General Interest
The Struggle to Build a Massive ‘Biobank’ of Patient Data
30 Mar, 2018 | 03:11h | UTCThe Struggle to Build a Massive ‘Biobank’ of Patient Data – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Preventing physician suicide
23 Mar, 2018 | 02:38h | UTCPreventing physician suicide – ACP Hospitalist (free)
Related: What I’ve learned from my tally of 757 doctor suicides – The Washington Post (free) AND Why are doctors killing themselves? – MJA InSight (free) AND Why are doctors plagued by depression and suicide? A crisis comes into focus – STAT (free) AND Protecting interns and other physicians from depression and suicide – STAT (free)
Are we prepared for the looming epidemic threat?
23 Mar, 2018 | 02:36h | UTCAre we prepared for the looming epidemic threat? – The Guardian (free) (via @Onisillos)
Related: The World Is Not Ready for the Next Pandemic – TIME cover story AND The World Is Completely Unprepared for a Global Pandemic – Harvard Business Review (free) AND Seven reasons we’re at more risk than ever of a global pandemic – CNN (free) AND Video: Pandemics – a worrying global public health threat (free)
Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds
23 Mar, 2018 | 02:35h | UTCCommentaries: Mental health risks to girls who spend more than an hour a day on social media – new study – The Conversation (free) AND How much is too much? Does increasing use of social media having a damaging effect on young girls? – BMC Series Blog (free) AND Social Media May Be More Harmful To Girls Than Boys, Study Finds – Forbes (free)
See also a recent Pediatrics supplement: Children, Adolescents and Screens: What We Know and What We Need To Learn (free supplement) and related texts on Social Media and Mental Health (free articles and commentaries)
Research: Behaviors, movements, and transmission of droplet-mediated respiratory diseases during transcontinental airline flights
23 Mar, 2018 | 01:59h | UTCCommentaries: Localized Risk for Infection Transmission on Planes, Study Finds – Medscape (free registration required) AND Researchers Determine Routes of Respiratory Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft – Georgia Tech News Center (free) AND Why you should choose your plane seat wisely – Medical News Today (free)
“Direct disease transmission outside of the one-meter area of an infected passenger is unlikely” (from Georgia Tech)
Research: Tai chi versus aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia
23 Mar, 2018 | 02:02h | UTCCommentaries: Time to rethink exercise for fibromyalgia care – The BMJ Opinion (free) AND The unintended consequences of tai chi for fibromyalgia – The BMJ Opinion (free) AND Tai chi may be as effective for fibromyalgia as standard exercise – NHS Choices (free) AND Tai chi at least as beneficial as aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia – OnMedica (free)
A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly
22 Mar, 2018 | 23:44h | UTCA Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly – The New York Times (free)
Related: Our Other Prescription Drug Problem – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Benzodiazepines: our other prescription drug epidemic – STAT (free)
“Despite warnings from experts, older people are using more anti-anxiety and sleep medications, putting them at risk of serious side effects and even overdoses”.
Cluster-Randomized Trial of Blood-Pressure Reduction in Black Barbershops
16 Mar, 2018 | 03:37h | UTC#ACC18 – Cluster-Randomized Trial of Blood-Pressure Reduction in Black Barbershops – New England Journal of Medicine (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Barbershop-Based Intervention Leads to Blood Pressure Reductions in African-American Men – American College of Cardiology (free) AND Mixing Haircuts and Hypertension Rx a ‘Home Run’ for Blood Pressure Control – TCTMD (free)
“Among black male barbershop patrons with uncontrolled hypertension, health promotion by barbers resulted in larger blood-pressure reduction when coupled with medication management in barbershops by specialty-trained pharmacists”.
Do Antidepressants Work?
16 Mar, 2018 | 03:36h | UTCDo Antidepressants Work? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
“The most comprehensive study on them has recently been published, showing mostly modest effects”.
See related meta-analysis and commentaries in our February 23rd issue (see #3)
Research: Mapping child growth failure in Africa between 2000 and 2015
16 Mar, 2018 | 03:34h | UTCMapping child growth failure in Africa between 2000 and 2015 – Nature (free)
Invited commentary, by Kofi Annan: Data can help to end malnutrition across Africa (free)
Other commentaries: Africa ‘very, very far away’ from meeting global target to end child malnutrition – The Guardian (free) Local Burden of Disease – Child Growth Failure – IHME (free) AND Zooming in on advances and opportunities – IHME (free)
Panic, chronic anxiety and burnout: doctors at breaking point
16 Mar, 2018 | 03:30h | UTCPanic, chronic anxiety and burnout: doctors at breaking point – The Guardian (free)
Acute Myocardial Infarction Mortality During Dates of National Interventional Cardiology Meetings
16 Mar, 2018 | 03:23h | UTCCommentaries: Survival benefit seen for some patients when cardiologists are away at academic conferences – Harvard Medical School, via ScienceDaily (free) AND TCT paradox: Patients more likely to survive MI during interventional cardiology conference – Cardiovascular Business (free)
Related study: Mortality and Treatment Patterns Among Patients Hospitalized With Acute Cardiovascular Conditions During Dates of National Cardiology Meetings – JAMA Internal Medicine (free)
“The study’s release date is particularly timely considering another major conference—the American College of Cardiology’s Scientific Session—kicks off this weekend”. (from Cardiovascular Business)
Research: Low-level lead exposure and mortality in US adults
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:43h | UTCCommentaries: Lead and the heart: an ancient metal’s contribution to modern disease – The Lancet Public Health (free) AND Lead exposure may be linked to 412,000 premature US deaths yearly, study says – The Guardian (free) AND Lead and CDV deaths in US adults – Science Media Centre (free) AND Expert reaction to lead and CVD deaths in the US – Science Media Centre (free)
Research: Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:41h | UTCHealth Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries – JAMA (free article, editorials, author interview and video summary)
Commentaries: Why Is U.S. Health Care So Expensive? Some of the Reasons You’ve Heard Turn Out to Be Myths – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Huge cost of US healthcare driven by drug prices and salaries – The Guardian (free) AND Healthcare: It’s The Prices, Stupid. Isn’t It? – Forbes (free) AND Physician Salaries, Drug Prices Drive High US Health Costs – Medscape (free registration required)
A Visual introduction to the basic concepts of probability theory
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:39h | UTCVery interesting resource: A Visual introduction to the basic concepts of probability theory – Seeing Theory (free) (via @CochraneUK see Tweet)
Like It Or Not, Personal Health Technology Is Getting Smarter
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:08h | UTCLike It Or Not, Personal Health Technology Is Getting Smarter – NPR (free)
“Nice article about wearables related issues, such as medicalization of the healthy, privacy loss, low adherence, uncertain reliability of measurements and uncertain health benefits”. (via @RasoiniR see Tweet)
Research: Midlife cardiovascular fitness and dementia
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:07h | UTCCommentaries: High Cardiovascular Fitness in Midlife Tied to Lower Dementia Risk Later – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Physically fit women nearly 90 percent less likely to develop dementia – American Academy of Neurology, via ScienceDaily (free)
Elder Abuse: Sometimes It’s Self-Inflicted
16 Mar, 2018 | 02:06h | UTCElder Abuse: Sometimes It’s Self-Inflicted – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
“The house is filthy. The elderly resident is struggling. But who has the right to intervene?” (via @NYTHealth see Tweet)
AI researchers embrace Bitcoin technology to share medical data
16 Mar, 2018 | 01:39h | UTCAI researchers embrace Bitcoin technology to share medical data – Nature News (free)
Opinion: At-home genetic testing may be convenient, but it isn’t complete
16 Mar, 2018 | 01:27h | UTCAt-home genetic testing may be convenient, but it isn’t complete – STAT (free)
FDA Advances Plan To Slash Nicotine In Cigarettes
16 Mar, 2018 | 01:27h | UTCFDA Advances Plan To Slash Nicotine In Cigarettes – NPR (free) AND FDA begins anti-smoking push to cut nicotine in cigarettes – STAT (free)
ACP Guideline: Hemoglobin A1c Targets for Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes
8 Mar, 2018 | 22:32h | UTCCommentary: Major Medical Associations Feud Over Diabetes Guidelines – NPR (free)
“Clinicians should aim to achieve an HbA1c level between 7% and 8% in most patients with type 2 diabetes”
The Challenge of Doctor-Patient Relations in the Internet Age
8 Mar, 2018 | 22:27h | UTCThe Challenge of Doctor-Patient Relations in the Internet Age – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related: E-patients hold key to the future of healthcare – The BMJ Opinion (free)
The Tobacco Atlas, Sixth Edition
8 Mar, 2018 | 22:21h | UTCThe Tobacco Atlas, Sixth Edition (free PDF)
News Release: Big tobacco is targeting the world’s most vulnerable to increase profits – American Cancer Society (free)
See companion website: TobaccoAtlas.org
Related: Explore the GBD tool to compare tobacco risks globally – IHME (free interactive tool)
Proton pump inhibition therapy and risk of oesophageal cancer
8 Mar, 2018 | 22:14h | UTCMaintenance proton pump inhibition therapy and risk of oesophageal cancer – Cancer Epidemiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Long-term PPI Use and Increased Esophageal CA Risk – Medscape (free registration required)
Related studies suggesting a link with gastric cancer: Long-term proton pump inhibitors and risk of gastric cancer development after treatment for Helicobacter pylori: a population-based study – Gut (link to abstract – $ for full-text) AND Maintenance therapy with proton pump inhibitors and risk of gastric cancer: a nationwide population-based cohort study in Sweden – BMJ Open (free)
This observational study suggests a possible link.