LAURA H. CYPHERS

Social isolation and loneliness were associated with a 32% and 14% higher risk, respectively, of all-cause mortality, as well as an increased risk of cancer mortality, according to a meta-analysis of 90 prospective cohort studies that included more than 2 million adults aged 18 years or older.
Source: JAMA Online First

This Medical News article discusses the Human Pangenome Project.
Source: JAMA Online First

The majority of the world’s morphine—more than 80%—was distributed within North America and Europe in 2021, with high-income countries consuming 63 times as much of the drug as low-income countries. Documented disparities in access to morphine, whose uses include managing moderate to severe pain as well as treating severe breathlessness at the end of life, “must be a cause for concern,” according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report.
Source: JAMA Online First

This Medical News article discusses experimental approaches to preserve the neuropeptide hypocretin in patients with new-onset narcolepsy type 1.
Source: JAMA Online First

This JAMA Insights Clinical Update discusses current recommendations regarding prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia in patients who are immunocompromised.
Source: JAMA Online First

This randomized clinical trial examines the efficacy and safety of once-weekly icodec vs once-daily insulin degludec in people with insulin-naive type 2 diabetes.
Source: JAMA Online First

Statin therapy is the mainstay of lipid-lowering therapy for the primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). But 5% to 10% of patients are unable to tolerate a statin at any dose or at a dose high enough to achieve patient-specific target levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), most commonly due to muscle-related symptoms. Statin-intolerant patients have historically had few therapeutic options: ezetimibe produces only modest reductions in LDL-C levels, and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors are indicated for primary prevention only if the patient is diagnosed with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Therefore, the recent approval of bempedoic acid, a new lipid-lowering agent associated with fewer muscle-related symptoms compared with statins, was an exciting development. Bempedoic acid inhibits cholesterol synthesis by blocking ATP citrate lyase, upstream of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase enzyme that is blocked by statins. The resulting upregulation of LDL receptors on the surface of hepatocytes enhances clearance of LDL particles from the bloodstream and lowers the level of circulating LDL-C. Bempedoic acid is associated with fewer muscle-related symptoms than statins, presumably because the enzyme responsible for activating bempedoic acid is present in hepatocytes but not in myocytes. But whether lipid lowering with bempedoic acid improves cardiovascular outcomes in statin-intolerant patients at risk of developing ASCVD was, until recently, uncertain.
Source: JAMA Online First

This 32-country randomized clinical trial assesses the effects of bempedoic acid on cardiovascular outcomes in statin-intolerant patients receiving bempedoic acid vs placebo for primary prevention of a first major adverse cardiovascular event.
Source: JAMA Online First

In this narrative medicine essay, a resident otolaryngologist’s grief over the loss of his daughter at nearly 20 weeks’ gestation nearly crushes him until he finds relief hearing the stories of other parents at a hospital-sponsored rememberance celebration.
Source: JAMA Online First

This Viewpoint discusses the difficult task of creating a stakeholder-driven, evidence-based approach to assessing institutional review board effectiveness beyond regulatory compliance.
Source: JAMA Online First