Money and medication adherence – asthma in Australia

An online survey of adults and parents of children 5 to 17 years with asthma in Australia was completed by 792 adult patients and 609 parents of children (5-10 years 51%) with asthma. Cost-related under use of medication was reported by 52.9% adults and 34.3% parents,...

Possible metabolic impact of topical corticosteroids

Danish researchers have recently concluded that the widely used topical corticosteroids used to treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They examined data from two matched case-control studies and one...

Binge drinking and opioids

Data from questionnaires from 160,812 people (aged ≥12 years) about prescription opioid misuse and alcohol consumption were assessed in a recent study that analysed self-reported past-30-days prescription opioid misuse by sociodemographic characteristics, other...

Biologics less risky than steroids for infection after arthoplasty

It has been postulated that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk for infection after arthroplasty, but the extent if additional risk associated with treatment with biologic medications or corticosteroids is not well-defined. In a retrospective...

Varicella vaccination drives down Herpes Zoster for children

Routine varicella vaccination of children in the United States was introduced in 1996. Researchers have used database information to study children aged up to 17 years from 2003 through 2014, calculating Herpes Zoster incidence rates per 100 000 person years of health...