General Interest
Are high heels bad for your health?
3 Aug, 2017 | 21:17h | UTCCommentary: Are high heels bad for your health? Two experts review the evidence – The Conversation (free)
A soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke
3 Aug, 2017 | 20:40h | UTCA soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke – Science Translational Medicine (free)
Commentaries: Robotic Exosuit Improves Walking After Stroke – Medscape (free registration required) AND Watch a robotic exoskeleton help a stroke patient walk – Science (free text and video)
Tai Chi for Risk of Falls. A Meta-analysis
3 Aug, 2017 | 19:31h | UTCTai Chi for Risk of Falls. A Meta-analysis – Journal of The American Geriatrics Society (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Meta-Analysis: Tai Chi Keeps Seniors from Falling – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Tai chi may help reduce rate of falls in older and at-risk adults – News Medical (free)
‘Can reduce fall rates by almost half during the first year’ (from MedPage Today)
The global crackdown on parents who refuse vaccines for their kids has begun
3 Aug, 2017 | 19:37h | UTCThe global crackdown on parents who refuse vaccines for their kids has begun – VOX (free)
See more on mandatory vaccination in our May 29th (see #6) and July 12th (see #5) issues.
“Countries like Italy and Australia are tired of measles outbreaks — so they’re moving to fine anti-vaccine parents”.
Longer sleep is associated with lower BMI and favorable metabolic profiles
3 Aug, 2017 | 19:26h | UTCCommentary: Short sleep linked to body mass, waist size – Reuters Health (free)
Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos
3 Aug, 2017 | 14:02h | UTCCorrection of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos – Nature (free)
Nature News & Views: Biotechnology: At the heart of gene edits in human embryos (free)
Commentaries: Embryo Gene-Editing Experiment Reignites Ethical Debate – Scientific American (free) AND Scientists successfully used CRISPR to fix a mutation that causes disease. This is huge – VOX (free) AND U.S. scientists edit genome of human embryo, but cast doubt on possibility of ‘designer babies’ – STAT (free) AND Human embryos edited to stop disease – BBC (free) AND In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Only Six Nations Have Evaluated Readiness for Global Pandemic
1 Aug, 2017 | 22:39h | UTCOnly Six Nations Have Evaluated Readiness for Global Pandemic – New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Original Report: From panic and neglect to investing in health security : financing pandemic preparedness at a national level – The World Bank (free PDF)
Internet Searches for Suicide Following the Release of “13 Reasons Why”
1 Aug, 2017 | 22:36h | UTCInternet Searches for Suicide Following the Release of “13 Reasons Why” – JAMA Internal Medicine (free)
Editorial: A Call for Social Responsibility and Suicide Risk Screening, Prevention, and Early Intervention Following the Release of the Netflix Series “13 Reasons Why” (free)
Commentaries: ‘13 Reasons Why’ might have triggered suicide searches online – STAT News (free) AND Is ’13 Reasons Why’ Helping Kids Kill Themselves? – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Google Searches on Suicide Surge After ’13 Reasons Why’ Release: Study – Newsweek (free) Suicide-Related Internet Searches Elevated After Debut of “13 Reasons Why” – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Better drugs, faster: The potential of AI-powered humans
1 Aug, 2017 | 18:25h | UTCBetter drugs, faster: The potential of AI-powered humans – BBC News (free)
A ‘perfect storm’ superbug: How an invasive fungus got health officials’ attention
1 Aug, 2017 | 17:35h | UTCA ‘perfect storm’ superbug: How an invasive fungus got health officials’ attention – STAT (free)
Related: CDC keeping a watchful eye on Candida auris – CIDRAP (free) AND CDC reports uptick in Candida auris cases – CIDRAP (free)
A Dangerous, “Silent Reservoir” For Gonorrhea: The Throat
1 Aug, 2017 | 17:35h | UTCA Dangerous, “Silent Reservoir” For Gonorrhea: The Throat – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
See related WHO report on the rising of “Untreatable Gonorrhea” in our July 10th issue (see #1)
“Drug-resistant gonorrhea is increasing. Now scientists say the epidemic is being driven by oral sex”. (RT @NYTHealth see Tweet)
World Hepatitis Day (28 July 2017) – World Health Organization Campaign
1 Aug, 2017 | 17:31h | UTCWorld Hepatitis Day (28 July 2017) – World Health Organization Campaign (free)
News release: Eliminate hepatitis: WHO (free)
WHO Updated Factsheets (free): Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D and Hepatitis E
FDA announces comprehensive regulatory plan to shift trajectory of tobacco-related disease, death
1 Aug, 2017 | 17:23h | UTCCommentaries: The FDA just took a radical step to cut nicotine in cigarettes so they’re not addictive – VOX (free) AND FDA Proposes Reducing Nicotine In Cigarettes – NPR (free) AND FDA Targets Cigarettes in Broadening of Fight Against Addiction – Bloomberg (free text and video) AND FDA announces plans to slash nicotine levels in cigarettes – STAT News (free) AND FDA plans to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels – The Guardian (free)
“Woooow. FDA wants to cut the nicotine in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels. This is a public health power move” (RT @onceuponA see Tweet)
Alcohol drinking patterns and risk of diabetes
1 Aug, 2017 | 17:22h | UTCAlcohol drinking patterns and risk of diabetes: a cohort study of 70,551 men and women from the general Danish population – Diabetologia (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Drinking Alcohol 3 to 4 Days a Week Tied to Lowest Risk for Diabetes – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Moderate drinkers less likely to develop diabetes – OnMedica (free) AND Regular alcohol consumption could cut diabetes risk, study finds – The Guardian (free) AND Diabetes Risk May Be Lowest Drinking 3 to 4 Days Per Week – Medscape (free registration required)
Observational data suggests moderate alcohol consumption may have protective effect against diabetes.
Temporal trends in sperm count
28 Jul, 2017 | 16:08h | UTCCommentaries: Sperm counts among western men have halved in last 40 years: study – The Guardian (free) AND Sperm Concentrations Have Fallen 50% in Western World – Medscape (free registration required)
Nutrition Advice Aimed at Children May Improve Parents’ Diets
27 Jul, 2017 | 23:42h | UTCPress release: Nutrition Advice Aimed at Children Also Improves Parents’ Diets – European Society of Cardiology (free)
Sophisticated Digital Aids Could Help Determine What Ails You
27 Jul, 2017 | 23:33h | UTCSophisticated Digital Aids Could Help Determine What Ails You – Scientific American (free)
“Software to help make diagnoses, reduce medical errors but resistance of doctors to use” (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
Social Interaction Improves Quality Of Life For People With Dementia
27 Jul, 2017 | 17:58h | UTCSocial Interaction Improves Quality Of Life For People With Dementia – NPR (free)
Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance
27 Jul, 2017 | 16:43h | UTCReport: Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance (2017) – The National Academies Press (free)
How to advise a friend frightened by a medical headline?
27 Jul, 2017 | 16:29h | UTCHow to advise a friend frightened by a medical headline? – Richard Smith, via The BMJ Opinion (free)
First compute no harm
27 Jul, 2017 | 16:21h | UTCFirst compute no harm – Enrico Coiera, via The BMJ Opinion (free)
“We will need new principles and regulations to govern medical artificial intelligence”
Clinicopathological Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Players of American Football
27 Jul, 2017 | 16:03h | UTCAuthor interview: Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Football Players (free video)
Commentaries: High Prevalence of Evidence of CTE in Brains of Deceased Football Players – JAMA Network (free) AND Brain disease CTE seen in most football players in large report – STAT News (free) AND 110 N.F.L. Brains – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Signs of brain disease in 99 percent of ex-NFL players studied: paper – Reuters (free) AND Study: CTE Found In Nearly All Donated NFL Player Brains – NPR (free)
“A neuropathologist has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players — and 110 were found to have C.T.E., the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head” (from NYT).
Effect of Sport Specialization on Lower Extremity Injury Rates in High School Athletes
27 Jul, 2017 | 01:13h | UTCA Prospective Study on the Effect of Sport Specialization on Lower Extremity Injury Rates in High School Athletes – American Journal of Sports Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Student Athletes Who Specialize Early Are Injured More Often, Study Finds – NPR (free)
Related Report and Consensus Statement: Sports Specialization and Intensive Training in Young Athletes – American Academy of Pediatrics (free) AND Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (free)
E-cigarette use and associated changes in population smoking cessation
27 Jul, 2017 | 01:14h | UTCEditorial: Rise in e-cigarette use linked to increase in smoking cessation rates (free)
Commentaries: Rise in e-cigarettes linked to rise in smokers quitting, say researchers – The BMJ, via EurekAlert (free) AND Study links rising U.S. e-cigarette use to rise in smokers quitting – Reuters (free) AND Rise in E-Cigarettes Linked to Rise in Smokers Quitting – Scoop Health (free)
Related: The shadow of Big Tobacco looms over e-cigarettes and harm reduction – STAT (free) (“Should we settle for lesser harms?”)
“The antibiotic course has had its day”
27 Jul, 2017 | 01:12h | UTCAnalysis: The antibiotic course has had its day – The BMJ (free)
Commentaries: Some Doctors Now Say to Stop Antibiotics When You Feel Better – TIME (free) AND Rule that patients must finish antibiotics course is wrong, study says – The Guardian (free)
“Experts suggest patients should stop taking the drugs when they feel better rather than completing their prescription” (from The Guardian)