All Posts

What If (Almost) Every Gene Affects (Almost) Everything?

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:56h | UTC

What If (Almost) Every Gene Affects (Almost) Everything? – The Atlantic (free) (RT @AllenFrancesMD see Tweet)

Evolocumab for Treatment of High Cholesterol: Clinical Effectiveness

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:55h | UTC

Evolocumab for Treatment of High Cholesterol: Clinical Effectiveness (free PDF) (RT @AnilMakam see Tweet 1, Tweet 2, Tweet 3 and Tweet 4)

News release: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s “New Evidence Update” on PCKS9 Inhibitors Highlights Lack of Mortality Benefit With Evolocumab (free)

Lack of mortality benefit in a recent large trial is highlighted in this updated review. Se more on the FOURIER trial and commentaries in our March 20^th issue, see #2.

Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A1c Levels

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:59h | UTC

Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A_1c Levels – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Glycation of Hemoglobin Differs by Race – Physician’s Briefing (free) AND Hemoglobin A1c Overestimates Average Glucose in Blacks – Medscape (free registration required) AND Why a key diabetes test may work differently depending on your race – CNN (free)

In this study with 104 black patients and 104 white patients with type 1 diabetes, HbA1c values in black persons were 0.4 percentage points higher than those in white persons for a given mean glucose concentration.

Development and validation of risk prediction equations to estimate survival in patients with colorectal cancer

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:59h | UTC

Development and validation of risk prediction equations to estimate survival in patients with colorectal cancer: cohort study – The BMJ (free)

Commentary: New web calculator to more accurately predict bowel cancer survival – University of Nottingham, via EurekAlert (free)

See also: QCancer-2017(colorectal, survival) risk calculator (free risk calculator based on the data)

Free online course. Starts today! Improving the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:58h | UTC

Free online course. Starts today! Improving the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents: from Evidence to Action – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, via FutureLearn (free)

EULAR/EFORT recommendations for the management of fragility fractures

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:54h | UTC

EULAR/EFORT recommendations for management of patients older than 50 years with a fragility fracture and prevention of subsequent fractures (free)

Guideline for the Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:57h | UTC

2017 American College of Rheumatology/American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Guideline for the Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty (free)

Press release: New Guideline Aims to Reduce Infections in Total Hip & Knee Replacement Patients (free)

Commentaries: New medication guidelines for rheumatic disease patients having joint replacement – Hospital for Special Surgery, via EurekAlert (free) AND New Guidelines Issued on Antirheumatic Drugs for Patients Undergoing Knee or Hip Replacement – Physician’s First Watch (free)

Why are doctors killing themselves

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:55h | UTC

Why are doctors killing themselves? – by Anne Malatt, via MJA Insight (free)

Why treating breast cancer with less radiation may be more

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:53h | UTC

Why treating breast cancer with less may be more – The Conversation (free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)

Original article: Cost-effectiveness Analysis Comparing Conventional, Hypofractionated, and Intraoperative Radiotherapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer – Journal of the National Cancer Institute (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

PSA Test for Prostate Cancer

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:50h | UTC

Opinion: Why I Won’t Get a PSA Test for Prostate Cancer – Scientific American (free)

Eight Tips for using Twitter during health-related conferences

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:51h | UTC

Eight Tips for using Twitter during health-related conferences (free JPG) (RT @gmacscotland see Tweet)

Family planning, assisted reproduction, pregnancy and menopause in patients with SLE and/or antiphospholipid syndrome

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:49h | UTC

EULAR recommendations for women’s health and the management of family planning, assisted reproduction, pregnancy and menopause in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and/or antiphospholipid syndrome (free)

Commentary: EULAR: Guidance for Managing Lupus Pregnancy – MedPage Today (free registration required)

Guidelines for gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:46h | UTC

Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms – Endokrynologia Polska (free)

Guidelines for the Chronic Use of Opioid Analgesics

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:50h | UTC

Guidelines for the Chronic Use of Opioid Analgesics – Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) (free PDF)

Commentary: Chronic Pain Opioid Guidelines Updated for State Medical Boards – Medscape (free registration required)

Consensus guidelines for lumbar puncture in patients with neurological diseases

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:46h | UTC

Consensus guidelines for lumbar puncture in patients with neurological diseases – Alzheimer’s & Dementia (free)

Mon, June 19 – 10 Stories of The Day!

19 Jun, 2017 | 00:03h | UTC

1 – Comparison of sputum collection methods for tuberculosis diagnosis: a systematic review and pairwise and network meta-analysis – The Lancet Global Health (free)

Invited commentary: Remembering the basics: interventions to improve sputum collection for tuberculosis diagnosis (free)

Pooled sputum collection (sputum that was pooled from each spontaneous expectoration into the same sputum container over a period of several hours) increased the diagnostic performance of smear microscopy 1.6 times and the delivery of standardized instruction emphasizing the difference between sputum and saliva (verbally or visually) increased the odds of a positive microscopy result 1.4 times. “The effect of these simple, inexpensive strategies on diagnostic performance was similar to that of the relatively expensive GeneXpert MTB/RIF test, which, in the largest published studies, increased the odds of diagnosing tuberculosis by 1.3–1.5 times”

2 – Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association (free PDF)

Invited Commentary: Trimming the Fat on Diet Recommendations for a Healthy Heart: Emphasis on Eating Patterns over Dietary Restrictions (free)

Top Ten Things to Know: Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory from the American Heart Association (free PDF)

AHA News: Advisory: Replacing saturated fat with healthier fat could lower cardiovascular risks (free)

News release: Replacing saturated fat with healthier fat may lower cholesterol as well as drugs in context of a healthy diet (free)

AHA no longer recommends decreasing total fat, but to replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats. “Replacing saturated fat with healthier fat in the diet lowers cardiovascular disease risk as much as cholesterol-lowering statin drugs”

3 – Development and validation of risk prediction equations to estimate survival in patients with colorectal cancer: cohort study – The BMJ (free)

Commentary: New web calculator to more accurately predict bowel cancer survival – University of Nottingham, via EurekAlert (free)

See also: QCancer-2017(colorectal, survival) risk calculator (free risk calculator based on the data)

4 – Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A_1c Levels – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Glycation of Hemoglobin Differs by Race – Physician’s Briefing (free) AND Hemoglobin A1c Overestimates Average Glucose in Blacks – Medscape (free registration required) AND Why a key diabetes test may work differently depending on your race – CNN (free)

5 – Free online course. Starts today! Improving the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents: from Evidence to Action – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, via FutureLearn (free)

6 – 2017 American College of Rheumatology/American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Guideline for the Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty (free)

Press release: New Guideline Aims to Reduce Infections in Total Hip & Knee Replacement Patients (free)

7 – What If (Almost) Every Gene Affects (Almost) Everything? – The Atlantic (free) (RT @AllenFrancesMD see Tweet)

8 – Evolocumab for Treatment of High Cholesterol: Clinical Effectiveness (free PDF) (RT @AnilMakam see Tweet 1, Tweet 2, Tweet 3 and Tweet 4)

News release: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s “New Evidence Update” on PCKS9 Inhibitors Highlights Lack of Mortality Benefit With Evolocumab (free)

Lack of mortality benefit in a recent large trial is highlighted in this updated review. Se more on the FOURIER trial and commentaries in our March 20^th issue, see #2.

9 – Why are doctors killing themselves? – by Anne Malatt, via MJA Insight (free)

10 – EULAR/EFORT recommendations for management of patients older than 50 years with a fragility fracture and prevention of subsequent fractures (free)

New science data-sharing rules are two scoops of disappointment

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:48h | UTC

Opinion: New science data-sharing rules are two scoops of disappointment – STAT News (free)

Editorial: Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials — A Requirement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (free)

Hundreds died while taking an arthritis drug, but nobody alerted patients

19 Jun, 2017 | 12:47h | UTC

Failure to warn: Hundreds died while taking an arthritis drug, but nobody alerted patients – STAT News (free)

Completion Dissection or Observation for Sentinel-Node Metastasis in Melanoma

18 Jun, 2017 | 16:06h | UTC

Completion Dissection or Observation for Sentinel-Node Metastasis in Melanoma – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Quick take video summary: Dissection or Observation for Sentinel-Node Metastasis (free)

Commentaries: Watch-and-Wait OK in Sentinel Node Positive Melanoma – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Common Surgical Treatment for Melanoma Does Not Improve Patients’ Overall Survival, Study Shows – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, via NewsWise (free)

WHO News release: Abuse of older people on the rise – 1 in 6 affected – World Health Organization (free)

See also: Elder abuse fact sheet (free) AND WHO’s work on elder abuse (free) AND World report on ageing and health (free)

2 – OpenWHO – The World Health Organization launched a series of video courses on epidemics, pandemics & health emergencies, open to the public (free courses and videos) (RT @WHO see Tweet)

3 – A randomized trial of telemedicine efficacy and safety for nonacute headaches – Neurology (free) (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)

Commentary: For Headache, Telemedicine May Be as Effective as in-Person – American Academy of Neurology, via NewsWise (free)

4 – New Choosing Wisely List: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists – Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question (free)

See more on the Choosing Wisely initiative in our April 5 issue, see #6.

“Great choosing wisely list from @ASHPOfficial. Great doctoring tips for physicians & trainees” (RT @AnilMakam see Tweet)

5 – Doctors are prone to burn-out and depression. We need to take care – World Economic Forum (free)

6 – Pharmacological treatments and risk of readmission to hospital for unipolar depression in Finland: a nationwide cohort study – The Lancet Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentary: Lithium Markedly Cuts Hospital Readmission in Depression – Medscape (free registration required)

7 – Review: Pathophysiology of Takotsubo Syndrome – Circulation (free)

8 – Risk of major congenital malformations in relation to maternal overweight and obesity severity: cohort study of 1.2 million singletons – The BMJ (free)

Commentaries: Risks of major birth defects greater if mother is overweight – OnMedica (free) AND Obese women more likely to have babies with serious birth defects, says study – The Guardian (free)

9 – Machine Learning Versus Standard Techniques for Updating Searches for Systematic Reviews: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentary: Artificial intelligence may help doctors keep up with new research – Reuters (free)

“Machine-learning fed by citations of a systematic saved a ton of time for updating it, didn’t miss important studies” (RT @hildabast see Tweet)

10 – Opinion: Too much medical care: bad for you, bad for health care systems – STAT News (free)