Top news stories from AMA Morning Rounds®: Week of Nov. 18, 2024

Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Nov. 18, 2024–Nov. 22, 2024.

Healio (11/15, Rhoades) reported, “Most people at high risk for lung cancer have not discussed screening for the disease with their clinician or have even heard of the test, according to a research letter.” Investigators “found that 18.1% (95% CI, 14.8%-21.5%) of people who formerly smoked had never heard of lung cancer screening, whereas 75.1% (95% CI, 70.8%-79.4%) never discussed it with their clinician.” Among “people who currently smoke, 13.5% (95% CI, 7.7%-19.4%) had never heard of lung cancer screening and 71.1% (95% CI, 63.2%-78.9%) did not discuss the test with their clinician.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

You may also be interested in: Why cancer is increasing in younger people and tips to reduce your risk.

MedPage Today (11/18, Monaco) reports, “More than half of all adults in the U.S. are eligible for semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus), researchers estimated.” Investigators found that “among 25,531 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2015 to 2020, 8,504 were eligible for semaglutide, representing an estimated 136.8 million adults across the country.” Study results indicate that “all met the criteria for at least one of three indications that the drug is currently approved for—diabetes, weight management, or secondary cardiovascular disease prevention.” The findings were published in JAMA Cardiology and were presented at the AHA Annual Scientific Sessions 2024.

Healio (11/19, Rhoades) reports, “The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a draft recommendation encouraging physicians to screen for syphilis in people who are pregnant as early as possible.” This “recommendation, an A-grade, is consistent with the task force’s 2018 recommendation on the topic.” The USPSTF “noted that congenital syphilis can result in health complications, such as premature birth and hearing or vision loss, when left untreated.”

HealthDay (11/20, Mundell) reports, “Nearly 1 in every 10 American adults is living with high levels of cholesterol in their arteries, according to the latest report from the” CDC. These “data, from 2021 through 2023, found that 11.3% of adults have high total cholesterol—a number that’s held relatively steady since the introduction of cholesterol-lowering statins in the late 1980s and early 1990s.” Investigators found that “there wasn’t a big difference in rates of high total cholesterol between men (10.6%) and women (11.9%).” Meanwhile, “among those with low HDL levels, men were much likely to be affected than women, at 21.5% and 6.6%, respectively.”

NBC News (11/21, Lenthang) says, “Vaccination rates for the flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are low for adults in the U.S. so far this season, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The CDC data revealed that “as of Nov. 9, an estimated 35% of U.S. adults had gotten the new flu vaccine, and nearly 18% had received the new COVID vaccines,” but “the agency noted that many unvaccinated adults reported that they intend to get their shots.”

Healio (11/21, Feller) reports that according to data, “around one-third of adults has received this season’s influenza vaccine, less than one in five has received a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, and roughly one-third of adults eligible for an RSV vaccine has ever received one.” And while “uptake for all three vaccines is low, researchers reported that rates are higher than they were at the same point in the 2023-2024 season.” The findings were published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and can be found here and here.

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