TOP 10 Medical News Stories
Mon, October 15 – 10 Stories of The Day!
15 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
News Release: New WHO guidance on non-clinical interventions specifically designed to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections (free)
Related Cochrane Review: Non‐clinical interventions for reducing unnecessary caesarean section (free review and summary)
2 – Series: Optimising caesarean section use – The Lancet (free articles and commentaries, registration required)
Commentaries: Caesarean section use has almost doubled globally since 2000 – The Lancet (free) AND C-section births rise rapidly to more than 20 percent worldwide – Reuters (free) AND Rate Of C-Sections Is Rising At An ‘Alarming’ Rate, Report Says – NPR (free) AND C-section deliveries nearly doubled worldwide since 2000, study finds – CNN (free) AND C-section births surge to ‘alarming’ rates worldwide – study – BBC (free)
Commentary: Comprehensive report says tobacco control must be highest priority in cancer control – American Cancer Society (free)
4 – Analysis: Treatment burden should be included in clinical practice guidelines – The BMJ (free for a limited period)
5 – Opinion: Professional Societies Should Abstain From Authorship of Guidelines and Disease Definition Statements – Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (free)
Commentaries: Professional Societies, Clinical Specialists, and Guidelines – Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (free) AND Turn Cardiology Guidelines Over to Outsiders – MedPage Today (free registration required)
John Ioannidis, MD. “questioned whether cardiovascular guidelines “homogenize biased, collective, and organized ignorance” through use of predominantly “insider” experts as authors.” (from MedPage Today)
Related: Managing Patients with Chronic Cough (free CHEST guidelines on the subject)
8 – Supplement: Digital Health and Health Systems of the Future – Global Health: Science and Practice (free articles)
Source: International Health Policies Newsletter
Invited Commentary: When Will the Surgical Community Acknowledge the Evidence Regarding Prophylaxis With Oral Antibiotics for Scheduled Colorectal Operations? (free)
“Bowel Preparation and Oral Antibiotics Before Elective Colorectal Surgery. Once again the combination of oral antibiotic and oral mechanical cathartic bowel preparation yields the lowest rates of surgical site infections” (via @SWexner see Tweet)
Editorial: The FDA and Adulterated Supplements—Dereliction of Duty – JAMA Network Open (free)
Commentaries: Nearly 800 dietary supplements contained unapproved drug ingredients, study finds – CNN (free) AND No Wonder It Works So Well – NPR (free) AND Hundreds of Dietary Supplements Are Tainted with Prescription Drugs – Scientific American (free) AND Hundreds of health, weight loss products contain unapproved ingredients: Study – UPI (free) AND Some dietary supplements contain potentially harmful drugs – Reuters (free)
Fri, October 12 – 10 Stories of The Day!
12 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Review: What treatments are effective for common cold in adults and children? – The BMJ (free review and infographic)
Commentaries: What works for treating children’s colds? – BBC (free) AND Doctors should steer young children away from decongestants – OnMedica (free)
2 – How To Prevent Brain-Sapping Delirium In The ICU – NPR (free text and podcast)
Related: ABCDEF Bundle – Society of Critical Care Medicine (free resource) AND The ABCDEF Bundle: Science and Philosophy of How ICU Liberation Serves Patients and Families – Critical Care Medicine (free)
3 – Correspondence: Real-Time Patient–Provider Video Telemedicine Integrated with Clinical Care – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
4 – Perspective: The approach to predictive medicine that is taking genomics research by storm – Nature (free)
“Polygenic risk scores represent a giant leap for gene-based diagnostic tests. Here’s why they’re still so controversial.”
5 – Review: Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis may cause more harm than benefit: an evidence-based analysis of Canadian and international guidelines – Thrombosis Journal (free) (via @amtejani)
6 – Review: A New Vaccine for Shingles – Therapeutics Initiative (free)
“Need to vaccinate 31 people to prevent one instance of HZ; Need to vaccinate 358 people to prevent one instance on post herpetic neuralgia” (via @amtejani)
7 – Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2018) – World Health Organization (free PDF)
Commentary: Noise: The other pollution hurting our health – CNN (free)
Editorial: Reducing sedentary behaviour in the workplace (free)
Commentaries: Standing-desk workers ‘less tired, more engaged’ – BBC (free) AND Sit-stand desks may improve job performance, psychological health – UPI (free)
10 – Association of Unrecognized Myocardial Infarction With Long-term Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The ICELAND MI Study – JAMA (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Silent Infarcts Have Similar Mortality Over 10 Years as Clinically Recognized MI – TCTMD (free) AND Association of Unrecognized MI With Long-Term Outcomes – American College of Cardiology (free)
Related Study: Silent Myocardial Infarction and Long-Term Risk of Heart Failure (link to abstract and commentaries)
Thu, October 11 – 10 Stories of The Day!
11 Oct, 2018 | 01:41h | UTC
1 – The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development (free registration required)
Commentaries: Mental health crisis could cost the world $16 trillion by 2030 – Reuters (free) AND Mental health disorders will cause ‘monumental suffering’ and cost £12 TRILLION a year worldwide by 2030 – The Daily Mail (free) AND World in mental health crisis of ‘monumental suffering’, say experts – The Guardian (free)
3 – Timing of Renal-Replacement Therapy in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury and Sepsis – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Video Summary: Renal-Replacement Therapy for AKI (free)
Commentary: Is Kidney Dialysis Always Needed When Septic Shock Strikes? – HealthDay (free)
“Trial comparing early vs. delayed strategies of renal-replacement therapy in patients with early-stage septic shock who had severe acute kidney injury finds no significant between-group difference in overall mortality at 90 days.” (via @NEJM see Tweet)
4 – Effect of Immediate vs Delayed Pushing on Rates of Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery Among Nulliparous Women Receiving Neuraxial Analgesia: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Video Summary: Immediate vs Delayed Pushing During Second Stage of Labor (free)
Commentaries: When Giving Birth For The First Time, Push Away – NPR (free) AND In childbirth, when to begin pushing does not affect C-section rates – Washington University in St. Louis (free) AND Vaginal delivery not affected by delayed pushing, study says – UPI (free)
5 – Review: Management of severe acute exacerbations of COPD: an updated narrative review – Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine (free)
6 – Review: An update on the use of inhaled therapy in COPD – Clinical Medicine (free)
7 – Review: What is the significance of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance? – Clinical Medicine (free)
8 – Ghost authorship haunts industry-funded clinical trials – Nature (free)
Original Article: Collaboration Between Academics and Industry in Clinical Trials (free study and commentaries)
Editorial: The role of diet in serum urate concentration (free)
Commentary: Diet Might Play Less of a Role in Gout Than Previously Thought – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Commentaries: Planned intermittent fasting may help reverse type 2 diabetes, suggest doctors – BMJ (free) AND Therapeutic Fasting Could Be an Alternative to Insulin for Some Diabetes Patients – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Tue, October 9 – 10 Stories of The Day!
9 Oct, 2018 | 01:34h | UTC
News Release: The updated German “Polytrauma – Guideline”: an extensive literature evaluation and treatment recommendation for the care of the critically injured patient (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
2 – ESPEN guideline on clinical nutrition in the intensive care unit – Clinical Nutrition (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
3 – Non‐clinical interventions for reducing unnecessary caesarean section – Cochrane Library (free for a limited period)
Summary: Non-clinical interventions for reducing unnecessary caesarean section (free)
4 – Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women – Cochrane Library (free)
“Based on the data available, we can be confident that pelvic floor muscle training can cure or improve symptoms of stress urinary incontinence and all other types of urinary incontinence”
5 – Perspective: The Name of the Dog – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
“During morning rounds, I had presented a patient who was admitted for chest pain after walking his dog. My attending had asked, ‘What was the name of his dog?’ ” (via @fischmd see Tweet)
6 – Zackary Berger’s journal reviews, 8 October 2018 – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Zackary Berger reviews the latest research from the top medical journals.
7 – Last Month in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: September 2018 – eCancer News (free)
8 – Genomic Risk Prediction of Coronary Artery Disease in 480,000 Adults: Implications for Primary Prevention (via @EricTopol)
“Laparoscopic cholecystectomy compared with percutaneous catheter drainage reduced the rate of major complications in high risk patients with acute cholecystitis.”
10 – Statins and Multiple Noncardiovascular Outcomes: Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses of Observational Studies and Randomized Controlled Trials – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Statin Benefits: Yes for CVD but No for Everything Else, Says New Review – TCTMD (free) AND Statins’ benefits beyond heart health aren’t clear-cut, analysis says – CNN (free)
Wed, October 10 – 10 Stories of The Day!
10 Oct, 2018 | 00:29h | UTC
Editorial: Of Barbershops and Churches: Can Community-Based Interventions Improve Cardiovascular Risk in High-Risk Patients? (free)
Commentaries: Faith-based approach to changing lifestyle lowers blood pressure – AHA Newsroom (free) AND How church communities can help lower African-Americans’ blood pressure – CNN (free) AND Church-Based Lifestyle Intervention Shows Promise for Lowering BP in Hypertensive African-Americans – TCTMD (free)
Related Study: Cluster-Randomized Trial of Blood-Pressure Reduction in Black Barbershops (free study and commentaries)
Commentaries: EMA committee recommends restrictions on fluoroquinolone, quinolone antibiotics – Reuters (free) AND PRAC Recommends Restrictions on Fluoroquinolone, Quinolones – Medscape (free registration required)
Related FDA Safety Alert: Warnings for Fluoroquinolones on Risks of Mental Health and Low Blood Sugar Adverse Reactions (free statement and commentaries)
3 – Evidence synthesis for health policy and systems: a methods guide – World Health Organization (free PDF) (via @trishgreenhalgh)
5 – Review: Managing the Patient with Heart Failure in the Emergency Department – European Heart Journal (free) (via @gonzaeperez)
6 – Review: Office approach to small fiber neuropathy – Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine (free)
7 – Review: Bicuspid aortic valve: Basics and beyond – Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine (free)
8 – Nine ways research could save the NHS money – NHS Dissemination Centre (free)
New infographic series with selected NIHR Signals covering a range of treatments and initiatives that are cost effective.
9 – 800,000 people kill themselves every year. What can we do? – The Guardian (free) (via @onisillos)
Related Guidelines: Preventing suicide: A community engagement toolkit – World Health Organization (free PDF) AND Preventing suicide in community and custodial settings – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
“In too many places mental health support services are non-existent and those with treatable conditions are criminalized. Bold action is long overdue”
10 – Electronic cigarette explosion and burn injuries, US Emergency Departments 2015–2017 – Tobacco Control (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: E-cigarette explosion and burn injuries have been underestimated by federal agencies – George Mason University (free) AND Study: E-Cigarette Injuries Drastically Underestimated – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Mon, October 8 – 10 Stories of The Day!
8 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
Commentaries: New Consensus Report from the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Calls for Paradigm Shift to Patient-Centered Care for Type 2 Diabetes – American Diabetes Association (free) AND New EASD-ADA consensus guidelines on managing hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes launched at EASD meeting – Diabetologia (free)
Related Guidelines: WHO Guideline: Medicines for the Treatment of Diabetes in Low-Resource Settings (free guideline and commentaries) AND Pharmacologic Glycemic Management of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults – Canadian Journal of Diabetes (free) AND ADA 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (free guideline and commentaries) AND ACP Guideline: Hemoglobin A1c Targets for Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes (free guideline and commentaries)
2 – Supplement: ESMO Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines – European Society of Medical Oncology (free)
3 – Perspective: What the tests don’t show – The Washington Post (a few articles per month are free)
“Many doctors are surprisingly bad at reading test results and/or fail to grasp how false positives work. This is putting patients at risk” (via @pash22 see Tweet)
4 – Perspective: Why Employers Should Stop Giving Away Snacks – Pacific Standart (free)
Source: Global Health NOW Newsletter
5 – Outpatient antibiotics widely prescribed without an infection diagnosis – CIDRAP (free)
Related Commentary: Study Finds Almost Half of Antibiotic Prescriptions Written Without a Diagnosis – Pharmacy Times (free)
6 – Review: The Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
7 – Review: Cardiovascular disease and COPD: dangerous liaisons? – European Respiratory Review (free)
8 – COPD Guidelines: A Review of the 2018 GOLD Report – Mayo Clinic Proceedings (free)
Related: Highlights from the New GOLD COPD Guidelines (free guideline and commentaries)
Commentaries: Enlarging the loop: closed-loop insulin delivery for type 1 diabetes – The Lancet (free) AND Hybrid Closed Loop System Aid for Tighter Glucose Control – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Commentary: Treating psoriasis in the future could be as easy as going online – USC News (free)
Fri, October 5 – 10 Stories of The Day!
5 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Acceleration of BMI in Early Childhood and Risk of Sustained Obesity – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Quick Take Video Summary: Childhood BMI Acceleration and Sustained Obesity (free)
Commentary: BMI in Early Childhood and Sustained Obesity – American College of Cardiology (free)
2 – Effects of vitamin D supplementation on musculoskeletal health: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial sequential analysis – The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology: Vitamin D supplementation in adults does not prevent fractures, falls or improve bone mineral density – The Lancet (free) AND Vitamin D supplements don’t help bone health, major study concludes – The Guardian (free) AND Millions of Americans take vitamin D. Most should just stop – VOX (free)
Related: Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It (free commentaries and NICE Guideline) AND Vitamin D Not Linked to Fracture Risk (free study and commentaries)
3 – Clinical Update: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicity in 2018 – JAMA (free for a limited period)
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Review: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free)
4 – Perspective: Given Their Potential for Harm, It’s Time to Focus on the Safety of Supplements – JAMA (free) (via @NUNESDOC)
“About 23 000 visits to emergency departments each year can be attributed to adverse events from dietary supplements.”
5 – Perspective: When Conventional Wisdom Is Put on Trial – UNDark (free) (via @EricTopol)
“The author of “Randomistas” shows how randomized trials have overturned many popular findings, from hormone therapy to the benefits of multivitamins.”
6 – Report: The future of healthcare – The Economist (free PDF)
7 – Effect of lorcaserin on prevention and remission of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese patients (CAMELLIA-TIMI 61): a randomised, placebo-controlled trial – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Weight loss drug shows positive effect on diabetes – Brigham and Women’s Hospital (free) AND Weight Loss Drug Helped Prevent Diabetes in Overweight People – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Related Article: Cardiovascular Safety of Lorcaserin in Overweight or Obese Patients (link to abstract and commentaries)
Commentaries: Shining a light on industry collaboration – The BMJ Opinion (free) AND Industry funders involved in most aspects of funded trials – OnMedica (free)
9 – Perspective: New Tools in the Ebola Arsenal – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
Related: DRC Ebola cases rise as security concerns continue – CIDRAP (free) AND Officials fear Ebola epidemic may be spinning beyond their control, threatening regional spread – STAT (free) AND Ebola Likely to Spread From Congo to Uganda, W.H.O. Says – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
10 – Prescribed Exercise With Compression vs Compression Alone in Treating Patients With Venous Leg Ulcers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA Dermatology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Adding Exercise to Compression Improves Outcomes in Venous Leg Ulcers – Physcian’s First Watch (free) AND Compressions May Remedy Venous Leg Ulcers – MedPage Today (free)
Wed, October 3 – 10 Stories of The Day!
3 Oct, 2018 | 00:35h | UTC
1 – Ten Principles for More Conservative, Care-Full Diagnosis – Annals of Internal Medicine (free) (via @EricTopol)
Related Guideline: ERS/EACTS statement on the management of malignant pleural effusions – European Respiratory Journal (free)
3 – Effect of Early Surgery vs Physical Therapy on Knee Function Among Patients With Nonobstructive Meniscal Tears: The ESCAPE Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (free for a limited period)
Commentary: PT an Alternative to Surgery for Some Meniscal Tears – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Related: Adverse Outcomes After Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy (free study, commentary and guideline on the subject)
“Our Dutch multi center RCT demonstrates noninferiority of physical therapy compared with early surgery with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for improving self-reported knee function in patients with nonobstructive meniscal tears.” (via @RudolfPoolman see Tweet)
4 – Association of Thyroid Hormone Therapy With Quality of Life and Thyroid-Related Symptoms in Patients With Subclinical Hypothyroidism: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Most Patients With Subclinical Hypothyroidism May Not Require Thyroid Medication – MedicalResearch.com (free) AND Hormone Tx May Not Benefit Subclinical Hypothyroidism – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Treating Subclinical Hypothyroidism Is of Little Benefit – Medscape (free registration required)
5 – A systematic review into the incidence, severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal effects: Are guidelines evidence-based? – Addictive Behaviours (free PDF)
Commentaries: Antidepressant withdrawal ‘hits millions’ – BBC (free) AND Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms severe, says new report – The Guardian (free)
Related: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome (free review and NYT article)
Editorial: A Not-So-New Treatment for Old Bones (free)
Commentary: Study Suggests More Older Women May Benefit From Bone Drugs – The Associated Press (free)
8 – Review: Neuro-Ophthalmology at the bedside: A clinical guide – Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice (free)
9 – Efficacy of Low-Dose Amitriptyline for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Low-dose antidepressants ease back pain – Australian Hospital + Healthcare Bulletin (free) AND Antidepressant Amitriptyline Might Help Ease Low Back Pain – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Related Research: 6-month versus 12-month or longer dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome (link to abstract and commentaries)
In this study, DAPT for 6 months was non-inferior to DAPT for 12 months after drug-eluting stent implantation in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
Thu, October 4 – 10 Stories of The Day!
4 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – NICE Guideline: Renal replacement therapy and conservative management – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
Commentaries: Modelling cervical cancer elimination – The Lancet Public Health (free) AND Australia on track to wipe out cervical cancer within 20 years – The Guardian (free) AND In Australia, Cervical Cancer Could Soon Be Eliminated – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Invited Commentary: The burden of Parkinson’s disease: a worldwide perspective (free)
“In 2016, 6·1 million people worldwide had Parkinson’s disease, 2·9 million (48%) women & 3·2 million (52%) men; the increase in burden since 1990 was not exclusively explained by an increasing number of older people” (via @TheLancet see Tweet)
4 – Guidelines for Perioperative Care in Esophagectomy: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) Society Recommendations – World Journal of Surgery (free for a limited period)
News Release: Managing congenital adrenal hyperplasia requires shared decisions among patients, families, and heal – The Endocrine Society (free)
7 – Evaluating Progression-Free Survival as a Surrogate Outcome for Health-Related Quality of Life in Oncology: A Systematic Review and Quantitative Analysis – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Health-related quality of life overlooked in cancer drug studies – McMaster University (free) AND Investigators Question the Use of PFS as a Surrogate End Point – Cancer Therapy Advisor (free) AND Preventing tumor spread may not improve quality of life – Reuters (free) AND Research: Consider quality of life when evaluating cancer drug studies – UPI (free)
8 – Committee Opinion: Well-Woman Visit – American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (free)
News Release: ACOG and WPSI Release Materials to Support Women’s Preventive Care at Every Life Stage (free)
Commentary: ACOG Stresses Role of Ob/Gyns in Preventive Care For Women – Medscape (free registration required)
9 – Two antiplatelet drugs may prevent further strokes but increase major bleeds – NIHR Signal (free)
Original Article: Clopidogrel and Aspirin in Acute Ischemic Stroke and High-Risk TIA – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
10 – A Population-Based Analysis of the Relationship Between Substance Use and Adolescent Cognitive Development – American Journal of Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Teen cannabis use is not without risk to cognitive development – Université de Montréal (free) AND Cannabis ‘more harmful than alcohol’ for teen brains – BBC (free)
Mon, October 1 – 10 Stories of The Day!
1 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
See also: SAFER High Impact Strategies (free)
Related: WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018 (free report and commentaries)
2 – Guideline: Placenta Praevia and Placenta Accreta: Diagnosis and Management – British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (free)
3 – Guideline: Vasa Praevia: Diagnosis and Management – British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (free)
4 – Video: KHN Conversation on Overtreatment – Kaiser Health News (free)
Commentary: Changing Healthcare’s Culture of Overtreatment a Challenge – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Related KHN Series: Treatment Overkill (free articles)
5 – WCLC 2018: NELSON Study: CT Screening for Early Lung Cancer Reduces Lung Cancer Mortality – The ASCO Post (free)
Related: NELSON lung cancer study encourages widespread screening, Medicare reimbursement – Health Imaging (free) AND Second Large Study Shows That Lung Cancer Screening Works – Medscape (free registration required)
6 – Perspective: More Evidence That Nutrition Studies Don’t Always Add Up – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
7 – Podcast: #116 Geriatric Psychiatry: Sleep, Dementia, and Behavioral Disturbances – Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast (free)
Related Podcast: #115 Geriatric Depression – The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast (free)
Commentary: Coenzyme Q10 reduces statin-induced myopathy symptoms – Univadis (free registration required)
Editorial: The Coming of Age of Drug-Susceptibility Testing for Tuberculosis (free)
Commentaries: Study heralds genetic era of TB drug susceptibility testing – CIDRAP (free) AND UK-led study marks shift towards genetic era in tackling TB – NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (free)
Related Guidelines: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridium difficileInfection in Adults and Children: 2017 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) – Clinical Infectious Diseases (free) AND The use of faecal microbiota transplant as treatment for recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile infection and other potential indications: joint British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) guidelines – GUT (free)
Tue, October 2 – 10 Stories of The Day!
2 Oct, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Press Release: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018 – The Nobel Prize (free)
Commentaries: Cancer immunologists scoop medicine Nobel prize – Nature (free) AND Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to two cancer researchers for immune system breakthrough – STAT (free) AND 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to 2 Cancer Immunotherapy Researchers – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Editorial: Drinking More Water for Prevention of Recurrent Cystitis (free)
Commentaries: Drinking more water reduces bladder infections in women – UT Southwestern Medical Center (free) AND Drinking more water linked to fewer bladder infections in women – UPI (free)
3 – Report: Taking action on childhood obesity report – World Health Organization (free PDF) (via @equitylist)
4 – Supplement: Practical guide for allergy and immunology in Canada 2018 – Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology (free reviews)
– Homepage
– Introduction from the Editors
– An introduction to immunology and immunopathology
– Asthma
– Allergen-specific immunotherapy
– Non-IgE-mediated food hypersensitivity
– Early introduction of foods to prevent food allergy
5 – Perspective: Failing the Public Health — Rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
6 – Zackary Berger’s journal reviews, 1 October 2018 – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
8 – Review: Pulmonary vasculitis – Journal of Thoracic Disease (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
9 – Over 80,000 Americans Died of Flu Last Winter, Highest Toll in Years – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related: 80,000 people died of flu last winter in US – Associated Press (free)
Commentaries: Early Language Exposure and Middle School Language and IQ: Implications for Primary Prevention – Pediatrics (free) AND Conversations Between Parents and Toddlers Help Build Intelligence and Vocabulary – Journal Watch (free)
Fri, September 28 – 10 Stories of The Day!
28 Sep, 2018 | 01:20h | UTC
1 – Editorial: We Know How to Conquer Tuberculosis – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related: Tuberculosis experts hail historic week in the fight against TB – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (free) AND You Can’t Treat Tuberculosis With Platitudes – Foreign Policies (a few articles are free) AND Tuberculosis is a disease the world could control. But will it? – STAT (free) AND Addressing the Tuberculosis Epidemic: 21st Century Research for an Ancient Disease – JAMA (free)
Invited Commentary: Preventing tuberculosis in household contacts crucial to protect children and contain epidemic spread (free)
Related: New roadmap to prevent and treat tuberculosis in children and adolescents – UNICEF (free)
Commentaries: Susan Jebb: Interventions to treat obesity work—so why am I not celebrating? – The BMJ Opinion (free) AND Expert reaction to study looking at total diet replacement programmes and obesity – Science Media Centre (free) AND Crash diets are highly effective – new evidence – The Conversation (free)
4 – Associations between 24 hour movement behaviours and global cognition in US children: a cross-sectional observational study – The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Limiting children’s recreational screen time to less than 2 hours a day linked to better cognition – The Lancet (free) AND Limiting children’s screen time linked to better cognition, study says – CNN (free) AND Limiting children’s screen time linked to better cognition – BBC (free)
“Researchers said more work was now needed to better understand the effects of different types of screen use. However, they acknowledge that their observational study shows only an association between screen time and cognition and cannot prove a causal link.” (from BBC)
“Same day discharge after elective PCI used infrequently (3.5%), while safe + associated w/ reduced costs” (via @krychtiukmd see Tweet)
6 – Video: Understanding How Machine Learning Works – JAMA (free)
Related: Position Statement: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
““Clinical guidelines often do not accommodate frailty or patients with multiple comorbid conditions. This can give rise to complex medication regimens and risk of medication harm. “Paper discusses the need to include deprescribing in clinical guidelines” (via @Deprescribing see Tweet)
8 – Opinion: No more first authors, no more last authors – Nature (free)
“The controversial suggestion that we “blow up” authorship conventions to foster team, collaborative science” (via @EricTopol see Tweet)
9 – Perspective: No One Knows Exactly What Would Happen If Mosquitoes Were to Disappear – The Atlantic (free)
Related: Mosquitoes Genetically Modified To Crash Species That Spreads Malaria – NPR (free) AND Scientists use gene drive to eradicate lab mosquitoes for the first time – STAT (free) AND Malaria mosquitoes wiped out in lab trials of gene drive technique – Reuters (free)
10 – Ethanol lock is effective on reducing the incidence of tunneled catheter-related bloodstream infections in hemodialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis – International Urology and Nephrology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Ethanol locks in catheters for dialysis may prevent sepsis – NIHR Signal (free)
Thu, September 27 – 10 Stories of The Day!
27 Sep, 2018 | 02:07h | UTC
Editorial: New Promise for Vaccines against Tuberculosis (free)
Commentaries: New TB vaccine protects half of people with latent infection – NBC Health News (free) AND Experimental vaccine shows promise in preventing TB – MedicalXpress (free)
Commentaries: Aspirin could play key role in treating some cancers – UPI (free) AND Could aspirin play role in treatment of cancer? – Cardiff University (free)
Commentary: Comparing Laparoscopic Lavage vs Resection for Perforated Diverticulitis – Medscape (free registration required)
4 – Temporal trends in muscular fitness of English 10-year-olds 1998–2014: An allometric approach – Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Fall in strength and fitness of 10-year-olds, study shows – BBC (free) AND Ten-Year-Olds Are Weaker Today Than They Were 16 Years Ago – HuffPost (free) AND British study reveals fall in muscle strength of 10-year-olds – The Guardian (free)
Original Commentary: Amarin fish oil capsule shows dramatic benefit for cardiovascular patients, potentially upending market – STAT (free)
6 – Conventional Autopsy versus Minimally Invasive Autopsy with Postmortem MRI, CT, and CT-guided Biopsy: Comparison of Diagnostic Performance – Radiology (free for a limited period) (via @EricTopol)
Commentary: Minimally invasive autopsy improves postmortem diagnoses – Radiology Society of North America (free)
Related Systematic Review: Non-invasive or minimally invasive autopsy compared to conventional autopsy of suspected natural deaths in adults – European Radiology (free)
7 – Effect of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Health, Psychological Well-being, and Sleep-Related Quality of Life: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Psychiatry (free for a limited period) (via @EricTopol)
Commentary: Insomnia symptoms, overall health improve with online insomnia program – Northwestern University (free)
“Overall, little or no relation was found between the USNWR ranking of the medical school from which a physician graduated and subsequent patient mortality or readmission rates.”
9 – Modifying the consistency of food and fluids for swallowing difficulties in dementia – Cochrane Library (free for a limited period)
Summary: Modifying the consistency of food and fluids for swallowing difficulties in dementia (free)
“We are uncertain about the immediate and long-term effects of modifying the consistency of fluid for swallowing difficulties in dementia”
10 – Healthy dietary indices and risk of depressive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies – Molecular Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Plant-rich diets may help prevent depression – new evidence – The Conversation (free) AND Eating a Mediterranean diet ‘may lower your risk of depression’ – NHS Choices (free) AND Expert reaction to observational studies on diet and depression – Science Media Centre (free) AND Mediterranean diet could prevent depression, new study finds – CNN (free)
“The current evidence is not sufficient to prove plant-rich diets can prevent depression as most of the evidence so far simply shows that those with poorer mental health eat worse, so it may be that those more prone to depression also choose less health” (from CNN)
Tue, September 25 – 10 Stories of The Day!
25 Sep, 2018 | 01:21h | UTC
1 – Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profiles 2018 – World Health Organization (free PDF)
See also: NCDs profile by country (free)
Commentary: COAPT: MitraClip Reduces Repeat Hospitalizations, Mortality in Functional MR Patients With Severe HF – TCTMD (free)
Related MITRA-FR trial: Percutaneous Repair or Medical Treatment for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
“Physicians responded with shock and excitement to findings, but struggled to reconcile the results with the MITRA-FR trial.” (from TCTMD)
3 – Effect of Variation in Published Stroke Rates on the Net Clinical Benefit of Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Benefit of anticoagulation for stroke prevention may vary in patients with afib, study finds – ACP Internist (free)
4 – Review: Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome in the intensive care unit – Annals of Intensive Care (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
6 – Podcast: #115 Geriatric Depression – The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast (free)
Summary: #115 Geriatric Depression: Diagnosis, Antidepressants, and More (free)
7 – Ann Robinson’s research reviews, 24 September 2018 – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Ann Robinson reviews the latest research from the top medical journals.
8 – Congratulations. Your Study Went Nowhere – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) (via @kennylinafp)
“Researchers should embrace negative results instead of accentuating the positive, which is one of several biases that can lead to bad science.”
9 – Just Started! Free Online Course: Antibiotic Stewardship – Stanford University and Coursera (via @classcentral)
Related Study: Risk of Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and Clostridium Difficile in Patients with a Documented Penicillin Allergy (free article and commentaries)
Wed, September 26 – 10 Stories of The Day!
26 Sep, 2018 | 00:20h | UTC
1 – Five-Year Follow-up of Antibiotic Therapy for Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis in the APPAC Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Podcast: Treating Appendicitis Without Surgery – 5-Year Follow-up from a Randomized Clinical Trial of Antibiotic Treatment (free)
Video Summary: Five-Year Follow-up of Patients Given Antibiotic Therapy for Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis (free)
Commentaries: Pills for appendicitis? Surgery often not needed, study says – STAT (free) AND Antibiotics Alone Seem Reasonable for Uncomplicated Appendicitis in Adults – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Appendicitis? Antibiotics May Be All You Need – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related: Randomized clinical trial of antibiotic therapy for uncomplicated appendicitis (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Antibiotics Versus Surgical Therapy for Uncomplicated Appendicitis (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Antibiotic Therapy versus Appendectomy for Acute Uncomplicated Appendicitis (free study and commentaries) AND New appendicitis guideline incorporates the possibility of non-operative treatment for uncomplicated disease (free guideline)
Commentaries: Technology and therapy help individuals with chronic spinal cord injuries take steps – University of Louisville (free) AND Epidural Stimulation Helps Patients Walk After Total Paralysis – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Paralyzed Patients Able to Walk Following Epidural Stimulation, Intense Rehab – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Commentaries: New study finds concurrent use of prescription drugs and dietary supplements could pose health risks – University of Hertfordshire (free) AND Concerns raised about older adults mixing prescription drugs and herbal remedies – NHS Choices (free)
5 – Development and Validation of Deep Learning–based Automatic Detection Algorithm for Malignant Pulmonary Nodules on Chest Radiographs – Radiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Deep learning algorithm detects malignant pulmonary nodules better than radiologists – Radiology Business (free)
Related Studies: Deep Learning for the Diagnosis of Fibrotic Lung Disease (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Can Artificial Intelligence Reliably Report Chest X-Rays? (free study and commentaries) AND Artificial Intelligence Can Determine Lung Cancer Type (link to abstract and commentaries)
Commentary: Unprecedented study finds nations failing to invest in education and health care at risk of slow economic growth – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (free)
Infographic: What is human capital and why is it relevant? – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (free)
“The first-ever study ranking countries by human capital has been published in @TheLancet. This novel approach looks at nations’ investments in health and education and their relation to GDP growth” (via @IHME_UW see Tweet)
Related: Extended Antibiotic Infusions Could Save Lives: Here’s How to Do It (free commentary) AND Mortality lower with prolonged vs. short-term IV infusion of antipseudomonal beta-lactams (link to abstract and free commentary)
8 – Ebola response faces ‘grave obstacles’ as count hits 150 – CIDRAP (free)
Related: WHO warns of ‘perfect storm’ for Ebola in eastern Congo – STAT (free) AND WHO extremely concerned about Ebola ‘perfect storm’ in Congo – Reuters (free)
Invited Commentary: Potential harms of isolated arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (free)
Related: Needless procedures: knee arthroscopy is one of the most common but least effective surgeries – The Conversation (free) AND Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee arthritis and meniscal tears: a clinical practice guideline (free guideline and commentary)
10 – Effect of Algorithm-Based Therapy vs Usual Care on Clinical Success and Serious Adverse Events in Patients with Staphylococcal Bacteremia: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (free for a limited period)
Editorial: Treatment Algorithms for Staphylococcal Bacteremia: Improving Clinical Care and Enhancing Antimicrobial Stewardship (free for a limited period)
Commentary: Algorithm may reduce antibiotics for staph bloodstream infections – CIDRAP (free)
Mon, September 24 – 10 Stories of The Day!
24 Sep, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Global status report on alcohol and health 2018 – World Health Organization (free PDF)
News Release: Harmful use of alcohol kills more than 3 million people each year, most of them men (free)
Commentaries: Alcohol abuse kills 3 million a year, most of them men: WHO – Reuters (free) AND 1 in 20 deaths globally is a result of alcohol use – CNN (free) AND Alcohol causes one in 20 deaths worldwide, says WHO – The Guardian (free)
2 – NCD Countdown 2030: worldwide trends in non-communicable disease mortality and progress towards Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4 – The Lancet (free registration required)
Commentaries: Most nations falling short of targets to cut early deaths from chronic disease – Imperial College London (free) AND New Data Suggest More Than Half of Countries Not on Track to Meet Global NCD Goals – American College of Cardiology (free) AND Globally, losing the fight against cancer and other chronic diseases – CNN (free)
Commentary: Immediate compression could help prevent complications after deep-vein thrombosis – American Society of Hematology (free)
“Study supports use of this simple, low-cost intervention even for patients without symptoms” (from American Society of Hematology)
4 – Clinical Update: Management of Chronic Wounds—2018 – JAMA (free for a limited period)
5 – Diagnostic Test Interpretation: Diagnostic Testing for Elevated Cortisol in the Setting of an Adrenal Mass – JAMA (free for a limited period)
6 – ‘Latent’ Tuberculosis? It’s Not That Common, Experts Find – The New York Times (1o articles per month are free)
Related Analysis: Revisiting the timetable of tuberculosis – The BMJ (free analysis and commentary)
7 – The cost of persuasive design: digital media use and ADHD – The Mental Elf (free)
Original Study: Association of Digital Media Use with ADHD Among Adolescents (link to abstract and free commentaries)
8 – Amazing ways artificial intelligence is used in healthcare – World Economic Forum (free)
9 – Global epidemiology and outcomes of acute kidney injury – Nature Reviews Nephrology (free for a limited period) (via @Abraham_RMI)
10 – Racial and ethnic estimates of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the United States (2015–2060) in adults aged ≥65 years – Alzheimer’s & Dementia (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Alzheimer’s and dementia cases will double by 2060 -HealthExec (free) AND Alzheimer’s Burden Projected to Double by 2060 – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Alzheimer’s Disease Burden to Double by 2060 – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Fri, September 21 – 10 Stories of The Day!
21 Sep, 2018 | 02:10h | UTC
Invited Commentary: The global burden of lower respiratory infections: making progress, but we need to do better (free)
Invited Commentary: Old and new challenges related to global burden of diarrhea (free)
Related Report: Variation in Childhood Diarrheal Morbidity and Mortality in Africa (free article and commentaries)
3 – Genetic analysis of over 1 million people identifies 535 new loci associated with blood pressure traits – Nature Genetics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: World’s biggest study of blood pressure genetics – Queen Mary University of London (free) AND Researchers find 535 new gene regions that influence blood pressure – UPI (free) AND High blood pressure breakthrough: Over 500 genes uncovered – Medical News Today (free)
Editorial: Predicting the future burden of NAFLD and NASH (free)
6 – The preventable proportion of healthcare-associated infections 2005–2016: Systematic review and meta-analysis – Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Even the best healthcare facilities can do more to prevent infections – Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (free)
“Multifaceted tactics for infection control reduce healthcare-associated infections 35-55 percent”
7 – Analysis: Diagnostic expansion in clinical trials: myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer recurrence, and metastases may not be the hard endpoints you thought they were – The BMJ (free)
8 – Perspective: The Case For Expensive Antibiotics – Wired (a few articles per month are free) (via @CarlosdelRio7)
9 – Opinion: Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong – HuffPost (free) (via @cardiobrief)
“For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives.”
Editorial: Dietary gluten and type 1 diabetes (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Expert reaction to research on high gluten intake during pregnancy and type 1 diabetes in children – Science Media Centre (free) AND Higher Gluten Intake in Pregnancy Tied to Increased Diabetes Risk in Offspring – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND High gluten intake during pregnancy associated with diabetes – OnMedica (free)
“As such these results, whilst well executed and very interesting, would need to be confirmed within independent similarly sized or bigger studies as stated by the authors themselves.” (from Science Media Centre)
Thu, September 20 – 10 Stories of The Day!
20 Sep, 2018 | 00:23h | UTC
News Release: Discomfort or death? New study maps hot spots of child mortality from diarrhea across Africa – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (free)
Quick Take Video Summary: Variation in Childhood Diarrheal Morbidity and Mortality in Africa (free)
2 – Refractory septic shock: our pragmatic approach – Critical Care (free)
Commentaries: Study: Hospitals may overprescribe blood pressure meds – UPI (free) AND Veterans overtreated for blood pressure on leaving hospital – MedicalXpress (free) AND Antihypertensive treatment intensified at discharge regardless of outpatient blood pressure history – ACP Hospitalist (free)
4 – Meta-analyses were supposed to end scientific debates. Often, they only cause more controversy – Science (free) (via @Onisillos)
5 – Oral Fluoroquinolone and the Risk of Aortic Dissection – Journal of the American College of Cardiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: The Fluoroquinolone/Aortic Dissection Association – Emergency Medicine Literature of Note (free)
Related observational studies with similar conclusions: Fluoroquinolone use and risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection (free articles)
6 – Deep learning for classifying fibrotic lung disease on high-resolution computed tomography: a case-cohort study – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Related Audio: Deep learning and fibrotic lung disease (free)
Commentary: Machine Tops Humans in Fibrotic Lung Disease Classification – Medical Health News (free)
Commentary: Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer – The ASCO Post (free)
Source: EvidenceAlerts
Commentaries: Air pollution linked to dementia risk – NHS Choices (free) AND Expert reaction to air pollution and risk of dementia – Science Media Centre (free) AND Air pollution may be linked to heightened dementia risk – OnMedica (free) AND Is air pollution tied to higher dementia risk? – CNN (free)
Commentaries: Expert reaction to study looking at nutritional quality of food and risk of cancer – Science Media Centre (free) AND Foods with low nutritional quality tied to higher cancer risk – Medical News Today (free)
10 – Association of Medical Scribes in Primary Care With Physician Workflow and Patient Experience – JAMA Internal Medicine (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Use of Medical Scribes to Reduce Documentation Burden: Are They Where We Need to Go With Clinical Documentation? – JAMA Internal Medicine (free for a limited period) AND Scribes improve physician workflow, patient interaction – MedicalXpress (free) AND Scribes ease physician administrative burden and boost patient experience, JAMA study says – Healthcare Finance (free)
Wed, September 19 – 10 Stories of The Day!
19 Sep, 2018 | 02:19h | UTC
1 – Global Tuberculosis Report 2018 – World Health Organization (free PDF)
Commentaries: UN tuberculosis summit ‘historic opportunity’ to put response ‘back on track’: new WHO report – UN News (free) AND WHO TB Report Sets Stage for Historic U.N.TB Meeting – American Thoracic Society (free) AND WHO report warns efforts to end TB are falling short – CIDRAP (free)
2 – Positive Pressure Ventilation in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit – Journal of the American College of Cardiology (free for a limited period) (via @Abraham_RMI)
News Release: Qure.ai’s qXR Algorithm can ID Abnormal Chest X-rays With Unprecedented Accuracy (free)
Commentary: AI algorithm IDs abnormal chest x-rays with 90% accuracy – Health Imaging (free) AND AI startup trains algorithm with 1.2M chest x-rays, confirms its accuracy – Radiology Business (free)
4 – Classification and mutation prediction from non–small cell lung cancer histopathology images using deep learning – Nature Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Artificial intelligence can determine lung cancer type – eCancer News (free) AND Google AI Tool Identifies a Tumor’s Mutations From An Image – WIRED (free)
Author Interview: USPSTF Recommendation: Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Adult Obesity-Related Outcomes (free)
Editorials: Weight Management in Adults With Obesity: What Is a Primary Care Clinician to Do? (free for a limited period) AND Treating Obesity—Moving From Recommendation to Implementation (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Intensive lifestyle changes best for people with BMI above 30, task force says – UPI (free) AND Doctors Should Send Obese Patients To Diet Counseling, Panel Says. But Many Don’t – NPR (free)
7 – Daily Fasting Improves Health and Survival in Male Mice Independent of Diet Composition and Calories – Cell Metabolism (link to abstract and infographic – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Fasting increases health and lifespan in male mice – NIH Research Matters (free) AND Study: Mice healthier, live longer with increased daily fasting times – UPI (free) AND Study: Daily Fasting Improves Health and Longevity in Male Mice – Sci News (free)
8 – Higher Whole-Grain Intake Is Associated with Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes among Middle-Aged Men and Women: The Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Cohort – The Journal of Nutrition (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: What you need to know about claims that whole grains can prevent diabetes – Health News Review (free)
9 – Association of Hospital Participation in a Medicare Bundled Payment Program With Volume and Case Mix of Lower Extremity Joint Replacement Episodes – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Can Paying for a Health Problem as a Whole, Not Piece by Piece, Save Medicare Money? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Medicare’s Bundled Payment Program–Does it Change Hospital Volume or Case Mix? – MedicalResearch.com (free) AND One of Obamacare’s big experiments to lower costs is working surprisingly well – VOX (free)
10 – Prevalence of Burnout Among Physicians: A Systematic Review – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Doctors Today May Be Miserable, But Are They ‘Burnt Out’? – NPR (free) AND Physician burnout taking center stage – Reuters (free) AND Burnout Found to Be Common Among U.S. Resident Physicians – Psychiatric News Alert (free)
Related: Why Physician Burnout Is Endemic, and How Health Care Must Respond – NEJM Catalyst (free) AND Counting the costs: U.S. hospitals feeling the pain of physician burnout – Reuters (free) AND To Care Is Human — Collectively Confronting the Clinician-Burnout Crisis – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Beyond Burnout — Redesigning Care to Restore Meaning and Sanity for Physicians (free) AND The Burnout Crisis in American Medicine – The Atlantic (free) AND To Combat Physician Burnout and Improve Care, Fix the Electronic Health Record (free commentaries)
Tue, September 18 – 10 Stories of The Day!
18 Sep, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Implementing Optimal Team-Based Care to Reduce Clinician Burnout – National Academy of Medicine (free)
Commentaries: Optimal team-based health care is associated with improved patient outcomes and physician well-being – ACP Newsroom (free) AND New Review Shows Team-Based Care May Reduce Physician Burnout – Medscape (free registration required)
Related: Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Aspergillosis: 2016 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
3 – Viewpoint: Probiotic Safety—No Guarantees – JAMA Internal Medicine (free for a limited period)
Related: Probiotics: Does the Evidence Match the Hype? (free articles and commentaries) AND Systematic Review: Harms Reporting in Trials with Probiotics (link to abstract and commentaries)
4 – Zackary Berger’s journal reviews, 17 September 2018 – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Zackary Berger reviews the latest research from the top medical journals.
5 – Opinion: Medicine’s Financial Contamination – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
6 – Infant Walker–Related Injuries in the United States – Pediatrics (free)
News Release: Study: Infant walker injuries support AAP’s call for a ban (free)
Commentaries: As Injuries Continue, Doctors Renew Call For Ban On Infant Walkers – NPR (free) AND Injuries associated with infant walkers still sending children to the emergency department – Nationwide Children’s Hospital (free)
News release: AAP Policy Statement Urges Support and Care of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents (free) AND New Guidance for Care of Transgender Children, Teenagers – Medscape (free registration required)
8 – Let’s stop the burning and the bleeding at Cochrane—there’s too much at stake – The BMJ Opinion (free)
Related: Evidence-based medicine group in turmoil after expulsion of co-founder – Science (free) AND Trish Greenhalgh: The Cochrane Collaboration—what crisis? – The BMJ Opinion (free) AND Cochrane – A sinking ship? – BMJ EBM Spotlight (free) AND Turmoil erupts over expulsion of member from leading evidence-based medicine group – STAT (free)
See also: Statement from Cochrane’s Governing Board (free)
10 – Development of a New Classification System for Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies Based on Clinical Manifestations and Myositis-Specific Autoantibodies – JAMA Neurology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: New Classification of Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies – RheumNow (free)
Mon, September 17 – 10 Stories of The Day!
17 Sep, 2018 | 00:09h | UTC
1 – Effect of Aspirin on All-Cause Mortality in the Healthy Elderly – New England Journal of Medicine (free) (via @EricTopol)
Related Studies: Effect of Aspirin on Cardiovascular Events and Bleeding in the Healthy Elderly – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Effect of Aspirin on Disability-free Survival in the Healthy Elderly – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
Commentaries: Daily low-dose aspirin found to have no effect on healthy life span in older people- NIH News Releases (free) AND Low-Dose Aspirin Late in Life? Healthy People May Not Need It – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
2 – WHO water, sanitation and hygiene strategy 2018-2025 – World Health Organization (free PDF)
4 – Viewpoint: Antibiotics for Sepsis—Finding the Equilibrium – JAMA (free for a limited period)
5 – Shared Decision-Making: Staying Focused on the Ultimate Goal – NEJM Catalyst (free)
6 – Ig Nobel win for kidney stone removing roller-coaster – BBC (free)
Related: Ig Nobel prizes honor do-it-yourself colonoscopies, a curious use for postage stamps, and other peculiar research – Science (free)
7 – Can health services handle the Apple Watch? – BBC (free)
Related: The New Apple Watch 4: Cardiac Accuracy Unknown, “Game-Changing” Benefits Overblown – The Skeptical Cardiologist (free) AND The New ECG Apple Watch Could do More Harm Than Good – Wired (a few articles per month are free)
See also: New Watch can Help Doctors Monitor your Heart in Real Time (free commentaries)
8 – Patients vs. paywalls: Is the U.S. ready for open-access publishing? – STAT (free)
Related: Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free – The Guardian (free) AND cOAlition S: Making Open Access a Reality by 2020 (free Statement and commentaries)
Commentaries: Chronic Pain Affects 20% of Americans, CDC Reports – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND CDC: About 1 in 5 US Adults Have Chronic Pain – MPR (free) AND One-fifth of American adults experience chronic pain, CDC estimates – CNBC (free)
10 – Total Medicare Costs Associated With Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer in Elderly Men – JAMA Oncology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Are Older Prostate Cancer Patients Overtreated? – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Wed, September 12 – 10 Stories of The Day!
12 Sep, 2018 | 01:52h | UTC
1 – Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on 30-Day Mortality for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Video Summary: Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on Mortality in Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infection – JAMA (free)
Commentaries: Combo antibiotic found inferior for MDR bloodstream infections – CIDRAP (free) AND Drug Combo No Better for Hard-to-Treat Bloodstream Infections – Medscape (free registration required)
“The results do not support the use of Pip/Tazo as 30 d mortality was 12.3% in Pip/Tazo vs 3.7% in Mero arms” (via @CarlosdelRio7 see Tweet)
2 – Antibiotics for acute rhinosinusitis in adults – Cochrane Library (free for a limited period)
Summary: Antibiotics for sinus infection of short duration in adults – Cochrane Library (free)
“Considering antibiotic resistance, and the very low incidence of serious complications, we conclude there is no place for antibiotics for people with uncomplicated acute rhinosinusitis.”
3 – Opinion: Are We Being Misled About Precision Medicine? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
“Doctors and hospitals love to talk about the cancer patients they’ve saved, and reporters love to write about them. But deaths still vastly outnumber the rare successes.”
5 – Screening: How overdiagnosis and other harms can undermine the benefits – Health News Review (free)
“All screening programs do harm, some do good as well.”
6 – Last Month in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: August 2018 – eCancer News (free)
7 – Alex Nowbar’s research reviews, 10 September 2018 – The BMJ (free)
8 – How well do you know your anticholinergic (antimuscarinic) drugs? – Therapeutics Initiative (free)
Commentary: Pharmacist-Led BP Telemonitoring Intervention Works Up to 1 Year After Program Stops – TCTMD (free)
10 – Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: The Lancet: Dairy consumption linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality – EurekAlert (free) AND Dairy food in moderation ‘may protect the heart’ – The Guardian (free) AND Is Whole-Fat Dairy Good for the Heart? – New York Times (free)
Related: Meta-Analysis: Cheese consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Milk and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality (free study and commentaries)
“It is not the ultimate seal of approval for recommending whole-fat dairy over its low-fat or skimmed counterparts. Readers should be cautious, and treat this study only as yet another piece of the evidence (albeit a large one) in the literature.”
Thu, September 13 – 10 Stories of The Day!
13 Sep, 2018 | 00:09h | UTC
1 – Guideline: Chronic heart failure in adults: diagnosis and management – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
2 – European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care – European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (free PDF in several languages) (via @ECDC_TB and @Onisillos)
3 – Review: Arterial Hypertension: Diagnosis and treatment – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
4 – USPSTF Draft Recommendation Statement: Ocular Prophylaxis for Gonococcal Ophthalmia Neonatorum (free)
Commentaries: USPSTF Again Recommends Ointment to Prevent Gonococcal Eye Infection in Newborns – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND USPSTF Reaffirms Ocular Prophylaxis for All Newborns – MedPage Today (free)
5 – New watch can help doctors monitor your heart in real time – American Heart Association News (free)
See also: The new Apple Watch, with FDA’s blessing, comes with an EKG app – STAT (free)
Related: USPSTF Statement: Screening with Resting or Exercise Electrocardiography (ECG) Not Recommended (free Guideline and commentaries) AND Wearable technology to screen for atrial fibrillation: does it raise more questions than it answers? (free commentaries) AND Get Ready For A Tsunami Of ECGs (free commentaries)
6 – Overdiagnosis: causes and consequences in primary health care – Canadian Family Physician (free) (via @cantaskforce)
Related: Overdiagnosis across medical disciplines: a scoping review – The BMJ Open (free) AND Too much medical care: bad for you, bad for health care systems – STAT News (free) AND Overdiagnosis: what it is and what it isn’t – BMJ Evidence Based Medicine (free) AND Position Paper on Overdiagnosis and Action to be Taken – Wonca (free PDF)
7 – FDA News Release: FDA takes new steps to address epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, including a historic action against more than 1,300 retailers and 5 major manufacturers for their roles perpetuating youth access (free)
Commentaries: FDA: we might have to ban some e-cigarettes to stop teens from vaping – VOX (free) AND FDA Intensifies Crackdown On E-Cigarette Sales To Teenagers – NPR (free)
“The agency is eyeing a crackdown on flavored e-cigs in the face of an “epidemic” of teen use.” (from VOX)
Related study: Outcomes after Restrictive or Liberal Transfusion for Cardiac Surgery (link to abstract)
9 – Report: Egg freezing in fertility treatment Trends and figures: 2010-2016 – Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) (free PDF)
Press release: Age is the key factor for egg freezing success says new HFEA report, as overall treatment numbers remain low (free)
Commentaries: Expert reaction to HFEA report on trends in egg freezing – Science Media Centre (free) AND Freeze eggs before 35 for a better chance of IVF success, says report – The Guardian (free)
10 – Factors Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: 1 in 4 Older Adults Prescribed a Benzodiazepine Goes on to Risky Long-Term Use, Study Finds – Michigan Medicine, via NewsWise (free) AND Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use Common Among Older Adults – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Factors Predicting Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Identified – Medscape (free registration required) AND Larger Number of Benzodiazepine Pills in Initial Prescription Associated With Long Term Use – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related: A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly – The New York Times (free) AND Our Other Prescription Drug Problem – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Benzodiazepines: our other prescription drug epidemic – STAT (free) AND Deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists – Canadian Family Physician (free)
Tue, September 11 – 10 Stories of The Day!
11 Sep, 2018 | 01:41h | UTC
World #SuicidePrevention Day Highlights (10 September 2018)
1 – Preventing suicide A community engagement toolkit – World Health Organization (free PDF)
Fact Sheet: Suicide – World Health Organization (free)
2 – Guideline: Preventing suicide in community and custodial settings – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
Editorial: Pain, Opioids, and Suicide Mortality in the United States (free)
Commentaries: Chronic pain may contribute to suicide, study warns – Reuters (free) AND Chronic Pain Tied to Increased Suicide Risk – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Increasing rates of chronic pain found among those who die by suicide – ACP Internist (free)
4 – It’s Hard for Doctors to Unlearn Things. That’s Costly for All of Us – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) (via @CaulfieldTim)
5 – State of The Art Review: Perioperative lung protective ventilation – The BMJ (free for a limited period)
6 – Podcast: #113 Gout: Uric acid targets, urate lowering therapy, and random questions from social media – The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast (free)
Commentary: Lifestyle Interventions Cut Need for Antihypertensives Within Months – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free)
8 – Pharmacist services for non‐hospitalised patients – Cochrane Library (free)
Summary: Can services delivered by pharmacists improve patient health? – Cochrane Library (free)
Commentaries: Pharmacists play vital role in improving patient health shows biggest review of evidence to date – University of Bath (free) AND Community pharmacy can significantly improve care in long-term conditions, large-scale analysis finds – The Pharmaceutical Journal (free)
Commentaries: Tai Chi May Work Best to Prevent Falls in Old Age – WebMD (free) AND Tai Ji Quan Can Reduce Falls in Elderly – MedicalResearch.com (free)
10 – Preventing Cognitive Decline in Black Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Neurology (free for a limited period)
Commentary: Study provides evidence to prevent memory decline in older blacks with mild cognitive impairment – News Medical (free) AND Novel Intervention Markedly Slows Cognitive Decline in MCI – Medscape (free registration required)
Fri, September 14 – 10 Stories of The Day!
14 Sep, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC
News Release: Diagnosing and treating resistant hypertension (free)
Commentaries: Tackling Resistant Hypertension – Opportunities and Challenges (free) AND Heart Group Updates Guidelines on Resistant Hypertension – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Top Ten Things to Know: Resistant Hypertension: Detection, Evaluation, and Management (free PDF)
Commentary: Elevated blood pressure is linked to increased risk of aortic valve disease – European Society of Cardiology (free)
See also: Latest global cancer data: Cancer burden rises to 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018 – International Agency for Research on Cancer (free PDF)
Infographic: Global Cancer Data 2018 (free)
Commentaries: WHO: 9.6 million cancer deaths, 18 million new cases this year – UPI (free) AND Cancer will kill nearly 10 million people this year, report estimates – CNN (free) AND Cancer deaths rise to 9.6 million as populations grow and age – Reuters (free)
4 – Are Invasive Procedures Effective for Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review – Pain Medicine (free)
Commentaries: New study questions effectiveness of invasive procedures for chronic pain – The Reis Group (free) AND Invasive Procedures For Chronic Pain Have Not Been Proven to Work – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related: Needless procedures: knee arthroscopy is one of the most common but least effective surgeries – The Conversation (free)
5 – What 21st Century Health Care Should Learn from 20th Century Business – NEJM Catalyst (free)
6 – The New ECG Apple Watch Could do More Harm Than Good – Wired (a few articles per month are free) (via @EricTopol)
See also: New Watch can Help Doctors Monitor your Heart in Real Time (free commentaries)
7 – Opinion: Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free – The Guardian (free)
Related: cOAlition S: Making Open Access a Reality by 2020 (free Statement and commentaries)
8 – Thousands of scientists publish a paper every five days – Nature (free)
Related: Some scientists publish more than 70 papers a year. Here’s how—and why—they do it – Science (free)
Commentaries: Breast cancer screening does not reduce mortality – eCancer News (free) AND Danish study attributes improved treatment, not screening, to decline in breast cancer deaths – Health Imaging (free)
10 – Fatal Toxic Effects Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA Oncology (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Study Discerns Rare Risks of Fatal Side Effects From Cancer Immunotherapy – AJMC (free) AND Fatal Toxicities Rare With Checkpoint Inhibitors – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Review: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free)