Semaglutide Use Tied to Slightly Increased nAMD Risk in Older Diabetic Patients: JAMA

Canada: A recent observational cohort study from Canada revealed that older diabetic patients taking GLP-1 receptor agonists—primarily semaglutide—had a small but increased risk of developing neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). The absolute risk remained low, at 0.2% over 3 years among users versus 0.1% in non-users, highlighting the need for further research on this drug class.

The study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, was led by Reut Shor from the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto. It analyzed the long-term ocular safety of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), medications increasingly prescribed for managing diabetes and obesity. Despite their growing popularity, data on their prolonged impact on eye health have been limited.

To investigate this potential concern, the researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 139,002 older adults with diabetes, drawn from administrative health databases in Ontario. The data, covering three years from January 2020 to November 2023, were sourced from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Patients included in the study were aged 66 years or older, had a diagnosis of diabetes, and had not been previously diagnosed with nAMD. The team matched 46,334 GLP-1 RA users to 92,668 non-users, ensuring comparable demographics and comorbidities using propensity score matching.

The primary objective was to assess the incidence and timing of new nAMD diagnoses among those exposed to GLP-1 RAs for at least six months.

The study revealed the following findings:

  • Patients using GLP-1 receptor agonists had more than double the risk of developing neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) compared to non-users.
  • The crude hazard ratio for nAMD development was 2.11.
  • The adjusted hazard ratio remained high at 2.21.
  • Despite the relative risk increase, the absolute difference in nAMD incidence was only 0.1%.
  • These findings highlight potential safety concerns, especially for older individuals already at higher risk for age-related eye disorders.
  • Although the number of new nAMD cases was small, the observed statistical association calls for further investigation.

“This study highlights a possible link between systemic GLP-1 RA use and retinal changes leading to nAMD. As these medications become more common in chronic disease management, their long-term effects on the eye must be better understood,” the authors noted.

The study authors also stressed the need for balanced clinical judgment. The benefits of GLP-1 RAs in glucose regulation and weight control are well-established, and abrupt discontinuation is not advised. However, clinicians may consider monitoring for early signs of retinal changes in high-risk patients, particularly older adults with a family history of macular degeneration.

The authors concluded, “While the increased risk of nAMD remains relatively low in absolute terms, the findings underscore the importance of vigilant, personalized care when prescribing GLP-1 RAs. Additional studies are needed to explore the biological mechanisms underlying this association and determine whether specific patient populations are more vulnerable to ocular side effects.”

Reference:

Shor R, Mihalache A, Noori A, et al. Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Risk of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration. JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online June 05, 2025. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2025.1455

Powered by WPeMatico

Depression linked to increased risk of dementia in both mid and later life, finds new study

A new study has found that depression is linked to an increased risk of dementia in both mid and later life.

The new research, which is published in eClinicalMedicine, was led by Jacob Brain and Maha Alshahrani from the Institute of Mental Health and School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, University of Adelaide and the Dementia Centre of Excellence at Curtin University in Australia.

Mr Brain said: “Our study shows that depression is linked to an increased risk of dementia in both midlife and late life. This highlights the importance of recognising and treating depression across the life course, not just for mental health, but also as part of a broader strategy to protect brain health. Public health efforts need to place greater emphasis on preventative brain health, including scaling up access to effective mental health care.”

Dementia affects over 57 million people globally. There is currently no cure, so identifying and treating the factors to reduce the risk, such as depression, is an important public health priority.

The potential links between depression and dementia are complex and may include chronic inflammation, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, vascular changes, alterations to neurotrophic factors and neurotransmitter imbalances. Shared genetic and behavioural related changes may also increase the risks.

Previous studies have shown that people with depression are more likely to develop dementia later in life, but there’s been a lot of debate about when depression matters most, whether it’s depression that starts in midlife – in your 40s or 50s, or depression that appears later in life – in your 60s or beyond.

This new research brings together all the existing evidence and adds new analysis to examine this timing in more detail.

“Our findings raise the possibility that depression late in life may not just be a risk factor, but it could also be an early warning sign of dementia beginning to develop. By clarifying this timing, our work helps guide future research, treatment, and prevention strategies,” says Mr Brain.

The team carried out an umbrella review and meta-analysis. They firstly gathered and reviewed all the best available data from systematic reviews with meta-analyses (a statistical method that combines results from multiple studies to provide a more reliable overall estimate), that had already looked at the link between depression and dementia.

They then went a step further by extracting and re-analysing data from the individual studies within those reviews, plus they added in newer studies that were missed in the earlier work.

Mr Brain adds: “We specifically focused on the timing of when depression was measured, whether it was measured in midlife or in later life, and calculated how much it increased the risk of developing dementia. This essentially allowed us to provide a more accurate and up-to-date picture of how depression at different life stages is linked to dementia risk.”

Reference:

Brain, Jacob et al., Temporal dynamics in the association between depression and dementia: an umbrella review and meta-analysis, EClinicalMedicine, DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103266.

Powered by WPeMatico

Trichomonas vaginalis infection not associated with preterm labor, BMC study

A new study published in the recent issue of BMC Research Notes journal showed no independent correlation between Trichomonas vaginalis and preterm labor (PTL).

The spontaneous commencement of uterine contractions followed by progressive cervical alterations and descent of the presenting parts after the fetal viability threshold, which is typically regarded as occurring between 22 and 24 weeks of gestation, but before 37 full weeks of gestation is known as preterm labor (PTL).

40%-60% of all perinatal fatalities and 50% of children under five who suffer from long-term neurological damage are caused by preterm delivery. Nearly one million of the more than 13 million prematurely born babies in 2020 pass away as a result of preterm birth problems, with more than 60% of these deaths taking place in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Trichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral STD, affecting an estimated 143 million individuals globally. Preterm delivery, low birth weight, perinatal morbidity, and prelabour rupture of membranes (PROM) are among the negative outcomes linked to T. vaginalis infections during pregnancy, according to the results of observational studies and meta-analyses.

Data on the effects of Trichomonas vaginalis infection on PTL, particularly in sub-Saharan African women, are still few, nevertheless. Using a molecular-based quick antigen detection approach to identify T. vaginalis infection, this study ascertained the correlation between PTL and T. vaginalis infection in pregnant women in Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria.

Between April and December 2019, parturients treated in the labor wards of three hospitals in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, participated in this multicenter analytical cross-sectional study. Between April and December 2019, 105 pregnant women with PTL and an equivalent number of women who experienced term labor had high vaginal swab samples taken.

The antigen of T. vaginalis T. vaginalis was found in the vaginal samples using a rapid assay. To account for all possible factors in the relationship between PTL and T. vaginalis infection, multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were employed. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The individuals with PTL had a considerably greater frequency of T. vaginalis infection than those with term labor. There was no correlation between T. vaginalis infection and PTL after controlling for age, parity, economic and educational level, atypical vaginal discharge, and the incidence of prelabor rupture of membranes.

Overall, to further investigate the effects of coinfections or interactions among other local or systemic pathogens and T. vaginalis infection on the occurrence of PTL, this study recommend future adequately powered longitudinal studies.

Source:

Sunmonu, O. H., Okunade, K. S., & Adegbola, O. (2025). Association between Trichomonas vaginalis infection and spontaneous preterm labour in Lagos, Nigeria: an analytical cross-sectional study. BMC Research Notes, 18(1), 142. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-025-07196-1

Powered by WPeMatico

Reduced Solar Radiation Associated with Increased Use of Systemic or Phototherapy in Psoriasis: Study

A new study published in the journal of Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine showed that people with psoriasis are more likely to receive systemic treatment or phototherapy when there is less ambient sun exposure.

Seasonal variations in the severity of psoriasis, with it getting worse in the winter and getting better in the summer, point to the potential benefits of ambient sun radiation. Furthermore, “climate therapy,” which involves purposeful exposure to sunshine, lessens the severity of psoriasis. Remarkably, Okun and Okun’s research of psoriasis clinical trial participants revealed no connection between the degree of psoriasis and the amount of UV light present at the study locations.

Additionally, studies discovered no significant link when they analyzed the prevalence of psoriasis in existing research by the mean country latitude. Tus, Brad Woodie and colleagues evaluated the relationship between the severity of psoriasis therapy and yearly local sun radiation using a representative sample of the US.

For their study, the research team analyzed de-identified participant data from the ‘All of Us’ Research Program, version 7 of the National Institutes of Health. Information that has previously been gathered between 2017 and 2022 was incorporated in this program. The group aimed to reduce the number of study participants who could need systemic immunosuppressive treatments for unrelated illnesses.

For this, they excluded those who had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, atopic dermatitis, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or uveitis. Overall, they found a total of 7,748 patients who had been diagnosed with psoriasis.

Nearly, 1,028 of the 5,179 psoriasis research participants got phototherapy or systemic treatment. A higher likelihood of obtaining systemic treatment or phototherapy was linked to a lower GHI in the participants’ ZIP code. Higher probabilities of systemic treatment or phototherapy were also linked to feminine sex and obesity. Lower probabilities of systemic treatment or phototherapy were linked to age beyond 75. This study found no correlation between treatment intensity and race, ethnicity, or deprivation index.

Overall, as potential markers of more severe illness, this study demonstrates that lower ambient sun radiation levels are linked to an increased likelihood of obtaining systemic therapy or phototherapy for psoriasis. The relationships between therapy and age, sex, and obesity were consistent with previous studies.

Source:

Woodie, B. R., & Fleischer, A. B., Jr. (2025). Ambient solar radiation predicts psoriasis treatment intensity. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine, 41(3), e70014. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpp.70014

Powered by WPeMatico

Self-Employed Women have Lower Heart Attack Risk compared to Salaried Women: Study

New research finds that self-employed women have fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to non-self-employed women, suggesting that the work environment may play a role in the development of risk factors that can lead to heart attacks.

While the findings also showed some positive associations between health outcomes and self-employment among white men, the researchers found women had the most favorable CVD risk profile associated with being self-employed, possibly because they are more likely than men to experience stress and time demands related to balancing responsibilities across work and home.

Self-employed men of color, by contrast, did not experience the same health benefits.

The study is one of the few to use measures obtained from lab tests and body measures, rather than relying on self-reported measures, to explore the relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors, said lead author Dr. Kimberly Narain, assistant professor-in-residence of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. It is also the only study to consider differences across sex and racial/ethnic minority status.

“There is a relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors and this relationship seems to be stronger in women relative to men,” said Narain, who is also director of health services and health optimization research at the Iris-Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center. “It is imperative to increase our understanding of how the work environment gets under our skin so we can come up with ways to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy work environment.”

The study will be published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Public Health.

Prior studies have shown links between the structure of employment and cardiovascular disease risk. Some have found better health outcomes among people in executive positions compared with those in clerical or administrative positions, which are frequently held by women and people of color. Others have found ties between job control and health benefits. For instance, high strain jobs with higher psychological demands and less autonomy have been linked with hypertension and CVD.

But many of those studies were largely dependent on self-reported measures that are not entirely reliable due to factors such as recall bias.

For this study the researchers used data from 19,400 working adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They analyzed the association between self-employment and CVD risk factors that included elevated cholesterol, hypertension, glucose intolerance, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, smoking, binge drinking, sub-optimal sleep duration and poor mental health. They explored these questions across sex, race and ethnicity, using biologic and physical measures that are more reliable than self-reported measures, in some contexts.

They found a number of negative associations-that is, lower rates of specific CVD risk factors– between self-employment and health outcomes. These are among the key findings.

Among white women self-employment was linked to:

• 7.4 percentage point decline in obesity

• 7.0 percentage point decline in physical inactivity

• 9.4 percentage point decline in poor sleep duration

Among women of color it was linked to:

• 6.7 percentage point decline in poor diet

• 7.3 percentage point decline in physical inactivity

• 8.1 percentage point decline in poor sleep duration

And among white men, self-employment was associated with:

• 6.5 percentage point decline in poor diet

• 5.7 percentage point decline in hypertension

The researchers did not find the same benefits among self-employed minority men, possibly because they are generally in businesses with high entry barriers and failure rates, and they may also struggle with lower financial capital and less access to mentorship that could better prepare them to maintain a successful business, the researchers write.

Due to the study’s cross-sectional nature, the researchers can’t make causal claims from their findings. Other study limitations include the possibility that unmeasured characteristics, such as personality traits and coping mechanisms, may affect individuals’ choice to be self-employed and their development of CVD risk factors. The researchers also could not distinguish between individuals who chose self-employment and those who were forced into it due to job loss or other circumstances.

Reference:

Narain, K., Markovic, D. & Escarce, J.J. A cross-sectional analysis of the association between self-employment, racial and ethnic minority status, sex and cardiovascular disease risk factors among a nationally representative sample. BMC Public Health 25, 1786 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22955-2

Powered by WPeMatico

High-levels of TyG index increases risk of respiratory failure in COPD patients: Study

A new study published in the journal of BMC Pulmonary Medicine showed that a high-level Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index and the probability of respiratory failure (RF) incidence in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) are mildly correlated, suggesting that using the TyG index to gauge the severity of COPD patients has potential futures.

One prominent group of long-lasting and progressive respiratory conditions with significant rates of disability and mortality is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to data from the WHO, COPD is the third most common cause of mortality worldwide, behind stroke and ischemic heart disease.

A strong indicator of insulin resistance, the TyG index is currently used to evaluate the beginning and prognosis of a number of diseases, including ischemic stroke, chronic kidney disease, and acute coronary syndrome. It is unclear, therefore, if the TyG index may be used to evaluate the risk of RF in individuals with COPD. Investigating the relationship between the TyG index and RF risk in patients with COPD is the goal of the current investigation.

In this study, the MIMIC-IV 2.2 (The Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV, version 2.2) database was utilized to get COPD patients in the past. Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) curves were used to assess the relationship between the TyG index and the likelihood of RF in individuals with COPD. Thus, to evaluate the RF risk across the quartile groups, cumulative incidence curves were produced. Ultimately, 1188 patients were chosen from Jiaxing City’s First Hospital in order to externally evaluate the primary outcome’s Cox modeling results.

A total of 1,232 people from the MIMIC database were included in this study. Among these people, RF occurred in 134 cases (10.9%). An one-unit increase in the TyG index was associated with a 1.821-fold increased incidence of RF in the COPD cohort, per Cox regression analysis.

Also, a higher RF risk was substantially associated with higher TyG index values. A linear relationship between the TyG index and RF risk was also indicated by RCS curve analysis (P-Nonlinear = 0.074).

Overall, the TyG index can help predict the RF risk in individuals with COPD to a certain degree. People who have higher TyG index values are more likely to develop RF. It also acts as a warning sign for longer hospital stays and higher use of invasive mechanical ventilation.

Source:

Hu, S., Zhang, Y., Cui, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Tan, X., & Chen, W. (2025). The impact of the triglyceride-glucose index on the risk of respiratory failure in patients with COPD: a study from the MIMIC database and Chinese cohorts. BMC Pulmonary Medicine, 25(1), 149. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-025-03597-x

Powered by WPeMatico

Reduced Thyroid Hormone Sensitivity Linked to Higher Thyroid Cancer Risk in Euthyroid Patients: Study Finds

China: A recent study conducted by researchers from the School of Medicine at Nankai University, Tianjin, China, highlights a potential new risk factor for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) among individuals with normal thyroid hormone levels. The study, published in Frontiers in Endocrinology, suggests that decreased sensitivity to thyroid hormones, both centrally and peripherally, may play a critical role in the development of DTC and could be valuable in refining preoperative cancer risk assessments.

The research team, led by Huaijin Xu, retrospectively analyzed data from 9,515 euthyroid adults who underwent thyroidectomy for nodular thyroid disease. All participants had normal thyroid hormone levels before surgery, and their nodules were confirmed as either benign or DTC postoperatively. 

To better understand the hormonal dynamics, the researchers examined several composite indicators of thyroid hormone sensitivity, including the thyroid-stimulating hormone index (TSHI), thyrotroph thyroxine resistance index (TT4RI), the ratio of free triiodothyronine to free thyroxine (FT3/FT4), and the thyroid’s secretory capacity (SPINA-GT). These indices reflect how the body responds to and regulates thyroid hormones.

The study led to the following findings:

  • Individuals with higher TSHI and TT4RI, reflecting reduced central thyroid hormone sensitivity, had significantly increased odds of being diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).
  • Each unit increase in TSHI and TT4RI was linked to a 34% and 35% higher risk of DTC, respectively.
  • Lower FT3/FT4 ratios and SPINA-GT values, indicating reduced peripheral sensitivity and secretory capacity, were also associated with greater cancer risk.
  • These associations remained consistent across subgroups defined by age, sex, metabolic status, thyroid autoimmunity, and nodule size.
  • The relationship between thyroid hormone sensitivity and DTC risk was non-linear, pointing to a more intricate physiological mechanism.
  • TSHI and TT4RI showed stronger associations with thyroid malignancy than traditional markers like TSH.
  • No single thyroid parameter demonstrated both high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating malignant from benign nodules.
  • The findings highlight the potential value of using combined thyroid hormone sensitivity indices in more comprehensive diagnostic models.

The researchers emphasize that their findings shed new light on the pathophysiology of thyroid cancer in patients with euthyroid profiles. They propose that thyroid hormone sensitivity indices could serve as supplementary tools in preoperative evaluation and guide clinical decisions regarding the likelihood of malignancy in thyroid nodules.

“Recognizing the role of thyroid hormone sensitivity may enhance our understanding of thyroid cancer development and aid in building more accurate predictive models,” the authors noted.

“The study opens the door for future research to explore how modulating hormone sensitivity could influence thyroid cancer outcomes and whether these indices can be incorporated into clinical guidelines for managing thyroid nodules,” they concluded.

Reference:

Xu, H., Liu, H., Hu, X., Jia, X., Xue, Z., Wang, A., Kang, S., & Lyu, Z. (2025). Reduced sensitivity to thyroid hormones is associated with differentiated thyroid cancer in the euthyroid thyroidectomy population. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 16, 1595002. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2025.1595002

Powered by WPeMatico

Smartphone tests could accelerate drug development for Huntington’s disease

A series of digital tests carried out via a smartphone app could enhance the detection of disease progression in Huntington’s disease and improve the efficiency of clinical trials, finds research led by scientists at University College London (UCL) and Roche.

Powered by WPeMatico

Significant gaps in testing for genetic cancer risk, study finds

Patients with womb cancer are not being tested for a genetic condition that increases their chance of developing further cancers, a study has found. The work is published in the journal BMJ Oncology.

Powered by WPeMatico

Atypical left-handers use right brain hemisphere for language and left for inhibition, study finds

Approximately 10% of the human population is left-handed. Among them, one in five exhibits a peculiar brain phenomenon known as atypical language lateralization. While most people attribute their language capability to their left hemisphere, this atypical group of left-handers utilizes their right hemisphere to speak. One of the oldest questions in neuroscience is how this phenomenon impacts brain organization and human behavior.

Powered by WPeMatico