Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Dec. 1, 2025–Dec. 5, 2025.
GLP-1 use associated with increased chronic cough risk regardless of previous GERD diagnosis, study suggests
MedPage Today (11/26, Monaco) reported a study suggests that “GLP-1 receptor agonist use was associated with chronic cough regardless of a previous gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) diagnosis.” Researchers observed that “adults prescribed a GLP-1 agent had a 12% higher risk for developing a new chronic cough—one that persists for over 8 weeks— compared with people prescribed another second-line anti-diabetic medication.” They noted that “GLP-1 agonist users had an 18% and 25% higher risk for new chronic cough compared with those prescribed DPP-4 inhibitors or sulfonylureas, respectively. The difference in cough risk wasn’t significantly different compared with patients prescribed SGLT2 inhibitors.” The study was published in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.
WHO recommends GLP-1 medications for obesity
Reuters (12/1, Roy, Rigby) reports the World Health Organization on Monday “issued its first guideline on the use of GLP-1 therapies for obesity, conditionally recommending them as part of long-term treatment for the condition.” The guidance materializes as demand for GLP-1 agonists has “surged worldwide, and governments are figuring out how to include the blockbuster therapies into public health systems.” According to Reuters, “the first conditional recommendation advises the use of GLP-1 drugs by adults, except pregnant women, for long-term obesity treatment, while the second suggests pairing these with a healthy diet and physical activity.” WHO officials also “stressed that access is now the biggest challenge. Even with rapid expansion in production, GLP-1 therapies are projected to reach fewer than 10% of those who could benefit by 2030.”
NBC News (12/1, Bendix) reports that WHO officials published the guidelines Monday in JAMA, “defining long-term use as continuous treatment for six months or more.” The officials said, “GLP-1 therapies mark more than a scientific breakthrough.” They added, “They represent a new chapter in the gradual conceptual shift in how society approaches obesity—from a ‘lifestyle condition’ to a complex, preventable, and treatable chronic disease.” With that said, the guidelines acknowledge that “medication alone cannot solve the global obesity burden.”
Shingles vaccine may reduce risk of developing dementia, study finds
The Washington Post (12/2, Sima) reports that researchers earlier this year reported “that the shingles vaccine cuts the risk of developing dementia by 20% over a seven-year period.” A large follow-up study published Tuesday in Cell “found that shingles vaccination may protect against risks at different stages of dementia—including for people already diagnosed.” The research “found that cognitively healthy people who received the vaccine were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, an early symptomatic phase before dementia.” The study suggests that the shingles vaccine “may help people who already have dementia. Those who got the vaccine were almost 30% less likely to die of dementia over nine years, suggesting the vaccine may be slowing the progression of the neurodegenerative syndrome.”
More than half of U.S. population affected by a nervous system disorder, study finds
Healio (12/3, Herpen) reports a study found “that nervous system disorders impact more than half of the U.S. population, with neurologic and cognitive conditions the leading causes of disability and health loss.” A cross-sectional study “of the Global Burden of Disease 2021 data for nervous system health between 1990 and 2021 yielded 180.3 million individuals impacted by nervous system-related disorders in 2021, or 54.2% of the population. Data included analysis of 36 unique nervous system-related conditions that contribute to health loss, specifically 15 neurological conditions linked to mortality.” Researchers highlighted that “nervous system disorders were the top cause of disability, with 16.6 million DALYs. The most prevalent neurological-based conditions were tension-type headache (121.9 million); migraine (57.7 million); and diabetic neuropathy (17.1 million).” The study was published in JAMA Neurology.
New guidelines recommend self-swab HPV test option for cervical cancer screening
The New York Times (12/4, Agrawal) reports the American Cancer Society on Thursday “released new guidelines saying that self-collection is an acceptable way to test for the virus that causes cervical cancer.” Currently, most screening in the U.S. “takes place in a clinical setting, with a provider who uses a speculum to collect cervical cells and test them for HPV, cell abnormalities or both. In self-collection a woman can use a swab or brush to collect a sample in private, either at a doctor’s office or at home.” The guidelines “reflect years of data and recent regulatory approvals recommending self-collection of vaginal samples that can be tested for human papillomavirus, the infection that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer.” By increasing “screening through self-collection, in addition to increasing HPV vaccination,” it could “help accomplish a major public health goal: ending cervical cancer in the United States.”
Reuters (12/4, Lapid) reports the new guidelines, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, “will help improve compliance with screening and reduce the risk of cervical cancer, co-author Dr. Robert Smith, senior vice president of the ACS, said in a statement. Speculum exams are preferred, but self-collected vaginal specimens are acceptable, the updated recommendations say. When self-collected specimens are HPV-negative, repeat screening in three years is recommended, while negative speculum tests should be repeated every five years, the ACS says.”
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