Trending News Today: Pharmacists, Dermatologists Counsel Differently on Topical Steroid Use

A new study found that pharmacists and dermatologists often give different advice to patients regarding prescriptions for topical corticosteroids, Reuters reported. According to the article, the researchers surveyed 117 dermatologists and 2954 pharmacists, revealing that the 2 groups provided different counseling on how long to use medications and how much to use, as well as emphasizing different risks and adverse events. Forty-six percent of pharmacists said they advised patients to limit topical steroid use to 2 weeks or less, as compared with 6% of the dermatologists, the article reported. The study also showed that pharmacists were more likely than dermatologists to recommend that the medication be applied in a thin layer.

The world’s first kidney transplant from a living donor with HIV was performed at Johns Hopkins University, The Associated Press reported. According to the article, Nina Martinez, who is HIV-positive, donated the organ to a recipient who is also HIV-positive. Since 2016, 116 kidney and liver transplants from deceased donors with HIV have been performed in the United States, but this is the first ever transplant from a living donor with HIV, the article reported.

A recent analysis showed that hypertension risk is highly prevalent among young US adults, MD Magazine reported. According to the article, the study showed that among 20- to 30-year old patients, white men reported an 83.8% risk, African American men reported an 86.1% risk, white women reported a 69.3% risk, and African American women reported a 85.7% risk. The investigators also showed that 30.7% of observed white men and 23.1% of African American men had baseline prevalence for hypertension, the article reported.