General Interest | Page 167 of 169 | Links Medicus Content Curation & Alerts in Medicine

Ten years in public health 2007-2017 – World Health Organization

14 Apr, 2017 | 16:25h | UTC

Ten years in public health 2007-2017 – World Health Organization (free)

WHO has launched a report that chronicles the evolution of global public health over the last decade. The first chapter examines WHO’s key role in promoting universal health coverage (free). The full series will be published over the next 6 weeks.

Prostate Cancer Screening – Conflicting views on the new USPSTF draft recommendations

13 Apr, 2017 | 16:06h | UTC

Prostate Cancer Screening – Conflicting views on the new USPSTF draft recommendations

In favor of screening: New Official Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines Announced: Too Little, Too Late? – Forbes (free) AND Federal Task Force Softens Opposition To Routine Prostate Cancer Screening – NPR

Against screening: The new recommendations for prostate cancer screenings are a bad deal – STAT News (free)

Global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:57h | UTC

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)

Related commentary: Tallying the bills of mortality from air pollution (free)

4.2 million deaths globally were attributable to fine particles and another 254 000 to surface ozone in 2015. The article also has details on country-specific deaths and disability-adjusted life-years from 1990 through 2015.

Famine now threatens 20 million people

12 Apr, 2017 | 16:00h | UTC

Famine now threatens 20 million people – more than at any time since World War II – Washington Post (RT @AthaliaChristie and @wpjenna)

Prostate Cancer Screening Draft Recommendations – USPSTF

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:58h | UTC

Prostate Cancer Screening Draft Recommendations – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (free)

Viewpoint: The US Preventive Services Task Force 2017 Draft Recommendation Statement on Screening for Prostate Cancer: An Invitation to Review and Comment – JAMA (free)

For those aged 55 to 69 it recommends “informed, individualized decision making based on a man’s values and preferences”. According to a useful infographic from the draft recommendations, the benefits are likely small. For every 1000 men offered PSA based screening over a period of 10-15 years, the test would avoid cancer spreading in 3 men and death from prostate cancer in 1-2 men, with the undesired consequences of false positives and subsequent procedures in many patients.

The Patients Were Saved. That’s Why the Families Are Suing

13 Apr, 2017 | 16:01h | UTC

The Patients Were Saved. That’s Why the Families Are Suing – The New York Times (free)

“Historically, the practice has been “if in doubt, err on the side of aggressive, life-sustaining treatment,””. That might be changing.

How Many Pills Are Too Many?

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:56h | UTC

How Many Pills Are Too Many? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“Evidence has mounted about the dangers of taking multiple, perhaps unnecessary, medications” (from Tweet)

Why Are So Many People Popping Vitamin D?

11 Apr, 2017 | 15:47h | UTC

Why Are So Many People Popping Vitamin D? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“Labs performing these tests are reporting perfectly normal levels of vitamin D — 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood — as “insufficient.” As a consequence, millions of healthy people think they have a deficiency”

Note: Some organizations still think appropriate levels would be above 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood, more details in the text.

Multivitamins are probably a waste of money

12 Apr, 2017 | 15:50h | UTC

Vitamins and the Failure of Free-Market Health – The Atlantic (free)

“The booming dietary-supplement industry is plagued by outlandish claims, undermining credible science, and seeding confusion”.

Effect of Baseline Nutritional Status on Long-term Multivitamin Use and Cardiovascular Disease Risk – JAMA Cardiology (link to abstract – $ required for full-text)

See also: Multivitamins may not improve heart health in men – UPI (free) AND Other recent commentary on multivitamins: Multivitamins a waste of money and just create ‘very expensive urine’ – The Guardian (free)

“Multivitamin use does not prevent major CV disease events in men, regardless of baseline nutritional status” (RT @CaulfieldTim)

F.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:03h | UTC

F.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“The controversial step will significantly expand direct-to-consumer testing – but what if the news is bad?” (from Scientific American above)

Here’s why one tech investor thinks some doctors will be ‘obsolete’ in five years

10 Apr, 2017 | 15:56h | UTC

Here’s why one tech investor thinks some doctors will be ‘obsolete’ in five years – CNBC (free) (RT @CMichaelGibson)

According to this point of view, radiologists will be the first ones that are affected by Artificial Intelligence. As we can see below, other specialists that work by interpreting medical images may follow, like dermatologists, ophthalmologists and pathologists.

Screening for Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:05h | UTC

The World Health Organization Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Screening Scale for DSM-5 – JAMA Psychiatry (free)

Invited commentary: Good News for Screening for Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder – JAMA Psychiatry (free)

Others disagree… call it “disease mongering”, “overdiagnosis”. For example, Prof Allen Francis, author of Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life, wrote some remarks about the study, see Tweet 1, Tweet 2 and Tweet 3

See also: The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

TV. How much is too much for our kids?

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:01h | UTC

TV. How much is too much for our kids? – World Economic Forum (free)

Original Article Abstract ($ required for full-text): Family Socioeconomic Status Moderates Associations Between Television Viewing and School Readiness Skills – Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics

Seniors are given so many drugs, it’s madness

10 Apr, 2017 | 15:54h | UTC

Seniors are given so many drugs, it’s madness – The Globe and Mail (free) (RT @RasoiniR)

“While most prescribing is well-intentioned, it’s also unco-ordinated; there is a tendency to overmedicate and leave people on drugs for too long”.

When Globalization Brings Brain-Invading Worms

10 Apr, 2017 | 15:55h | UTC

When Globalization Brings Brain-Invading Worms – The Atlantic (free) (RT @PreetiNMalani and @AdrienneLaF)

Infectious diseases are spreading faster and emerging quicker due to globalization.

Initiative aims to break science’s citation paywall

7 Apr, 2017 | 15:45h | UTC

Now free: citation data from 14 million papers, and more might come – Science (free) (RT @robertkiley see Tweet) AND Initiative aims to break science’s citation paywall – Nature Breaking News (free) AND Global Coalition Pushes for Unrestricted Sharing of Scholarly Citation Data – Creative Commons (free) AND Initiative for Open Citations – I4OC (free)

Open Science, Open Access and Open Data gaining momentum.

No TV during meals may lower obesity risk

10 Apr, 2017 | 16:00h | UTC

No TV during meals may lower obesity risk – Medical News Today (free)

Original article abstract ($ required for full-text): Television, Home-Cooked Meals, and Family Meal Frequency: Associations with Adult Obesity – Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

The first study in adults and the second study in children suggest there might be a link between screen time and weight gain or adiposity.

Smoking causes one in ten deaths globally, major new study reveals

7 Apr, 2017 | 15:52h | UTC

Smoking prevalence and attributable disease burden in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 – The Lancet (free)

Related commentary: Death, disease, and tobacco (free)

Explore data visualizations by The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (free)

Social rank: a risk factor whose time has come?

7 Apr, 2017 | 15:48h | UTC

Social rank: a risk factor whose time has come? – The Lancet (free)

“Inequality kills – and there are many things we can do about it, but don’t” (RT @mellojonny see Tweet)

“Medical treatment has less influence on lifespan & health outcomes than the quality of social services & primary prevention programs” (RT @AllenFrancesMD see Tweet)

This interesting commentary provides a panel with evidence-based strategies to minimize the impact of social hierarchy on health.

How hospitals could be rebuilt, better than before

7 Apr, 2017 | 15:44h | UTC

A prescription for the future: How hospitals could be rebuilt, better than before – The Economist (a few articles per monty are free) (RT @EricTopol)

“Technology could revolutionize the way they work”.

Are Virtual Doctor Visits Really Cost-Effective?

7 Apr, 2017 | 15:28h | UTC

Are Virtual Doctor Visits Really Cost-Effective? Not So Much, Study Says – Kaiser Health News (free)

“Perhaps telehealth visits don’t save money after all. Increased convenience can increase utilization” (RT @drval)

Unlocking paywalled research papers (legally)

6 Apr, 2017 | 15:14h | UTC

Unpaywall finds free versions of paywalled papers – Nature (free) (RT @dannykay68)

Apparently, it successfully finds an open-access version (completely legal) of a paper around 30% of the time. We have tried and it worked for some of the articles we’ve tested. See it for yourself.