Editors at the journal Nature Medicine recently asked researchers and public health experts from around the world to identify clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2023. They came up with a varied list of candidates, from cervical and prostate cancer screening protocols to gene therapy for muscular dystrophy and new drugs for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The selections are arbitrary and idiosyncratic, but they are interesting, nevertheless.
digoxin
A commonly-used heart drug, digoxin, has never passed a controlled-study test to see if it s both safe and effective for patients with atrial fibrillation. A large VA retrospective analysis shows that it may be even riskier than suspected: maybe time for it to go.
Digoxin, a drug derived from the foxglove plant, is one of the oldest and most widely used treatments for a variety of cardiac conditions. For example, it can regularize the heartbeat in many who have atrial fibrillation and it can strengthen the heart beat for those with heart failure. A new study published in the journal Circulation, however, suggests that its use for adults with heart failure should be reevaluated.