Family Medicine | Page 371 of 374 | Links Medicus Content Curation & Alerts in Medicine

Screening for Endocrine Hypertension

14 Apr, 2017 | 16:27h | UTC

Screening for Endocrine Hypertension: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement (free)

Source: Screen for Endocrine Hypertension, Endocrine Society Says – Medscape (free registration required)

“The statement provides guidance on screening for 15 hormonal disorders that present with hypertension and that can be potentially cured with surgery or treated with medication” (from Medscape commentary above).

Screening to Prevent Invasive Cervical Cancer Guideline

13 Apr, 2017 | 16:03h | UTC

Screening to Prevent Invasive Cervical Cancer: ASCO Resource-Stratified Clinical Practice Guideline (free)

“The ASCO guidelines outline the minimum standards for HPV-based screening for each resource strata; additional and more frequent screening may be added as the resources become available”.

Prostate Cancer Screening – Conflicting views on the new USPSTF draft recommendations

13 Apr, 2017 | 16:06h | UTC

Prostate Cancer Screening – Conflicting views on the new USPSTF draft recommendations

In favor of screening: New Official Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines Announced: Too Little, Too Late? – Forbes (free) AND Federal Task Force Softens Opposition To Routine Prostate Cancer Screening – NPR

Against screening: The new recommendations for prostate cancer screenings are a bad deal – STAT News (free)

Short term use of oral corticosteroids and related harms

13 Apr, 2017 | 16:07h | UTC

Short term use of oral corticosteroids and related harms among adults in the United States: population based cohort study – The BMJ (free)

Corticosteroids, even if used for short periods of time, seems to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In this retrospective cohort with 1.5 million adults, the incidence of acute adverse events (sepsis, venous thromboembolism, fracture) increased by twofold to fivefold above background rates.

Prostate Cancer Screening Draft Recommendations – USPSTF

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:58h | UTC

Prostate Cancer Screening Draft Recommendations – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (free)

Viewpoint: The US Preventive Services Task Force 2017 Draft Recommendation Statement on Screening for Prostate Cancer: An Invitation to Review and Comment – JAMA (free)

For those aged 55 to 69 it recommends “informed, individualized decision making based on a man’s values and preferences”. According to a useful infographic from the draft recommendations, the benefits are likely small. For every 1000 men offered PSA based screening over a period of 10-15 years, the test would avoid cancer spreading in 3 men and death from prostate cancer in 1-2 men, with the undesired consequences of false positives and subsequent procedures in many patients.

Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hip

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:55h | UTC

Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hip – American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (free PDF)

Source: AAOS releases new clinical practice guideline for osteoarthritis of the hip – Medical Express (free)

How Many Pills Are Too Many?

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:56h | UTC

How Many Pills Are Too Many? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“Evidence has mounted about the dangers of taking multiple, perhaps unnecessary, medications” (from Tweet)

Respiratory effect of beta-blockers in people with asthma and cardiovascular disease

11 Apr, 2017 | 15:48h | UTC

Respiratory effect of beta-blockers in people with asthma and cardiovascular disease: population-based nested case control study – BMC Medicine (free) (RT @atscommunity)

Cardioselective beta-blockers, mostly atenolol and bisoprolol in this cohort, were not associated with increased risk of moderate or severe asthma exacerbations. In contrast, non-selective beta-blockers, mostly sotalol and carvedilol in this cohort, were associated with increased risk.

EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:52h | UTC

EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia – Annals of Rheumatic Diseases (free)

Source: EULAR Revised Recommendations for the Management of Fibromyalgia – Medscape (free registration required)

Why Are So Many People Popping Vitamin D?

11 Apr, 2017 | 15:47h | UTC

Why Are So Many People Popping Vitamin D? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“Labs performing these tests are reporting perfectly normal levels of vitamin D — 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood — as “insufficient.” As a consequence, millions of healthy people think they have a deficiency”

Note: Some organizations still think appropriate levels would be above 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood, more details in the text.

Multivitamins are probably a waste of money

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:50h | UTC

Vitamins and the Failure of Free-Market Health – The Atlantic (free)

“The booming dietary-supplement industry is plagued by outlandish claims, undermining credible science, and seeding confusion”.

Effect of Baseline Nutritional Status on Long-term Multivitamin Use and Cardiovascular Disease Risk – JAMA Cardiology (link to abstract – $ required for full-text)

See also: Multivitamins may not improve heart health in men – UPI (free) AND Other recent commentary on multivitamins: Multivitamins a waste of money and just create ‘very expensive urine’ – The Guardian (free)

“Multivitamin use does not prevent major CV disease events in men, regardless of baseline nutritional status” (RT @CaulfieldTim)

Hypertension Canada’s 2017 Guidelines

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:10h | UTC

Hypertension Canada’s 2017 Guidelines for Diagnosis, Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Treatment of Hypertension in Adults (free)

F.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:03h | UTC

F.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“The controversial step will significantly expand direct-to-consumer testing – but what if the news is bad?” (from Scientific American above)

Achieved blood pressure and cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk patients

11 Apr, 2017 | 15:44h | UTC

Achieved blood pressure and cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk patients: results from ONTARGET and TRANSCEND trials – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ required for full-text) (RT @AnilMakam “Lower achieved blood pressure in high risk patients for cardiovascular disease do WORSE” see Tweets)

In high-risk patients, patients who achieved a systolic blood pressure < 120 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure < 70 mmHg had HIGHER risk of complications. “These data suggest that the lowest blood pressure possible is not necessarily the optimal target for high-risk patients”

Surgical or Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Replacement in Intermediate-Risk Patients

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:08h | UTC

Surgical or Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Replacement in Intermediate-Risk Patients – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ required for full text)

Quick Take Video Summary: SURTAVI Study: TAVR versus Open Surgery (free)

See this and other highlights from the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Session (some articles are no longer free)

This innovative technology seems to be useful for patients with aortic stenosis at high risk for surgery. In this new study, it was noninferior to surgery at 2 years of follow-up in old patients (averaged nearly 80 years) at intermediate risk. Longer follow up data will be important to see if it is a suitable alternative for younger patients.

Here’s why one tech investor thinks some doctors will be ‘obsolete’ in five years

10 Apr, 2017 | 15:56h | UTC

Here’s why one tech investor thinks some doctors will be ‘obsolete’ in five years – CNBC (free) (RT @CMichaelGibson)

According to this point of view, radiologists will be the first ones that are affected by Artificial Intelligence. As we can see below, other specialists that work by interpreting medical images may follow, like dermatologists, ophthalmologists and pathologists.