News from NYU Langone Health
Kidney Donations Safer Than Previously Thought: Study. (Newsweek)
Newsweek (8/28) A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that kidney donations are safer than previously thought, with a significantly lower risk of death for donors, attributing the increased safety to advancements in surgical techniques; Dorry L. Segev, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, professor, Department of Population Health, vice chair for research, Department of Surgery and the Surgical Sciences and co-author of the study, said, “The last decade has become a lot more safe in the operating room for living donors.”
The AP (8/28) The team from NYU Langone Health analyzed over 164,000 living kidney donations in the U.S. from 1993 to 2022, revealing 36 post-surgical deaths with male donors and those with high blood pressure being most at risk, and of these deaths, only five occurred since 2013, a period that coincided with US transplant centers switching to minimally invasive kidney removal and adopting an improved method to stop renal artery bleeding, according to Dorry L. Segev, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, professor, Department of Population Health, vice chair for research, Department of Surgery and the Surgical Sciences.
UPI (8/28) Lead researcher Allan B. Massie, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Surgery, and Population Health, stated, “While we had always understood that kidney donation is safe, our findings suggest that mortality among donors is extremely rare, and the procedure is safer than ever before.”
Also reporting are the Washington Post (8/28), NBC News (8/28), PBS NewsHour (8/28), MedPage Today (8/28), Medscape (8/28)*, BioSpace (8/29), and HealthDay (8/28).
New Study Suggests MRIs May Be Helpful In Detecting Breast Cancer For Some Women. (ABC News)
ABC News (8/28) “Elizabeth Comen, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center discusses the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found additional breast cancer screening could benefit some women.”
Also reporting is ABC (8/28).
Family Centers At NYU Langone Health Host Backpack Drive. (WABC-TV New York)
WABC-TV (8/28) The Family Centers at NYU Langone Health hosted their annual back-to-school backpack drive at Martin Luther King Playground in Sunset Park, assisting parents who struggle to afford school supplies for the upcoming academic year.
Also reporting were WPIX-TV New York (8/28), WABC-TV New York (8/28), WABC-NY (ABC)-2 (8/28), and News 12 Brooklyn (USA) (8/29).
What Are the Stages of Endometriosis? (Health Central)
Health Central (8/28) The stage of endometriosis does not clearly correlate with the intensity of pain, according to Kathy Huang, MD, clinical associate professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who said, “You can have stage four disease and minimal to no pain, or stage one or two and have a significant amount of pain.”
Decidual Cast: What Is It, Causes, and Treatment. (Health Central)
Health Central (8/28) Jennifer K. Blakemore, MD, clinical assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Health Fertility Center, explained that a decidual cast often takes the shape of the uterus, resembling a cone or a triangle, noting, “Decidual casts are more common in situations where hormones are building, such as with ectopic pregnancy or hormone contraceptives.”
Why Trampolines Are Every Doctor’s Nightmare. (Health Digest)
Health Digest (8/28) “Pediatric emergency specialist Ee T. Tay, MD, associate professor, Departments of Pediatrics, and the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, told Today that she doesn’t permit her children to jump on trampolines because they’re unpredictable.”
Study: Traces Of Toxic Metals Found In Tampons. (KXLY-TV Spokane (WA))
KXLY-TV (8/28) A recent study has found traces of toxic metals, including arsenic and lead, in over a dozen popular brands of tampons, raising concerns about their safety, with Sasha Hernandez, MD, clinical assistant professor, Departments of Population Health, and Obstetrics and Gynecology commenting, “This is not a study that showed how tampon users absorb these heavy metals, but in the same way that a vagina is absorbent, our bodies are actually made to excrete certain levels of heavy metals.”
Shingles Infection Linked To Risk Of Cognitive Decline, Says Study: ‘Long-Term Implications’. (Fox News)
Fox News (8/27) A new study has found that getting shingles just once could increase the risk of long-term confusion and memory loss, and although he mentioned that this is an observational study and does not prove cause and effect, Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, said he believes “the observation is real.”
In a separate article, Fox News (8/28) A mosquito-borne disease, the Oropouche virus, also known as sloth fever, has been detected in the United States; Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, confirmed to Fox News Digital, “The virus doesn’t spread from person to person.”
In a separate video segment, Fox News (8/28) Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, “breaks down top stressors facing American parents after the U.S. surgeon general issued a warning on parental mental health.”
Study: Weekend Warriors Reap Many Health Benefits. (NBC News Now-2)
NBC News Now-2 (8/28) Natalie E. Azar, MD, clinical associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, discussed a study in the journal Nature revealing that individuals who complete at least 50% of their recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise over two days have similar health benefits, including reduced risks of dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke, anxiety, and depressive disorders, as those who spread their exercise throughout the week, while a separate study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 84% of food ads targeting children promote unhealthy products, with 90% of these ads airing during non-children programming hours.
