Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Nov. 2, 2026–Nov. 6, 2026.
Patients with psoriasis have an increased risk for cataracts and cataract surgery
HealthDay (10/30, Gotkine) reports, “Patients with psoriasis have an increased risk for cataracts and cataract surgery, with the risks for these outcomes varying by treatment modality, according to a study.” The researchers said that the “study demonstrated that psoriasis patients had increased risks of cataract and cataract surgery, regardless of age, sex, or the presence of psoriatic arthritis.” The findings were published in the Journal of Dermatology.
Recovery from long COVID varies by symptoms, new study suggests
Bloomberg (11/2, Gale, Subscription Publication) reports, “People whose long COVID affects multiple body systems are far less likely to improve than overall recovery estimates suggest, with fewer than one in five experiencing sustained improvement within three years of infection, according to” a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Investigators “followed 1,019 adults who still had probable long COVID a year after their initial infection. About half experienced sustained symptom improvement over the following three years, while roughly a quarter had complete symptom remission.”
Inflammatory bowel disease, family history may have greatest impact on colorectal risk
Healio (11/3, Feliciano) reports, “Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease who have at least two first-degree relatives with colorectal cancer appear to have the greatest increase in risk for CRC, according to results of a Swedish cohort study.” Investigators also found that “having a relative with early-onset CRC was associated with a more modest risk, a finding that diverges from prior research.” For the study, “investigators used data from national Swedish registries to track CRC incidence and family history of CRC among 124,387 individuals with IBD (median age at diagnosis, 41 years; 49% women; 59.6% ulcerative colitis) and 1,213,641 matched comparators without IBD. The study period spanned 1996 to 2023.” The findings were published in Gastroenterology.
More than six in 10 American drivers say they’ve driven while dangerously sleepy
According to HealthDay (11/4), a report from the National Sleep Foundation indicates that “more than 6 in 10 American drivers admit they’ve driven while dangerously sleepy.” The report “estimates 145 million adults have driven drowsy, including nearly 35 million who do so at least monthly.” Moreover, approximately “40% don’t recognize warning signs like frequent blinking, head-nodding or drifting out of their lane.”
Infant bleeding on the rise in U.S. as more parents decline vitamin K shot
The New York Times (11/5, Astor) reports, “A growing number of infants in the United States are experiencing potentially life-threatening bleeding as more parents decline a vitamin K shot that has long been recommended for newborns, according to two new studies.” In one study, published in JAMA, investigators “looked at more than five million infants. In 2017, 3.1% of these newborns went without a vitamin K shot; by 2025, it was 6.8%.” The data indicated that “the infants who had not received the shot had significantly higher rates of bleeding in their first six months, including more than double the risk of brain bleeds, which are especially deadly: 33 brain bleeds per 10,000 births, compared with 13.2 per 10,000 for babies who received vitamin K.”
MedPage Today (11/5, George) reports that in the other study, researchers found that “diagnosed vitamin K deficiency tripled in infants and vitamin K deficiency bleeding more than quadrupled during this period.” Data indicated that “among children ages 0 to 6 months, the rate of vitamin K deficiency climbed from 11.8 to 37.3 per 100,000 from 2017 to 2025, while vitamin K deficiency bleeding rose from 24.0 to 107.4 per 100,000.” Meanwhile, “brain hemorrhages occurred in 6.9% of infants diagnosed with vitamin K deficiency and 2.4% of those with vitamin K-deficient bleeding.” The findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.
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