General Interest
Meta-Analysis: Sport Specialization and Risk of Overuse Injuries
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:43h | UTCSport Specialization and Risk of Overuse Injuries: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis – Pediatrics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Sport specialization tied to injuries in kids and teens – Reuters (free)
Study: Breastfeeding History and Risk of Stroke Among Parous Postmenopausal Women in the Women’s Health Initiative
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:38h | UTCCommentaries: Breastfeeding linked to lower stroke risk – Reuters (free) AND Breastfeeding may help protect mothers against stroke – AHA News (free)
“…ultimately, the study is observational, which means that it can only prove that breast feeding is associated with lower risk of stroke as opposed to being the cause of the lowered risk.” (from Reuters)
Perspective: How Smartphones are Becoming a Weapon in the Global Fight Against Tuberculosis
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:23h | UTCHow smartphones are becoming a weapon in the global fight against tuberculosis – STAT (free)
WHO Director-General First Annual Letter
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:24h | UTCOur first year together – World Health Organization (free)
“Delighted to share my first annual letter as WHO Director-General. It outlines our major achievements over the past year and what I believe are the keys to achieving #HealthForAll. I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved – but we’re just getting started!” (via @DrTedros see Tweet)
Study: Anticonvulsant and the Risk for Opioid-Related Death
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:21h | UTCPregabalin and the Risk for Opioid-Related Death: A Nested Case–Control Study – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Pregabalin may increase the risk of death when coprescribed with opioids – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Pregabalin Linked To Increased Risk for Opioid-Related Deaths – MedicalResearch.com (free) AND Anticonvulsant With Opioids Tied To Higher Mortality – MedPage Today (free registration required)
AAP Report: Want Creative, Curious, Healthier Children with 21st Century Skills? Let Them Play
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:19h | UTCClinical Report: The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children – Pediatrics (free)
News Release: Want Creative, Curious, Healthier Children with 21st Century Skills? Let Them Play – American Academy of Pediatrics (free)
Commentary: It’s come to this: A checkup with the pediatrician may soon include a prescription for play – Los Angeles Times (free) AND Let Kids Play – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND AAP Report Highlights Importance of Children’s Play for Development – Journal Watch (free)
WHO: Measles Cases Hit Record High in the European Region
23 Aug, 2018 | 23:01h | UTCMeasles cases hit record high in the European Region – World Health Organization (free)
Commentaries: Measles cases hit record high in Europe – BBC (free) AND Expert reaction to measles cases in Europe – Science Media Centre (free) AND Low MMR uptake blamed for surge in measles cases across Europe – The Guardian (free) AND Measles cases reach record high in Europe – CNN (free)
Perspective: This Drug Is Safe and Effective. Wait. Compared With What?
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:59h | UTCThis Drug Is Safe and Effective. Wait. Compared With What? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Report: E-Cigarettes
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:33h | UTCReport: E-Cigarettes – House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (free PDF)
Commentaries: Stop treating e-cigs like conventional cigarettes, MPs tell NHS – OnMedica (free) AND E-cigarettes can be key weapon against smoking, say MPs – BBC (free)
See also: related guidelines, reports and commentaries on e-cigarettes (all free)
Study: Association Between Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:35h | UTCAssociation Between Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction – American Journal of Preventive Medicine (free for a limited period)
Commentary: Risk of heart attacks is double for daily e-cigarette users – University of California – San Francisco, via ScienceDaily (free)
“New analysis shows five-fold risk for people who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes daily” (from ScienceDaily)
Perspective: Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:32h | UTCVitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) (via @CarlosdelRio7 see Tweet)
Related commentaries: Vitamin D Screening and Supplementation in Primary Care: Time to Curb Our Enthusiasm – American Family Physician (free) AND Your vitamin D tests and supplements are probably a waste of money – VOX (free) AND Why Are So Many People Popping Vitamin D? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related Guideline: Vitamin D: supplement use in specific population groups – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
“Only test vitamin D status if someone has symptoms of deficiency or is at very high risk” (from NICE Guideline)
Too Much Medicine: A Small Medical Conference with a Big Impact
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:31h | UTCToo Much Medicine: A small medical conference with a big impact – HealthNewsReview (free)
WHO: Situation of the Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
23 Aug, 2018 | 22:27h | UTCCommentaries: WHO Expects Ebola To Spread In Congo In Areas Too Dangerous To Send Workers – NPR (free) AND Health worker among 5 new cases in DRC Ebola outbreak – CIDRAP (free) AND Militia threat hampers Ebola fight in Congo as disease kills 47 – Reuters (free)
Randomized Trial: Letters with Peer Comparison May Reduce Overprescribing
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:34h | UTCEffect of Peer Comparison Letters for High-Volume Primary Care Prescribers of Quetiapine in Older and Disabled Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Behavioral nudges lead to striking drop in prescriptions of potent antipsychotic – Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, via ScienceDaily (free) AND Study Reduces Over-prescription of Antipsychotics in Older Adults – Mad in America (free) AND ‘Dear Doctor’ Letters Use Peer Pressure, Government Warning To Stop Overprescribing – NPR (free) AND Peer Pressure Tactic Successfully Curbs Overprescribing – Medscape (free registration required)
Study: Association of Compensation to Physicians From Industry and Self-declared Conflict of Interest
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:30h | UTCAssociation of Compensation From the Surgical and Medical Device Industry to Physicians and Self-declared Conflict of Interest – JAMA Surgery (free for a limited period)
Author Interview: Association of Compensation to Physicians From Industry and Self-declared Conflict of Interest (free)
Commentaries: Safeguarding Against Conflicts of Interest in the Surgical Literature – JAMA Surgery (free for a limited period) AND Financial Ties That Bind: Studies Often Fall Short On Conflict-Of-Interest Disclosures – Kaiser Health News (free)
Study: Changes in Midlife Death Rates Across Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:29h | UTCInfographic: Why is US Life Expectancy Falling Behind? (free PDF)
Commentary: Life expectancy drops in the US and the UK, rises in Australia, a new study finds – CNN (free)
Study: Trends in Life Expectancy Across High Income Countries
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:29h | UTCEditorial: Reversals in life expectancy in high income countries? (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Life Expectancy Declining Across High Income Countries – Eurasia Review (free) AND Australians living longer but life expectancy dips in US and UK – The Guardian (free) AND UK life expectancy drops while other western countries improve – NHS Choices (free)
Keeping Up With Cardiology: Old-School Learning Versus the Twittersphere
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:28h | UTCKeeping Up With Cardiology: Old-School Learning Versus the Twittersphere – TCTMD (free)
Related: Scientists on Twitter: Preaching to the choir or singing from the rooftops? – Facets (free) AND Rise of the Tweetorial – Precious Bodily Fluids (free) AND Social Medicine: Twitter in Healthcare – Journal of Clinical Medicine (free) AND University of Twitter? Scientists give impromptu lecture critiquing nutrition research – CBC (free) AND Twitter-Based Medicine: How Social Media is Changing the Public’s View of Medicine – The Health Care Blog (free) AND What’s your doctor reading? How social media is disrupting medical education – National Post (free)
Cohort Study: Association of Maternal Insecticide Levels With Autism in Offspring
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:27h | UTCAssociation of Maternal Insecticide Levels With Autism in Offspring From a National Birth Cohort – The American Journal of Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Autism and DDT: What one million pregnancies can — and can’t — reveal – Nature News (free) AND Epidemiologists Link DDT From The 1970s To Modern Autism Diagnoses – Science 2.0 (free – skeptical point of view on study results)
Editorial: Making Diagnostic Tests as Essential as Medicines
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:22h | UTCMaking diagnostic tests as essential as medicines – BMJ Global Health (free)
Related: Report: First-ever WHO List of Essential Diagnostic Tests (free report and news release) AND The WHO Essential Diagnostic List: A Tool for the Future (free commentaries)
Perspective: How Unpaywall is Transforming Open Science
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:21h | UTCHow Unpaywall is transforming open science – Nature News (free)
Related: Unlocking paywalled research papers (legally) (free commentaries) AND Half of papers searched for online are free to read (free)
We have been using the Unpaywall Extension for a while, and it is indeed a handy tool to find free versions (entirely legal) of paywalled articles.
Perspective: Medical Students are Skipping Class in Droves — And Making Lectures Increasingly Obsolete
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:19h | UTCPerspective: Medical students are skipping class in droves — and making lectures increasingly obsolete – STAT (free)
Disease Outbreak News: Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:16h | UTCRelated: WHO chief calls for end to fighting in Congo to halt Ebola spread – The Guardian (free) AND Ebola cases mounting in DRC as region prepares for more – CIDRAP (free) AND Ebola outbreak shaping up as most dangerous test of world’s ability to respond since global crisis – STAT (free)
Study: Polygenic Scores for Common Diseases Identify Individuals with Risk Equivalent to Monogenic Mutations
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:09h | UTCGenome-wide polygenic scores for common diseases identify individuals with risk equivalent to monogenic mutations – Nature Genetics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Researchers predict risk for common deadly diseases from millions of genetic variants – Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, ScienceDaily (free) AND Clues to Your Health Are Hidden at 6.6 Million Spots in Your DNA – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Multi-gene test may find risk for heart disease and more – Associated Press (free) AND A Harvard Scientist Thinks He Has a Gene Test for Heart Attack Risk. He Wants to Give It Away Free – Forbes (free)
Retrospective Cohort: Association Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Risk of Suicide
17 Aug, 2018 | 02:14h | UTCAssociation Between Traumatic Brain Injury and Risk of Suicide – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Traumatic brain injury tied to increased risk of suicide – Reuters (free) AND Risk of Suicide Increases After TBI, Study Finds – Psychiatric News Alert (free) AND Expert reaction to traumatic brain injury and suicide – Science Media Centre (free)