Health Newsfeed – Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

Pancreas cancer is associated with a very poor prognosis, with many people diagnosed with the disease given only months or a couple of years of predicted life remaining. Now an AI model may discern who is at risk to develop … An AI model may help predict who is more likely to develop pancreas cancer, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

In trying to discern factors that may account for colorectal cancer incidence in younger people many diet and lifestyle factors fell short, a new study finds. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, points toward insulin … Will GLP1 drugs tease out the relationship between insulin and cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

A new, comprehensive study takes a look at lifestyle factors and colorectal cancer in younger people and fails to find a relationship. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at Johns Hopkins says he thinks it may be more subtle and … Is there a relationship between diet, obesity and colorectal cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

A comprehensive look at lifestyle factors and cancer rates among both older and younger people has left many people scratching their heads. The UK study examined a range of exposures and lifestyle factors trying to elucidate relationships, especially those that … What accounts for increases in colorectal cancer among younger people? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Daraxonrasib is the name of a drug for pancreas cancer that almost doubled survival for people with the disease in a clinical trial. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, says while the drug is going … A new drug for pancreas cancer may be a game changer, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Daraxonrasib is the name of a drug to treat pancreas cancer that has extended survival in many with the disease, a just reported clinical trial finds.  Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson says it's gotten many people who treat … A new drug for pancreas cancer may be a game changer, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

New guidelines for managing cholesterol levels have recently been released by the American College of Cardiology. Cardiologist Roger Blumenthal at Johns Hopkins chaired the committee that wrote the guidelines, and says that in reviewing the data it became clear that … Certain groups of people seem to be missing out when it comes to optimizing cardiovascular disease prevention, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Cholesterol found in your blood is just the beginning of the story when it comes to markers found there that are indicative of cardiovascular risk. A relative newcomer is apolipoprotein a, which is genetically determined, says Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist … What markers are found in blood that indicate cardiovascular risk? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

When it comes to assessing your cardiovascular risk, your blood tells an eloquent story. It's not just cholesterol but several other factors that can be detected and measured that point toward or away from risk. Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist at … What does a blood marker called lipoprotein A have to do with your risk for cardiovascular disease? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Cholesterol management, per new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, is just one aspect of measures you can take to lower your risk for cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death. Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins … What's involved in lowering your risk for cardiovascular disease? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

The most important person in reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease is you, and managing your blood cholesterol levels is just one part of an overall, lifelong strategy, beginning with becoming educated about your own unique set of risk factors. … Becoming educated about your own cardiovascular risk is pivotal to prevention, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Management of blood cholesterol is a major factor in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, as reflected in new guidelines released by the American College of Cardiology, and it should start early in life and be monitored throughout the lifespan. Johns … Monitoring cholesterol and other factors should be done regularly to prevent cardiovascular disease, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

When it comes to ideal LDL cholesterol levels in the blood, ideal is a bit of a moving target. Johns Hopkins cardiologist Roger Blumenthal, chair of an American College of Cardiology committee that has just updated cholesterol guidelines, says it … What LDL cholesterol level should you be aiming for? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

If you've been told you have high LDL cholesterol in your blood, the first place to begin to try to improve it is with diet and exercise. That's according to new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, and such … The first strategy to improve blood cholesterol levels in lifestyle management, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

A quarter of US adults have elevated levels of LDL, the type of cholesterol in the blood most often associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Now the American College of Cardiology has issued new guidelines for managing cholesterol, last updated … New guidelines from the American College of Cardiology for cholesterol guidelines are here, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Depending on your media exposure you have likely seen commercials or advertisements for cancer detection tests that look for markers of the disease in your blood. Now a new study examines these tests and determines that they're really not ready … Should you have a commercially advertised cancer detection test? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Changes to DNA that are added on top of the baseline order of its building blocks are known as epigenetics, and these changes are implicated in a number of diseases and conditions, including pancreas cancer. Now a Johns Hopkins study … Can epigenetics point the way to treatment for pancreas cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Certain bacteria commonly found in the gut produce toxins that promote breast cancer, a Johns Hopkins study shows. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at Johns Hopkins says there is a pathway where such an association makes sense. Nelson: When … What do gut bacteria have to do with breast cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

There are too many copies of one arm of chromosome one in pancreas cancer, a Johns Hopkins study finds. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Hopkins, says the stage of tumor development where this finding was seen … What does too many copies of a part of a chromosome in pancreas cancer tell us? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Perhaps you recall from high school biology that you have 23 pairs of chromosomes. A Johns Hopkins study has shown that one arm of chromosome one, the biggest chromosome, is often copied many times in pancreas cancer, and that part … Can too many copies of a gene drive pancreas cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

About one in five adolescents have cholesterol levels that are too high, and that's why new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology specify testing children 9 to 11 years of age. Johns Hopkins cardiologist Seth Martin, one of the … Why do kids 9-11 years of age need a cholesterol test? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Did you know that one in five adolescents have cholesterol levels that are too high, some of them very high indeed? Those at the highest levels may have a genetic disorder called familial hypercholesterolemia, and when it's caught early it … There's a very good reason to test preadolescents' cholesterol levels, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Your preadolescent child should have their blood drawn to test their cholesterol levels, new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology specify. That's because of a condition that happens in one in 250 people where such levels are abnormally high … There's a test your adolescent should have to help avoid cardiovascular disease, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Familial hypercholesterolemia is just what it sounds like: abnormally high cholesterol levels that run in families due to their genetics. Turns out these very high cholesterol levels begin in infancy, and unless someone is suspicious, are rarely tested for. That's … Even kids who appear very healthy can have very high cholesterol levels, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

A new clinical guideline to manage cholesterol levels in the blood has been released by the American College of Cardiology. Johns Hopkins cardiologist Seth Martin participated in writing the guidelines and says that shifting risk assessment and management strategies for … New cholesterol screening guidelines capture childhood risk, too, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

When it comes to slowing down cognitive decline in those with early Alzheimer's disease a total package of lifestyle interventions is superior to currently available medications, a study by Johns Hopkins neurologist Majid Fotuhi has shown. Fotuhi and colleagues had … Does a program exist to implement comprehensive lifestyle changes to preserve cognitive function? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

If you have mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease, changes in lifestyle are more likely to provide benefit to your cognitive capacity than available medicines, a study by Johns Hopkins neurologist Majid Fotuhi shows. Fotuhi says this is largely … How exactly do lifestyle interventions benefit brain health? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Lifestyle interventions are more effective than medications in early Alzheimer's disease, a study led by Majid Fotuhi, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, has found. When a number of trials were analyzed together, implementation of several lifestyle changes emerged as superior … Comprehensive lifestyle changes impact wellbeing in those with early Alzheimer's disease, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Declines of several fold in rates of progression- sounds pretty good, doesn't it, if you have the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease and are considering available medications. Yet a recent study by Johns Hopkins neurologist Majid Fotuhi finds that those … How is it that medications to treat Alzheimer's disease appear to show such a benefit? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Comprehensive lifestyle changes are better than medications to slow, stop or even improve mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease, a study by Johns Hopkins neurologist Majid Fotuhi finds. This meta analysis of existing randomized trials sought to compare the … If you've been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment what's the best strategy to slow decline? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Many substances marketed as ‘supplements' enjoy a lack of oversight and regulation, among them kratom, a plant based extract from Asia. While some users report pain relief and mood improvement there are no studies to support this, and as Eric … How did the current situation with kratom develop? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Over a thousand fold in the last year. That's the increase in the number of emergency department visits nationally due to use of kratom, a drug sold unregulated in convenience stores and gas stations as well as online. Substance use … What is the likelihood that you'll experience a problem with a product labeled as kratom? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

When someone presents to an emergency department after having taken an unknown drug, screening is typically undertaken. Yet for kratom, which last year accounted for over a thousand fold increase in ED visits, no screen is available. Substance use disorder … If you have a bad experience after taking kratom, can medical professionals help? Read More »

Kratom is a drug that has been unregulated and sold for decades in smoke shops and elsewhere, now associated with over a thousand fold increase in emergency department visits. Why? Substance use disorder expert Eric Strain at Johns Hopkins explains. … Consuming kratom products may result in an ED visit, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

You may have noticed among the offerings at gas stations and convenience stores something called kratom. This is a plant based drug with the potential for undesired side effects that is unregulated in the United States. Now over a thousand … Kratom is accounting for a dramatic rise in ED visits, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

The good news is heart failure in people with severe obesity may be reversible with common weight loss drugs. The bad news is both obesity, with BMIs of around 30, and severe obesity, with a BMI of 42 or greater, … Increasing rates of obesity and severe obesity may presage increased rates of heart failure, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

GLP-1 receptor agonists are effective in helping most people lose weight, and now a new study suggests that in those with severe obesity, a BMI of 42 or greater and who have a type of heart failure, this condition may … Is there another benefit besides weight loss of GLP-1s in people with severe obesity? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

There's a relationship between severe obesity and one type of heart failure, and it looks like it's mediated by adding more phosphate groups, a process known as phosphorylation, to proteins in heart muscle cells, specifically to units within the muscle … Can GLP-1 agonists help in heart failure and severe obesity? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Severe obesity may impede the ability of units inside heart muscle cells called sarcomeres to contract, and losing weight may reverse that condition. That's according to research by cardiologist David Kass and colleagues at Johns Hopkins, who looked closely at … What is severe obesity doing to the heart muscle's ability to contract? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, so-called HFpEF, is happening more frequently, especially in those with severe obesity. David Kass, a cardiologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, have looked closely at heart muscle cells from this group of … How is obesity related to a common form of heart failure? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Brain organoids, collections of cells found in the brain, have been grown from blood samples of people with Alzheimer's disease and used to assess the impact of a drug called escitalopram in a new study. Vasiliki Machairaki, study leader and … A model of your brain may one day be grown in a lab, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Extracellular vesicles are membrane bound packages cells use to jettison materials from inside the cell, a sort of trash can. Johns Hopkins genetic medicine expert Vasiliki Machairaki has shown in a new study that these vesicles may be a means … What can be learned from what cells dispose of? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

What might a model of the hindbrain, which helps control functions like sleep, breathing and heart rate, tell us about using a common depression drug in people with Alzheimer's disease? Genetic medicine expert Vasiliki Machairaki at Johns Hopkins says her … Brain organoids can resemble specific parts of the brain, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Drugs to manage symptoms of Alzheimer's disease may work in some people but not in others. Now a new method using brain organoids, which are derived from a person's own blood sample, may help determine whether a specific medication is … Can drugs to manage Alzheimer's disease be tested in organoids? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Brain organoids are lab grown clusters of cells that have several of the cell types found in someone's brain. Cells taken from a person's blood are coaxed to become stem cells, then differentiate into brain cells. Vasiliki Machairaki, a genetic … Can brain organoids help in treating people with Alzheimer's disease? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »