GENERAL MEDICAL NEWS
The staff of The Reproductive Times here offers brief referenced notes on interesting general medical and scientific news with broad relevance to reproductive medicine and biology. Some of these news items may become subjects of more detailed reporting in The Reproductive Times on later occasions. The purpose of these short notes is to give readers the opportunity to get immediately more detailed information by looking up the references.
Increased reproductive problems in female surgeons.
With recently added evidence about increased risks of female surgeons to experience obstetrical complications like preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, infertility, and miscarriages (average obstetrical complications occur per literature in 25% to 82% of pregnancies in surgeons and in 5% to 15% in the general U.S. population), a recent review article in JAMA Surgery offered suggestions for a clear, translatable, and enforceable policy addressing perinatal care for female surgeons.1
CVS Health’s Aetna health insurance company announced widening of coverage of fertility services
Announced changes are mostly meant to offer “family-building possibilities regardless of sexual orientation or partner status.”2
An interesting podcast about generating evidence through Real-World Data.
A podcast with Dr. Hillary Marston, the FDA’s Chief Medical Officer, addressed the increasing recognition of the importance of Real-World Data for good evidence generation, a concept pioneered by the FDA’s post drug-approval surveillance process required for many drugs.3
New study supports annual mammography screening.
A newly published study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology concluded that annual mammography screening was associated in women above age 40 with a lower risk of late-stage breast cancer and better overall survival across clinical and demographic subgroups.4
GLP-1 drugs significantly reduce all-cause mortality.
With increasing reporting about other than anti-obesity and anti-diabetes effects of GLP-1 agonists, Eric Topol, MD now reported on his Substack on a 5-year observational study of approximately 12,000 obese individuals (without diabetes) on GLP-1 dugs and propensity-matched controls. All case mortality significantly and progressively declined in the treated group in comparison to the control population and this improvement was seen in patients with cardiovascular disease, renal disease, neurological conditions, and allergic reactions.5
REFERENCES
1. Glazer et al. JAMA Surg. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2024.0979; ahead of print.
2. Japsen B. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2024/08/27/aetna-widens-coverage-of-fertility-services-amid-political-uncertainty/
4. Zuley et al., J Clin Oncol. 2024; https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.24.00285; ahead of print.
5. Topol E. Substack. https://substack.com/@erictopol/note/c-6662506?utm_source=feed-email-digest