Health System News Regional Nephrology Program Named Top Performer in Ontario - Ontario Hospital Association

Serum urate monitoring and urate-lowering therapy prescribing increased among patients with gout after their first nephrology visit, and gout-related outcomes improved during subsequent follow-up, according to a retrospective study being presented during American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2026. Gout is common among patients with CKD, but managing the condition can be challenging in those with multiple comorbidities. Although most treatment of gout occurs in primary care settings, relatively little is known about changes in treatment patterns and outcomes after patients transition to nephrology care. To address this knowledge gap, investigators used the Optum Clinformatics Data Mart database to analyze insurance claims from 2,765 adults with gout who had an initial nephrology visit between 2016 and 2025. Patients were required to have continuous insurance enrollment for 1 year before and 2 years after their first nephrology visit. Changes in gout management and clinical outcomes were assessed in successive 6-month intervals. The study population had a mean age of 73 years. Most were men (64%) and had CKD (84%).

Researchers developed a drug for Alzheimer's disease, and then discovered that the molecule already exists in human blood, and is found in lower levels in cognitively impaired people. Now the authors are exploring the peptide as a biomarker as well as a treatment. Sergey A. Kozin and colleagues designed a peptide to interfere with the growth of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) plaques in the brain. Preventing the formation of such plaques has been proposed as a way to prevent Alzheimer's disease or treat it in its earlier stages, in part because Aβ plaque formation is believed to precede and potentially cause the spread of toxic tau protein. Specifically, the authors sought to disrupt abnormal interactions between Aβ and zinc ions, an interaction thought to be key to the plaque formation process.

Indocyanine green may be highly sensitive in the identification of ovarian cancer metastases, though with low specificity. IntroductionOvarian cancer is the second most common malignancy of the female genital tract in the United States, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2017.1 In terms of mortality, it ranked eighth worldwide in 2013 and fifth in Poland in 2019 among all cancers.2,3 The high mortality rate associated with ovarian cancer is mainly due to its late diagnosis. At the time of diagnosis, two-thirds of patients present with intraperitoneal dissemination, corresponding to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III or IV.4 The most important prognostic indicator in patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer is the volume of residual disease after cytoreductive surgery.4 The primary treatment approach remains debulking surgery. The goal of this procedure is to achieve complete cytoreduction.

On average, caregivers want to see their children with ADHD fall asleep 30 minutes faster, but the best sleep treatments average approximately 20 minutes, a new survey study found. Caregivers of children with ADHD and sleep problems tend to place more weight on improving daytime ADHD symptoms than on improving sleep, and they expect treatment gains larger than current therapies typically deliver, according to a survey study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Alison Pritchard, Ph. D., a child clinical psychologist and co-director of the Center for Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, was the lead author. The study, ‘What Matters to Caregivers of Youth With ADHD: Defining the Minimum Clinically Important Difference for Sleep Treatment,’ surveyed 100 caregivers in the waiting area of an outpatient department where children were being seen for psychological or neuropsychological evaluation. Approximately half of the families had commercial insurance and about half used medical assistance.