Trending News: Use of Pregnenolone Reduced Pain Intensity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Researchers have aimed to describe the management and outcomes of calcific uremic arteriolopathy (CUA), or calciphylaxis, in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to The American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers analyzed data from 89 patients, 70 of whom received dialysis and 19 did not. In both dialyzed and non-dialyzed patients, the main causes of CKD were diabetes-associated nephropathy, hypertension-associated nephropathy, hypertension- and diabetes-associated nephropathy, and glomerular nephropathy. The researchers reported surgical debridement, distal CUA, localization to the lower limbs, and non-calcium-based phosphate binders were associated with better survival.

Use of pregnenolone resulted in a significant reduction in pain intensity ratings in veterans with chronic low back pain after 4 weeks of treatment, according to HCP Live. A research team aimed to learn whether adjunctive pregnenolone had a therapeutic effect for treatment of US veterans with chronic low back pain. The findings suggested that the steroid hormone, pregnenolone, may be safe and effective for the treatment of such pain, according to the study authors.

The FDA has launched an outbreak investigation in several states concerning mushrooms that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to Contagion Live. Sun Hong Foods recently issued a recall of all its enoki mushrooms imported from South Korea after the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development discovered that a sample of the mushrooms tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Consumers have been advised not to eat the mushrooms, even if they appear normal. Affected mushrooms may not smell or look spoiled but these products should be thrown away.