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Top Medical News
Semaglutide scores again, this time for HFpEF in obese
Elvira Manzano, an hour ago
Once weekly injection of semaglutide causes weight loss in obese patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), with positive shifts in symptoms and improvements in physical limitations in the STEP-HFpEF trial presented at ESC 2023.
Nirmatrelvir, molnupiravir effective against Omicron in high-risk patients
Jairia Dela Cruz, 11 hours ago
Treatment with either nirmatrelvir or molnupiravir helps reduce mortality and hospitalization in COVID-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant and are at high-risk of progressing to severe disease, as shown in a study.
Novel point-of-care troponin assay can rule out heart attack within 15 mins
12 hours ago
Perioperative myocardial injury (PMI), as shown by perioperative high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) release, appears predictive of expected 30-day mortality, but not 5-year mortality, in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, reveals a recent study.
Low visceral fat area predicts poor survival in cancer patients
Stephen Padilla, 13 hours ago
Visceral fat area (VFA) is a reliable prognostic indicator of muscle mass and is associated with nutritional, immune, and inflammatory status in patients with diverse types of cancer, such as gastric, colorectal, and nonsmall-cell lung cancers (NSCLC), claims a recent study.
Living near a major road may accelerate lung function decline in IPF patients
Stephen Padilla, 14 hours ago
People with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who live near a major road tend to have a faster decrease in lung function, according to a study in Australia. Likewise, increased exposure to fine particulate matter (<2.5 μm, PM2.5) is associated with a higher rate of annual decline in diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLco).
Iruplinalkib trumps crizotinib for ALK TKI-naïve NSCLC
Audrey Abella, 15 hours ago
In the phase III INSPIRE study, the novel, potent ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) iruplinalkib conferred a progression-free survival (PFS) benefit in patients with TKI-naïve, locally advanced, or metastatic ALK+ non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Acetazolamide helps patients with COPD reach new peaks
Elvira Manzano, Yesterday
Acetazolamide helps to reduce the chances of altitude-related adverse health effects (ARAHE) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a study reported at ERS.
Special Reports
Novugen: Pioneering Malaysia’s Pharmaceutical Revolution
01 Oct 2023
Novugen is an innovator in the generics and biosimilars market. Since its inception, it has dived in headfirst into the industry, taking on difficulties and sparking new ideas. In this exclusive interview, Novugen’s CEO Rahil Mahmood explores the strategic moves that has set the stage to launching this Malaysian jewel to the forefront of the pharmaceutical world.
The Highest Tolerated Atorvastatin Dose to Overcome Hypercholesterolaemia in Malaysia
01 Oct 2023
Dato’ Sri Dr Azhari Rosman, Senior Consultant Cardiologist at National Heart Institute, discusses the formidable situation of hypercholesterolaemia in Malaysia while Professor Dr Peter Jan Lansberg, Lipidologist at University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands, puts forth the solution of prescribing the highest tolerated dose of statins like atorvastatin calcium to treat patients to target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels.
The Beneficial Effect of Combination Therapy for Heart Failure across Ejection Fraction Spectrum
01 Oct 2023
Heart failure (HF) is a global health problem, affecting over 26 million people worldwide. In Malaysia, HF is a common cause of hospitalization, accounting for approximately 6–10% of all acute medical admissions. It is also a prevalent reason for hospital readmissions. Between the years 2007 and 2016 in Malaysia, 18% of patients were readmitted within 30 days after discharge following an index hospitalisation for HF. Notably, the in-hospital, 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were 5.3%, 11.2% and 33.1%, respectively.
Ranolazine: A Safe and well – Tolerated Anti-Ischaemic Agent
01 Oct 2023
Coronary artery disease (CAD) stands as the foremost cause of mortality worldwide. In 2012, CAD accounted for 98.9 deaths per 100,000 people in Malaysia. Chronic stable angina is a common manifestation of CAD.  The presence of chronic angina significantly increases the risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events, reduces quality of life (QoL) and adversely affects activities of daily living. Patients with this condition often present with several comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM),dyslipidaemia, atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure, further complicating the treatment approach.
Dry Eye in Glaucoma: A multifaceted and Visually Significant Co-morbidity
30 Sep 2023
People with glaucoma (PwG) are at high risk for developing Dry Eye disease (DED), 40-59% of PwG are diagnosed with DED worldwide. 
FOCUS ON POLYCYTHAEMIA VERA
01 Sep 2023
At the recent MPN Expert Forum held in Kuching, Dr Chew Lee Ping (Consultant Haematologist, Sarawak General Hospital) and Dr Yong Kar Ying (Clinical Haematologist Hospital Miri Sarawak) shared their expert opinion on treating hydroxyurea (HU) resistance/intolerance in Polycythaemia Vera (PV) patients, where real-life patients were managed successfully.
Inclisiran provides additional LDL Cholesterol-Lowering Benefit for the selected patients.
01 Sep 2023
Consultant Cardiologist Dr Yew Kuan Leong elaborates on the efficacy and safety of inclisiran, a new LDL cholesterol-lowering injectable medication now available in Malaysia, and the target group of patients benefiting from the additional LDL cholesterol-lowering therapy.
Conference Reports
Acetazolamide helps patients with COPD reach new peaks
Elvira Manzano, 02 Oct 2023
Acetazolamide helps to reduce the chances of altitude-related adverse health effects (ARAHE) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a study reported at ERS.
Tacrolimus or cyclosporine for CLAD: The better of 2 immunosuppressants
Elvira Manzano, 28 Sep 2023
Tacrolimus given once daily significantly reduced the 3-year incidence of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) in lung transplant patients compared with standard immunosuppressant in the open label, multicentre, ScanCLAD trial presented at ERS 2023.
Atezolizumab-chemo confers durable survival benefit in ES-SCLC
Audrey Abella, 27 Sep 2023
In the merged analysis of the IMpower133 trial and IMbrella A open-label extension study, the combination of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab and a chemotherapy regimen comprising carboplatin and etoposide (CP/ET) demonstrated potential for survival benefit of up to 5 years in patients with extensive stage-small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).
Dupilumab improves lung function in children with moderate-to-severe type 2 asthma
Elaine Soliven, 26 Sep 2023

Treatment with dupilumab significantly improves lung function in children with moderate-to-severe type 2 asthma compared with placebo, according to two post hoc analyses presented at ERS 2023.

Is CPAP cardioprotective?
Audrey Abella, 25 Sep 2023
Two studies presented at ERS 2023 demonstrated the potential of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to address cardiovascular (CV) risks in individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Vaping tied to chronic stress, poor QoL in young adults
Stephen Padilla, 23 Sep 2023
Use of e-cigarette (EC) shows a significant relation with a higher incidence of chronic stress and is indicative of poorer quality of life (QoL) in young adults, suggests a study presented at ERS 2023.
Fatigue in COPD influenced by multiple contributing factors
Jairia Dela Cruz, 22 Sep 2023
Fatigue in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be caused by factors such as shortness of breath, sleep quality, pain, and fatigue-related catastrophizing, according to the FAntasTIGUE study.