avoid her gums, because you can never be too careful – “as the product squeaked back and forth,” the Miami Herald reported. The video has almost 256,000 likes so far.
“Yeah, your teeth are white because you scrubbed all the enamel off them. So don’t do this,” Dr. Benjamin Winters, aka the Bentist, said in a YouTube video that has 105,000 likes.
In this race for common sense, common sense is losing. Please help the Bentist restore sanity to the dental world by liking his video. It would make Mr. Clean happy.
Don’t let an expiration date boss you around
Surely you’ve been there: It’s Taco Tuesday and you’re rummaging through the refrigerator to find that shredded cheese you’re sure you have. Jackpot! You find it, but realize it’s probably been in the refrigerator for a while. You open the bag, it smells and looks fine, but the expiration date was 2 days ago. Now you have a decision to make. Maybe you’ll be fine, or maybe you’ll risk food poisoning right before your brother’s wedding.
But here’s the truth: Americans throw away perfectly good food every day. The average American family throws out $1,365 to $2,275 worth of food a year, according to a 2013 study.
Truthfully, expiration dates are not for buyers, rather they’re for stores to have an idea of their stock’s freshness. Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food and Policy Clinic and lead author of the 2013 study, told Vox that manufacturers use the dates as a way of “protecting the brand” to keep consumers from eating food that’s just a little past its peak.
With approximately 40 million people in the United States concerned about where their next meal is coming from, the Vox article noted, we need to reevaluate our system. Our national misunderstanding of expiration labels is hurting both suppliers and consumers because perfectly good food is wasted.
Sure, there is always that chance that something might be a little funky after a certain amount of time, but all in all, food probably stays fresh a lot longer than we think. Don’t always judge the shredded cheese by its expiration date.
An extreme price to pay for immortality
We know that men don’t live as long as women, but the reasons aren’t entirely clear. However, some New Zealand scientists have a thought on the subject, thanks to a sheep called Shrek.
The researchers were inspired by a famous old sheep who escaped captivity, but was captured 6 years later at the age of 10. The sheep then lived 6 more years, far beyond the lifespan of a normal sheep, capturing the hearts and minds of Kiwis everywhere. Look, it’s New Zealand, sheep are life, so it’s only natural the country got attached. Scientists from the University of Otago suspected that Shrek lived such a long life because he was castrated.
So they undertook a study of sheep, and lo and behold, sheep that were castrated lived significantly longer than their uncastrated kin, thanks to a slowing of their epigenetic clocks – the DNA aged noticeably slower in the castrated sheep.
Although the research can most immediately be applied to the improvement of the New Zealand sheep industry, the implication for humanity is also apparent. Want to live longer? Get rid of the testosterone. An extreme solution to be sure. As previously reported in this column, researchers wanted to torture our mouths to get us to lose weight, and now they want to castrate people for longer life. What exactly is going on down there in New Zealand?
Man’s best mind reader
There are a lot of reasons why dogs are sometimes called “man’s best friend,” but the root of it may actually have something to do with how easily we communicate with each other. Researchers dug deeper and fetched something that Fido is born with, but his wild wolf cousin isn’t.
That something is known as the “theory of mind” ability. Have you noticed that when you point and tell dogs to grab a leash or toy, they react as if they understood the language you spoke? Researchers from Duke University wondered if this ability is a canine thing or just a domesticated dog thing.
They compared 44 canine puppies and 37 wolf pups between 5 and 18 weeks old. The wolf pups were taken into human homes and raised with a great amount of human interaction, while the dog pups were left with their mothers and raised with less human interaction.
All the puppies were then put through multiple tests. In one test, they were given clues to find a treat under a bowl. In another test, a block of wood was placed next to the treat as a physical marker. During yet another test, researchers pointed to the food directly.
The researchers discovered that the dog puppies knew where the treat was every time, while their wild relatives didn’t.
“This study really solidifies the evidence that the social genius of dogs is a product of domestication,” senior author Brian Hare said in a separate statement.
The domestication hypothesis theorizes that dogs picked up the human social cues through thousands of years of interaction. The more friendly and cooperative a wolf was with humans, the more likely it was to survive and pass on those same traits and practices. Even within the study, the dog puppies were 30 times more likely to approach a stranger than were the wolf pups.
You may think your dog understands everything you say, but it’s actually body language that Fido is most fluent in.
I’m not a dentist, but I play one on TikTok
In last week’s column, it was garlic cloves up the nose to treat a cold. This week, TikTok brings us a new way to whiten teeth.
Familiar with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? If not, we’ll save you the trouble of Googling it: Check it out here and here.
Have you heard anything about using it to clean your teeth? No, neither did we, and we did a lot of Googling. Proctor & Gamble, which makes the Magic Eraser, goes so far as to say on the package: “Do not use on skin or other parts of the body. Using on skin will likely cause abrasions.” (The warning is actually in all caps, but we are stylistically forbidden by our editorial overlords to do that.)
But it’s magic, right? How can you not use it on your teeth? Enter TikTok. Heather Dunn posted a video in which she rubbed a bit of a Magic Eraser on her teeth – being careful to avoid her gums, because you can never be too careful – “as the product squeaked back and forth,” the Miami Herald reported. The video has almost 256,000 likes so far.
“Yeah, your teeth are white because you scrubbed all the enamel off them. So don’t do this,” Dr. Benjamin Winters, aka the Bentist, said in a YouTube video that has 105,000 likes.
In this race for common sense, common sense is losing. Please help the Bentist restore sanity to the dental world by liking his video. It would make Mr. Clean happy.
Don’t let an expiration date boss you around
Surely you’ve been there: It’s Taco Tuesday and you’re rummaging through the refrigerator to find that shredded cheese you’re sure you have. Jackpot! You find it, but realize it’s probably been in the refrigerator for a while. You open the bag, it smells and looks fine, but the expiration date was 2 days ago. Now you have a decision to make. Maybe you’ll be fine, or maybe you’ll risk food poisoning right before your brother’s wedding.
But here’s the truth: Americans throw away perfectly good food every day. The average American family throws out $1,365 to $2,275 worth of food a year, according to a 2013 study.
Truthfully, expiration dates are not for buyers, rather they’re for stores to have an idea of their stock’s freshness. Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food and Policy Clinic and lead author of the 2013 study, told Vox that manufacturers use the dates as a way of “protecting the brand” to keep consumers from eating food that’s just a little past its peak.
With approximately 40 million people in the United States concerned about where their next meal is coming from, the Vox article noted, we need to reevaluate our system. Our national misunderstanding of expiration labels is hurting both suppliers and consumers because perfectly good food is wasted.
Sure, there is always that chance that something might be a little funky after a certain amount of time, but all in all, food probably stays fresh a lot longer than we think. Don’t always judge the shredded cheese by its expiration date.
Pediatric alopecia areata in the U.S. has increased twofold since 2009, study finds
according to results from the largest study to date on the topic.
“Alopecia areata is a relatively common cause of nonscarring hair loss in children,” Paige McKenzie said during the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. “The only two epidemiologic studies that have been performed in children have been based on registry or survey data which is inherently at risk for bias,” she added, referring to studies published in 2017 and 2018. “Additionally, epidemiologic descriptions of alopecia areata in adults are limited and overall estimates have varied from 0.2% to 2%. Current understanding is also largely based on population studies in Olmsted County, Minnesota, an area with mostly White racial demographics, so it’s not representative of the U.S. population as a whole.”
To identify the incidence and prevalence of pediatric AA over time, and across age, race/ethnicity, and sex, Ms. McKenzie and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study from 2009 to 2020 using PEDSnet, a network of seven U.S. pediatric health institutions with a database of more than 6.5 million children. “PEDSnet is unique because it uses a common data model to standardize EHR data across different health systems and uses SNOMED [Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine]–Clinical Terms to identify specific patient populations,” said Ms. McKenzie, who was a clinical research fellow in the section of dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during the 2020-2021 academic year.
She and her coauthors limited their analysis to children younger than age 18 who were assigned a SNOMED code for AA during at least one dermatology physician visit or at least two nondermatology physician visits. They also identified an incidence cohort that was a subset of the study cohort who had at least 12 months of follow-up. “To determine the accuracy of AA patient identification, we also reviewed 100 cases at random from one institution with a threshold of greater than 95% accuracy,” said Ms. McKenzie, who is now a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Of 5,409,919 children included in the study, 5,801 had AA, for an overall prevalence of 0.11%. The prevalence doubled from 0.04% in 2009 to 0.08% in 2019. “It fell in 2020, which we believe is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on health care utilization,” she said. AA prevalence peaked at 9 years of age and was higher among females, compared with males (0.12% vs. 0.09%, respectively). The prevalence was highest among Hispanic children (0.23%), followed by Asian children (0.17%), Black children (0.12%), and White children (0.08%).
The incidence cohort consisted of 2,896,241 children. Of these, 2,398 had AA between 2009-2020, for an overall incidence of 13.6 cases per 100,000 patient-years. The incidence rate of AA by age was normally distributed and peaked at 6 years of age. Rates were 22.8% higher in female patients than in male patients. In addition, incidence rates were highest among Hispanics (31.5/100,000 person-years), followed by Asians (23.1/100,000 person-years), Blacks (17.0/100,000 person-years), and Whites (8.8/100,000).
Logistic regression analysis showed general agreement with the unadjusted incidence data. Males were less likely to be diagnosed with AA, compared with females (adjusted odds ratio, 0.80; P < .001). Analysis across race/ethnicity revealed significantly increased rates among children from minority backgrounds when compared with white children. Hispanic children had the greatest risk of developing AA (aOR, 3.07), followed by Asian children (aOR, 2.02), and Black children (aOR, 1.73) (P < .001 for all associations). Patients with atopic dermatitis, thyroid disease, psoriasis, vitiligo, and trisomy 21 prior to AA diagnosis all had a significantly higher risk of developing AA, compared with those without those diagnoses.
“This is the largest description of pediatric AA to date,” Ms. McKenzie said. “The prevalence has increased steadily, with a twofold increase over the last 10 years, which mirrors other autoimmune disorders. Children who identify as Hispanic, Asian, and Black have significantly higher incidence rates of alopecia areata compared to those who identify as White.”
Moving forward, she added, “efforts should focus on increasing education and awareness of AA in diverse communities and in community pediatricians so that patients can be diagnosed correctly early on. We can also use this data to ensure that representative populations are included in clinical trials for patients with AA.”
Asked to comment on the results Maria Hordinsky, MD, professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, said that the study “is a great contribution to our understanding of the epidemiology of pediatric alopecia areata and also highlights how common alopecia areata is in children.” In an interview, she said that it would be interesting to see if this is a worldwide phenomenon or unique to the United States.
Lawrence J. Green, MD, clinical professor of dermatology at George Washington University, Washington, who was asked to comment on the study, characterized the work as being “very informative. Looking at a large cohort of pediatric patients with alopecia areata diagnosed by a dermatologist or two or more nondermatologists, the authors found a higher incidence and prevalence in nonwhite children here in the United States. I am worried in fact, the true incidence could be even higher than noted in the searched database because nonwhite children can often come from underserved and undercared for areas.”
The other authors were Christopher B. Forrest, MD, PhD, Mitchell Maltenfort, PhD, and Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Castelo-Soccio is a consultant for Pfizer; the other authors reported having no financial disclosures. Dr. Hordinsky disclosed receiving grant support for clinical research work on hair diseases from Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Target Derm and grant support from the National Alopecia Areata Foundation; and is on an advisory panel for Cassiopea. Dr. Green disclosed that he is a speaker, consultant, or investigator for numerous pharmaceutical companies.
*This story was updated on 7/19/21.
according to results from the largest study to date on the topic.
“Alopecia areata is a relatively common cause of nonscarring hair loss in children,” Paige McKenzie said during the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. “The only two epidemiologic studies that have been performed in children have been based on registry or survey data which is inherently at risk for bias,” she added, referring to studies published in 2017 and 2018. “Additionally, epidemiologic descriptions of alopecia areata in adults are limited and overall estimates have varied from 0.2% to 2%. Current understanding is also largely based on population studies in Olmsted County, Minnesota, an area with mostly White racial demographics, so it’s not representative of the U.S. population as a whole.”
To identify the incidence and prevalence of pediatric AA over time, and across age, race/ethnicity, and sex, Ms. McKenzie and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study from 2009 to 2020 using PEDSnet, a network of seven U.S. pediatric health institutions with a database of more than 6.5 million children. “PEDSnet is unique because it uses a common data model to standardize EHR data across different health systems and uses SNOMED [Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine]–Clinical Terms to identify specific patient populations,” said Ms. McKenzie, who was a clinical research fellow in the section of dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during the 2020-2021 academic year.
She and her coauthors limited their analysis to children younger than age 18 who were assigned a SNOMED code for AA during at least one dermatology physician visit or at least two nondermatology physician visits. They also identified an incidence cohort that was a subset of the study cohort who had at least 12 months of follow-up. “To determine the accuracy of AA patient identification, we also reviewed 100 cases at random from one institution with a threshold of greater than 95% accuracy,” said Ms. McKenzie, who is now a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Of 5,409,919 children included in the study, 5,801 had AA, for an overall prevalence of 0.11%. The prevalence doubled from 0.04% in 2009 to 0.08% in 2019. “It fell in 2020, which we believe is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on health care utilization,” she said. AA prevalence peaked at 9 years of age and was higher among females, compared with males (0.12% vs. 0.09%, respectively). The prevalence was highest among Hispanic children (0.23%), followed by Asian children (0.17%), Black children (0.12%), and White children (0.08%).
The incidence cohort consisted of 2,896,241 children. Of these, 2,398 had AA between 2009-2020, for an overall incidence of 13.6 cases per 100,000 patient-years. The incidence rate of AA by age was normally distributed and peaked at 6 years of age. Rates were 22.8% higher in female patients than in male patients. In addition, incidence rates were highest among Hispanics (31.5/100,000 person-years), followed by Asians (23.1/100,000 person-years), Blacks (17.0/100,000 person-years), and Whites (8.8/100,000).
Logistic regression analysis showed general agreement with the unadjusted incidence data. Males were less likely to be diagnosed with AA, compared with females (adjusted odds ratio, 0.80; P < .001). Analysis across race/ethnicity revealed significantly increased rates among children from minority backgrounds when compared with white children. Hispanic children had the greatest risk of developing AA (aOR, 3.07), followed by Asian children (aOR, 2.02), and Black children (aOR, 1.73) (P < .001 for all associations). Patients with atopic dermatitis, thyroid disease, psoriasis, vitiligo, and trisomy 21 prior to AA diagnosis all had a significantly higher risk of developing AA, compared with those without those diagnoses.
“This is the largest description of pediatric AA to date,” Ms. McKenzie said. “The prevalence has increased steadily, with a twofold increase over the last 10 years, which mirrors other autoimmune disorders. Children who identify as Hispanic, Asian, and Black have significantly higher incidence rates of alopecia areata compared to those who identify as White.”
Moving forward, she added, “efforts should focus on increasing education and awareness of AA in diverse communities and in community pediatricians so that patients can be diagnosed correctly early on. We can also use this data to ensure that representative populations are included in clinical trials for patients with AA.”
Asked to comment on the results Maria Hordinsky, MD, professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, said that the study “is a great contribution to our understanding of the epidemiology of pediatric alopecia areata and also highlights how common alopecia areata is in children.” In an interview, she said that it would be interesting to see if this is a worldwide phenomenon or unique to the United States.
Lawrence J. Green, MD, clinical professor of dermatology at George Washington University, Washington, who was asked to comment on the study, characterized the work as being “very informative. Looking at a large cohort of pediatric patients with alopecia areata diagnosed by a dermatologist or two or more nondermatologists, the authors found a higher incidence and prevalence in nonwhite children here in the United States. I am worried in fact, the true incidence could be even higher than noted in the searched database because nonwhite children can often come from underserved and undercared for areas.”
The other authors were Christopher B. Forrest, MD, PhD, Mitchell Maltenfort, PhD, and Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Castelo-Soccio is a consultant for Pfizer; the other authors reported having no financial disclosures. Dr. Hordinsky disclosed receiving grant support for clinical research work on hair diseases from Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Target Derm and grant support from the National Alopecia Areata Foundation; and is on an advisory panel for Cassiopea. Dr. Green disclosed that he is a speaker, consultant, or investigator for numerous pharmaceutical companies.
*This story was updated on 7/19/21.
according to results from the largest study to date on the topic.
“Alopecia areata is a relatively common cause of nonscarring hair loss in children,” Paige McKenzie said during the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. “The only two epidemiologic studies that have been performed in children have been based on registry or survey data which is inherently at risk for bias,” she added, referring to studies published in 2017 and 2018. “Additionally, epidemiologic descriptions of alopecia areata in adults are limited and overall estimates have varied from 0.2% to 2%. Current understanding is also largely based on population studies in Olmsted County, Minnesota, an area with mostly White racial demographics, so it’s not representative of the U.S. population as a whole.”
To identify the incidence and prevalence of pediatric AA over time, and across age, race/ethnicity, and sex, Ms. McKenzie and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study from 2009 to 2020 using PEDSnet, a network of seven U.S. pediatric health institutions with a database of more than 6.5 million children. “PEDSnet is unique because it uses a common data model to standardize EHR data across different health systems and uses SNOMED [Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine]–Clinical Terms to identify specific patient populations,” said Ms. McKenzie, who was a clinical research fellow in the section of dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during the 2020-2021 academic year.
She and her coauthors limited their analysis to children younger than age 18 who were assigned a SNOMED code for AA during at least one dermatology physician visit or at least two nondermatology physician visits. They also identified an incidence cohort that was a subset of the study cohort who had at least 12 months of follow-up. “To determine the accuracy of AA patient identification, we also reviewed 100 cases at random from one institution with a threshold of greater than 95% accuracy,” said Ms. McKenzie, who is now a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Of 5,409,919 children included in the study, 5,801 had AA, for an overall prevalence of 0.11%. The prevalence doubled from 0.04% in 2009 to 0.08% in 2019. “It fell in 2020, which we believe is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on health care utilization,” she said. AA prevalence peaked at 9 years of age and was higher among females, compared with males (0.12% vs. 0.09%, respectively). The prevalence was highest among Hispanic children (0.23%), followed by Asian children (0.17%), Black children (0.12%), and White children (0.08%).
The incidence cohort consisted of 2,896,241 children. Of these, 2,398 had AA between 2009-2020, for an overall incidence of 13.6 cases per 100,000 patient-years. The incidence rate of AA by age was normally distributed and peaked at 6 years of age. Rates were 22.8% higher in female patients than in male patients. In addition, incidence rates were highest among Hispanics (31.5/100,000 person-years), followed by Asians (23.1/100,000 person-years), Blacks (17.0/100,000 person-years), and Whites (8.8/100,000).
Logistic regression analysis showed general agreement with the unadjusted incidence data. Males were less likely to be diagnosed with AA, compared with females (adjusted odds ratio, 0.80; P < .001). Analysis across race/ethnicity revealed significantly increased rates among children from minority backgrounds when compared with white children. Hispanic children had the greatest risk of developing AA (aOR, 3.07), followed by Asian children (aOR, 2.02), and Black children (aOR, 1.73) (P < .001 for all associations). Patients with atopic dermatitis, thyroid disease, psoriasis, vitiligo, and trisomy 21 prior to AA diagnosis all had a significantly higher risk of developing AA, compared with those without those diagnoses.
“This is the largest description of pediatric AA to date,” Ms. McKenzie said. “The prevalence has increased steadily, with a twofold increase over the last 10 years, which mirrors other autoimmune disorders. Children who identify as Hispanic, Asian, and Black have significantly higher incidence rates of alopecia areata compared to those who identify as White.”
Moving forward, she added, “efforts should focus on increasing education and awareness of AA in diverse communities and in community pediatricians so that patients can be diagnosed correctly early on. We can also use this data to ensure that representative populations are included in clinical trials for patients with AA.”
Asked to comment on the results Maria Hordinsky, MD, professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, said that the study “is a great contribution to our understanding of the epidemiology of pediatric alopecia areata and also highlights how common alopecia areata is in children.” In an interview, she said that it would be interesting to see if this is a worldwide phenomenon or unique to the United States.
Lawrence J. Green, MD, clinical professor of dermatology at George Washington University, Washington, who was asked to comment on the study, characterized the work as being “very informative. Looking at a large cohort of pediatric patients with alopecia areata diagnosed by a dermatologist or two or more nondermatologists, the authors found a higher incidence and prevalence in nonwhite children here in the United States. I am worried in fact, the true incidence could be even higher than noted in the searched database because nonwhite children can often come from underserved and undercared for areas.”
The other authors were Christopher B. Forrest, MD, PhD, Mitchell Maltenfort, PhD, and Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Castelo-Soccio is a consultant for Pfizer; the other authors reported having no financial disclosures. Dr. Hordinsky disclosed receiving grant support for clinical research work on hair diseases from Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Target Derm and grant support from the National Alopecia Areata Foundation; and is on an advisory panel for Cassiopea. Dr. Green disclosed that he is a speaker, consultant, or investigator for numerous pharmaceutical companies.
*This story was updated on 7/19/21.
FROM SPD 2021
Denial or a call to action?
Now that everyone in my family has been vaccinated, we’re starting to do more.
Last week we met my mom and some of her (vaccinated) friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Except for picking up takeout, I hadn’t been to one since early March 2020.
During the usual chatting about jobs, music, my kids, and trips we were thinking about, one of her friends suddenly said: “That’s funny.”
I asked him what was funny, and he said: “My left vision suddenly went dark.”
It only takes a fraction of a second to shift into doctor mode. I asked a few pointed questions and did a quick neuroscan for asymmetries, slurred speech, the things that, after 23 years, have become second nature.
It resolved after about 30 seconds. He clearly didn’t think it was anything to be alarmed about. He’s intelligent and well educated, but not a doctor. I wasn’t going to let it go, and quietly spoke to him a short while later. He may not be my patient, but pushing him in the needed direction is the right thing to do.
I’ve gotten him to the right doctors now, and the ball is rolling, but I keep thinking about it. If I hadn’t been there it’s likely nothing would have been done. In fact, he seemed to think it was more amusing than potentially serious.
Medical blogs and doctors’ lounge stories are full of similar anecdotes, where we wonder why people don’t take such things seriously. We tend to view such people as stupid and/or ignorant.
Yet, this gentleman is neither. I’ve known him since childhood. He’s smart, well educated, and well read. He’s not a medical person, though.
In reality, I don’t think doctors or nurses are any better. I suspect that’s more human nature, which is hard to override regardless of training.
But maybe it’s time to start giving these people, like my family friend, a pass, with the realization that denial and different training are part of being human, and not something to be poked fun at.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Now that everyone in my family has been vaccinated, we’re starting to do more.
Last week we met my mom and some of her (vaccinated) friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Except for picking up takeout, I hadn’t been to one since early March 2020.
During the usual chatting about jobs, music, my kids, and trips we were thinking about, one of her friends suddenly said: “That’s funny.”
I asked him what was funny, and he said: “My left vision suddenly went dark.”
It only takes a fraction of a second to shift into doctor mode. I asked a few pointed questions and did a quick neuroscan for asymmetries, slurred speech, the things that, after 23 years, have become second nature.
It resolved after about 30 seconds. He clearly didn’t think it was anything to be alarmed about. He’s intelligent and well educated, but not a doctor. I wasn’t going to let it go, and quietly spoke to him a short while later. He may not be my patient, but pushing him in the needed direction is the right thing to do.
I’ve gotten him to the right doctors now, and the ball is rolling, but I keep thinking about it. If I hadn’t been there it’s likely nothing would have been done. In fact, he seemed to think it was more amusing than potentially serious.
Medical blogs and doctors’ lounge stories are full of similar anecdotes, where we wonder why people don’t take such things seriously. We tend to view such people as stupid and/or ignorant.
Yet, this gentleman is neither. I’ve known him since childhood. He’s smart, well educated, and well read. He’s not a medical person, though.
In reality, I don’t think doctors or nurses are any better. I suspect that’s more human nature, which is hard to override regardless of training.
But maybe it’s time to start giving these people, like my family friend, a pass, with the realization that denial and different training are part of being human, and not something to be poked fun at.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Now that everyone in my family has been vaccinated, we’re starting to do more.
Last week we met my mom and some of her (vaccinated) friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Except for picking up takeout, I hadn’t been to one since early March 2020.
During the usual chatting about jobs, music, my kids, and trips we were thinking about, one of her friends suddenly said: “That’s funny.”
I asked him what was funny, and he said: “My left vision suddenly went dark.”
It only takes a fraction of a second to shift into doctor mode. I asked a few pointed questions and did a quick neuroscan for asymmetries, slurred speech, the things that, after 23 years, have become second nature.
It resolved after about 30 seconds. He clearly didn’t think it was anything to be alarmed about. He’s intelligent and well educated, but not a doctor. I wasn’t going to let it go, and quietly spoke to him a short while later. He may not be my patient, but pushing him in the needed direction is the right thing to do.
I’ve gotten him to the right doctors now, and the ball is rolling, but I keep thinking about it. If I hadn’t been there it’s likely nothing would have been done. In fact, he seemed to think it was more amusing than potentially serious.
Medical blogs and doctors’ lounge stories are full of similar anecdotes, where we wonder why people don’t take such things seriously. We tend to view such people as stupid and/or ignorant.
Yet, this gentleman is neither. I’ve known him since childhood. He’s smart, well educated, and well read. He’s not a medical person, though.
In reality, I don’t think doctors or nurses are any better. I suspect that’s more human nature, which is hard to override regardless of training.
But maybe it’s time to start giving these people, like my family friend, a pass, with the realization that denial and different training are part of being human, and not something to be poked fun at.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Targetoid eruption
The clinical features of targetoid lesions occurring soon after herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection points to a diagnosis of erythema multiforme (EM), which was confirmed by punch biopsy. The differential diagnosis for targetoid small lesions includes granuloma annulare, pityriasis rosea, and linear IgA bullous dermatosis. Larger targetoid lesions would be more concerning for erythema migrans (Lyme disease), tumid lupus, and severe tinea corporis.
Erythema multiforme represents an immune reaction triggered most often by HSV. About 10% of cases are triggered by exposure to various other viruses, drugs, and bacteria—notably, Mycoplasma pneumonia.1 Symptoms vary from mildly uncomfortable crops of annular and targetoid plaques to widespread annular plaques and bullae.
In the past, EM was considered a clinical variant along a continuum with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Although mucosal involvement may occur with EM, it never progresses to SJS or TEN. The latter 2 diagnoses are associated with significant skin pain, dusky confluent patches, and a positive Nikolsky sign—wherein skin pressure causes superficial separation of the epidermis. Additionally, SJS and TEN tend to involve the trunk, whereas EM typically involves acral surfaces.
EM is self-limited but may recur in patients with additional HSV flares. Patients with frequent recurrences benefit from long-term suppression of HSV with valacyclovir 500 mg bid. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cool compresses control mild pain. Itching may be relieved with topical, medium-potency steroids or oral antihistamines. Oral ulcers or lesions may be treated with lidocaine oral suspension. Systemic steroids are contraindicated for mild disease, but they have a somewhat controversial role in alleviating severe symptoms.
This patient had mild symptoms and tolerated topical triamcinolone 0.1% cream bid without recurrence at 6 months.
Text courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD, medical director, MDFMR Dermatology Services, Augusta, ME. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD (copyright retained).
1. Trayes KP, Love G, Studdiford JS. Erythema multiforme: recognition and management. Am Fam Physician. 2019;100:82-88.
The clinical features of targetoid lesions occurring soon after herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection points to a diagnosis of erythema multiforme (EM), which was confirmed by punch biopsy. The differential diagnosis for targetoid small lesions includes granuloma annulare, pityriasis rosea, and linear IgA bullous dermatosis. Larger targetoid lesions would be more concerning for erythema migrans (Lyme disease), tumid lupus, and severe tinea corporis.
Erythema multiforme represents an immune reaction triggered most often by HSV. About 10% of cases are triggered by exposure to various other viruses, drugs, and bacteria—notably, Mycoplasma pneumonia.1 Symptoms vary from mildly uncomfortable crops of annular and targetoid plaques to widespread annular plaques and bullae.
In the past, EM was considered a clinical variant along a continuum with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Although mucosal involvement may occur with EM, it never progresses to SJS or TEN. The latter 2 diagnoses are associated with significant skin pain, dusky confluent patches, and a positive Nikolsky sign—wherein skin pressure causes superficial separation of the epidermis. Additionally, SJS and TEN tend to involve the trunk, whereas EM typically involves acral surfaces.
EM is self-limited but may recur in patients with additional HSV flares. Patients with frequent recurrences benefit from long-term suppression of HSV with valacyclovir 500 mg bid. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cool compresses control mild pain. Itching may be relieved with topical, medium-potency steroids or oral antihistamines. Oral ulcers or lesions may be treated with lidocaine oral suspension. Systemic steroids are contraindicated for mild disease, but they have a somewhat controversial role in alleviating severe symptoms.
This patient had mild symptoms and tolerated topical triamcinolone 0.1% cream bid without recurrence at 6 months.
Text courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD, medical director, MDFMR Dermatology Services, Augusta, ME. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD (copyright retained).
The clinical features of targetoid lesions occurring soon after herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection points to a diagnosis of erythema multiforme (EM), which was confirmed by punch biopsy. The differential diagnosis for targetoid small lesions includes granuloma annulare, pityriasis rosea, and linear IgA bullous dermatosis. Larger targetoid lesions would be more concerning for erythema migrans (Lyme disease), tumid lupus, and severe tinea corporis.
Erythema multiforme represents an immune reaction triggered most often by HSV. About 10% of cases are triggered by exposure to various other viruses, drugs, and bacteria—notably, Mycoplasma pneumonia.1 Symptoms vary from mildly uncomfortable crops of annular and targetoid plaques to widespread annular plaques and bullae.
In the past, EM was considered a clinical variant along a continuum with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Although mucosal involvement may occur with EM, it never progresses to SJS or TEN. The latter 2 diagnoses are associated with significant skin pain, dusky confluent patches, and a positive Nikolsky sign—wherein skin pressure causes superficial separation of the epidermis. Additionally, SJS and TEN tend to involve the trunk, whereas EM typically involves acral surfaces.
EM is self-limited but may recur in patients with additional HSV flares. Patients with frequent recurrences benefit from long-term suppression of HSV with valacyclovir 500 mg bid. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cool compresses control mild pain. Itching may be relieved with topical, medium-potency steroids or oral antihistamines. Oral ulcers or lesions may be treated with lidocaine oral suspension. Systemic steroids are contraindicated for mild disease, but they have a somewhat controversial role in alleviating severe symptoms.
This patient had mild symptoms and tolerated topical triamcinolone 0.1% cream bid without recurrence at 6 months.
Text courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD, medical director, MDFMR Dermatology Services, Augusta, ME. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Karnes, MD (copyright retained).
1. Trayes KP, Love G, Studdiford JS. Erythema multiforme: recognition and management. Am Fam Physician. 2019;100:82-88.
1. Trayes KP, Love G, Studdiford JS. Erythema multiforme: recognition and management. Am Fam Physician. 2019;100:82-88.
Florida-based doctor arrested in Haiti president’s assassination
About two dozen people have been arrested as suspects, the newspaper reported, though police believe Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, was plotting to become president.
“He arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act,” Léon Charles, Haiti’s national police chief, said during a news conference on July 11.
The firm, called CTU Security, is a Venezuelan company based in Miami, Mr. Charles said. During a raid at Mr. Sanon’s home in Port-au-Prince, police found six rifles, 20 boxes of bullets, 24 unused shooting targets, pistol holsters, and a hat with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency logo.
“This initial mission that was given to these assailants was to protect the individual named Emmanuel Sanon, but afterwards, the mission changed,” Mr. Charles said.
The new “mission” was to arrest President Moïse and install Mr. Sanon as president, The New York Times reported, though Mr. Charles didn’t explain when the mission changed to assassination or how Mr. Sanon could have taken control of the government.
President Moïse was shot to death on July 7 at his home in Port-au-Prince by a “team of commandos,” according to The Washington Post. On July 9, Haiti asked the U.S. to send troops to the country to protect its airport and key infrastructure.
The announcement of Mr. Sanon’s arrest came hours after FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials arrived in Haiti on July 11 to discuss how the U.S. can offer assistance, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Sanon has a YouTube channel with three political campaign videos from 2011, which include discussions about Haitian politics, according to Forbes. In one of the videos, titled “Dr. Christian Sanon – Leadership for Haiti,” Mr. Sanon talks about corruption in the country and presents himself as a potential leader.
Mr. Sanon lived in Florida for more than 20 years, ranging from the Tampa Bay area to South Florida, according to the Miami Herald. Public records show that he had more than a dozen businesses registered in the state, including medical services and real estate, though most are inactive.
Mr. Sanon is the third person with links to the U.S. who has been arrested in connection with the assassination, the Miami Herald reported. Two Haitian-Americans from southern Florida – James Solages, 35, and Joseph G. Vincent, 55 – were arrested by local police. They claimed they were working as translators for the assassins.
The first lady, Martine Moïse, was wounded in the attack and is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Miami, the newspaper reported.
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.
About two dozen people have been arrested as suspects, the newspaper reported, though police believe Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, was plotting to become president.
“He arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act,” Léon Charles, Haiti’s national police chief, said during a news conference on July 11.
The firm, called CTU Security, is a Venezuelan company based in Miami, Mr. Charles said. During a raid at Mr. Sanon’s home in Port-au-Prince, police found six rifles, 20 boxes of bullets, 24 unused shooting targets, pistol holsters, and a hat with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency logo.
“This initial mission that was given to these assailants was to protect the individual named Emmanuel Sanon, but afterwards, the mission changed,” Mr. Charles said.
The new “mission” was to arrest President Moïse and install Mr. Sanon as president, The New York Times reported, though Mr. Charles didn’t explain when the mission changed to assassination or how Mr. Sanon could have taken control of the government.
President Moïse was shot to death on July 7 at his home in Port-au-Prince by a “team of commandos,” according to The Washington Post. On July 9, Haiti asked the U.S. to send troops to the country to protect its airport and key infrastructure.
The announcement of Mr. Sanon’s arrest came hours after FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials arrived in Haiti on July 11 to discuss how the U.S. can offer assistance, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Sanon has a YouTube channel with three political campaign videos from 2011, which include discussions about Haitian politics, according to Forbes. In one of the videos, titled “Dr. Christian Sanon – Leadership for Haiti,” Mr. Sanon talks about corruption in the country and presents himself as a potential leader.
Mr. Sanon lived in Florida for more than 20 years, ranging from the Tampa Bay area to South Florida, according to the Miami Herald. Public records show that he had more than a dozen businesses registered in the state, including medical services and real estate, though most are inactive.
Mr. Sanon is the third person with links to the U.S. who has been arrested in connection with the assassination, the Miami Herald reported. Two Haitian-Americans from southern Florida – James Solages, 35, and Joseph G. Vincent, 55 – were arrested by local police. They claimed they were working as translators for the assassins.
The first lady, Martine Moïse, was wounded in the attack and is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Miami, the newspaper reported.
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.
About two dozen people have been arrested as suspects, the newspaper reported, though police believe Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, was plotting to become president.
“He arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act,” Léon Charles, Haiti’s national police chief, said during a news conference on July 11.
The firm, called CTU Security, is a Venezuelan company based in Miami, Mr. Charles said. During a raid at Mr. Sanon’s home in Port-au-Prince, police found six rifles, 20 boxes of bullets, 24 unused shooting targets, pistol holsters, and a hat with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency logo.
“This initial mission that was given to these assailants was to protect the individual named Emmanuel Sanon, but afterwards, the mission changed,” Mr. Charles said.
The new “mission” was to arrest President Moïse and install Mr. Sanon as president, The New York Times reported, though Mr. Charles didn’t explain when the mission changed to assassination or how Mr. Sanon could have taken control of the government.
President Moïse was shot to death on July 7 at his home in Port-au-Prince by a “team of commandos,” according to The Washington Post. On July 9, Haiti asked the U.S. to send troops to the country to protect its airport and key infrastructure.
The announcement of Mr. Sanon’s arrest came hours after FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials arrived in Haiti on July 11 to discuss how the U.S. can offer assistance, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Sanon has a YouTube channel with three political campaign videos from 2011, which include discussions about Haitian politics, according to Forbes. In one of the videos, titled “Dr. Christian Sanon – Leadership for Haiti,” Mr. Sanon talks about corruption in the country and presents himself as a potential leader.
Mr. Sanon lived in Florida for more than 20 years, ranging from the Tampa Bay area to South Florida, according to the Miami Herald. Public records show that he had more than a dozen businesses registered in the state, including medical services and real estate, though most are inactive.
Mr. Sanon is the third person with links to the U.S. who has been arrested in connection with the assassination, the Miami Herald reported. Two Haitian-Americans from southern Florida – James Solages, 35, and Joseph G. Vincent, 55 – were arrested by local police. They claimed they were working as translators for the assassins.
The first lady, Martine Moïse, was wounded in the attack and is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Miami, the newspaper reported.
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.
Three new ACR guidelines recommend treatment for six forms of vasculitis
Three new guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology, in partnership with the Vasculitis Foundation, offer evidence-based recommendations for managing and treating six different forms of systemic vasculitis.
“It’s not unusual for many rheumatologists to have fairly limited experience caring for patients with vasculitis,” coauthor Sharon Chung, MD, director of the Vasculitis Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, said in an interview. “And with limited experience comes anxiety and concerns about whether or not one is treating patients appropriately. First and foremost, these guidelines are to help rheumatologists who may not have experience treating patients with vasculitides, to provide them with a framework they can use.”
The guidelines – the first to be produced and endorsed by both the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation – were published July 8 in both Arthritis & Rheumatology and Arthritis Care & Research.
To assess the recent expansion in diagnostic and treatment options for various forms of vasculitis, the ACR assembled a literature review team, an 11-person patient panel, and a voting panel – made up of 9 adult rheumatologists, 5 pediatric rheumatologists, and 2 patients – to evaluate evidence, provide feedback, and formulate and vote on recommendations, respectively. The guidelines cover six types of vasculitis: one focusing on giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK); one on polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and another on three forms of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV): granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).
As with other ACR guidelines, these three were developed via the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, which was used to rate the quality of the gathered evidence. For a recommendation to be published, it required 70% consensus or greater from the voting panel.
GCA and TAK guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GCA and TAK, the guideline offers 42 recommendations and three ungraded position statements. Due to the low quality of evidence – “reflecting the paucity of randomized clinical trials in these diseases,” the authors noted – only one of the GCA recommendations and one of the TAK recommendations are strong; the rest are conditional.
For patients with GCA, the guideline strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other notable recommendations include favoring oral glucocorticoids (GCs) with tocilizumab (Actemra) over oral glucocorticoids alone in newly diagnosed GCA, adding a non-GC immunosuppressive agent to oral GCs for GCA patients with active extracranial large vessel involvement, and preferring temporary artery biopsy as their “diagnostic test of choice at this time.”
“The Europeans generally are more comfortable relying on temporal artery ultrasound,” Robert F. Spiera, MD, director of the vasculitis and scleroderma program at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, said in an interview. “In this country, possibly in part due to less uniform expertise in performing these ultrasounds, we have not had as much success in terms of accuracy.
These ACR guidelines therefore recommended biopsy to establish the diagnosis in patients with cranial presentations, whereas in the EULAR guidelines, ultrasound was felt to be preferable to biopsy.”
“While we have temporal artery ultrasound available in the United States, we just don’t have the expertise at this point to perform or interpret that test like the European rheumatologists do,” Dr. Chung agreed. “But I think we’re all hopeful that experience with temporal artery ultrasound will improve in the future, so we can use that test instead of an invasive biopsy.”
Dr. Spiera, who was not a coauthor on any of the guidelines, also highlighted the conditional recommendation of noninvasive vascular imaging of the large vessels in patients with newly diagnosed GCA.
“It is well recognized that a substantial portion of patients with GCA have unrecognized evidence of large vessel involvement, and patients with GCA in general are at higher risk of aneurysms later in the disease course,” he said. “These guidelines suggest screening even patients with purely cranial presentations for large vessel involvement with imaging to possibly identify the patients at higher risk for those later complications.
“What they didn’t offer were recommendations on how to follow up on that imaging,” he added, “which is an important and as-yet-unanswered question.”
For patients with TAK, the guideline again strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other conditional recommendations include choosing a non-GC immunosuppressive agent such as methotrexate or a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor over tocilizumab as initial therapy because “the efficacy of tocilizumab in TAK is not established at this time.”
AAV guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GPA, MPA, and EGPA, the guideline offers 41 recommendations and 10 ungraded position statements. All recommendations were conditional, and many address GPA and MPA together because, as the authors noted, “pivotal trials have enrolled both groups and presented results for these diseases together.”
One notable recommendation is their preference for rituximab over cyclophosphamide for remission induction and for rituximab over methotrexate or azathioprine for remission maintenance in patients with severe GPA or MPA. “I don’t think this is a surprise to people, but I think it reaffirms where our current practice is moving,” Dr. Chung said.
“The literature supports that in patients with relapsing disease, rituximab works better than cyclophosphamide for remission induction,” Dr. Spiera said. “But in these guidelines, even in new disease, rituximab is suggested as the agent of choice to induce remission. I would say that that is reasonable, but you could make an argument that it’s maybe beyond what the literature supports, particularly in patients with advanced renal insufficiency attributable to that initial vasculitis flare.”
Other recommendations include being against routinely adding plasma exchange to remission induction therapy in GPA or MPA patients with active glomerulonephritis – although they added that it should be considered in patients at high risk of end-stage kidney disease – as well as preferring cyclophosphamide or rituximab over mepolizumab for remission induction in patients with severe EGPA.
“We, to the surprise of many, were more supportive for the use of rituximab in EGPA than others were expecting, given the limited evidence,” Dr. Chung said. “One of the reasons for that is the wide experience we’ve had with rituximab in GPA and MPA, and our recognition that there is a population of patients with EGPA who are ANCA positive who do seem to benefit from rituximab therapy.”
And although the voting panel strongly favored treatment with methotrexate or azathioprine over trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for GPA patients in remission, they ultimately labeled the recommendation as conditional “due to the lack of sufficient high-quality evidence comparing the two treatments.”
“There has been progress in terms of well-done clinical trials to inform our decision-making, particularly for ANCA-associated vasculitis, both in terms of how to induce and maintain remission,” Dr. Spiera said. “Though the recommendations were conditional, I think there’s very strong data to support many of them.”
PAN guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of PAN, the guideline offers 16 recommendations – all but one are conditional – and one ungraded position statement. Their strong recommendation was for treatment with TNF inhibitors over GCs in patients with clinical manifestations of deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2, which they asked doctors to consider “in the setting of a PAN-like syndrome with strokes.” Other conditional recommendations include treating patients with newly diagnosed, severe PAN with cyclophosphamide and GCs, as well as the use of abdominal vascular imaging and/or a deep-skin biopsy to help establish a diagnosis.
According to the authors, a fourth guideline on treating and managing Kawasaki syndrome will be released in the coming weeks.
The guidelines were supported by the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation. Several authors acknowledged potential conflicts of interest, including receiving speaking and consulting fees, research grants, and honoraria from various pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Spiera has received grant support or consulting fees from Roche-Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chemocentryx, Corbus, Formation Biologics, InflaRx, Kadmon, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, CSL Behring, Sanofi, and Janssen.
Three new guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology, in partnership with the Vasculitis Foundation, offer evidence-based recommendations for managing and treating six different forms of systemic vasculitis.
“It’s not unusual for many rheumatologists to have fairly limited experience caring for patients with vasculitis,” coauthor Sharon Chung, MD, director of the Vasculitis Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, said in an interview. “And with limited experience comes anxiety and concerns about whether or not one is treating patients appropriately. First and foremost, these guidelines are to help rheumatologists who may not have experience treating patients with vasculitides, to provide them with a framework they can use.”
The guidelines – the first to be produced and endorsed by both the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation – were published July 8 in both Arthritis & Rheumatology and Arthritis Care & Research.
To assess the recent expansion in diagnostic and treatment options for various forms of vasculitis, the ACR assembled a literature review team, an 11-person patient panel, and a voting panel – made up of 9 adult rheumatologists, 5 pediatric rheumatologists, and 2 patients – to evaluate evidence, provide feedback, and formulate and vote on recommendations, respectively. The guidelines cover six types of vasculitis: one focusing on giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK); one on polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and another on three forms of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV): granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).
As with other ACR guidelines, these three were developed via the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, which was used to rate the quality of the gathered evidence. For a recommendation to be published, it required 70% consensus or greater from the voting panel.
GCA and TAK guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GCA and TAK, the guideline offers 42 recommendations and three ungraded position statements. Due to the low quality of evidence – “reflecting the paucity of randomized clinical trials in these diseases,” the authors noted – only one of the GCA recommendations and one of the TAK recommendations are strong; the rest are conditional.
For patients with GCA, the guideline strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other notable recommendations include favoring oral glucocorticoids (GCs) with tocilizumab (Actemra) over oral glucocorticoids alone in newly diagnosed GCA, adding a non-GC immunosuppressive agent to oral GCs for GCA patients with active extracranial large vessel involvement, and preferring temporary artery biopsy as their “diagnostic test of choice at this time.”
“The Europeans generally are more comfortable relying on temporal artery ultrasound,” Robert F. Spiera, MD, director of the vasculitis and scleroderma program at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, said in an interview. “In this country, possibly in part due to less uniform expertise in performing these ultrasounds, we have not had as much success in terms of accuracy.
These ACR guidelines therefore recommended biopsy to establish the diagnosis in patients with cranial presentations, whereas in the EULAR guidelines, ultrasound was felt to be preferable to biopsy.”
“While we have temporal artery ultrasound available in the United States, we just don’t have the expertise at this point to perform or interpret that test like the European rheumatologists do,” Dr. Chung agreed. “But I think we’re all hopeful that experience with temporal artery ultrasound will improve in the future, so we can use that test instead of an invasive biopsy.”
Dr. Spiera, who was not a coauthor on any of the guidelines, also highlighted the conditional recommendation of noninvasive vascular imaging of the large vessels in patients with newly diagnosed GCA.
“It is well recognized that a substantial portion of patients with GCA have unrecognized evidence of large vessel involvement, and patients with GCA in general are at higher risk of aneurysms later in the disease course,” he said. “These guidelines suggest screening even patients with purely cranial presentations for large vessel involvement with imaging to possibly identify the patients at higher risk for those later complications.
“What they didn’t offer were recommendations on how to follow up on that imaging,” he added, “which is an important and as-yet-unanswered question.”
For patients with TAK, the guideline again strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other conditional recommendations include choosing a non-GC immunosuppressive agent such as methotrexate or a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor over tocilizumab as initial therapy because “the efficacy of tocilizumab in TAK is not established at this time.”
AAV guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GPA, MPA, and EGPA, the guideline offers 41 recommendations and 10 ungraded position statements. All recommendations were conditional, and many address GPA and MPA together because, as the authors noted, “pivotal trials have enrolled both groups and presented results for these diseases together.”
One notable recommendation is their preference for rituximab over cyclophosphamide for remission induction and for rituximab over methotrexate or azathioprine for remission maintenance in patients with severe GPA or MPA. “I don’t think this is a surprise to people, but I think it reaffirms where our current practice is moving,” Dr. Chung said.
“The literature supports that in patients with relapsing disease, rituximab works better than cyclophosphamide for remission induction,” Dr. Spiera said. “But in these guidelines, even in new disease, rituximab is suggested as the agent of choice to induce remission. I would say that that is reasonable, but you could make an argument that it’s maybe beyond what the literature supports, particularly in patients with advanced renal insufficiency attributable to that initial vasculitis flare.”
Other recommendations include being against routinely adding plasma exchange to remission induction therapy in GPA or MPA patients with active glomerulonephritis – although they added that it should be considered in patients at high risk of end-stage kidney disease – as well as preferring cyclophosphamide or rituximab over mepolizumab for remission induction in patients with severe EGPA.
“We, to the surprise of many, were more supportive for the use of rituximab in EGPA than others were expecting, given the limited evidence,” Dr. Chung said. “One of the reasons for that is the wide experience we’ve had with rituximab in GPA and MPA, and our recognition that there is a population of patients with EGPA who are ANCA positive who do seem to benefit from rituximab therapy.”
And although the voting panel strongly favored treatment with methotrexate or azathioprine over trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for GPA patients in remission, they ultimately labeled the recommendation as conditional “due to the lack of sufficient high-quality evidence comparing the two treatments.”
“There has been progress in terms of well-done clinical trials to inform our decision-making, particularly for ANCA-associated vasculitis, both in terms of how to induce and maintain remission,” Dr. Spiera said. “Though the recommendations were conditional, I think there’s very strong data to support many of them.”
PAN guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of PAN, the guideline offers 16 recommendations – all but one are conditional – and one ungraded position statement. Their strong recommendation was for treatment with TNF inhibitors over GCs in patients with clinical manifestations of deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2, which they asked doctors to consider “in the setting of a PAN-like syndrome with strokes.” Other conditional recommendations include treating patients with newly diagnosed, severe PAN with cyclophosphamide and GCs, as well as the use of abdominal vascular imaging and/or a deep-skin biopsy to help establish a diagnosis.
According to the authors, a fourth guideline on treating and managing Kawasaki syndrome will be released in the coming weeks.
The guidelines were supported by the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation. Several authors acknowledged potential conflicts of interest, including receiving speaking and consulting fees, research grants, and honoraria from various pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Spiera has received grant support or consulting fees from Roche-Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chemocentryx, Corbus, Formation Biologics, InflaRx, Kadmon, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, CSL Behring, Sanofi, and Janssen.
Three new guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology, in partnership with the Vasculitis Foundation, offer evidence-based recommendations for managing and treating six different forms of systemic vasculitis.
“It’s not unusual for many rheumatologists to have fairly limited experience caring for patients with vasculitis,” coauthor Sharon Chung, MD, director of the Vasculitis Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, said in an interview. “And with limited experience comes anxiety and concerns about whether or not one is treating patients appropriately. First and foremost, these guidelines are to help rheumatologists who may not have experience treating patients with vasculitides, to provide them with a framework they can use.”
The guidelines – the first to be produced and endorsed by both the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation – were published July 8 in both Arthritis & Rheumatology and Arthritis Care & Research.
To assess the recent expansion in diagnostic and treatment options for various forms of vasculitis, the ACR assembled a literature review team, an 11-person patient panel, and a voting panel – made up of 9 adult rheumatologists, 5 pediatric rheumatologists, and 2 patients – to evaluate evidence, provide feedback, and formulate and vote on recommendations, respectively. The guidelines cover six types of vasculitis: one focusing on giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK); one on polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and another on three forms of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV): granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).
As with other ACR guidelines, these three were developed via the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, which was used to rate the quality of the gathered evidence. For a recommendation to be published, it required 70% consensus or greater from the voting panel.
GCA and TAK guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GCA and TAK, the guideline offers 42 recommendations and three ungraded position statements. Due to the low quality of evidence – “reflecting the paucity of randomized clinical trials in these diseases,” the authors noted – only one of the GCA recommendations and one of the TAK recommendations are strong; the rest are conditional.
For patients with GCA, the guideline strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other notable recommendations include favoring oral glucocorticoids (GCs) with tocilizumab (Actemra) over oral glucocorticoids alone in newly diagnosed GCA, adding a non-GC immunosuppressive agent to oral GCs for GCA patients with active extracranial large vessel involvement, and preferring temporary artery biopsy as their “diagnostic test of choice at this time.”
“The Europeans generally are more comfortable relying on temporal artery ultrasound,” Robert F. Spiera, MD, director of the vasculitis and scleroderma program at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, said in an interview. “In this country, possibly in part due to less uniform expertise in performing these ultrasounds, we have not had as much success in terms of accuracy.
These ACR guidelines therefore recommended biopsy to establish the diagnosis in patients with cranial presentations, whereas in the EULAR guidelines, ultrasound was felt to be preferable to biopsy.”
“While we have temporal artery ultrasound available in the United States, we just don’t have the expertise at this point to perform or interpret that test like the European rheumatologists do,” Dr. Chung agreed. “But I think we’re all hopeful that experience with temporal artery ultrasound will improve in the future, so we can use that test instead of an invasive biopsy.”
Dr. Spiera, who was not a coauthor on any of the guidelines, also highlighted the conditional recommendation of noninvasive vascular imaging of the large vessels in patients with newly diagnosed GCA.
“It is well recognized that a substantial portion of patients with GCA have unrecognized evidence of large vessel involvement, and patients with GCA in general are at higher risk of aneurysms later in the disease course,” he said. “These guidelines suggest screening even patients with purely cranial presentations for large vessel involvement with imaging to possibly identify the patients at higher risk for those later complications.
“What they didn’t offer were recommendations on how to follow up on that imaging,” he added, “which is an important and as-yet-unanswered question.”
For patients with TAK, the guideline again strongly recommends long-term clinical monitoring over no clinical monitoring for anyone in apparent clinical remission. Other conditional recommendations include choosing a non-GC immunosuppressive agent such as methotrexate or a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor over tocilizumab as initial therapy because “the efficacy of tocilizumab in TAK is not established at this time.”
AAV guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of GPA, MPA, and EGPA, the guideline offers 41 recommendations and 10 ungraded position statements. All recommendations were conditional, and many address GPA and MPA together because, as the authors noted, “pivotal trials have enrolled both groups and presented results for these diseases together.”
One notable recommendation is their preference for rituximab over cyclophosphamide for remission induction and for rituximab over methotrexate or azathioprine for remission maintenance in patients with severe GPA or MPA. “I don’t think this is a surprise to people, but I think it reaffirms where our current practice is moving,” Dr. Chung said.
“The literature supports that in patients with relapsing disease, rituximab works better than cyclophosphamide for remission induction,” Dr. Spiera said. “But in these guidelines, even in new disease, rituximab is suggested as the agent of choice to induce remission. I would say that that is reasonable, but you could make an argument that it’s maybe beyond what the literature supports, particularly in patients with advanced renal insufficiency attributable to that initial vasculitis flare.”
Other recommendations include being against routinely adding plasma exchange to remission induction therapy in GPA or MPA patients with active glomerulonephritis – although they added that it should be considered in patients at high risk of end-stage kidney disease – as well as preferring cyclophosphamide or rituximab over mepolizumab for remission induction in patients with severe EGPA.
“We, to the surprise of many, were more supportive for the use of rituximab in EGPA than others were expecting, given the limited evidence,” Dr. Chung said. “One of the reasons for that is the wide experience we’ve had with rituximab in GPA and MPA, and our recognition that there is a population of patients with EGPA who are ANCA positive who do seem to benefit from rituximab therapy.”
And although the voting panel strongly favored treatment with methotrexate or azathioprine over trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for GPA patients in remission, they ultimately labeled the recommendation as conditional “due to the lack of sufficient high-quality evidence comparing the two treatments.”
“There has been progress in terms of well-done clinical trials to inform our decision-making, particularly for ANCA-associated vasculitis, both in terms of how to induce and maintain remission,” Dr. Spiera said. “Though the recommendations were conditional, I think there’s very strong data to support many of them.”
PAN guideline
Regarding the management and treatment of PAN, the guideline offers 16 recommendations – all but one are conditional – and one ungraded position statement. Their strong recommendation was for treatment with TNF inhibitors over GCs in patients with clinical manifestations of deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2, which they asked doctors to consider “in the setting of a PAN-like syndrome with strokes.” Other conditional recommendations include treating patients with newly diagnosed, severe PAN with cyclophosphamide and GCs, as well as the use of abdominal vascular imaging and/or a deep-skin biopsy to help establish a diagnosis.
According to the authors, a fourth guideline on treating and managing Kawasaki syndrome will be released in the coming weeks.
The guidelines were supported by the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation. Several authors acknowledged potential conflicts of interest, including receiving speaking and consulting fees, research grants, and honoraria from various pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Spiera has received grant support or consulting fees from Roche-Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chemocentryx, Corbus, Formation Biologics, InflaRx, Kadmon, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, CSL Behring, Sanofi, and Janssen.
FROM ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATOLOGY
Talking about guns: Website helps physicians follow through on pledge
The group has developed a national resource for clinicians who wish to address the problem of gun violence deaths in the United States, which continue to mount by the day.
Signatures came quickly in 2018 after the Annals of Internal Medicine asked physicians to sign a formal pledge in which they commit to talking with their patients about firearms. To date, the list has grown to more than 3,600, and it remains open for additional signatories.
The effort built on data showing that before people commit violence with firearms, they often have notable risk factors that prompt them to see a physician.
At the time the pledge campaign was launched, frustration and despair had hit new highs after the school shooting of Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed. That occurred just 4 months after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 1, 2017, in which 58 people were gunned down.
An editorial by Garen J. Wintemute, MD, MPH, helped kick off the drive.
More deaths than WWII combat fatalities
Dr. Wintemute cited some grim statistics, writing that “nationwide in 2016, there was an average of 97 deaths from firearm violence per day: 35,476 altogether. In the 10 years ending with 2016, deaths of U.S. civilians from firearm violence exceeded American combat fatalities in World War II.”
Amy Barnhorst, MD, vice chair of psychiatry at UC Davis, who was one of the early signers of the pledge, told this news organization that data analyst Rocco Pallin, MPH, with the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), quickly started managing commitments to the pledge and developed a “What You Can Do” intervention for physicians looking for help on how to prevent firearm injury and death.
Those efforts snowballed, and a need arose for a centralized public resource. In 2019, the state of California gave $3.8 million to the VPRP, which helped launch the BulletPoints Project, which Dr. Barnhorst now directs.
The website provides clinicians with evidence-based direction on how to have the conversations with patients. It walks them through various scenarios and details what can be done if what they learn during a patient interview requires action.
Dr. Barnhorst said the team is working on formalized online educational courses for mental health professionals and medical clinicians that will be hosted through various national organizations.
Christine Laine, MD, editor-in-chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine, said in an interview that although almost 4,000 persons have made the pledge, that number should be higher. She notes that the American College of Physicians has about 165,000 members, and even that is only a fraction of all physicians and clinicians.
“Signing the pledge helps raise awareness that this is a public health issue and, within the realm of health care providers, that they should be counseling patients about reducing risk, the same way we counsel people to wear bike helmets and use seat belts,” she said.
Dr. Barnhorst says those who don’t want to sign the pledge usually cite time considerations and that they already talk with patients about a list of public health issues. They also say they don’t know how to have the conversations or what they should do if what they hear in the interviews requires action.
“We can’t do anything about the time, but we can do something about the resources,” Dr. Barnhorst said.
Some clinicians, she said, worry that patients will get angry if physicians ask about guns, or they believe it’s illegal to ask.
“But there’s no law preventing physicians from asking these questions,” she said.
Dr. Wintemute told this news organization that he is not discouraged that only about 4,000 have signed the pledge. Rather, he was encouraged that the signatures came so quickly. He also notes that the number of persons who are interested far exceeds the number who have made the pledge.
Boosting the pledge numbers will likely take a new push in the form of published articles, he added, and those are in the works.
Among the next steps is conducting pre- and post-tests to see whether BulletPoints is effectively conveying the information for users, he said.
Another is pushing for advances in petitioning for “extreme risk protection orders,” which would require a gun owner to temporarily relinquish any firearms and ammunition and not purchase additional firearms.
Dr. Wintemute said that currently, Maryland is the only state in which health care professionals can petition for extreme risk protection orders. In any state that has the law, a health care professional can contact law enforcement about “a person who is at very high risk for violence in the very near future” but who has not committed a crime and is not mentally ill and so cannot be legally detained.
For physicians to include gun counseling as a routine part of patient care will likely require hearing from peers who are finding the time to do this effectively and hearing that it matters, he said.
“It’s going to take that on-the-ground diffusion of information, just as it has with vaccine hesitancy,” he said.
He notes that data on how to stop firearm violence are sparse and approaches so far have extrapolated from information on how to stop other health threats, such as smoking and drinking.
But that is changing rapidly, he said: “There’s funding from the CDC for research into the kind of work we’re doing.”
Measuring the success of those efforts is difficult.
One sign of change in the past 3 years, Dr. Wintemute says, is that there’s recognition among health care professionals and the public that this fits into clinicians’ “lane.”
Mass shootings not the largest source of gun violence
Mass shootings continue to dominate news about fatal shootings, but Dr. Barnhorst notes that such shootings represent a very small part – reportedly 1% to 2% – of the firearm deaths in the United States. Almost two-thirds of the deaths are suicides. Domestic violence deaths make up another large sector.
But it’s the mass shootings that stick in the collective U.S. consciousness, and the rising and unrelenting numbers can lead to a sense of futility.
Dr. Barnhorst, Dr. Laine, and Dr. Wintemute acknowledge they don’t know to what degree physicians’ talking to patients about firearms can help. But they do not doubt it’s worthy of the effort.
Dr. Laine said that during the past year, COVID-19 overshadowed the focus on the pledge, but he notes the signup for the pledge remains open. Information on firearm injury is collected on the Annals website.
Dr. Barnhorst says there is no good answer to the question of how many lives need to be saved before talking with patients about firearms becomes worth the effort. “For me,” she said, “that number is very, very low.”
Dr. Laine puts the number at one.
“If a physician talking to their patients about firearms prevents one suicide, then the intervention is a success,” she said.
Dr. Laine, Dr. Barnhorst, and Dr. Wintemute report no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
The group has developed a national resource for clinicians who wish to address the problem of gun violence deaths in the United States, which continue to mount by the day.
Signatures came quickly in 2018 after the Annals of Internal Medicine asked physicians to sign a formal pledge in which they commit to talking with their patients about firearms. To date, the list has grown to more than 3,600, and it remains open for additional signatories.
The effort built on data showing that before people commit violence with firearms, they often have notable risk factors that prompt them to see a physician.
At the time the pledge campaign was launched, frustration and despair had hit new highs after the school shooting of Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed. That occurred just 4 months after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 1, 2017, in which 58 people were gunned down.
An editorial by Garen J. Wintemute, MD, MPH, helped kick off the drive.
More deaths than WWII combat fatalities
Dr. Wintemute cited some grim statistics, writing that “nationwide in 2016, there was an average of 97 deaths from firearm violence per day: 35,476 altogether. In the 10 years ending with 2016, deaths of U.S. civilians from firearm violence exceeded American combat fatalities in World War II.”
Amy Barnhorst, MD, vice chair of psychiatry at UC Davis, who was one of the early signers of the pledge, told this news organization that data analyst Rocco Pallin, MPH, with the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), quickly started managing commitments to the pledge and developed a “What You Can Do” intervention for physicians looking for help on how to prevent firearm injury and death.
Those efforts snowballed, and a need arose for a centralized public resource. In 2019, the state of California gave $3.8 million to the VPRP, which helped launch the BulletPoints Project, which Dr. Barnhorst now directs.
The website provides clinicians with evidence-based direction on how to have the conversations with patients. It walks them through various scenarios and details what can be done if what they learn during a patient interview requires action.
Dr. Barnhorst said the team is working on formalized online educational courses for mental health professionals and medical clinicians that will be hosted through various national organizations.
Christine Laine, MD, editor-in-chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine, said in an interview that although almost 4,000 persons have made the pledge, that number should be higher. She notes that the American College of Physicians has about 165,000 members, and even that is only a fraction of all physicians and clinicians.
“Signing the pledge helps raise awareness that this is a public health issue and, within the realm of health care providers, that they should be counseling patients about reducing risk, the same way we counsel people to wear bike helmets and use seat belts,” she said.
Dr. Barnhorst says those who don’t want to sign the pledge usually cite time considerations and that they already talk with patients about a list of public health issues. They also say they don’t know how to have the conversations or what they should do if what they hear in the interviews requires action.
“We can’t do anything about the time, but we can do something about the resources,” Dr. Barnhorst said.
Some clinicians, she said, worry that patients will get angry if physicians ask about guns, or they believe it’s illegal to ask.
“But there’s no law preventing physicians from asking these questions,” she said.
Dr. Wintemute told this news organization that he is not discouraged that only about 4,000 have signed the pledge. Rather, he was encouraged that the signatures came so quickly. He also notes that the number of persons who are interested far exceeds the number who have made the pledge.
Boosting the pledge numbers will likely take a new push in the form of published articles, he added, and those are in the works.
Among the next steps is conducting pre- and post-tests to see whether BulletPoints is effectively conveying the information for users, he said.
Another is pushing for advances in petitioning for “extreme risk protection orders,” which would require a gun owner to temporarily relinquish any firearms and ammunition and not purchase additional firearms.
Dr. Wintemute said that currently, Maryland is the only state in which health care professionals can petition for extreme risk protection orders. In any state that has the law, a health care professional can contact law enforcement about “a person who is at very high risk for violence in the very near future” but who has not committed a crime and is not mentally ill and so cannot be legally detained.
For physicians to include gun counseling as a routine part of patient care will likely require hearing from peers who are finding the time to do this effectively and hearing that it matters, he said.
“It’s going to take that on-the-ground diffusion of information, just as it has with vaccine hesitancy,” he said.
He notes that data on how to stop firearm violence are sparse and approaches so far have extrapolated from information on how to stop other health threats, such as smoking and drinking.
But that is changing rapidly, he said: “There’s funding from the CDC for research into the kind of work we’re doing.”
Measuring the success of those efforts is difficult.
One sign of change in the past 3 years, Dr. Wintemute says, is that there’s recognition among health care professionals and the public that this fits into clinicians’ “lane.”
Mass shootings not the largest source of gun violence
Mass shootings continue to dominate news about fatal shootings, but Dr. Barnhorst notes that such shootings represent a very small part – reportedly 1% to 2% – of the firearm deaths in the United States. Almost two-thirds of the deaths are suicides. Domestic violence deaths make up another large sector.
But it’s the mass shootings that stick in the collective U.S. consciousness, and the rising and unrelenting numbers can lead to a sense of futility.
Dr. Barnhorst, Dr. Laine, and Dr. Wintemute acknowledge they don’t know to what degree physicians’ talking to patients about firearms can help. But they do not doubt it’s worthy of the effort.
Dr. Laine said that during the past year, COVID-19 overshadowed the focus on the pledge, but he notes the signup for the pledge remains open. Information on firearm injury is collected on the Annals website.
Dr. Barnhorst says there is no good answer to the question of how many lives need to be saved before talking with patients about firearms becomes worth the effort. “For me,” she said, “that number is very, very low.”
Dr. Laine puts the number at one.
“If a physician talking to their patients about firearms prevents one suicide, then the intervention is a success,” she said.
Dr. Laine, Dr. Barnhorst, and Dr. Wintemute report no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
The group has developed a national resource for clinicians who wish to address the problem of gun violence deaths in the United States, which continue to mount by the day.
Signatures came quickly in 2018 after the Annals of Internal Medicine asked physicians to sign a formal pledge in which they commit to talking with their patients about firearms. To date, the list has grown to more than 3,600, and it remains open for additional signatories.
The effort built on data showing that before people commit violence with firearms, they often have notable risk factors that prompt them to see a physician.
At the time the pledge campaign was launched, frustration and despair had hit new highs after the school shooting of Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed. That occurred just 4 months after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 1, 2017, in which 58 people were gunned down.
An editorial by Garen J. Wintemute, MD, MPH, helped kick off the drive.
More deaths than WWII combat fatalities
Dr. Wintemute cited some grim statistics, writing that “nationwide in 2016, there was an average of 97 deaths from firearm violence per day: 35,476 altogether. In the 10 years ending with 2016, deaths of U.S. civilians from firearm violence exceeded American combat fatalities in World War II.”
Amy Barnhorst, MD, vice chair of psychiatry at UC Davis, who was one of the early signers of the pledge, told this news organization that data analyst Rocco Pallin, MPH, with the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), quickly started managing commitments to the pledge and developed a “What You Can Do” intervention for physicians looking for help on how to prevent firearm injury and death.
Those efforts snowballed, and a need arose for a centralized public resource. In 2019, the state of California gave $3.8 million to the VPRP, which helped launch the BulletPoints Project, which Dr. Barnhorst now directs.
The website provides clinicians with evidence-based direction on how to have the conversations with patients. It walks them through various scenarios and details what can be done if what they learn during a patient interview requires action.
Dr. Barnhorst said the team is working on formalized online educational courses for mental health professionals and medical clinicians that will be hosted through various national organizations.
Christine Laine, MD, editor-in-chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine, said in an interview that although almost 4,000 persons have made the pledge, that number should be higher. She notes that the American College of Physicians has about 165,000 members, and even that is only a fraction of all physicians and clinicians.
“Signing the pledge helps raise awareness that this is a public health issue and, within the realm of health care providers, that they should be counseling patients about reducing risk, the same way we counsel people to wear bike helmets and use seat belts,” she said.
Dr. Barnhorst says those who don’t want to sign the pledge usually cite time considerations and that they already talk with patients about a list of public health issues. They also say they don’t know how to have the conversations or what they should do if what they hear in the interviews requires action.
“We can’t do anything about the time, but we can do something about the resources,” Dr. Barnhorst said.
Some clinicians, she said, worry that patients will get angry if physicians ask about guns, or they believe it’s illegal to ask.
“But there’s no law preventing physicians from asking these questions,” she said.
Dr. Wintemute told this news organization that he is not discouraged that only about 4,000 have signed the pledge. Rather, he was encouraged that the signatures came so quickly. He also notes that the number of persons who are interested far exceeds the number who have made the pledge.
Boosting the pledge numbers will likely take a new push in the form of published articles, he added, and those are in the works.
Among the next steps is conducting pre- and post-tests to see whether BulletPoints is effectively conveying the information for users, he said.
Another is pushing for advances in petitioning for “extreme risk protection orders,” which would require a gun owner to temporarily relinquish any firearms and ammunition and not purchase additional firearms.
Dr. Wintemute said that currently, Maryland is the only state in which health care professionals can petition for extreme risk protection orders. In any state that has the law, a health care professional can contact law enforcement about “a person who is at very high risk for violence in the very near future” but who has not committed a crime and is not mentally ill and so cannot be legally detained.
For physicians to include gun counseling as a routine part of patient care will likely require hearing from peers who are finding the time to do this effectively and hearing that it matters, he said.
“It’s going to take that on-the-ground diffusion of information, just as it has with vaccine hesitancy,” he said.
He notes that data on how to stop firearm violence are sparse and approaches so far have extrapolated from information on how to stop other health threats, such as smoking and drinking.
But that is changing rapidly, he said: “There’s funding from the CDC for research into the kind of work we’re doing.”
Measuring the success of those efforts is difficult.
One sign of change in the past 3 years, Dr. Wintemute says, is that there’s recognition among health care professionals and the public that this fits into clinicians’ “lane.”
Mass shootings not the largest source of gun violence
Mass shootings continue to dominate news about fatal shootings, but Dr. Barnhorst notes that such shootings represent a very small part – reportedly 1% to 2% – of the firearm deaths in the United States. Almost two-thirds of the deaths are suicides. Domestic violence deaths make up another large sector.
But it’s the mass shootings that stick in the collective U.S. consciousness, and the rising and unrelenting numbers can lead to a sense of futility.
Dr. Barnhorst, Dr. Laine, and Dr. Wintemute acknowledge they don’t know to what degree physicians’ talking to patients about firearms can help. But they do not doubt it’s worthy of the effort.
Dr. Laine said that during the past year, COVID-19 overshadowed the focus on the pledge, but he notes the signup for the pledge remains open. Information on firearm injury is collected on the Annals website.
Dr. Barnhorst says there is no good answer to the question of how many lives need to be saved before talking with patients about firearms becomes worth the effort. “For me,” she said, “that number is very, very low.”
Dr. Laine puts the number at one.
“If a physician talking to their patients about firearms prevents one suicide, then the intervention is a success,” she said.
Dr. Laine, Dr. Barnhorst, and Dr. Wintemute report no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
UV light linked to prevention of allergic disease in infants
Higher direct ultraviolet light exposure in the first 3 months of life was linked to lower incidence of proinflammatory immune markers and lower incidence of eczema in an early-stage double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
Kristina Rueter, MD, with the University of Western Australia, Perth, who presented her team’s findings on Sunday at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021, said their study is the first to demonstrate the association.
“There has been a significant rise in allergic diseases, particularly within the last 20-30 years,” Dr. Rueter noted.
“Changes to the genetic pool take thousands of years to have an impact,” she said, “so the question is why do we have the significant, very recent rise of allergic diseases?”
Suboptimal vitamin D levels during infancy, lifestyle changes, nutritional changes, and living at higher latitudes have emerged as explanations.
In this study, 195 high-risk newborns were randomized to receive oral vitamin D supplements (400 IU/day) or placebo until 6 months of age.
Researchers found that UV light exposure appears more beneficial than vitamin D supplements as an allergy prevention strategy in the critical early years of immune system development.
The researchers used a novel approach of attaching a personal UV dosimeter to the infants’ clothing to measure direct UV light exposure (290-380 nm). Vitamin D levels were measured at 3, 6, 12, and 30 months of age. Immune function was assessed at 6 months of age, and food allergy, eczema, and wheeze were assessed at 6, 12, and 30 months of age.
At 3 (P < .01) and 6 (P = .02) months of age, vitamin D levels were greater in the children who received vitamin D supplements than those who received placebo, but there was no difference in eczema incidence between groups. The finding matched those of previous studies that compared the supplements with placebo, Dr. Rueter said.
However, infants with eczema were found to have had less UV light exposure compared to those without eczema (median interquartile range [IQR], 555 J/m2 vs. 998 J/m2; P = .023).
“We also found an inverse correlation between total UV light exposure and toll-like receptor cytokine production,” Dr. Rueter said.
“The more direct UV light exposure a child got, the less the chance to develop eczema,” she said.
Researchers then extended their analysis to see whether the effect of direct UV light exposure on reduced eczema would be maintained in the first 2.5 years of life, “and we could see again a significant difference, that the children who received higher UV light exposure had less eczema,” Dr. Rueter said.
Barbara Rogala, MD, PhD, professor at the Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, told this news organization that, just as in studies on vitamin D in adult populations, there must be a balance in infant studies between potential benefit of a therapeutic strategy of vitamin D and sunlight and risk of side effects. (Dr. Rogala was not involved in Dr. Rueter’s study.)
Although vitamin D supplements are a standard part of infant care, exposure to sunlight can come with cancer risk, she noted.
Dr. Rueter agreed caution is necessary.
“You have to follow the cancer guidelines,” she said. “Sunlight may play a role in causing skin cancer, and lots of research needs to be done to find the right balance between what is a good amount which may influence the immune system in a positive way and what, on the other hand, might be too much.”
As for vitamin D supplements, Dr. Rueter said, toxic levels require “extremely high doses,” so with 400 IU/day used in the study, children are likely not being overtreated by combining sunlight and vitamin D supplements.
The study was supported by grants from Telethon–New Children’s Hospital Research Fund, Australia; Asthma Foundation of Western Australia; and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Australia. Dr. Rueter and Dr. Rogala have reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Higher direct ultraviolet light exposure in the first 3 months of life was linked to lower incidence of proinflammatory immune markers and lower incidence of eczema in an early-stage double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
Kristina Rueter, MD, with the University of Western Australia, Perth, who presented her team’s findings on Sunday at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021, said their study is the first to demonstrate the association.
“There has been a significant rise in allergic diseases, particularly within the last 20-30 years,” Dr. Rueter noted.
“Changes to the genetic pool take thousands of years to have an impact,” she said, “so the question is why do we have the significant, very recent rise of allergic diseases?”
Suboptimal vitamin D levels during infancy, lifestyle changes, nutritional changes, and living at higher latitudes have emerged as explanations.
In this study, 195 high-risk newborns were randomized to receive oral vitamin D supplements (400 IU/day) or placebo until 6 months of age.
Researchers found that UV light exposure appears more beneficial than vitamin D supplements as an allergy prevention strategy in the critical early years of immune system development.
The researchers used a novel approach of attaching a personal UV dosimeter to the infants’ clothing to measure direct UV light exposure (290-380 nm). Vitamin D levels were measured at 3, 6, 12, and 30 months of age. Immune function was assessed at 6 months of age, and food allergy, eczema, and wheeze were assessed at 6, 12, and 30 months of age.
At 3 (P < .01) and 6 (P = .02) months of age, vitamin D levels were greater in the children who received vitamin D supplements than those who received placebo, but there was no difference in eczema incidence between groups. The finding matched those of previous studies that compared the supplements with placebo, Dr. Rueter said.
However, infants with eczema were found to have had less UV light exposure compared to those without eczema (median interquartile range [IQR], 555 J/m2 vs. 998 J/m2; P = .023).
“We also found an inverse correlation between total UV light exposure and toll-like receptor cytokine production,” Dr. Rueter said.
“The more direct UV light exposure a child got, the less the chance to develop eczema,” she said.
Researchers then extended their analysis to see whether the effect of direct UV light exposure on reduced eczema would be maintained in the first 2.5 years of life, “and we could see again a significant difference, that the children who received higher UV light exposure had less eczema,” Dr. Rueter said.
Barbara Rogala, MD, PhD, professor at the Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, told this news organization that, just as in studies on vitamin D in adult populations, there must be a balance in infant studies between potential benefit of a therapeutic strategy of vitamin D and sunlight and risk of side effects. (Dr. Rogala was not involved in Dr. Rueter’s study.)
Although vitamin D supplements are a standard part of infant care, exposure to sunlight can come with cancer risk, she noted.
Dr. Rueter agreed caution is necessary.
“You have to follow the cancer guidelines,” she said. “Sunlight may play a role in causing skin cancer, and lots of research needs to be done to find the right balance between what is a good amount which may influence the immune system in a positive way and what, on the other hand, might be too much.”
As for vitamin D supplements, Dr. Rueter said, toxic levels require “extremely high doses,” so with 400 IU/day used in the study, children are likely not being overtreated by combining sunlight and vitamin D supplements.
The study was supported by grants from Telethon–New Children’s Hospital Research Fund, Australia; Asthma Foundation of Western Australia; and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Australia. Dr. Rueter and Dr. Rogala have reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Higher direct ultraviolet light exposure in the first 3 months of life was linked to lower incidence of proinflammatory immune markers and lower incidence of eczema in an early-stage double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
Kristina Rueter, MD, with the University of Western Australia, Perth, who presented her team’s findings on Sunday at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Hybrid Congress 2021, said their study is the first to demonstrate the association.
“There has been a significant rise in allergic diseases, particularly within the last 20-30 years,” Dr. Rueter noted.
“Changes to the genetic pool take thousands of years to have an impact,” she said, “so the question is why do we have the significant, very recent rise of allergic diseases?”
Suboptimal vitamin D levels during infancy, lifestyle changes, nutritional changes, and living at higher latitudes have emerged as explanations.
In this study, 195 high-risk newborns were randomized to receive oral vitamin D supplements (400 IU/day) or placebo until 6 months of age.
Researchers found that UV light exposure appears more beneficial than vitamin D supplements as an allergy prevention strategy in the critical early years of immune system development.
The researchers used a novel approach of attaching a personal UV dosimeter to the infants’ clothing to measure direct UV light exposure (290-380 nm). Vitamin D levels were measured at 3, 6, 12, and 30 months of age. Immune function was assessed at 6 months of age, and food allergy, eczema, and wheeze were assessed at 6, 12, and 30 months of age.
At 3 (P < .01) and 6 (P = .02) months of age, vitamin D levels were greater in the children who received vitamin D supplements than those who received placebo, but there was no difference in eczema incidence between groups. The finding matched those of previous studies that compared the supplements with placebo, Dr. Rueter said.
However, infants with eczema were found to have had less UV light exposure compared to those without eczema (median interquartile range [IQR], 555 J/m2 vs. 998 J/m2; P = .023).
“We also found an inverse correlation between total UV light exposure and toll-like receptor cytokine production,” Dr. Rueter said.
“The more direct UV light exposure a child got, the less the chance to develop eczema,” she said.
Researchers then extended their analysis to see whether the effect of direct UV light exposure on reduced eczema would be maintained in the first 2.5 years of life, “and we could see again a significant difference, that the children who received higher UV light exposure had less eczema,” Dr. Rueter said.
Barbara Rogala, MD, PhD, professor at the Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, told this news organization that, just as in studies on vitamin D in adult populations, there must be a balance in infant studies between potential benefit of a therapeutic strategy of vitamin D and sunlight and risk of side effects. (Dr. Rogala was not involved in Dr. Rueter’s study.)
Although vitamin D supplements are a standard part of infant care, exposure to sunlight can come with cancer risk, she noted.
Dr. Rueter agreed caution is necessary.
“You have to follow the cancer guidelines,” she said. “Sunlight may play a role in causing skin cancer, and lots of research needs to be done to find the right balance between what is a good amount which may influence the immune system in a positive way and what, on the other hand, might be too much.”
As for vitamin D supplements, Dr. Rueter said, toxic levels require “extremely high doses,” so with 400 IU/day used in the study, children are likely not being overtreated by combining sunlight and vitamin D supplements.
The study was supported by grants from Telethon–New Children’s Hospital Research Fund, Australia; Asthma Foundation of Western Australia; and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Australia. Dr. Rueter and Dr. Rogala have reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.