Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Oct. 27, 2025–Oct. 31, 2025.
Home defibrillators increase survival in people who experience cardiac arrest, but high costs limit adoption
MedPage Today (10/25, Haelle) reported, “Having an automatic external defibrillator (AED) in a private home does appear to increase the likelihood of survival in people who experience certain types of cardiac arrest, but having them in all private homes is not currently cost-effective, according to a new study.” Researchers found that “patients who experienced a cardiac arrest in their homes and had a shockable rhythm were 26% more likely to survive with application of an AED compared with those who didn’t receive shocks.” However, “the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for an AED in a private home was $4,481,659 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), which the researchers determined would not be cost-effective based on a willingness-to-pay threshold of $200,000 per QALY gained.” The findings were published in JAMA Internal Medicine,
Study reveals stillbirths more common in U.S. than previously reported
The Washington Post (10/27, Malhi) says that “despite advances in prenatal care, stillbirths in the United States remain far more common than previously reported, with a significant number of them striking without warning. A sweeping analysis of nearly 2.8 million pregnancies finds that nearly 19,000 stillbirths occurred between 2016 and 2022, a rate higher than recorded in federal data.” The study published Monday in JAMA “shows that nearly 30% of stillbirths occur in pregnancies that did not appear linked to any previously identified health or clinical risks. The study also found that stillbirth continues to fall unevenly along racial and socioeconomic lines, with Black families and poorer communities being hit hardest.”
Reuters (10/27, Lapid) adds that “stillbirth rates were highest among pregnancies with low amniotic fluid levels, fetal anomalies, and chronic hypertension. Other risk factors included maternal diabetes, obesity, and substance use.” Although “rural versus urban residence and access to obstetric care were not linked with stillbirth risk,” researchers observed the “stillbirth rate rose to 1 in every 112 births in low-income areas, and it was 1 in every 95 births in areas with higher proportions of Black families compared to white families.”
GLP-1s show promise for treating alcohol and substance use disorders
Healio (10/28, Monostra) reports experts wrote in a study that “GLP-1s hold promise as a potential treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders.” The researchers “discussed how GLP-1s are tied to several changes in the central nervous system and suggested the activation of GLP-1 receptors could reduce ‘drug-seeking and consummatory behaviors.’” They wrote “that some studies have found certain forms of obesity have phenotype characteristics that resemble addiction. Additionally, some therapies used to treat alcohol or substance use disorders, such as naltrexone and topiramate, are also used for obesity.” They called for “more research, including more studies to assess the mechanisms of GLP-1s as they relate to substance use disorders and more randomized controlled trials to evaluate efficacy and safety.” The study was published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.
You may also be interested in: What else must be done to end the drug-overdose epidemic.
Flu, COVID increase risk of heart attack and stroke
HealthDay (10/29, Thompson) reports, “People’s risk of heart attack or stroke skyrockets after a bout with the flu or COVID, a new evidence review says.” Investigators found that people “are four times more likely to have a heart attack and five times more likely to have a stroke within a month of infection with influenza.” Meanwhile, the data indicated that “people are three times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke within 14 weeks of being afflicted with COVID, and their risk remains elevated for up to a year.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Study finds text-based therapy a viable alternative to video-based therapy in reducing depression
The New York Times (10/30, Barry) reports a new study offers “early evidence” that text-based therapy is “effective in treating mild to moderate depression, finding outcomes similar to those of video-based therapy.” For the study, “850 adults with mild to moderate depression were randomly assigned to two groups: One group received psychotherapy via a weekly video session; the other received unlimited, as-needed messaging or emailing with a therapist. After 12 weeks, participants in both groups reported similar improvement in depression symptoms.” According to the Times, the “trial was not an equivalence trial, designed to establish that the two methods were equally effective, but instead sought to determine whether video-based or text-based therapy was superior.” Nevertheless, the study authors commented, “We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was as good as weekly video therapy.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
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