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QDigest · 2026-09-14

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Diabetes, kidney function & heart failure

Diabetes medicines that help the kidneys also reduced kidney disease progression in trial patients without diabetes.

Yes: in the combined placebo-controlled trials, people without diabetes who had chronic kidney disease or heart failure had about a one-third lower relative risk of kidney disease progression with SGLT2 inhibitors than with placebo. Serious ketoacidosis was rare and mainly occurred in people with diabetes, and no excess amputation risk was seen in the studied kidney-disease group without diabetes.

Lancet · 2022-11-06

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Which diabetes medicines protect the heart and kidneys?

Two medicine families—SGLT-2 inhibitors, which help the kidneys pass extra sugar in urine, and GLP-1 receptor agonists, injected medicines that can reduce hunger—reduced death and protected the heart and kidneys. Finerenone, a newer kidney-protective medicine, showed similar heart and kidney benefits in people with chronic kidney disease but can cause too much potassium in the blood, sometimes needing hospital care.

BMJ · 2023-04-06

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Did aiming for lower blood pressure prevent more heart and stroke events?

In the pooled trials, yes for major cardiovascular events: people assigned to lower blood pressure targets had about one fifth fewer such events than people assigned to standard targets. The benefit was less clear for people with diabetes, and the review did not systematically assess harms.

Annals of medicine · 2026-04-30

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Hearing, cognition & Alzheimer’s

Can hearing aids also slow memory decline?

Not across everyone in this three-year trial of adults aged 70–84 with hearing loss; thinking and memory scores changed similarly in the hearing and health-education groups. A higher-risk group showed a possible benefit, but that result is tentative.

Lancet · 2023-07-18

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Do hearing aids help with mild to moderate hearing loss?

They likely improve hearing-specific daily participation and listening ability. This review found no established benefit for loneliness or working memory, and harm monitoring was limited.

The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026-08-26

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Can a gene test flag hearing damage risk before a certain antibiotic?

Yes—if a gene test finds one of several inherited variants (present in roughly 1 in 330 people), the guideline recommends avoiding aminoglycoside antibiotics when possible because these antibiotics can cause permanent hearing loss. If results are unavailable and the situation is urgent, treatment should not be delayed.

British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026-07-29

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TIA & stroke prevention

How often did a second stroke occur after a first?

About one in ten had another stroke within five years when deaths before a second stroke were accounted for. This population estimate comes from the South London first-stroke register; it is not an individual prediction.

Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026-03-10

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A real lift during stroke rehabilitation, but harder to prove later

In 30 randomized trials, exercise programmes gave people modestly better quality of life after stroke or transient ischemic attack by the end of treatment. Whether that benefit lasts beyond the treatment period remains unclear.

Stroke · 2021-05-27

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What can virtual-reality arm training do after stroke?

During rehabilitation, VR-supported exercise helped adults improve arm movement and daily independence compared with usual therapy or no therapy. Whether the gains lasted after the programme ended remains uncertain.

Journal of medical Internet research · 2022-06-20

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COPD, asthma & seasonal respiratory disease

Why RSV matters more with asthma or COPD

A review of 40 studies found that adults with asthma or COPD were more likely to be hospitalized after infection with the respiratory virus RSV than people without those lung conditions, and flare-ups of the underlying lung disease were a common serious complication.

Current allergy and asthma reports · 2025-02-25

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Can a positive virus test prove it caused an asthma flare?

No. In this combined analysis of studies, about one in four adults with stable asthma also tested positive for a respiratory virus, so a positive test during a flare is not on its own evidence that the virus triggered the attack.

European respiratory review · 2026-04-08

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Who did the American College of Physicians recommend an RSV vaccine for?

For adults aged 60 or older who are not pregnant or immunocompromised, the American College of Physicians recommends an RSV vaccine for those aged 75 or older. The ACP also says adults aged 60 to 74 who are at increased risk for severe RSV may consider receiving it.

Annals of internal medicine · 2026-03-03

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Cancer risk, exposure & prevention

Exercise and a normal weight did not cancel the cancer patterns tied to smoking and heavy drinking in this large Korean follow-up.

No. In an observational follow-up of 8.3 million Korean adults, people who were physically very active, had a normal body weight, but smoked and drank heavily still had higher overall cancer incidence than the healthiest non-smoking, non-drinking group. Being active or lean did not appear to erase those associations.

Cancer research and treatment · 2022-03-22

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Did light drinking mean no increased cancer risk?

Not across every cancer. The analysis did not find a significant association between light drinking and overall cancer risk, but light drinking was associated with higher risks of esophageal, colorectal, and breast cancers, as well as prostate cancer in men. Light meant 0.01-12.4 g/day, roughly a drink or less.

Epidemiology and health · 2023-10-16

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Why did Japanese guidance favour early H. pylori treatment for stomach cancer prevention?

The Japanese guideline strongly recommends treating Helicobacter pylori at an early age because earlier treatment is expected to give the greatest protection against stomach cancer. In a large Hong Kong follow-up, 200 of 73,237 treated people still developed stomach cancer, so the benefit is a reduced risk, not a zero risk.

Journal of gastroenterology · 2026-03-28

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