General Interest
Multivitamins are probably a waste of money
12 Apr, 2017 | 15:50h | UTCVitamins 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 | UTCF.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
See also: Before you send your spit to 23andMe, what you need to know – STAT News (free) AND 23andMe given green light to sell DNA tests for 10 diseases – Nature News (free) AND 23andMe Rides Again: FDA Clears Genetic Tests To Predict Disease Risk – Forbes (free) AND Too Much Information? FDA Clears 23AndMe to Sell Home Genetic Tests for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – Scientific American (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 | UTCHere’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.
See also: If You Look at X-Rays or Moles for a Living, AI Is Coming for Your Job – Wired (free) AND Adapting to Artificial Intelligence: Radiologists and Pathologists as Information Specialists – JAMA Viewpoint (free – and legal – PDF found with Unpaywall) AND Development and Validation of a Deep Learning Algorithm for Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy in Retinal Fundus Photographs – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ required for full-text) AND Predicting non-small cell lung cancer prognosis by fully automated microscopic pathology image features – Nature(free) see commentary in Computers trounce pathologists in predicting lung cancer type, severity, researchers find – Science News (free)
Screening for Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
10 Apr, 2017 | 16:05h | UTCInvited commentary: Good News for Screening for Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder – JAMA Psychiatry (free)
See also: Do You Zone Out? Procrastinate? Might Be Adult ADHD – NPR Health News (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 | UTCTV. 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
See also: Media and Young Minds – Recommendations from The American Academy of Pediatrics (free) AND Pediatricians relax guidelines on screen time for kids to give more flexibility – STAT News (free)
Seniors are given so many drugs, it’s madness
10 Apr, 2017 | 15:54h | UTCSeniors 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 | UTCWhen 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 | UTCNow 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 | UTCNo 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
Related article: Screen time is associated with adiposity and insulin resistance in children – Archives of Diseases in Childhood (free) AND Screentime linked to greater diabetes risk among children – The Guardian (free)
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 | UTCRelated commentary: Death, disease, and tobacco (free)
Explore data visualizations by The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (free)
See also: Smoking causes one in ten deaths globally, major new study reveals – The Guardian (free)
See also: Other articles from The Global Burden of Diseases Study (free)
Social rank: a risk factor whose time has come?
7 Apr, 2017 | 15:48h | UTCSocial 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 | UTCA 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 | UTCAre 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 | UTCUnpaywall finds free versions of paywalled papers – Nature (free) (RT @dannykay68)
See also: Unlocking paywalled research papers: Two big steps forward, two steps back, by James C Coyne – Coyne of the Realm (RT @hildabast)
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.
Inhaled Corticosteroids May Raise Women’s Risk of the Metabolic Syndrome
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:10h | UTCInhaled Corticosteroids May Raise Women’s Risk of the Metabolic Syndrome – NewsWise (free)
See also: Inhaled Corticosteroid Use May Up Metabolic Syndrome Risk – MPR (free)
This study was presented at #ENDO2017 and hasn’t been published yet.
Pertussis shot in pregnant moms protects newborns
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:12h | UTCEffectiveness of Vaccination During Pregnancy to Prevent Infant Pertussis – Pediatrics (free)
See also: Study: Pertussis shot in pregnant moms protects newborns – CIDRAP (free)
Source: Global Health NOW Newsletter
Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of colorectal adenoma
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:13h | UTCLong-term use of antibiotics and risk of colorectal adenoma – Gut (free)
Sources: Antibiotics overuse could increase bowel cancer risk, study finds – The Guardian (free) (RT @Onisillos) AND Long-Term Use of Antibiotics Associated with Later-Life Colorectal Adenomas – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Cancer patients have 55% greater risk of suicide
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:05h | UTCCancer patients have 55% greater risk of suicide, study finds – The Guardian (free) (RT @ghn_news)
Managing supplies of vaccines is a huge problem
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:02h | UTCManaging supplies of vaccines is a huge problem – The Economist (free) (RT @glassmanamanda)
See also: Building Next Generation Immunization Supply Chains – Vaccine Supplement (free) AND Global Immunization Impact Constrained by Outdated Vaccine Delivery Systems, Researchers Say – World Health Organization (free)
Antibiotic-Resistant ‘Superbugs’ Are Here
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:04h | UTCAntibiotic-Resistant ‘Superbugs’ Are Here – Council on Foreign Relations (free)
See also: Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally: final report and recommendations (free)
Source: Global Health NOW Newsletter
Can low-dose aspirin can reduce risk of death from cancer?
6 Apr, 2017 | 15:07h | UTCLow-dose aspirin can reduce risk of death from cancer, research says – CNN (free)
Not so fast: CNN claims aspirin can reduce cancer death risk, falling into observational study trap – HealthNewsReviews (free)
See also: Final Recommendation Statement: Aspirin Use to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Colorectal Cancer – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (free)
One in 10 Pregnant Women With Zika in U.S. Have Babies With Birth Defects
5 Apr, 2017 | 21:46h | UTCOne in 10 Pregnant Women With Zika in U.S. Have Babies With Birth Defects – The New York Times (10 articles a month are free)
See also: 51 Babies Born With Zika-Related Birth Defects In The U.S. Last Year – NPR (free) AND Just released CDC report (free)
We’re at more risk than ever of a global pandemic
5 Apr, 2017 | 21:47h | UTCSeven reasons we’re at more risk than ever of a global pandemic – CNN (free) (RT @AthaliaChristie)
Essentials of Global Health
4 Apr, 2017 | 21:26h | UTCJust Started! Free Online Course: Essentials of Global Health – Yale University and Coursera
Child and Adolescent Health From 1990 to 2015
4 Apr, 2017 | 21:28h | UTCEditorial: Importance of Innovations in Neonatal and Adolescent Health in Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 (free)
Source: Child Deaths Drop From 14.2 Million In 1990 To 7.3 Million In 2015 – NPR Goats and Soda (free)