General Interest
Scientists Call for a Moratorium on Creating Genome Edited Babies
15 Mar, 2019 | 02:10h | UTCAdopt a moratorium on heritable genome editing – Nature (free)
Editorial: Germline gene-editing research needs rules (free)
Commentaries: Leading scientists, backed by NIH, call for a global moratorium on creating ‘CRISPR babies’ – STAT (free) AND Expert reaction to a call for a moratorium on heritable genome editing – Science Media Centre (free)
Related: Genome-Edited Baby Provokes International Outcry (free commentaries) AND Consensus Statement on the Reported Birth of Genome-Edited Babies in China (free)
Cardiovascular Disease Burden from Ambient Air Pollution Reassessed
13 Mar, 2019 | 06:07h | UTCCommentaries: Air pollution causes 8.8 million extra early deaths a year – European Society of Cardiology (free) AND Air Pollution Causes 8.8 Million Extra Deaths a Year – U.S. News (free) AND Air pollution kills 8.8 million people per year globally, study says – UPI (free)
Related: 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, but more countries are taking action – World Health Organization (free) AND The cost of a polluted environment: 1.7 million child deaths a year, says WHO – World Health Organization (free) AND Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2015 – The Lancet (free) AND Death in the Air: Air Pollution Costs Money and Lives – World Bank (free infographic and report)
Man Told He’s Going to Die by Doctor on Video-link Robot
11 Mar, 2019 | 03:50h | UTCMan told he’s going to die by doctor on video-link robot – BBC (free)
See also: California family furious after hospital uses video call to tell grandfather he’s dying – The Guardian (free) AND Doctor on Video Screen Told a Man He Was Near Death, Leaving Relatives Aghast – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Cohort Study: A Television in the Bedroom may Harm Preschoolers’ Development
8 Mar, 2019 | 02:44h | UTCProspective associations between television in the preschool bedroom and later bio-psycho-social risks – Pediatric Research (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: A television in the bedroom? – University of Montreal (free)
Related Guidelines: Media devices in pre-school children: the recommendations of the Italian pediatric society – Italian Journal of Pediatrics (free) AND Media and Young Minds – Recommendations from The American Academy of Pediatrics (free)
See also: Children, Adolescents and Screens: What We Know and What We Need To Learn (Pediatrics Supplement with free articles)
What do the People of the World Die From?
7 Mar, 2019 | 02:20h | UTCWhat do the people of the world die from? – BBC (free)
Second Patient Free of HIV After Stem-cell Therapy
6 Mar, 2019 | 01:29h | UTCSecond patient free of HIV after stem-cell therapy – Nature News (free)
See also: Has a second person with HIV been cured? – Science (free) AND Expert reaction to HIV-1 remission in a second patient – Science Media Centre (free) AND Bone Marrow Transplant Renders Second Patient Free Of HIV – NPR (free) AND London patient might be second to be cured of HIV – CNN (free) AND H.I.V. Is Reported Cured in a Second Patient, a Milestone in the Global AIDS Epidemic – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Study: Fast-Food Offerings Increasing in Portion Size, Calories, and Sodium Content
6 Mar, 2019 | 01:08h | UTCFast-Food Offerings in the United States in 1986, 1991, and 2016 Show Large Increases in Food Variety, Portion Size, Dietary Energy, and Selected Micronutrients – Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Bigger, Saltier, Heavier: Fast Food Since 1986 in 3 Simple Charts – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Thirty years of fast food: Greater variety, but more salt, larger portions, and added calories – Elservier (free) AND Fast Food Is Less Healthy Today Than 30 Years Ago, Analysis Finds – Forbes (free) AND Has fast food become worse for our health in the past 30 years? – Medical News Today (free)
Opinion – ““Elderly”—an outdated and potentially harmful term”
5 Mar, 2019 | 03:07h | UTCJavad Hekmat-panah: “Elderly”—an outdated and potentially harmful term – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Nationwide Cohort Study Finds No Association Between MMR Vaccine and Autism
5 Mar, 2019 | 02:42h | UTCMeasles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: It’s old news that vaccines don’t cause autism. But a major new study aims to refute skeptics again – STAT (free) AND Danish study finds no association between MMR vaccine and autism, even within high-risk subgroups – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND A Large Study Provides More Evidence That MMR Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism – NPR (free)
Study: Impact of a Municipal Policy Restricting Trans Fatty Acid Use on Serum Trans Fatty Acid Levels in Adults
5 Mar, 2019 | 02:39h | UTCImpact of a Municipal Policy Restricting Trans Fatty Acid Use in New York City Restaurants on Serum Trans Fatty Acid Levels in Adults – American Journal of Public Health (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Trans Fat Bans May Be Good for the Heart – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND A ban on artificial trans fats in NYC restaurants appears to be working – ScienceNews (free)
Related: Action Package: WHO Plan to Eliminate Trans-fatty Acids from Global Food Supply (free report and commentaries) AND Systematic review of dietary trans-fat reduction interventions (free) AND Banning trans fats in New York prevented thousands of heart attacks (link to abstract and commentaries)
UNICEF: Alarming Global Surge of Measles Cases a Growing Threat to Children
4 Mar, 2019 | 00:27h | UTCAlarming global surge of measles cases a growing threat to children – UNICEF (free)
Commentary: Measles cases at ‘alarmingly’ high levels around the world, UNICEF says – CNN (free)
UC Terminates Subscriptions with World’s Largest Scientific Publisher in Push for Open Access
4 Mar, 2019 | 00:23h | UTCCommentaries: The costs of academic publishing are absurd. The University of California is fighting back – VOX (free) AND University of California breaks up with major publisher over research access dispute – STAT (free)
Related: Will the world embrace Plan S, the radical proposal to mandate open access to science papers? – Science (free) AND The world debates open-access mandates (free) AND China Backs Bold Plan to Tear Down Journal Paywalls (free) AND Europe’s Bold Open-Access Plan Detailed (free) Groundbreaking deal makes large number of German studies free to public – Science (free) AND Open Access 2018: A Year of Funders and Universities Drawing Lines in the Sand – Absolutely Maybe Blog (free)
Study: Comparative Accuracy of Diagnosis by Collective Intelligence of Multiple Physicians vs Individual Physicians
4 Mar, 2019 | 00:18h | UTCEditorial: Collective Intelligence for Clinical Diagnosis—Are 2 (or 3) Heads Better Than 1? (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
The misdiagnosis rate of doctors is alarmingly high (>12 million/yr in the US).
Q: Can this be improved by collective human intelligence?
A: Somewhathttps://t.co/HTBUxiNdyb@hdx @JAMANetworkOpen by @ml_barnett @DrNundy @DBatesSafety @HarvardChanSPH @HarvardHPM @BrighamWomens pic.twitter.com/mTWSyoTjGq— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 1, 2019
Study: Soda Tax Linked to a 50 Percent Reduction in Sugary Drink Consumption
3 Mar, 2019 | 23:58h | UTCSugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption 3 Years After the Berkeley, California, Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax – American Journal of Public Health (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Sugary drink tax tied to drop in soda consumption – Reuters (free) AND Three years into soda tax, sugary drink consumption down more than 50 percent in Berkeley – University of California – Berkeley (free) AND U.S. Soda Taxes Work, Studies Suggest — But Maybe Not As Well As Hoped – NPR (free)
Related: Fiscal policies for diet and the prevention of noncommunicable diseases – World Health Organization (free) AND The Lancet taskforce on NCDs and economics (free series and commentaries) W.H.O. Urges Tax on Sugary Drinks to Fight Obesity – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Mexico’s sugar tax leads to fall in consumption for second year running – The Guardian (free) AND To improve global health, tax the things that are killing us – Financial Times (free policies, articles and commentaries) AND Reducing cardiovascular disease burden through targeted dietary policies (free study and commentaries) AND Fiscal policies for the prevention of diseases (free study and commentary) AND The potential impact of food taxes and subsidies on cardiovascular disease and diabetes burden and disparities (free) AND Sugar Tax: Why Health Experts Want it But Politicians and Industry are Resisting (free)
Study: Television Viewing and Cognitive Decline in Older Age
1 Mar, 2019 | 05:46h | UTCCommentaries: Expert reaction to study looking at watching TV and memory in over 50s – Science Media Centre (free) AND TV Viewing Tied to Cognitive Decline in Those Over Age 50 – NEJM Journal Watch (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
My new study with Andrew Steptoe @UCL_BSH funded by @wellcometrust is published today, showing that watching television for more than 3.5 hours per day is associated with cognitive decline in verbal memory in older adults https://t.co/9ZIOTVsGMz
— Dr Daisy Fancourt (@Daisy_Fancourt) February 28, 2019
Study: Long Work Hours, Weekend Working and Depressive Symptoms in Men and Women
28 Feb, 2019 | 05:51h | UTCCommentaries: Working long hours linked to depression in women – University College London (free) AND Long Works Hours May Hike Depression Risk in Women – PsychCentral (free) AND Are women who work long hours more likely to be depressed? – NHS (free)
Telemedicine: The Latest Futuristic Tech Prediction From The Jetsons To Come True
28 Feb, 2019 | 05:46h | UTCPerspective: Telemedicine: The Latest Futuristic Tech Prediction From The Jetsons To Come True – Forbes (free)
Related: Why Your Next Doctor Visit Could Be Over The Phone – Forbes (free)
Distracted Driving, Visual Inattention, and Crash Risk Among Teenage Drivers
26 Feb, 2019 | 02:29h | UTCDistracted Driving, Visual Inattention, and Crash Risk Among Teenage Drivers – American Journal of Preventive Medicine (free for a limited period)
Commentary: Reaching for objects while driving may raise teen crash risk nearly sevenfold – NIH News Releases (free)
Cohort Study: Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events
25 Feb, 2019 | 01:17h | UTCCommentaries: Push-up capacity linked with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease events among men – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (free) AND Struggling to do push-ups? You may be at risk of heart disease – NHS (free) AND How Many Push-Ups Can You Do? It May Be a Good Predictor of Heart Health – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Computer vs. Patient: Fighting for Residents’ Attention
15 Feb, 2019 | 01:20h | UTCComputer vs. patient: Fighting for residents’ attention – SCOPE (free)
Original Article: Characterizing electronic health record usage patterns of inpatient medicine residents using event log data – PLOS One (free)
Related: Putting Patients First by Reducing Administrative Tasks in Health Care: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians (free) AND Date Night with the EHR – NEJM Catalyst (free) AND How Tech Can Turn Doctors into Clerical Workers – The New York Times Magazine (10 articles per month are free) AND To Combat Physician Burnout and Improve Care, Fix the Electronic Health Record – Harvard Business Review (a few articles per month are free) AND “It is like texting at the dinner table”: a qualitative analysis of the impact of electronic health records on patient–physician interaction in hospitals – Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics (free) AND A Time-Motion Study of Primary Care Physicians’ Work in the Electronic Health Record Era – Family Medicine (free) AND Care-Centered Clinical Documentation in the Digital Environment: Solutions to Alleviate Burnout – National Academy of Medicine (free) AND Electronic Health Record Usability Issues and Potential Contribution to Patient Harm – JAMA (free)
Worth reading. The most devastating critique of medicine since Medical Nemesis by Ivan Illich in 1975
15 Feb, 2019 | 00:43h | UTC
Study: Absence of Smoking, Hypertension, and Overweight Linked to a Prolonged Life Expectancy of 6 Years and 9 Years of Disease-free Life Expectancy
14 Feb, 2019 | 01:58h | UTCCommentary: Absence of hypertension, overweight and smoking results in 9 disease-free years and prolonged life expectancy of 6 years – PACE-CME (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
📣Absence of #hypertension, #overweight & #smoking results in 9 disease-free years and prolonged #lifeexpectancy of 6 years.
📍PLoS Med 16(2): e1002741.vía @PACEcme
Commentary:
🔗https://t.co/S5vnrgYRudOpen access:
🔗https://t.co/GfNdFxEg0z@SEMERGENap @SEHLELHA140_90 pic.twitter.com/hCI1DsZS1h— Vicente Pallares (@vic_pallares) February 13, 2019
Meta-Analysis: Effects of Dietary Improvement on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety
11 Feb, 2019 | 23:43h | UTCCommentaries: Improved Diet Can Ease Depression Symptoms, Enhance Mood – PsychCentral (free) AND Many Different Diets Can Improve Mood And Reduce Depression Symptoms, Study Finds – Forbes (free) AND A diet rich in fiber and vegetables can relieve depression – Medical News Today (free)
Observational Study Suggests a Link Between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Mental Well-Being
11 Feb, 2019 | 23:41h | UTCCommentary: Hearts and minds: fruit and veg boost well-being – University of Leeds (free) AND Eating more fruit and veg ‘improves mental wellbeing’ – NHS Choices (free)
FDA Report: 660 Cases of Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma
11 Feb, 2019 | 00:10h | UTCCommentary: FDA Emphasizes Lymphoma Risk in Women with Breast Implants – NEJM Journal Watch (free)
Related: Study: Long-term Outcomes of Silicone Breast Implants (link to abstract and commentary) AND Research: Breast Implants and the Risk of Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma in the Breast (link to abstract and commentary) AND Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (link to previous FDA report and commentaries)