Slide 1: Hed: Is Your Asthma Under Control? Dek: When asthma is under control, daily life is better. Here’s what to look for and what to do next. Slide 2: Uncontrolled asthma disrupts life Asthma is a chronic condition. It can’t be cured, but the right treatment can keep symptoms under control. For most people, well-controlled asthma doesn’t interfere with normal activities. But when asthma is uncontrolled, it: Interrupts daily life Is difficult to manage Can have long-term effects on your health Slide 3: Sign 1: Frequent symptoms despite treatment Think about how often you have asthma symptoms. If you’re taking medication as prescribed by your care team, symptoms shouldn’t be frequent. Do you experience symptoms more than twice a week? Are they difficult to manage? Does asthma wake you up at night? Those are signs of uncontrolled asthma. Slide 4: Severe attacks or hospitalization Uncontrolled asthma can lead to severe attacks. Two or more asthma attacks requiring oral steroids within a year Being hospitalized more than once in the past year because of an asthma attack Those are signs of uncontrolled asthma. Slide 5: Ask yourself these questions Do you have symptoms or use an inhaler more than 2x per week? Do you wake up with symptoms more than 2x per month? Do you refill your inhaler more than 2x per year? If you answer “Yes” to just one question, talk to your clinician. Slide 6: Identifying flare-ups Even with well-controlled asthma, flare-ups happen. Exercise, especially in dry, cold air, is a trigger. Exposure to irritants (like dust, gases or chemical fumes) or allergens (like pollen or pet dander) can cause symptoms. If you have flaring symptoms without a trigger, talk to your clinician. Slide 7: Track your symptoms If you’re not sure whether your asthma is uncontrolled, track your symptoms. Note when they happen and how severe they are. Show this record to your clinician. Slide 8: Watch out for care gaps Even with signs of uncontrolled asthma, there can be care gaps that can mean your condition doesn’t get treated the right way. Care gaps are worse for non-white patients. And, Black and Hispanic patients already have a higher risk of uncontrolled asthma. Advocate for yourself to get the best care. Slide 9: What about severe asthma? Getting better treatment for uncontrolled asthma should reduce symptoms so your daily life isn’t interrupted. If you make the recommended changes but symptoms don’t improve, you may have severe asthma. You’ll need to be referred to a specialist, such as a pulmonologist or allergist, for a diagnosis and personalized treatment plan. Slide 10: Getting asthma under control If you have symptoms of uncontrolled asthma, talk to your clinician right away. After evaluation, they’ll discuss options like increasing dosage, trying a different medicine or adding another medicine, like a biologic, in. Don’t wait: Get your asthma under control so you can get back to enjoying life. This educational resource was created with support from Sanofi and Regeneron. Source link

October 19, 2026 2 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: An updated version of SimpleScreen CRC achieved 18.2% sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions vs. 13.7% with the original. A model indicated the improved test could cut CRC incidence and mortality by 9.5%. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An updated version of the blood-based SimpleScreen CRC screening test improved detection of advanced precancerous lesions while maintaining high sensitivity for colorectal cancer in an average-risk adult population. Data presented at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting showed the largest improvement in sensitivity for lesions with high-grade dysplasia — an increase of 11.5 percentage points from the original test. Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH, FACG, speaks at the podium during ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. Photo: Octavia Feliciano. “Our goal is to maximize the detection of advanced precancerous lesions and early-stage cancers, particularly stage I, and you can see that’s what these efforts are directed towards,” Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH, FACG, Robert M. and Mary H. Glickman Professor of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told attendees. “Version one of SimpleScreen CRC is actually already [FDA] approved, but this effort was in response to the fact that we want to maximize sensitivity.” Shaukat and colleagues applied assay and algorithm enhancements to the existing test and evaluated its performance using data from the prospective, multicenter PREEMPT CRC trial, which served as the validation study for the FDA’s approval of SimpleScreen CRC (Freenome). The researchers used previously untested samples collected before and after the cutoff for the prior validation study in April 2021. Final analysis included 9,001 average-risk adults (mean age, 59.9 years; 51.3% women; 76.3% white) with evaluable blood test results. Of those, 89 had CRC, 1,570 had advanced precancerous lesions and 7,342 did not have CRC or advanced precancerous lesions. “Our coprimary endpoints were sensitivity for colorectal cancer, as well as sensitivity for advanced precursor lesions,” Shaukat said. “These were weighted and adjusted for U.S. census age and weight distribution.” Sensitivity for high-grade dysplasia served as a secondary endpoint. With a 90% specificity threshold, the original SimpleScreen CRC test had a sensitivity of 13.7% (95% CI, 12.4%-15%) for advanced precancerous lesions, whereas the updated test had a sensitivity of 18.2% (95% CI, 16.3%-20.4%). The researchers noted sensitivity improved across all advanced precancerous lesion subtypes with the updated test compared with the original. “Continued assay and algorithm improvements may further enhance CRC blood test performance, including performance and sensitivity for advanced precursor lesions and patients with high-grade dysplasia, further supporting blood-based testing as an important CRC screening modality,” Shaukat said. The updated test achieved a sensitivity of 80.4% (95% CI, 70.2%-87.7%) for CRC overall, comparable with that of the original test (81.1%), as well as 52% sensitivity for stage I cancer, 100% for stage II, 97.3% for stage III and 100% for stage IV. Sensitivity for lesions with high-grade dysplasia reached 41.9% (95% CI, 34%-50.3%) — an improvement of 11.5 percentage points over the original test. A validated microsimulation model indicated the updated test could reduce both CRC incidence and mortality by 9.5%. Shaukat noted that she and colleagues plan to submit the updated SimpleScreen CRC test to the FDA for approval. “We have made some incremental gains,” she told attendees. “However, we can’t stop here, and I think as we learn, we’re going to [develop] version three and beyond to continue to improve the sensitivity for advanced lesions and stage one [cancers], where we truly think the benefit of prevention lies.” Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Shaukat A, et al. Improved sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions demonstrated in clinical validation of an updated colorectal cancer screening blood test in an average-risk population. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 12-14; Nashville, Tenn. (hybrid meeting). Disclosures: Shaukat reports consulting roles with Freenome, Geneoscopy, Iterative Health and Universal Diagnostics. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link

October 19, 2026 3 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Click here to read the Healio Exclusive, “Practice good ergonomics early in career to avoid work-related injuries.” Now that I am in the middle of my career and approaching 51 years old, I feel like my body does not bounce back as well as it used to. I feel more tension in my back and sometimes in my shoulders. I used to be able to see patients all week, operate and feel great. I would not say I feel terrible at the end of the week, but I also know there has been a change over the last couple of years. As I have gotten more established in my career, I have gotten busier. I am doing longer surgery days and more cases, and that certainly plays a role. When I first started out, especially as someone in an academic setting, I was not super busy, and I had more time between cases. Now, I am jumping between rooms and always on the go on a surgical day. I have come to understand that ergonomics cannot be something I think about only during surgery. It has to be something that I am aware of all week long when I am seeing patients at the slit lamp, doing YAG lasers or performing other tasks. That all requires being mindful of ergonomics. Physicians are often making patients comfortable while making ourselves uncomfortable, but it is important to have a happy medium. I often ask patients to meet me in the middle and say, “Let’s make sure you’re as comfortable as you can be and I’m as comfortable as I can be so I can help you.” If they have trouble accommodating you, you can have family or a staff member help them sit up at the slit lamp so you are not overextending your neck and back. I try to be consistent with setup during surgery, including bed height, distance from me to the patient and distance from the oculars, but it can be a challenge. Not every patient can accommodate that. Recently, I had a patient whose cervical spine was completely fused, and in order to get him partially flat, we had to put him into the Trendelenburg position so his feet were up and his head was low. I was sitting low, and it was an awkward surgery to get through. Being more cognizant of my ergonomic habits in routine cases helped me to get through that case. One of the things that has made the biggest difference is finding out where the pain is coming from. A good friend is a physical therapist, and I had the chance to ask him why I was having so much lower back soreness and tightness. He told me it was my hips and gave me tips for stretches I could do. This helped me open up my hips and alleviate some of the tension. I should be doing this every day, and I try to do it at least a few times a week. There are some days that I come home and I will stretch while I am sitting and talking to my wife or watching a ball game. I will get on the floor in front of the TV and just do some stretches. Making that change has made a big difference in my lower back discomfort. I have also been trying to be more mindful as I get a little older by transitioning my exercise routine from more cardio to more strength training. I wanted to see if that helped me be a little more resilient, not just for work but for all aspects of life. As we get a little bit older, incorporating strength training is a way to maintain good health and longevity. When I work with young doctors, I try to impart that they have to develop these habits because it is not easy to fix the damage that can come from repetitive movements. For more information: Sumit “Sam” Garg, MD, a Healio | OSN Cataract Surgery Board Member, can be reached at gargs@hs.uci.edu. Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Healio Interviews Disclosures: Garg reports no relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link

La enfermedad de Alzheimer tiene varias etapas y sus síntomas progresan lentamente durante muchos años. El síntoma más frecuente de la enfermedad de Alzheimer en sus primeras etapas es una pérdida leve de la memoria que altera la vida cotidiana, tal como extraviar cosas, olvidar nombres y hacer las mismas preguntas repetitivamente. Cambios de comportamiento, tales como no desear ver a amigos o familiares o alejarse de eventos sociales, también son síntomas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer en sus etapas tempranas. Las primeras etapas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer incluyen: Enfermedad de Alzheimer sin deterioro cognitivo: Sin síntomas cognitivos que puedan notarse, pero podrían haber cambios biológicos del cerebro. Enfermedad de Alzheimer de etapa temprana con deterioro cognitivo leve (DCL): Puede notarse la pérdida de memoria, pero vivir independientemente (la capacidad de realizar quehaceres de la casa, manejar, mantenerse al día con el cuidado personal) todavía es posible. Podría requerirse ayuda para tareas complicadas tales como la administración de medicamentos y las finanzas. Enfermedad de Alzheimer de etapa temprana con demencia leve: Cambios de la función cognitiva y el comportamiento empiezan a afectar la vida cotidiana. Podría requerirse ayuda para actividades funcionales de la vida cotidiana. Síntomas comunes de la enfermedad de Alzheimer de etapa temprana con demencia leve son, entre otros, dificultad para usar las palabras correctas, lapsos de memoria frecuentes y extraviar o perder cosas más frecuentemente. A medida que la enfermedad de Alzheimer progresa a sus etapas moderadas, daños de las neuronas en el cerebro dificultan la comunicación de pensamientos y sentimientos y la ejecución de tareas cotidianas sin ayuda. Otros síntomas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer en sus etapas moderadas podrían incluir: Olvidar eventos o detalles personales tales como la dirección o el número telefónico Cambios de personalidad tales como volverse sospechoso o delirante Comportamientos compulsivos y repetitivos tales como desmenuzar papel o retorcer las manos Necesitar asistencia con ropa apropiada para un evento o estación Problemas con el control de la vejiga y el intestino Cambios de patrones de sueño, tales como dormir durante el día y estar inquieto por la noche Deambular o perderse En etapas posteriores de la enfermedad de Alzheimer, los síntomas mentales y físicos progresan y se vuelven más graves. Durante este tiempo, funciones tales como comunicarse, caminar, comer y tragar podrían volverse difíciles o imposibles. Con el tiempo, personas con la enfermedad de Alzheimer de etapas avanzadas no podrán cuidarse y necesitarán atención 24 horas al día. Source link

We think of UTIs as recurrent when a patient has two UTIs within six months or three UTIs within a year. A cUTI means the infection has spread outside the bladder, and that puts the patient at risk for sepsis, which is a life-threatening response to an infection. With recurrent UTIs, we’re talking about their frequency or how often they happen. With cUTIs, we’re talking about the spread of the infection. Fortunately, cUTIs are less common. Source link

October 19, 2026 10 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Musculoskeletal pain and injuries are common among ophthalmologists. Office layout, exercise and equipment all can improve physician ergonomics. For ophthalmologists, occupational pain can start early. For Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS, discomfort arose fewer than 5 years into her career. She said surgeons often find themselves in similar positions over the course of their routine work, and repeated motions can wear people down. Image: Courtesy of Sunir J. Garg, MD, FACS, FASRS “There were two areas that I noticed were bothering me after being hunched over the slit lamp day in, day out, week in, week out, and after being in the OR for long days of surgery,” she said. “Those two areas were my neck and upper back area around my shoulder blades.” The discomfort got so bad that she knew if she did not address it, it could have a significant impact on her career. “I told myself, ‘I can’t go on like this,’” she said. “I need to help my body so that I can be an effective and healthy ophthalmologist for as long as possible.” Musculoskeletal pain and injuries are common among ophthalmologists. A 2025 literature review that included data from more than 3,200 ophthalmologists found that the average prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders was about 63%, with neck, lower back and shoulder disorders most affected. The authors also found that more than 7% of ophthalmologists require spine surgery because of cervical spine disease related to disc herniation. Additionally, these disorders push about 13% of ophthalmologists to early retirement, according to the study. Cynthia Matossian When Matossian looked for solutions for her discomfort about 30 years ago, there was not much to work with because not many people talked about the problem, she said. “I started to do some research about it, and ergonomics was not a common topic back in the day,” she said. “It wasn’t discussed, it wasn’t talked about, and you just slouched over and did what you had to do to examine patients. Nobody paid attention to this area.” Deepinder K. Dhaliwal, MD, LAc, said ergonomic problems trace back to the physician’s mindset to put the patient and their comfort first. “We tell ourselves that the patient has to be comfortable, and we’ll withstand an uncomfortable position,” she said. “The problem is that because we do so many exams and so many surgeries in a career, all that poor posture and habits come back to haunt us.” Matossian agreed, saying physicians are taught to push through tough times, exhaustion and pain. “You’re sleepless, but you get through the night,” she said. “We just try to tough it out and power through whatever aches and pains we may be having. These are signs of your body telling you that it is not happy, and perhaps there are simple adjustments that can be made to alleviate those issues completely if you pay attention to them.” The early career experience of Eric D. Rosenberg, DO, was no different. When he started his internship, his first goals were not to hurt anyone else and to help patients. “From day 1 coming out the gate, we’re always inclined to take care of the person in front of us, never ourselves,” he said. “We frequently do it at the cost of ourselves. We don’t care about ourselves because we’ve been trained not to care about ourselves. All aspects of our lives have been trained and geared toward making sure that the people around us are better off than we are.” Common Mistakes When Dhaliwal works with young physicians, there are a few ergonomic issues that she spots right away, including their posture at the slit lamp, which was an issue early in her career. “I used to crane my neck forward, and it’s such a common thing that I see people do because they try to reach the patient,” she said. “The critical thing I do now is lift the patient’s chair up and slide my stool under the footrest so I can get close. I have the patient move to the edge of their seat so that they are leaning forward into the slit lamp, and I can keep my spine and neck straight. That has changed my life.” Dhaliwal said her goal is to keep her ears over her shoulders and ensure she is properly supporting her head when she is examining patients. “The typical head weighs 10 to 12 pounds, but if we flex forward 30°, which is not a lot, that effective weight on our cervical spine is 40 pounds” she said. “You can understand why even when you’re looking down at your phone for a long time, your neck can start to feel uncomfortable.” Sunir J. Garg, MD, FACS, FASRS, said a lot of ergonomic mistakes are caused by environmental factors, including a poor office setup. “Our profession, including our equipment, is set up for everything besides our ergonomic benefit,” he said. “If you walk into one of my exam rooms, I have the computer parallel to the wall on one side, and I have the patient chair at 90° in front of me; that setup is ergonomically not good. I’m trying to type while I rotate and turn my head toward the patient, which causes unnecessary stress on our neck and our back. That twisting motion is bad for a person’s spine.” Garg said common slit lamp setups are wrong as well. The tables are often too deep, and patient seats are too deep, causing ophthalmologists to sit too far away.

When a simple medical test flagged that I had a potential heart issue, I fed the report into AI to get immediate answers, instead of waiting to hear from my doctor. AI explained my diagnosis, what the possible outcomes were and the medications available for treatment. Sounds helpful, doesn’t it? But it also said the condition causes sudden death and I would require immediate open heart surgery. Forget the diagnosis, that alone almost gave me a heart attack. Fortunately, AI was a little overzealous. Though it gave me some accurate information, it wasn’t all correct. In fact, my condition was completely controllable with a simple prescription. According to a KFF Tracking Poll, 1 in 3 adults have used AI in the last year for health information and advice, and 2 out of 3 of those polled said they use AI to find out more about their health concerns before seeing a clinician. With AI becoming more and more advanced, it almost seems like chat bots will replace clinicians one day. Even some clinicians are worried that they’ll eventually become obsolete. The good news is that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. “For the foreseeable future, there’s so much of what healthcare professionals do that requires judgment,” said Robert Wachter, M.D., chair of the Department of Medicine at University of California at San Francisco, and author of A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. We looked into the research to find out exactly what AI can and cannot do, what the future looks like, and why we’ll always need humans when it comes to healthcare. Source link

October 20, 2026, is World Osteoporosis Day. Bones are the perfect companion for your body. They protect your heart (swoon!) and other important organs They support everything you do — even your cringey dance moves Every day, your bones work hard to break down and remove old bone, lay down new bone, and store vital nutrients to help keep you mobile and healthy. But as we get older, this bone remodeling process can become unbalanced and lead to bone diseases like osteoporosis. For people living with osteoporosis, old bone is removed from the body more quickly than the new bone is laid down, which makes the bones thinner and easier to break. But how much do you know about osteoporosis? There’s a lot of misinformation about this bone disease out there and you may even have your own ideas that aren’t quite true. That’s why we’re busting the myths and giving you the facts and tips you need to know to help protect your bone health and reduce your risk for osteoporosis. This educational resource was created with support from Paratek Pharmaceuticals. Source link

October 16, 2026 2 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Men with CRC or advanced precancerous lesions had higher fecal hemoglobin levels than women. The FIT threshold for women would need to be lowered to match CRC sensitivity in men. NASHVILLE, Tenn — Fecal immunochemical tests appear more sensitive to colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous lesions in men than women, according to a retrospective study presented at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. “FIT is the most commonly used colorectal cancer screening test in the world, with an average sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 94%,” Thomas F. Imperiale, MD, Lawrence Lumeng Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Indiana University School of Medicine, told attendees. “Its test characteristics vary based on threshold and the brand, but whether performance varies by sex is less clear. Thomas F. Imperiale, MD, speaks at the podium during ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. Photo: Octavia Feliciano. “We know the prevalence and distribution of colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous lesions differ between males and females, but do these differences warrant different FIT thresholds?” he asked. Imperiale and colleagues analyzed cross-sectional data from DeeP-C and BLUE-C, two validation studies for original and next-generation multitarget stool DNA tests. Both studies used the same independent, quantitative comparator FIT, which had a threshold of 100 ng/mL, or approximately 20 µg/g of feces. The researchers compared fecal hemoglobin levels between men and women, as well as sex-specific FIT sensitivity and specificity for CRC and advanced precancerous lesions at the recommended threshold. They also identified sex-specific sensitivity thresholds at 95% specificity. Final analysis included 30,165 individuals (mean age, 63.4 years; 46.6% men), of whom 163 had CRC and 2,901 had advanced precancerous lesions. According to results, men had significantly higher fecal hemoglobin levels compared with women for CRC (1,541 ng/mL vs. 955 ng/mL, P = .03), as well as for advanced precancerous lesions (230 ng/mL vs. 174 ng/mL, P < .001). “Consistent with previous studies, for colorectal cancers and [advanced precancerous lesions], males have higher fecal hemoglobin levels than females,” Imperiale said. Additionally, FIT sensitivity was significantly higher among men than women for CRC (77.4% vs. 62%, P = .03) and advanced precancerous lesions (25.8% vs. 20.2%, P < .001). Attaining specificity of 95% for CRC required thresholds of 120 ng/mL and 94 ng/mL for men and women, respectively. “To equal the cancer sensitivity in males, the threshold in females would have to be lowered,” Imperiale said. Analysis also showed that distal CRC and advanced precancerous lesions were more common in men than women. However, the researchers observed no difference in CRC and advanced precancerous lesion size distribution by sex. Imperiale and colleagues identified factors independently linked to FIT sensitivity for advanced neoplasia, including histology and size of the lesion, male sex (OR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.47), being a current or former smoker (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.14-1.63), BMI of at least 30 kg/m2 (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.17-1.67) and distal or rectal lesion location (OR = 2.41; 95% CI, 2.01-2.89). The researchers acknowledged study limitations, including use of one FIT brand and a single threshold and application of FIT. “If the goal were to equal cancer sensitivity detection [in men], then the threshold should be different [for women],” Imperiale said. “Exactly what the threshold should be would depend on which test is used, because there is going to be variation.” Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Imperiale TF, et al. Performance characteristics of fecal immunochemical tests in males and female: Should the threshold vary? Presented at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct 12-14; Nashville, Tenn. (hybrid meeting). Disclosures: Imperiale reports a consulting role with Cook Medical and research support from Exact Sciences. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link

October 16, 2026 2 min read Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Body roundness index outperformed BMI in predicting long-term mortality in MASLD. Lean and nonobese individuals with elevated body roundness index had higher mortality risk despite passing BMI classification. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Body roundness index may improve mortality risk stratification in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, identifying high-risk lean and nonobese individuals often overlooked by BMI. Findings presented at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting indicated that, although BMI remains a useful measure of overall body size and obesity, complementing with body roundness index may help capture body shape and central adiposity risk factors that BMI alone may miss. “We often use BMI as a shorthand for obesity and metabolic risk, yet we see patients with MASLD who have a normal or only modestly elevated BMI but still have substantial cardiometabolic disease,” Sarpong Boateng MD, MPH, resident physician at Yale New Haven Health, told Healio about his presentation. “Two individuals with the same BMI can have very different amounts of central adiposity and, potentially, very different metabolic risk. That raised a simple question for us: Are we adequately capturing the type of adiposity that matters most?” To determine whether body roundness index, which incorporates waist circumference and height, could provide prognostic information that BMI misses, Boateng and colleagues analyzed data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III for 3,466 adults with MASLD, tracking mortality over a median 29 years. The researchers defined MASLD as ultrasound-confirmed hepatic steatosis plus at least one cardiometabolic risk criterion; individuals with viral hepatitis or significant alcohol use were excluded. They used survey-weighted Cox models adjusted for demographic and clinical risk factors, including Fibrosis-4 index score, to compare body roundness index and BMI as predictors of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Restricted cubic spline analyses were completed to assess dose-response relationships, while prespecified subgroup analyses were undertaken to determine whether these associations held for nonobese individuals (BMI < 30 kg/m²) as well as those considered lean (BMI < 25 kg/m²). Overall, 1,528 deaths occurred during follow-up. Body roundness index was more strongly associated with all-cause mortality than BMI (adjusted HR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.12-1.34 vs. aHR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.05-1.26), results showed. “However, among individuals with nonobese MASLD, body roundness index remained associated with long-term mortality while BMI essentially lost its prognostic signal,” Boateng said. “We saw an even more intriguing pattern in lean MASLD.” Among lean individuals with MASLD, body roundness index identified elevated mortality risk that BMI classification failed to capture (aHR = 1.3; 95% CI 1.05-1.6 vs. aHR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.73-1.22). “‘Lean’ is fundamentally a BMI-based label, and our findings suggest that a lean BMI does not necessarily mean low adiposity-related risk,” Boateng said. “Some individuals classified as lean may still carry substantial central or visceral adiposity. In our analysis, body roundness index identified mortality risk even within lean MASLD, whereas BMI did not.” The researchers also reported that, among nonobese individuals with MASLD, those in the highest body roundness index quartile exhibited a 46% higher risk for death than those in the lowest quartile (aHR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.14-1.88), whereas BMI quartiles showed no significant association (aHR = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.78-1.53). Kaplan-Meier analyses demonstrated clear survival differences across body roundness index quartiles (P < .001), but not BMI quartiles. “BMI does not tell the whole story in MASLD,” Boateng told Healio. “Where adiposity is distributed may matter as much as, or perhaps more than, overall body size for long-term risk. A patient who does not meet BMI criteria for obesity should not automatically be considered metabolically low risk, and simple measures of central adiposity may help us identify those patients more effectively.” For more information: Sarpong Boateng MD, MPH, can be reached at gastroenterology@healio.com. Published by: Sources/Disclosures Source: Boateng S, et al. Body roundness index outperforms body mass index for mortality risk stratification in U.S. adults with MASLD: A 30-year national cohort study. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct 12-14, 2026; Nashville, Tenn. (hybrid meeting). Disclosures: Boateng reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures. Ask a clinical question and tap into Healio AI’s knowledge base. PubMed, enrolling/recruiting trials, guidelines Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news Healio’s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data Learn more Add topic to email alerts Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . “ data-action=”subscribe”> Subscribe We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Source link