In a major new study, researchers from Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City have found that weight loss drugs used by patients who have high triglycerides do not increase their risk of pancreatitis or adverse cardiac events. Since the first GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RAs), more commonly known now as weight loss drugs, were approved in 2005, some clinicians have been hesitant to prescribe them to people who have very high triglycerides. That’s because these patients are typically at high risk of pancreatitis, and the drugs interact with the pancreas.  In the new study, Intermountain researchers found that ...

A major analysis led by the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), in collaboration with international institutions, has pooled data from 17,801 myocardial infarction survivors with preserved cardiac function enrolled in five global clinical trials. The study concludes that beta-blockers offer no clinical benefit for this patient group, which today represents the majority of infarction survivors. The study was made possible by close collaboration between CNIC researchers and the ...

A tailored approach of vitamin D3 supplementation in patients who have suffered a heart attack significantly reduces their risk of a second heart attack, a new study from heart researchers at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City finds. In a large, randomized clinical trial, Intermountain Health researchers have found that treating heart attack patients in a “target to treat” fashion, where patients’ blood levels of vitamin D were monitored and vitamin D3 dosing adjusted to achieve optimal levels, cut their risk of a second heart attack in half. Results of the study were presented on Nov. 9 at the 2025 American Heart Association Scientific ...

A new study from researchers at Intermountain Health reveals that hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular complications — including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and death — within five years of giving birth. The study found that women who experienced HDP during pregnancy were significantly more likely to develop serious cardiovascular-related issues compared to those without HDP. These findings underscore the growing body of evidence over the past two decades linking pregnancy-related hypertension to ...

Opening all blocked arteries with stents in patients with a heart attack, known as complete revascularization, reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular causes, death from any cause and future heart attacks compared with opening only culprit artery causing the heart attack according to a new, large international study led by researchers at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), a joint organization of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. The results were published simultaneously in The Lancet and presented in a Late-Breaking Clinical Science Featured Research ...

In cases of mild congenital heart defects, more prenatal visits are associated with greater likelihood of appropriate delivery at a community hospital, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Results suggest that more prenatal care is beneficial for families and may allow their newborns with mild heart defects to receive the right level of care closer to home, as opposed to traveling to a regional cardiac surgical center, which can be expensive, taxing and stressful for families. Congenital heart defects are the most common and resource-intensive birth defects in the United States. Infants with the most complex heart defects are usually directed ...

Drinking coffee can protect against atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), a common heart rhythm disorder that causes rapid, irregular heartbeat and can lead to stroke and heart failure. Doctors typically recommend that people with heart issues like A-Fib avoid caffeine out of fear that it will trigger symptoms. But a study by UC San Francisco and the University of Adelaid has concluded that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee a day reduced A-Fib by 39%. “Coffee increases physical activity which is known to reduce atrial fibrillation,” said Gregory M. Marcus, MD, MAS, ...

Houston, TX (November 8, 2025) — A 5-year study revealed a stability of globalacute kidney injury (AKI)–related mortality rates with differing patterns that indicate a rising concentration of mortality in older populations and higher socioeconomiccountries. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2025 November 5– 9. When investigators at the Kyung Hee University Hospital in Seoul assessed AKI-related mortality trends in 43 countries from 1996–2021 using the WHO MortalityDatabase, they ...

Houston, TX (November 8, 2025) — The current kidney transplant waitlistingcriterion is based on a single measurement of kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≤20 ml/min/1.73m2) and does not consider an individual’s risk of progressing to kidney failure. A new study reveals that inclusion of a patient’s 2-year risk of progression to kidney failure (using theKidney Failure Risk Equation [KFRE], which incorporates age, ...

Houston, TX (November 8, 2025) — The cost of emergency dialysis is estimated to be 8-times that of in-center dialysis. A new study reveals that a transitional dialysis program piloted in Travis County (Austin, TX) resulted in a significant decrease in emergency department visits and hospital admissions for emergency dialysis by providing a pathway for outpatient dialysis in uninsured patients. Thefindings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2025 November 5– ...

Houston, TX (November 8, 2025) — Metformin-associated lactic acidosis(MALA) is a rare but serious adverse effect of the diabetes drug metformin in which the body accumulates too much lactic acid. Investigators developed and tested a protocol for diagnosis and treatment of MALA. Their work will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2025 November 5– 9. The protocol, which included immediate initiation of dialysis using either intermittent hemodialysis, continuous kidney replacement therapy, or peritonealdialysis as treatment, ...

Houston, TX (November 8, 2025) — It can be challenging to identify which patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) will most benefit from conservative care rather than initiating dialysis. Researchers recently developed and validated a prediction model to estimate individualized survival probabilities with conservative non-dialytic management versus dialysis in patients with advanced CKD from the national Veterans Affairs and OptumLabs® DataWarehouse databases. The work will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2025 November 5–9. Investigators found that among veterans with advanced CKD who received dialyticversus ...

In a new study of more than 40,000 patients, researchers at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City have found that patients who have no evidence of calcium in their coronary arteries are not only significantly less likely to die from heart conditions – including heart attacks and heart failure– but also are at reduced risk of death from non-cardiac medical conditions. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a strong predictor of how likely someone is to develop clinical coronary artery disease. It is an excellent measure of coronary plaque burden. When cholesterol-laden plaque builds up in the coronary arteries, blood flow to heart muscle is limited, and plaque rupture with coronary ...

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) CT scans are becoming a more commonly used tool to effectively determine a patient’s future risk of heart disease and heart attack.   These minimally invasive scans measure how much calcium is already present in the arteries of the heart, so that clinicians can determine if a patient needs medical intervention or other preventative measures, including statin medications. Now an important new study from heart researchers at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City ...

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce albuminuria (excess albumin in the urine) and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression, and certain mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists have similar effects in people with type 2 diabetes and CKD. Investigators recently assessed the albuminuria-lowering efficacy and safety of the novel mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist balcinrenone combined with the SGLT2 dapagliflozin. In the double-blind, active-controlled clinical trial, both doses of this novel balcinrenone/dapagliflozin combination outperformed dapagliflozin alone, cutting levels of ...

Researchers from Mass General Brigham have unveiled the results of a large clinical trial that found that adding the drug evolocumab to patients’ treatment significantly reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in those who are at high risk. Results were presented today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.   “The results of this trial offer hope for preventing a first heart attack, stroke, or other ...

Researchers from Mass General Brigham have found that olezarsen—a drug designed to lower triglyceride levels—can also decrease the risk of acute pancreatitis, a potential complication in patients with severely elevated triglyceride levels. The results, from two randomized, placebo-controlled trials (CORE-TIMI 72a and CORE2-TIMI 72b), were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Severe hypertriglyceridemia is a condition in which the level of triglycerides (a type of fat that circulates in the blood) is very high. Approximately 1 in 100 people in the U.S. have severe hypertriglyceridemia. ...

Steatotic liver disease (SLD), mainly encompassing metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), and metabolic dysfunction and ALD (MetALD), has emerged as the dominant cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, displacing viral hepatitis as the primary aetiology. Globally, the prevalence of MASLD is estimated even over 30%, affecting over one-third of adults. Parallelly, alcohol remains a major risk factor, with heavy drinking contributing to 90–95% of SLD cases and up to 10% advancing to cancer.   Genetic ...

About The Study: The findings of this study support the routine use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors to improve kidney outcomes across the full spectrum of kidney function and albuminuria among patients with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or heart failure.  Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Brendon L. Neuen, PhD (bneuen@georgeinstitute.org.au) and Hiddo J. L. Heerspink, PhD (h.j.lambers.heerspink@umcg.nl). To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

In late-breaking presentations at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week meeting and simultaneously published in two companion papers in JAMA, the findings are based on data from over 70,000 participants across 10 major randomised controlled trials.  The meta-analyses were conducted by the SGLT2 Inhibitor Meta-analysis Cardio-Renal Trialists’ Consortium (SMART-C), led by The George Institute for Global Health. SGLT2 inhibitors, originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, have since demonstrated substantial protection against heart failure and chronic ...

Despite effective HIV medication, the immune system of people with HIV remains disrupted in the long term. Researchers at Amsterdam UMC investigated whether this dysregulation can be prevented by starting HIV medication immediately after infection – i.e. within a few days. They saw that six months after this early treatment, the immune system did indeed work as in people without HIV. But in the longer term, the immune system was disrupted again. This is shown by research by Amsterdam UMC, published in the journal EBioMedicine. Early treatment protects immune systems only temporarily For this study, the scientists examined ...

Record numbers of men and women globally are now estimated to have reduced kidney function, a new study shows. Figures rose from 378 million people with the disease in 1990 to 788 million in 2023 as the world population grew and aged, making it for the first time a top 10 cause of death worldwide.   Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the University of Glasgow, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, the analysis explored the rise of the illness, in which the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood. Mild cases may have no symptoms while the most severe stages ...

In 2023, chronic kidney disease (CKD) was the 9th-leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths. Unlike most other leading causes of death, CKD mortality rates continue to rise, signaling a growing global health crisis.  In 2023, CKD ranked as the 12th-leading cause of disability worldwide and the 7th-leading driver of cardiovascular deaths. Kidney dysfunction alone accounted for almost 12% of all global cardiovascular deaths. Diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure remain the top drivers of CKD, alongside dietary risks and environmental factors.  SEATTLE, Wash. – Nov. 7, ...

About The Study: The results of this study suggest that community health workers played a vital role in improving patient engagement, emotional wellbeing, and self-efficacy, suggesting their integration into dialysis care teams may enhance holistic, patient-centered care.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lilia Cervantes, MD, email Lilia.Cervantes@cuanschutz.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.48506) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, a culturally tailored community health worker intervention modestly lowered interdialytic weight gain and improved dialysis adherence and patient activation among Hispanic and Latino patients with hemodialysis-dependent kidney failure.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSc, email lilia.cervantes@cuanschutz.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.5305) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...