General Interest
Television-Watching Health Effects Worse Than Other Sitting
6 Jun, 2017 | 14:54h | UTCTelevision-Watching Health Effects Worse Than Other Sitting – American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 2017 Annual Meeting, via Medscape (free registration required)
ACP Decries Withdrawal from Climate Agreement
5 Jun, 2017 | 14:48h | UTCACP Decries Withdrawal from Climate Agreement – American College of Physicians (free)
See also: How scientists reacted to the US leaving the Paris climate agreement – Nature News (free) Leaving the Paris Climate Accord Could Lead to a Public Health Disaster – Scientific American (free)
Related guideline: Climate Change and Health: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians (free)
See more on Climate Change and Health in our April 21 issue, see #6, #7, #8 and #9.
Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases
5 Jun, 2017 | 14:44h | UTCInvited commentary: Diarrhoeal disease trends in the GBD 2015 study: optimism tempered by skepticism (free)
Other commentaries: Despite substantial global reduction in diarrhea deaths, half a million children still die from diseases each year – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (free) AND Global diarrhoea deaths down by a third – BBC News (free)
“Deaths due to diarrhoea in children under 5 down 34% 2005-15, but still 4th leading cause of death” (RT @TheLancetInfDis see Tweet)
“Global diarrhoea deaths in children down by a third, but still fourth biggest killer in under fives, >500,000 a year” (RT @anetrid see Tweet)
The Value of Teaching Patients to Administer Their Own Care
5 Jun, 2017 | 14:45h | UTCThe Value of Teaching Patients to Administer Their Own Care – Harvard Business Review (a few articles per month are free) (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
Italy has introduced mandatory vaccinations – other countries should follow its lead
5 Jun, 2017 | 14:42h | UTCSee more on mandatory vaccination in our May 29 issue, see #6
Television in the bedroom and body fatness
4 Jun, 2017 | 19:17h | UTCCommentaries: TVs in the bedroom linked to childhood obesity, study finds – The Guardian (free) AND TVs in children’s bedrooms ‘increase risk of obesity’ – BBC News (free)
Chocolate intake and risk of clinically apparent atrial fibrillation
4 Jun, 2017 | 19:16h | UTCChocolate intake and risk of clinically apparent atrial fibrillation: the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study – Heart (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Weekly dose of chocolate lowers AFib risk? Oh how we wish it were true – HealthNewsReview (free) AND Chocolate Intake and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
The ‘good’ death that could have been much better
4 Jun, 2017 | 19:12h | UTCThe ‘good’ death that could have been much better – STAT News (free)
The high cost of childhood disruptive behavior disorders
4 Jun, 2017 | 19:13h | UTCThe high cost of childhood disruptive behavior disorders – STAT News (free)
“Depression: let’s talk” says WHO
2 Jun, 2017 | 19:12h | UTCPress release: “Depression: let’s talk” says WHO, as depression tops list of causes of ill health – World Health Organization (free)
See also: Depression: let’s talk – WHO campaign (free) AND Depression updated factsheet (free) AND Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates (free)
Depression is now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, according to The World Health Organization.
Growing use of smart drugs by students could be a recipe for disaster
1 Jun, 2017 | 18:29h | UTCGrowing use of smart drugs by students could be a recipe for disaster – The Conversation (free)
“Students used to take drugs to get high. Now they take them to get higher grades” (RT @ConversationUK see Tweet)
Cancer drugs are getting better and dearer
1 Jun, 2017 | 18:27h | UTCCancer drugs are getting better and dearer – The Economist (a few articles per month are free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
See more articles and commentaries about “financial toxicity” of cancer treatments in our April 27 issue, see #8.
World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2017
31 May, 2017 | 16:41h | UTCWorld No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2017: Beating tobacco for health, prosperity, the environment and national development – World Health Organization (free)
Press release: World No Tobacco Day 2017: Beating tobacco for health, prosperity, the environment and national development (free)
See more on the Beating Tobacco Campaign in our May 29th issue, see #1.
Healthcare Providers Shouldn’t Come to Work While Sick, but They Do — Here’s Why
31 May, 2017 | 16:35h | UTC
Diagnosis creep: the new problem in medicine
30 May, 2017 | 15:30h | UTCDiagnosis creep: the new problem in medicine – MJA Insight (free)
Related: How to rein in the widening disease definitions that label more healthy people as sick – The Conversation (free)
Science Needs a Solution for the Temptation of Positive Results
30 May, 2017 | 15:31h | UTCScience Needs a Solution for the Temptation of Positive Results – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
The tiny pill which gave birth to an economic revolution
30 May, 2017 | 15:28h | UTCThe tiny pill which gave birth to an economic revolution – BBC News (free)
“A great read—and a powerful reminder that contraceptives are one of the best tools we have to drive economic growth” (RT @melindagatessee Tweet).
Direct-to-Consumer Medical Testing in the Era of Value-Based Care
29 May, 2017 | 15:24h | UTCViewpoint: Direct-to-Consumer Medical Testing in the Era of Value-Based Care – JAMA (free)
See also a recent discussion on direct-to-consumer genetic testing in our April 10th issue, see #5
Others disagree: “Dissing every consumer medical test as “low value”. Sorry, that’s not true. It’s called paternalism” (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
Comparison of general obesity and measures of body fat distribution in older adults in relation to cancer risk
30 May, 2017 | 15:27h | UTCComparison of general obesity and measures of body fat distribution in older adults in relation to cancer risk: meta-analysis of individual participant data of seven prospective cohorts in Europe – British Journal of Cancer (free)
Commentaries: Why your waist measurement can predict cancer risk – The Guardian (free) AND Large Waist Raises Cancer Risk – Medscape (free registration required)
The Weight Loss Trap: Why Your Diet Isn’t Working
29 May, 2017 | 15:23h | UTCThe Weight Loss Trap: Why Your Diet Isn’t Working – Time (cover story) (free)
“The challenges of weight loss and obesity – really well addressed” (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
Cardiovascular Toxicity of Illicit Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use
26 May, 2017 | 15:11h | UTCCardiovascular Toxicity of Illicit Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use – Circulation (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Anabolic Steroid Use Linked With Myocardial Dysfunction and Accelerated Atherosclerosis – TCTMD (free) AND Chronic anabolic steroid use may damage heart – American Heart Association News (free)
“The findings are a public health concern, given that as many as 1% of young men, not all of them athletes, may use these agents” (from TCTMD above).
Countries like German and Italy are adopting mandatory vaccination policies
29 May, 2017 | 15:20h | UTCCountries like German and Italy are adopting mandatory vaccination policies
Germany vaccination: Fines plan as measles cases rise – BBC Health News (free) AND German kindergartens must report parents for refusing vaccine advice under new law – Reuters Health News (free)
See also: Italy makes 12 vaccinations compulsory for children and related commentaries in our May 22nd issue, see #2.
Reducing Risk After Cancer: Healthy Lifestyle (and Tree Nuts)
26 May, 2017 | 15:06h | UTCAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2017 Annual Meeting
Can cashews keep colon cancer patients alive? Study says yes — but cautions abound – STAT News (free) AND Reducing Risk After Cancer: Healthy Lifestyle (and Tree Nuts) – Medscape (free registration required)
Diagnostic accuracy of post-mortem CT
26 May, 2017 | 15:07h | UTCEditorial: Targeted coronary post-mortem CT angiography, straight to the heart (free)
Commentary: Digital autopsies should be standard for probable natural deaths, says study – The Guardian (free)
The lap band for weight loss is a tale of medicine gone wrong
25 May, 2017 | 15:02h | UTCThe lap band for weight loss is a tale of medicine gone wrong – VOX (free)
See also a recent study showing high complication rates of laparoscopic gastric band surgeries in our May 23rd issue (see #7)