TOP 10 Medical News Stories
Fri, August 4 – 10 Stories of The Day!
4 Aug, 2017 | 00:24h | UTC
1 – Special issue: Public Health Research & Practice – July 2017 Edition
Editorial: Cancer screening: concerns, controversy and evidence (free)
– PSA testing for men at average risk of prostate cancer (free)
– What is overdiagnosis and why should we take it seriously in cancer screening? (free)
– History, development and future of cancer screening in Australia (free)
– Assessing the efficacy of cancer screening (free)
– Improving communication about cancer screening: moving towards informed decision making (free)
“A special issue to check out if you’re interested in cancer screening (including communication)” (RT @hildabast see Tweet)
2 – Discover and defeat your diagnostic errors – ACP Internist (free) (RT @acpinternist see Tweet)
“Experts explain the causes and solutions for common mistakes in diagnosis”.
Commentary: Why the ‘gold standard’ of medical research is no longer enough – STAT (free)
See also other articles in The Changing Face of Clinical Trials Series (all free)
4 – Oral fluoroquinolones and risk of secondary pseudotumor cerebri syndrome – Neurology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Fluoroquinolones May Up Risk of PTCS, a Rare But Serious Condition – MPR (free) (RT @AmeshAA see Tweet)
Commentaries: Robotic Exosuit Improves Walking After Stroke – Medscape (free registration required) AND Watch a robotic exoskeleton help a stroke patient walk – Science (free text and video)
6 – Prescribing regular drugs to prevent febrile convulsions risks more harm than benefit – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Prophylactic drug management for febrile seizures in children – Cochrane Library (link to summary – $ for full-text)
“Benefits of anti-epileptic medication for children who’ve had a convulsion while feverish, do not outweigh harms” (RT @NIHR_DC see Tweet)
Commentary: Quitting statins after stroke may raise risk of another stroke – AHA / ASA Newsroom (free) AND Many Stroke Patients Stop Statins or Never Start, With Dire Consequences – TCTMD (free) AND Stopping statins after stroke may increase second-stroke risk – Reuters (free)
8 – Iatrogenesis in Pediatrics – AMA Journal of Ethics (free) (RT @JournalofEthics)
New issue with series of articles exploring strategies clinicians need to know to respond to adverse outcomes.
10 – Effect of Oral Methylprednisolone on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With IgA Nephropathy: The TESTING Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Steroid treatment for type of kidney disease associated with increased risk for serious infections – The JAMA Network (free)
Renal outcomes seemed to be less frequent in the group using methylprednisolone (5,9% vs 15,9%), but the trial was stopped early due to a significantly increased risk of serious adverse events with oral methylprednisolone vs placebo (14.7% vs 3.2%, primarily excess infections).
Thu, August 3 – 10 Stories of The Day!
3 Aug, 2017 | 00:33h | UTC
1 – Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos – Nature (free)
Nature News & Views: Biotechnology: At the heart of gene edits in human embryos (free)
Commentaries: Embryo Gene-Editing Experiment Reignites Ethical Debate – Scientific American (free) AND Scientists successfully used CRISPR to fix a mutation that causes disease. This is huge – VOX (free) AND U.S. scientists edit genome of human embryo, but cast doubt on possibility of ‘designer babies’ – STAT (free) AND Human embryos edited to stop disease – BBC (free) AND In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
2 – Choosing Wisely: An International Campaign to Combat Overuse, with new Top 10 recommendations (free) (RT @ChooseWiselyCA and @CADTH_ACMTS see Tweet with infographic)
See more on the Choosing Wisely initiative in our April 5 issue (see #6)
Choosing Wisely has prioritized 10 recommendations for limiting overuse internationally.
5 – Subgroup analyses of the effectiveness of oral glucosamine for knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis from the OA trail bank – Annals of Rheumatic Diseases (link to abstract – $ for full-text) (RT @PhysioMeScience see Tweet)
“Currently, there is no good evidence to support the use of glucosamine for hip or knee OA”
“For most people, treatment was not beneficial and may be harmful. Antibiotic treatment did appear to benefit women in pregnancy and those about to undergo urological surgery”.
7 – Antiemetics: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline Update (free)
Related guideline: NCCN Guidelines Insights: Antiemesis, Version 2.2017 (free)
Commentaries: Antipsychotic Added to ASCO Antiemetic Guide – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND New Antiemetic Guidelines Issued by ASCO – Medscape (free registration required)
Summary with 10 key points to remember: Perioperative Myocardial Injury and Infarction After CABG – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
Wed, August 2 – 10 Stories of The Day!
2 Aug, 2017 | 00:10h | UTC
1 – Breastfeeding Week Reports: Tracking Progress for Breastfeeding Policies and Programmes: Global breastfeeding scorecard 2017 – World Health Organization, UNICEF (free PDF) AND Nurturing the Health and Wealth of Nations: The Investment Case for Breastfeeding – World Health Organization, UNICEF (free PDF)
News release: Babies and mothers worldwide failed by lack of investment in breastfeeding – World Health Organization (free)
See also: UNICEF page on breastfeeding (free)
New analysis shows an investment of US$4.70 per newborn could generate US$300 billion in economic gains by 2025.
2 – New Series from the Lancet journals: Fungal Infections – Lancet Infectious Diseases (RT @Onisillos see Tweet)
Comment: Recovery from serious fungal infections should be realisable for everyone (free registration required)
– Fungal infections in HIV/AIDS (free registration required)
– Candida and invasive mould diseases in non-neutropenic critically ill patients and patients with haematological cancer (free registration required)
– Emerging issues, challenges, and changing epidemiology of fungal disease outbreaks (free registration required)
– Pulmonary and sinus fungal diseases in non-immunocompromised patients (free registration required)
– Improvement of fungal disease identification and management: combined health systems and public health approaches (free registration required)
– The global problem of antifungal resistance: prevalence, mechanisms, and management (free registration required)
– Immunotherapeutic approaches to treatment of fungal diseases (free registration required)
– Neglected endemic mycoses (free registration required)
“This Series of eight reports brings readers up to date on fungal infections and addresses how fungal infection management can be integrated into health systems in low-income and middle-income countries”
3 – New Online Calculator: The Smart Risk Score – European Society of Cardiology (RT @JGrapsa see Tweet)
“The SMART Risk Score is a tool to estimate 10-year risk for recurrent vascular events in patients with manifest cardiovascular disease”
4 – Guideline: Intrapartum Management of Intraamniotic Infection – American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) (free)
Commentary: Guidelines on Intraamniotic Infection Released by ACOG – Medscape (free registration required)
5 – Predicting Risk of Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Children in the Emergency Department – Pediatrics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: UK researchers fine-tune diagnostic tool for serious bacterial infections – CIDRAP (free) AND Clinical and biomarker-based diagnostic model identifies serious bacterial infections – 2 Minute Medicine (free)
6 – Report: The Metabolic Syndrome in Children and Adolescents: Shifting the Focus to Cardiometabolic Risk Factor Clustering – American Academy of Pediatrics (free)
7 – Only Six Nations Have Evaluated Readiness for Global Pandemic – New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Original Report: From panic and neglect to investing in health security : financing pandemic preparedness at a national level – The World Bank (free PDF)
8 – Periodontal Disease and Incident Cancer Risk among Postmenopausal Women: Results from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Cohort – Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Gum infections linked to several cancers in women – Reuters (free)
9 – A surprising amount of medical research isn’t made public. That’s dangerous – VOX (free)
“When the results of clinical trials aren’t made public, the consequences can be dangerous — and potentially deadly” (RT @Students4BE see Tweet)
Editorial: A Call for Social Responsibility and Suicide Risk Screening, Prevention, and Early Intervention Following the Release of the Netflix Series “13 Reasons Why” (free)
Commentaries: ‘13 Reasons Why’ might have triggered suicide searches online – STAT News (free) AND Is ’13 Reasons Why’ Helping Kids Kill Themselves? – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Google Searches on Suicide Surge After ’13 Reasons Why’ Release: Study – Newsweek (free) Suicide-Related Internet Searches Elevated After Debut of “13 Reasons Why” – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Tue, August 1 – 10 Stories of The Day!
1 Aug, 2017 | 00:03h | UTC
Related: Guidelines on the management of latent tuberculosis infection – World Health Organization (free)
2 – Efficacy of corticosteroid treatment for severe community-acquired pneumonia: A meta-analysis – American Journal of Emergency Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Source: More Evidence That Steroids Are Beneficial in Community-Acquired Pneumonia – Journal Watch ($)
In this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia, corticosteroid treatment was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality and length of hospital stay.
3 – Targeted Temperature Management for 48 vs 24 Hours and Neurologic Outcome After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Targeted Temperature Management for 24 vs. 48 Hours After OHCA – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Longer Induced Cooling Not Better After Cardiac Arrest – MedPage Today (free registration required)
“Small trial shows no advantage to an additional day of cooling” (from MedPage Today)
4 – Diagnostic Stewardship – Leveraging the Laboratory to Improve Antimicrobial Use – JAMA (free)
“This Viewpoint discusses the potential benefits and harms of diagnostic stewardship – modifying the ordering, performance, and reporting of diagnostic tests to improve antimicrobial use”
5 – Report: Antibiotic Use in the United States, 2017: Progress and Opportunities – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (free)
Commentary: CDC antibiotics report calls for all-out stewardship efforts – CIDRAP (free)
“CDC report: antibiotic stewardship protects patients, saves $, slows antibiotic resistance” (RT @IDSAInfo see Tweet)
6 – A ‘perfect storm’ superbug: How an invasive fungus got health officials’ attention – STAT (free)
Related: CDC keeping a watchful eye on Candida auris – CIDRAP (free) AND CDC reports uptick in Candida auris cases – CIDRAP (free)
7 – A Dangerous, “Silent Reservoir” For Gonorrhea: The Throat – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
See related WHO report on the rising of “Untreatable Gonorrhea” in our July 10th issue (see #1)
“Drug-resistant gonorrhea is increasing. Now scientists say the epidemic is being driven by oral sex”. (RT @NYTHealth see Tweet)
8 – Richard Lehman’s journal review, 31 July 2017 – The BMJ Blogs (free)
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals.
9 – Really Rapid Review: Paris IAS 2017 – HIV and ID Observations in Journal Watch Blogs (free) (RT @CarlosdelRio7 see Tweet)
Highlights from the latest International AIDS Society meeting.
10 – New National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) Summaries in Low back, Cervical and Thoracic Spine Disorders with focus on occupational health.
Low Back Disorders – American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (free summary from NGC – $ see original guideline in ACOEM website)
Cervical and thoracic spine disorders – American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (free summary from NGC – $ see original guideline in ACOEM website)
Mon, July 31 – 10 Stories of The Day!
31 Jul, 2017 | 01:39h | UTC
1 – World Hepatitis Day (28 July 2017) – World Health Organization Campaign (free)
News release: Eliminate hepatitis: WHO (free)
WHO Updated Factsheets (free): Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D and Hepatitis E
2 – Tenofovir reduces mother-to-child hepatitis B transmission – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Systematic review with meta-analysis: the efficacy and safety of tenofovir to prevent mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus – Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
3 – The clinical practice guideline for the management of ARDS in Japan – Journal of Intensive Care (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter (free)
Commentary: Doctors frustrated that electronic records steal time from patients – Reuters (free)
Related guideline: Putting Patients First by Reducing Administrative Tasks in Health Care: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians (free)
5 – Why you really should take your full course of antibiotics – The Conversation (free)
Commentary against a recent article in the BMJ arguing the antibiotic course has had its day
Commentaries: The FDA just took a radical step to cut nicotine in cigarettes so they’re not addictive – VOX (free) AND FDA Proposes Reducing Nicotine In Cigarettes – NPR (free) AND FDA Targets Cigarettes in Broadening of Fight Against Addiction – Bloomberg (free text and video) AND FDA announces plans to slash nicotine levels in cigarettes – STAT News (free) AND FDA plans to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels – The Guardian (free)
“Woooow. FDA wants to cut the nicotine in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels. This is a public health power move” (RT @onceuponA see Tweet)
7 – Interventions for the prevention of recurrent erysipelas and cellulitis – Cochrane Library (link to summary – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Ongoing Antibiotic Prophylaxis Helps Prevent Cellulitis Recurrence – Medscape (free registration required)
8 – Alcohol drinking patterns and risk of diabetes: a cohort study of 70,551 men and women from the general Danish population – Diabetologia (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Drinking Alcohol 3 to 4 Days a Week Tied to Lowest Risk for Diabetes – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Moderate drinkers less likely to develop diabetes – OnMedica (free) AND Regular alcohol consumption could cut diabetes risk, study finds – The Guardian (free) AND Diabetes Risk May Be Lowest Drinking 3 to 4 Days Per Week – Medscape (free registration required)
Observational data suggests moderate alcohol consumption may have a possible protective effect against diabetes.
9 – Effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Diclofenac 150 mg/day is the most effective NSAID available at present, but are the cardiac and renal risks worth it? Paracetamol does not seem to work for this condition.
10 – Peer review is a black box. Let’s open it up – STAT News (free)
Related commentaries: Exposing peer review – Research Information (free) AND More than just being open: giving control to authors and credit to peer reviewers – F1000Research blog (free) AND The peer-review system for academic papers is badly in need of repair – The Conversation (free) AND Manipulating the peer review process: why it happens and how it might be prevented – LSE Impact of Social Sciences blog (free) AND ‘You never said my peer review was confidential’ — scientist challenges publisher – Nature News (free)
Fri, July 28 – 10 Stories of The Day!
28 Jul, 2017 | 01:31h | UTC
1 – Application of a Lifestyle-Based Tool to Estimate Premature Cardiovascular Disease Events in Young Adults: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study – JAMA Internal Medicine (free) (RT @JAMAInternalMed see Tweet)
Commentaries: Healthy Heart Score performed moderately well in assessing cardiovascular disease risk in young adults – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Online tool predicts heart risk in young adults – Reuters Health (free)
See Health Heart Score Calculator
“An online calculator may help young people predict their risk of developing heart disease in middle age – in time to make lifestyle changes to minimize their odds of myocardial infarction or stroke” (from Reuters)
Commentaries: Long working week ‘may increase risk of irregular heartbeat’ – NHS Choices (free) AND Long Workdays May Be Bad for Your Heart – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Long working hours linked to heightened irregular heart rhythm risk – OnMedica (free)
3 – Transcatheter aortic valve implantation for aortic stenosis –NICE Guideline (free)
4 – Chronic kidney disease in adults – NICE Quality Standard (free)
Commentary: Give chronic kidney disease patients a statin, doctors urged – OnMedica (free)
5 – Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s – NICE Quality Standard (free)
Related guideline: Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management – NICE (free)
6 – Big names in statistics want to shake up much-maligned P value – Nature News (free)
“One of scientists’ favorite statistics — the P value — should face tougher standards, say leading researchers”
7 – Association of Changing Hospital Readmission Rates With Mortality Rates After Hospital Discharge – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Pushing Hospitals To Reduce Readmissions Hasn’t Increased Deaths – NPR (free) AND Reduction in Hospital Readmission Rate Not Associated With Increased Risk of Death Following Discharge – The JAMA Network (free) AND Lower Readmissions Not Linked to Post-Discharge Mortality Risk – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Study: Reducing readmissions does not harm patients – Becker’s Hospital Review (free)
Commentaries: Sperm counts among western men have halved in last 40 years: study – The Guardian (free) AND Sperm Concentrations Have Fallen 50% in Western World – Medscape (free registration required)
Commentaries: Too much sugar could increase depression risk in men, study suggests – The Guardian (free) AND High sugar diets linked to heightened depression risk in men – The Independent (free)
Association does not imply causation, but this observational study suggests sugar intake has adverse effects on long-term psychological health.
Commentaries: Diabetic sight loss cut by screening, research shows – BBC (free) AND Eye screening linked to fall in sight loss in people with diabetes – NHS Choices (free)
Thu, July 27 – 10 Stories of The Day!
27 Jul, 2017 | 01:28h | UTC
1 – Opinion: The antibiotic course has had its day – The BMJ (free)
Commentaries: Some Doctors Now Say to Stop Antibiotics When You Feel Better – TIME (free) AND Rule that patients must finish antibiotics course is wrong, study says – The Guardian (free)
“Experts suggest patients should stop taking the drugs when they feel better rather than completing their prescription” (from The Guardian)
2 – A Prospective Study on the Effect of Sport Specialization on Lower Extremity Injury Rates in High School Athletes – American Journal of Sports Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Student Athletes Who Specialize Early Are Injured More Often, Study Finds – NPR (free)
Related Reports: Sports Specialization and Intensive Training in Young Athletes – American Academy of Pediatrics (free) AND Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (free)
Editorial: Rise in e-cigarette use linked to increase in smoking cessation rates (free)
Commentaries: Rise in e-cigarettes linked to rise in smokers quitting, say researchers – The BMJ, via EurekAlert (free) AND Study links rising U.S. e-cigarette use to rise in smokers quitting – Reuters (free) AND Rise in E-Cigarettes Linked to Rise in Smokers Quitting – Scoop Health (free)
Related: The shadow of Big Tobacco looms over e-cigarettes and harm reduction – STAT (free) (“Should we settle for lesser harms?”)
4 – Use of Prescription Smoking Cessation Medications After Myocardial Infarction Among Older Patients in Community Practice – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Stop-Smoking Meds Underused in Post-MI Setting – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Heart attack patients don’t adhere to smoking cessation prescriptions – Cardiovascular Business (free) AND Heart attack patients missing out on smoking cessation drugs – Reuters Health (free)
5 – 2017 ACS Quality and Safety Conference: “Strong for Surgery” Shows Promise in Reducing Smoking Rates for Patients Facing Surgery – American College of Surgeons, via NewsWise (free)
“Study suggests big drop in smoking rates when surgeons help patients quit before their operations”.
6 – Tobacco Use in Top-Grossing Movies — United States, 2010–2016 – MMWR / CDC (free)
Commentaries: A new CDC report could reignite the debate over Hollywood’s influence on teen tobacco use – VOX (free) AND Health Experts Are Worried About a Huge Rise in Smoking in Movies – TIME (free) AND Tobacco gets more screen shots in blockbuster movies, study shows – New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Source: Medscape
Commentaries: Study: Small drop in vaccine uptake can trigger measles outbreak – CIDRAP (free) AND Small decline in MMR vaccination rates could have dramatic effect, experts warn – The Guardian (free)
“A 5% drop in measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations could cause a threefold increase of measles cases, costing the public sector millions, US study shows” (from The Guardian)
8 – Contemporary Reviews in Critical Care Medicine: Update in Management of Severe Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure – Chest (free PDF)
Summary: Critical Issues in Food Allergy: A National Academies Consensus Report – Pediatrics (free)
Commentary: Food Allergy: Consensus Report Stresses Diagnostic Accuracy – Medscape (free registration required)
10 – The Diagnosis and Treatment of Hemoptysis – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
Wed, July 26 – 10 Stories of The Day!
26 Jul, 2017 | 01:33h | UTC
See also: Executive Summary (free)
Commentaries: CDC Updates Guidelines on Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Exposure – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Updated CDC Guidance on Zika in Pregnancy – Medscape (free registration required)
Author interview: Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Football Players (free video)
Commentaries: High Prevalence of Evidence of CTE in Brains of Deceased Football Players – JAMA Network (free) AND Brain disease CTE seen in most football players in large report – STAT News (free) AND 110 N.F.L. Brains – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Signs of brain disease in 99 percent of ex-NFL players studied: paper – Reuters (free) AND Study: CTE Found In Nearly All Donated NFL Player Brains – NPR (free)
“A neuropathologist has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players — and 110 were found to have C.T.E., the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head” (from NYT).
Commentary: Long-Acting Injectable HIV Regimens Show Promise – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Injections ‘next revolution’ in HIV: study – BBC (free)
6 – Guidelines for the understanding and management of pain in chronic pancreatitis – Pancreatology (free)
7 – Cardiocerebral and cardiopulmonary resuscitation – 2017 update – Acute Medicine & Surgery (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
9 – Report: WHO MERS-CoV Global Summary and Assessment of Risk – World Health Organization (free PDF)
Commentary: WHO: Hospital outbreaks underscore MERS challenges – CIDRAP (free)
See also: WHO’s Work on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
Commentaries: Study: High-dose flu vaccine cuts hospitalizations in nursing home residents – CIDRAP (free) AND High-dose influenza vaccine for nursing home residents reduces hospitalisations – OnMedica (free) AND High Dose Influenza Vaccine Leads to Lower Rate of Hospitalization From Respiratory Illnesses in Nursing Home Residents – University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, via NewsWise (free)
Tue, July 25 – 10 Stories of The Day!
25 Jul, 2017 | 00:17h | UTC
Invited commentary: Early Orthostatic Hypotension and Orthostatic Intolerance—More Than an Observation or Annoyance (free)
Practice Changing – Orthostatic hypotension within 1 min of standing (rather than at 3 minutes) has greater relation to falls, fracture, syncope, motor vehicle crash, and mortality.
2 – Latest European Society of Cardiology Clinical Practice Guidelines Summary Cards are now available (Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Failure, CVD Prevention, Cardio-Oncology – free PDF summaries).
See Complete list:
– European CVD Prevention in Clinical Practice
– Diabetes & Pre-Diabetes, CVD
3 – Public health interventions may offer society a return on investment of £14 for each £1 spent – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review – Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (free)
4 – Viewpoint: Inconsistent Guideline Recommendations for Cardiovascular Prevention and the Debate About Zeroing in on and Zeroing LDL-C Levels With PCSK9 Inhibitors – JAMA (free)
Balanced point of view regarding the use of PCSK9 Inhibitors.
5 – Update on pediatric sepsis: a review – Journal of Intensive Care (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
6 – Richard Lehman’s journal review, 24 July 2017 – The BMJ Blogs (free)
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals.
7 – Why are doctors plagued by depression and suicide? A crisis comes into focus – STAT News (free)
Related: Protecting interns and other physicians from depression and suicide – STAT News (free)
8 – Is cyclobenzaprine useful for pain? – Therapeutics Initiative (free)
“…cyclobenzaprine is a long-acting sedative, not a muscle relaxant, and questioning whether any potential benefits are worth the side effects”. (from TI Newsletter). “If prescribed, a dose of 5 mg at bedtime should be tried first. Evidence suggests titration based on response and tolerability to a maximum dose of 15 mg/day, for no longer than one week”.
See also: Guidelines Summary: National Guideline Clearinghouse (free)
See also: Guideline Summary: National Guideline Clearinghouse (free)
Mon, July 24 – 10 Stories of The Day!
24 Jul, 2017 | 00:33h | UTC
1 – Guidelines for the managing advanced HIV disease and rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy – World Health Organization (free) (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet with infographic)
2 – WHO implementation tool for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV infection – World Health Organization (free) (RT @equitylist see Tweet)
Summary: WHO implementation tool for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV infection (free PDF)
See also: WHO’s Work on Pre-exposure prophylaxis (free resources)
Invited Commentary: Fluoroquinolone restriction to control fluoroquinolone-resistant Clostridium difficile (free)
“Very important finding! Restricting fluoroquinolones more important than infection control measures to prevent CDI” (RT @sanjaysaint see Tweet)
5 – Why cancer is not a war, fight, or battle – CNN (free)
Related: He’s a Fighter – The Atlantic (free)
“Cancer is a process, it’s not a war. No winners or losers. Stop military metaphors”. (RT @lucadf see Tweet)
6 – “A misuse of scarce funds”: NHS to end prescription of homeopathic remedies – The Guardian (free)
Related: NHS to ban homeopathy and herbal medicine, as ‘misuse of resources’ – The Telegraph (free) AND NHS plans to scrap homeopathy treatments – BBC (free)
“Among patients with AF and native VHD, NOACs reduce stroke and systemic embolism compared with warfarin”.
8 – High prevalence of erectile dysfunction in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 145 studies – Diabetic Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Screening for Erectile Dysfunction Should Be Routine in Diabetes – Medscape (free registration required)
“Erectile dysfunction 3.5 times more common in diabetes” (RT @kamleshkhunti see Tweet)
9 – Diabetic retinopathy: current understanding, mechanisms, and treatment strategies – JCI Insight (free)
“It affects 100 M people WW, but under-diagnosed/treated: excellent review of diabetes retinopathy” (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
10 – The Myth of Drug Expiration Dates – ProPublica (free)
“Hospitals and pharmacies are required to toss expired drugs, no matter how expensive or vital. Meanwhile the FDA has long known that many remain safe and potent for years longer”.
Fri, July 21 – 10 Stories of The Day!
21 Jul, 2017 | 02:46h | UTC
1 – Report: HIV drug resistance report 2017 – World Health Organization (free)
News release: WHO urges action against HIV drug resistance threat (free)
Commentaries: HIV drug resistance could undermine progress in AIDS battle: WHO – Reuters (free) AND Drug-Resistant HIV Is On the Rise – TIME (free)
2 – Report: Ending AIDS: Progress Towards the 90-90-90 Target – Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (free PDF)
Fact Sheet: Latest Statistics on The Status of The Aids Epidemic – UNAIDS (free) (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet)
Related editorial: The global HIV/AIDS epidemic—progress and challenges – The Lancet (free)
Commentary: For first time in history, half of all people with HIV are getting treatment – Science (free) (source: GlobalHealthNOW newsletter)
4 – Antiplatelet Regimen for Patients With Breakthrough Strokes While on Aspirin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Stroke (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Adjusting Antiplatelet Regimen Could Decrease Risk For Stroke Patients on Aspirin Monotherapy – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
Meta-analysis of cohort studies: in patients who experienced an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack while on aspirin monotherapy, the addition of or a switch to another antiplatelet agent, versus aspirin monotherapy, was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (HR 0.68; 0.54–0.85) and 30 percent reduction in recurrent strokes (HR, 0.70; 0.54–0.92). Additional randomized trials would better clarify the best antiplatet regimen for these patients.
Editorial: Prenatal antidepressant use and risk of autism (free)
Commentaries: Antidepressants and pregnancy: study didn’t find they actually cause autism – The Conversation (free) AND Antidepressant use in pregnancy linked to autism in children – OnMedica (free) AND Study finds slight autism risk link to antidepressants in pregnancy – Reuters (free)
Editorial: Diet and exercise in pregnancy (free)
Commentaries: Risk of caesarean reduced by healthy diet and physical activity during pregnancy, study finds – NewsMedical (free) AND C-Section Risk Reduction Linked to Healthy Lifestyle – MedPage Today (free)
7 – The Effects of Public Access Defibrillation on Survival After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies – Circulation (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Bystander CPR Best Hope for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest? – Medscape (free registration required)
See related article on Bystander Efforts and 1-Year Outcomes in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in our May 4th issue (see #2)
8 – Report: Dementia prevention, intervention, and care – The Lancet (free registration required)
Commentaries: Experts: 1 in 3 cases of dementia preventable, nonmedical therapies ideal for dementia – University of Southern California, via EurekAlert (free) AND One Third of Dementia May Be Preventable With Lifestyle Change – Medscape (free registration required) AND Over a Third of Dementia Cases Tied to Modifiable Risk Factors – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Living healthily, learning more could cut dementia cases by a third – Reuters (free) AND Lifestyle changes could prevent a third of dementia cases, report suggests – The Guardian (free)
9 – The Uncertain Future of Genetic Testing – The Atlantic (free)
“Bringing genetics into medicine leads to more accuracy, better diagnosis, and personalized treatment—but for some, gene testing has only resulted in unanswered questions”.
10 – An emergency department protocol to restore circulation doesn’t improve outcomes in septic shock – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Early, Goal-Directed Therapy for Septic Shock — A Patient-Level Meta-Analysis – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Thu, July 20 – 10 Stories of The Day!
20 Jul, 2017 | 02:10h | UTC
1 – WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2017 – World Health Organization (free)
Full report: WHO Report on The Global Tobacco Epidemic: 2017 Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies (free PDF)
Press release: WHO report finds dramatic increase in life-saving tobacco control policies in last decade (free)
Infographics: Protecting people from tobacco (free)
Commentaries: Taxation: Most effective but still the least-used tobacco control measure, by Patricio V. Marquez via The World Bank Blogs (free) AND Tobacco industry blocking anti-smoking moves: WHO – Reuters (free) AND Tobacco firms ‘hamper anti-smoking push’ – BBC News (free) AND Tobacco companies interfere with health regulations, WHO reports – The Guardian (free)
See also our coverage of World No Tobacco Day in our May 31 issue (see #1).
Editorial: The Enduring Challenge of Advanced HIV Infection (free)
Among HIV-infected patients with advanced immunosuppression (CD4+ count < 100 cells/mm3), enhanced antimicrobial prophylaxis combined with ART resulted in reduced rates of death.
3 – Efficacy and Safety of Spironolactone in Acute Heart Failure: The ATHENA-HF Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Cardiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: High-dose spironolactone didn’t affect acute heart failure outcomes – ACP Hospitalist (free) AND High-Dose Spironolactone in Acute Heart Failure – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
4 – Use of antibiotics during pregnancy and the risk of major congenital malformations: A population based cohort study – British Journal of Pharmacology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: New study finds link between certain antibiotics during pregnancy and risk for birth defects – News Medical (free)
Related article: Use of antibiotics during pregnancy and risk of spontaneous abortion – Canadian Medical Association Journal (free)
In this large canadian cohort clindamycin, doxycycline, quinolones, macrolides, and phenoxymethylpenicillin were associated with congenital malformations. Amoxicillin, cephalosporins, and nitrofurantoin were not associated with birth defects.
5 – Position statement: American Society of Clinical Oncology Position Statement On Addressing the Affordability of Cancer Drugs (free PDF)
Commentaries: ASCO Offers Path to Addressing Affordability of Cancer Drugs in New Position Statement – ASCO Post (free) AND ASCO Tackles Affordability of Cancer Drugs – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND ASCO Advocates Value in Drug Pricing – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND ASCO Addresses High Cost of Cancer Drugs – Medscape (free registration required)
Commentary: International Guidelines Say Use Treat-to-Target for SpA, PsA – Medscape (free registration required)
7 – Clinical Review: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection: Literature review and clinical update – Canadian Family Physician (free)
8 – The Aging Physician and the Medical Profession: A Review – JAMA Sugery (free) (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
9 – New Choosing Wisely Canada List: Hepatology: Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question (free) (RT @ChooseWiselyCA see Tweet)
See more on the Choosing Wisely initiative in our April 5 issue (see #6).
10 – Improving people’s health through spatial planning – Public Health England (free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
Related reports: Spatial planning for health: evidence review – Public Health England (free) AND Healthy people healthy places evidence tool: Evidence and practical linkage for design, planning and health – University of the West of England (free)
Related WHO Report: Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks (free) AND News release: An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments (free)
Wed, July 19 – 10 Stories of The Day!
19 Jul, 2017 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Healthful and Unhealthful Plant-Based Diets and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in U.S. Adults – Journal of The American College of Cardiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Some Plant-Based Diets May Increase Heart Disease Risk –American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Not All Vegetarian, Plant-Based Diets Equal for CHD Risk – Medscape (free registration required) AND Not all plant-based diets are created equal – American College of Cardiology, via ScienceDaily (free)
Commentaries: Zika: Check All Potentially Exposed Infants for Eye Damage – Medscape (free registration required) AND Which Infants Exposed to Zika Virus Infection in Pregnancy Should Have Eyes Examined? – The JAMA Network (free)
“All infants with potential Zika virus exposure should have ophthalmic screening regardless of other abnormalities” (RT @PreetiNMalani see Tweet)
3 – The Association Between Vasectomy and Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Meta-Analysis: Vasectomy Likely Does Not Cause Prostate Cancer – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Weak Link Between Vasectomy, Prostate Cancer – MedPage Today (free registration required)
4 – Draft Recommendation Statement: Ovarian Cancer: Screening – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (free)
Commentaries: USPSTF Again Recommends Against Screening General Population for Ovarian Cancer – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND USPSTF Stays Course on Ovarian Cancer Screening: No screening for asymptomatic women – MedPage Today (free registration required)
5 – Review: Emerging arboviruses: Why today? – One Health (free) (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet)
6 – Cochrane What is the best medication for a fungal infection of the toenail? – Cochrane Library (free)
Full review: Oral antifungal medication for toenail onychomycosis – Cochrane Library (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Terbinafine probably leads to better cure rates than azoles, with the same risk of adverse events. Griseofulvin is no better and has more adverse effects than azoles.
7 – Homepage – New European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines
New available guidelines are:
– Rectal cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up (free)
– Multiple myeloma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up (free)
– Cervical cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up (free)
– Management of infusion reactions to systemic anticancer therapy: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines (free)
8 – Patient Outcomes in Dose Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy: A Systematic Review – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Tapering long-term opioid therapy may improve outcomes in chronic pain, review finds – ACP Internist (free) AND Opioid Reduction Therapy Offers Some Benefits to Patients with Chronic Pain – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND How tapering off opioids can help people with chronic pain – CNN (free)
“Opioid tapering:
– less pain: 8 of 8 studies
– Improved function: 5 of 5 studies
– Improved QOL: 3 of 3 studies” (RT @DavidJuurlink see Tweet)
9 – As Workouts Intensify, a Harmful Side Effect Grows More Common – New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related practical review: Exercise-Induced Emergencies in the Heat: Rhabdomyolysis & Exertional Heat Stroke – emDocs (free)
10 – Randomized clinical trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment and optimization in vascular surgery – British Journal of Surgery (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Source: ACP Journal Club ($ resource to find articles of interest)
In this RCT, a comprehensive preoperative geriatric assessment and optimization before vascular surgery was associated with shorter length of hospital stay, lower incidence of complications, and patients were less likely to be discharged to a higher level of dependency.
Tue, July 18 – 10 Stories of The Day!
18 Jul, 2017 | 00:15h | UTC
1 – Report: Progress and Challenges with Achieving Universal Immunization Coverage: 2016 Estimates of Immunization Coverage – WHO / UNICEF (free PDF) (RT @WHO see Tweet )
News Release: 1 in 10 infants worldwide did not receive any vaccinations in 2016 – World Health Organization (free)
Commentaries: Artificial Sweeteners Not Tied to Lower BMI and May Even Increase It – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Artificial Sweeteners Don’t Help People Lose Weight, Review Finds – NPR (free) AND The Irony Of Artificial Sweeteners – Forbes (free) AND Low-calorie sweeteners don’t help with weight loss — and may lead to gained pounds – STAT News (free)
3 – What proportion of health outcomes are attributable to health care – Sheffield DPH (free) (RT @gmacscotland and @felly500 see Tweet)
4 – The hidden truth about our prescription medications – Ideas.Ted.Com (free)
“Around half of the clinical trials that were done on the medicines we use today have never published their results…” (RT @Students4BE see Tweet)
5 – Why are these countries the most obese? Walking is just one reason – CNN (free) (RT @kamleshkhunti see Tweet)
Related studies: Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND NIH-funded team uses smartphone data in global study of physical activity – NIH News Release (commentary, see original article – $)
6 – Position Statement: American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists And American College Of Endocrinology Position Statement On Menopause – 2017 Update (free)
Related Position Statement: The 2017 hormone therapy position statement of The North American Menopause Society (free PDF)
Related Draft Recommendation Statement: Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (free)
7 – Richard Lehman’s journal review, 17 July 2017 – The BMJ Blogs (free)
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals.
9 – Financing transformative health systems towards achievement of the health Sustainable Development Goals: a model for projected resource needs in 67 low-income and middle-income countries – The Lancet Global Health (free) (RT @LancetGH see Tweet)
Invited commentaries: Financing health systems to achieve the health Sustainable Development Goals (free) AND All roads lead to universal health coverage, by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO (free)
WHO News Release: WHO estimates cost of reaching global health targets by 2030 (free)
Commentaries: Global health price tag could be $371 billion a year by 2030, WHO says – Reuters (free)
10 – New research program and website: Access to Healthcare – Economist Intelligence Unit (all resources are free) (RT @anetrid see Tweet)
Report: Global access to healthcare: Building sustainable health systems – Economist Intelligence Unit report (free)
“This research programme, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, examines the challenges and opportunities countries face as they attempt to improve access to high-quality healthcare that meets the needs of their populations. It consists of the Global Access to Healthcare Index, covering 60 countries with a diversity of income levels; a global report; an animated infographic introducing the key findings from the index; six infographics on the main domains of the index; and five regional summary papers”.
Mon, July 17 – 10 Stories of The Day!
17 Jul, 2017 | 00:38h | UTC
Related guideline: The Surgical Infection Society Revised Guidelines on the Management of Intra-Abdominal Infection – Surgical Infections (free)
Source: Hospital Medicine Virtual Journal Club (free resource to find articles of interest)
4 – Systematic review: Antiepileptic drug monotherapy (single drug treatment) for epilepsy – Cochrane Library (free)
Original article: Antiepileptic drug monotherapy for epilepsy: a network meta-analysis of individual participant data (link to summary – $ for full-text)
5 – Studies suggest apneic oxygenation reduces hypoxemia during emergency intubation:
Meta-analysis 1: Apneic oxygenation during intubation in the emergency department and during retrieval: A systematic review and meta-analysis – The American Journal of Emergency Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Meta-analysis 2: Apneic oxygenation reduces the incidence of hypoxemia during emergency intubation: A systematic review and meta-analysis – The American Journal of Emergency Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full text)
Source: Apneic Oxygenation Prevents Desaturation During Intubation – Journal Watch ($ resource to find articles of interest)
Related article: Lifestyle in progression from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy to chronic hypertension in Nurses’ Health Study II: observational cohort study – The BMJ (free)
Editorial: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy – The BMJ (free)
Commentaries: Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Tied to Increased Hypertension Risk Decades Later – Physician’s First Watch (free)
7 – How to spot a misleading graph, by Lea Gaslowitz – TED Talks (free YouTube video)
“How to spot a misleading graph – Great video by Lea Gaslowitz @TEDTalks” (RT @CochraneUK see Tweet)
8 – Opinion: Physicians need to openly discuss medical mistakes and near misses – STAT News (free) (RT @statnews see Tweet)
9 – “Pathologists debating their future in the era of #AI” (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
Editorial 1: AlphaGo, Deep Learning, and the Future of the Human Microscopist – Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (free)
Editorial 2: Artificial Intelligence and the Pathologist: Future Frenemies? – Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (free)
See more on the impact of artificial intelligence in healthcare in our June 14th issue (see #2 and #3)
10 – A must read perspective on “Machine Learning and Prediction in Medicine — Beyond the Peak of Inflated Expectations” – Cross Invalidation (free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
Fri, July 14 – 10 Stories of The Day!
14 Jul, 2017 | 00:08h | UTC
1 – Follow-up of Prostatectomy versus Observation for Early Prostate Cancer – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Long-term, surgery for localized prostate cancer offers little extra benefit – Reuters (free) AND No Benefit with Surgery for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Prostatectomy for Localized Prostate Cancer Doesn’t Improve Long-Term Survival – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Surgery for Early Prostate Cancer May Not Save Lives – Washington University in St. Louis, via NewsWise (free)
“Most men just as likely to survive with limited or no treatment” (from NewsWise)
See other Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Guidelines and Reviews in our collection and in the ERAS Society Website.
3 – Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Adrenal Incidentaloma – Endocrinology and Metabolism (free)
4 – Association of Changes in Diet Quality with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Improvement in diet quality linked to decreased all-cause mortality – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Improving Diet Over Time May Reduce Risk of Death – MedPage Today (free registration required) Change in Diet Can Lower Mortality Risk – Medscape (free registration required) AND Eating a Little Bit Healthier Helps You Live Longer – TIME (free) AND A Range of Healthy Dietary Changes Could Help You Live Longer – Physician’s First Watch (free)
5 – Insulin pumps not much better than multiple injections for intensive control of type 1 diabetes – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Relative effectiveness of insulin pump treatment over multiple daily injections and structured education during flexible intensive insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes: cluster randomised trial (REPOSE) – The BMJ (free)
6 – Editorial: WHO downgrades status of oseltamivir – The BMJ (free)
“@WHO downgrades status of oseltamivir. BMJ editorial discusses important lessons from the Tamiflu story” (RT @bmj_latest see Tweet)
8 – Enuresis: practical guidelines for primary care – British Journal of General Practice (free)
9 – Non-invasive ventilation for the management of acute hypercapnic respiratory failure due to exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – Cochrane Library (free)
NIV reduces mortality and endotracheal intubation in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure secondary to an acute exacerbation COPD.
10 – Perspectives: Threats to Information Security: Public Health Implications – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
See related articles on Cybersecurity and Health in our June 8th issue (see #5)
Thu, July 13 – 10 Stories of The Day!
13 Jul, 2017 | 00:04h | UTC
1 – Report: Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene – World Health Organization (free)
News release: 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home, more than twice as many lack safe sanitation (free)
“New WHO/UNICEF report: 2.1 billion ppl lack safe drinking water at home, more than 2x as many lack safe sanitation” (RT @WHO see Tweet with Infographics)
2 – Association of Positive Airway Pressure With Cardiovascular Events and Death in Adults With Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: More Doubt Cast on CPAP for Reducing CVD Risk in Sleep Apnea Patients – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Positive airway pressure doesn’t reduce heart risk with sleep apnea – Reuters (free)
“PAP for obstructive sleep apnea improves quality of life but not CV events or BP with up to 5 years of follow up” (RT @AnilMakam see Tweet)
3 – State of The Art Review: Advances in the causes and management of community acquired pneumonia in adults – The BMJ (free)
4 – Blood pressure and in-hospital outcomes in patients presenting with ischaemic stroke – European Heart Journal (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Blood Pressure and Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
Related article: Editorial: Blood Pressure in Acute Stroke Still No Answer for Management – Stroke (free PDF)
Observational analysis of over 300.000 patients suggests a J-shaped, or U-shaped relationships between BP and outcomes (both lower and higher BP levels are probably detrimental). Among patients submitted to thrombolytic therapy, there were fewer complications with lower blood pressure.
5 – Effect of Antidepressant Switching vs Augmentation on Remission Among Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Unresponsive to Antidepressant Treatment: The VAST-D Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Study Compares Switching Meds vs an Additional Med for Patients Unresponsive to an Antidepressant – The Jama Network (free) AND For Treatment-Resistant Depression, Add an Antipsychotic or Switch Antidepressants? – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Augmentation with aripiprazole led to a modestly increased likelihood of remission, but with more adverse effects. “Given the small effect size and adverse effects associated with aripiprazole, further analysis including cost-effectiveness is needed to understand the net utility of this approach”.
6 – Association Between Alendronate Use and Hip Fracture Risk in Older Patients Using Oral Prednisolone – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Alendronate Cuts Hip-Fracture Rates in High-Risk Elderly – Medscape (free registration required) AND Alendronate helps cut hip fracture risk with prednisolone – OnMedica (free) AND Alendronate Might Help Protect Against Hip Fracture in Patients Taking Prednisolone – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Retrospective cohort suggests alendronate might reduce fracture risk in the short term in elderly patients taking prednisolone.
7 – Large-scale physical activity data reveal worldwide activity inequality – Nature (link to abstract and free graphics – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: NIH-funded team uses smartphone data in global study of physical activity – NIH News Release (free) AND Do you live in the world’s laziest country? – BBC News (free)
“Big data in action! Scientists analyzed smartphone data from 700k+ ppl&100 countries to study physical activity” (RT @NIHDirector see Tweet)
8 – Summary with 10 key points to remember: Diagnosis and Management of Resistant Hypertension – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
Original article: Diagnosis and management of resistant hypertension – Heart (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
9 – Meta-analysis: Safety and Efficacy of Dual Versus Triple Antithrombotic Therapy in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention – American Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Source: EvidenceAlerts (free resource to find articles of interest)
“In patients receiving anticoagulant therapy, a strategy of single antiplatelet therapy confers a benefit of less major bleeding with no difference in all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, major adverse cardiac events, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, or thromboembolic event rate compared with dual antiplatelet therapy”.
10 – Beverage Intake During Pregnancy and Childhood Adiposity – Pediatrics (free)
Commentaries: Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages during pregnancy linked to childhood obesity – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Drinking sugary beverages in pregnancy linked to kids’ later weight gain – Science News (free)
Wed, July 12 – 10 Stories of The Day!
12 Jul, 2017 | 00:12h | UTC
1 – Association of Coffee Consumption With Total and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Nonwhite Populations – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Related study: Coffee Drinking and Mortality in 10 European Countries: A Multinational Cohort Study – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: No, These Two Studies Don’t Prove That Coffee Leads To Longer Life – Forbes (free) AND Coffee cuts risk of dying from stroke and heart disease, study suggests – The Guardian (free) AND Drinking coffee reduces risk of death from all causes, study finds – Imperial College of London (free)
Editorial 1: Healthful Physical Activity and Diet Promotion—For the Many or the Few? (free)
Editorial 2: Cardiovascular Risk Factor Control for All (free)
Editorial 3: Healthful Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults Without Known Risk Factors: Is Behavioral Counselling Necessary? (free)
The JAMA Network – For The Media: USPSTF Recommendation Regarding Behavioral Counseling for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (free)
3 – Palliative Care in Heart Failure: The PAL-HF Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Palliative Care Intervention Improves Quality of Life in Advanced Heart Failure Patients – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Palliative Care Improves Heart Failure Quality-of-Life – MedPage Today (free registration required)
4 – The weird power of the placebo effect, explained – VOX (free)
Related: Placebos can work even when patients know what they are – World Economic Forum (free)
Related: Editorial: The Guardian view on vaccinations: a matter of public health (free)
Related 2: A short history of vaccine objection, vaccine cults and conspiracy theories – The Conversation (RT @Onisillos see Tweet)(free)
See more on mandatory vaccination in other countries in our May 29 issue, see #6
Commentary: Patients whose emergency surgery is delayed are at higher risk of death – Canadian Medical Association Journal, via EurekAlert (free)
Source: STAT News Newsletter
“Delayed operating room access for emergency surgery was associated with increased risk of in hospital mortality, longer length of stay and higher costs”.
7 – Doxycycline may be a safer first option for treating a blistering skin condition – NIHR Signal (free)
Original Article: Doxycycline versus prednisolone as an initial treatment strategy for bullous pemphigoid: a pragmatic, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial – The Lancet (free) AND Editorial: Doxycycline: a first-line treatment for bullous pemphigoid? (free)
8 – Effectiveness of a group B outer membrane vesicle meningococcal vaccine against gonorrhoea in New Zealand: a retrospective case-control study – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: More reason to use Meningococcal B vaccine – it could also cut the Clap – The Conversation (author’s commentary – free) AND Meningococcal Vaccine May Provide Immunity Against Gonorrhea – Medscape (free registration required) AND Meningitis vaccine may also cut risk of ‘untreatable’ gonorrhoea, study says – The Guardian (free)
See related articles on the rising of “Untreatable” gonorrhea in our July 10th issue (see #1)
Related: Essential Surgery – Disease Control Priorities (DCP3) (free landmark book on the topic) AND The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (free resources)
Source: Global Health NOW Newsletter
10 – Electrocardiograms in Low-Risk Patients Undergoing An Annual Health Examination – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: More than 20% of low-risk patients receive an ECG as part of annual health exam – Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) (RT @ICESOntario and @ChooseWiselyCA see Tweet) (free) AND ECGs Common in Low-Risk Patients After Annual Health Exam, Leading to More Cardiac Care – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) Routine ECG With Annual Physical Questioned – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Tue, July 11 – 10 Stories of The Day!
11 Jul, 2017 | 00:04h | UTC
1 – Salt intake and Cardiovascular Disease – European Heart Journal (free)
Commentary: CardioBrief: Int’l Experts Call Sodium Guidelines Far Too Restrictive – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Summary of the technical report on sodium intake and cardiovascular disease with key recommendations for individuals and policymakers.
Summary: National Guideline Clearinghouse (free)
3 – Women with High-Risk Pregnancies Are More Likely To Develop Heart Disease – NPR (free)
Related review: Adverse Pregnancy Conditions, Infertility, and Future Cardiovascular Risk: Implications for Mother and Child – Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy (free)
4 – Just Started! Free Online Course. Science of Exercise – University of Colorado Boulder and Coursera
5 – Just Started! Free Online Course. Health for All Through Primary Health Care – Johns Hopkins University and Coursera
6 – Effective Care for High-Need Patients: Opportunities for Improving Outcomes, Value, and Health (free PDF)
See also: News release (free) AND Executive summary (free PDF) AND Key Points (free PDF) AND Characteristics of Successful Care Models for High-Need Patients (free PDF)
See more resources on high-need, high-cost patients in our July 4th issue (see #2)
Source: STAT News Newsletter
“Nearly half of the nation’s spending on health care is driven by 5 percent of patients, and improving health outcomes and curbing spending in health care will require identifying who these high-needs patients are and providing coordinated services” (from EurekAlert)
7 – Richard Lehman’s journal review / 10 July 2017 – The BMJ Blogs (free)
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals.
8 – Rivastigmine reviewed: doubts about dementia drug – Evidently Cochrane (free)
Related review: Rivastigmine for people with Alzheimer’s disease – Cochrane Library (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
“”Sadly, “small” and “of uncertain clinical importance” are the words chosen by the Cochrane reviewers to describe…” (RT @CochraneUK see Tweet)
9 – Cochrane Review: Gabapentin for chronic neuropathic pain in adults – Cochrane Library (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Analgesic Effects of Gabapentin Assessed in Chronic Neuropathic Pain – MPR (free)
“Gabapentin at doses of 1800 mg to 3600 mg daily (1200 mg to 3600 mg gabapentin enacarbil) can provide good levels of pain relief to some people with postherpetic neuralgia and peripheral diabetic neuropathy”.
10 – The rise of antibiotic-resistant infections threaten economies – Finantial Times (a few articles per month are free) (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet)
Related report: Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future – World Bank (Free PDF) AND Infographic: Drug Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future (free) AND News Release: By 2050, drug-resistant infections could cause global economic damage on par with 2008 financial crisis (free)
Mon, July 10 – 10 Stories of The Day!
10 Jul, 2017 | 00:01h | UTC
1 – Scientists warn that antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea is on the rise – World Health Organization (free)
News Release: Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea on the rise, new drugs needed – Word Health Organization (free)
Commentaries: Untreatable gonorrhoea on the rise worldwide – Nature News (free) AND New data show gonorrhea increasingly resistant to antibiotics STAT News (free) AND WHO warns of imminent spread of untreatable superbug gonorrhea – Reuters (free) AND Untreatable gonorrhoea ‘superbug’ spreading around world, WHO warns – The Guardian (free)
Related guideline: WHO guidelines for the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (free)
Invited commentary: Determining the burden of respiratory syncytial virus disease: the known and the unknown (free)
Commentary: Experts urge action to cut child deaths from deadly lung virus – University of Edinburgh, via EurekAlert (free)
“We estimated that globally in 2015, 33.1 million episodes of RSV-ALRI, resulted in about 3.2 million hospital admissions, and 59 600 in-hospital deaths in children younger than 5 years”. (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet)
3 – Breaking multiple unhealthy habits all at once has modest impact, but not always… – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Multiple Risk Behavior Interventions: Meta-analyses of RCTs – American Journal of Preventive Medicine (free)
“Review suggests it might be sensible to tackle smoking and diet separately, rather than at the same time” (RT @NIHR_DC see Tweet)
4 – Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: from clinical care to health policy – The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (free registration required)
Invited commentary: The crisis of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa (free registration required)
Commentaries: Alarm Bells Sound on Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa – Medscape (free registration required) AND Increasing diabetes burden in sub-Saharan Africa has potential to reverse health gains of recent years – News Medical (free)
“The growing burden of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa will have huge consequences” (RT @Medscape see Tweet)
5 – Declining Risk of Sudden Death in Heart Failure – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Has Effective Medical Therapy Made The Benefit of ICDs Uncertain? – University of Glasgow News (free) AND Net value of pacemakers/defibrillators may no longer be so clear-cut – OnMedica (free) AND Sudden Death Declining in Heart Failure – Does the trend mean that ICDs are indicated less often? – CardioBrief (free)
See also: The Changing Face of Clinical Trials Series (free)
7 – Diabetes and Ramadan: Practical guidelines – Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice (free)
8 – Pretreatment fasting plasma glucose and insulin modify dietary weight loss success: results from 3 randomized clinical trials – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin identified as new biomarkers for weight loss – University of Copenhagen, via ScienceDaily (free) AND Low-Fat or Low Carb for Weight Loss? It Depends on Your Glucose Metabolism – EbioMedicine (free)
Individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes seem to have better results with low-carb diets.
9 – The Machines Are Getting Ready to Play Doctor – MIT Technology Review (free) (RT @EricTopol see Tweet 1 and Tweet 2)
Original article: Cardiologist-Level Arrhythmia Detection with Convolutional Neural Networks – Cornell University Library (free PDF)
In this study, a machine learning algorithm was better at diagnosing arrhythmias than cardiologists.
10 – Direct oral anticoagulants for treatment of HIT: update of Hamilton experience and literature review – Blood (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Source: Direct Oral Anticoagulants for Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia – Journal Watch ($)
This literature review and observational study suggest direct oral anticoagulants (rivaroxaban, apixaban, dabigatran) are safe and effective for the treatment of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia.
Thu, July 6 – 10 Stories of The Day!
6 Jul, 2017 | 00:57h | UTC
1 – Treating Anxiety in 2017: Optimizing Care to Improve Outcomes – JAMA (free)
“Exercise, mindfulness-based stress reduction = 1st-line treatments for anxiety; move on to SSRIs and CBT as needed” (RT @JAMA_current see Tweet)
2 – Out of Step 2017: TB Policies in 29 countries – A Survey of Prevention, Testing and Treatment Policies and Practices – Médecins Sans Frontières (free PDF)
News release: Tuberculosis: New report highlights need to better tackle world’s deadliest infectious disease (free) (RT @MSF see Tweet)
See also other Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Guidelines and Reviews in our collection and ERAS Society Website.
Invited commentary: Ending HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C: what about people with severe mental illness? (free)
“People with severe mental illness have 3x the general pop risk of HIV & Hepatitis B, and 9x the risk of Hepatitis C” (RT @AllenFrancesMD and @in_psych see Tweet)
Source: Hospital Medicine Virtual Journal Club
In this observational analysis, patients with atrial fibrillation without heart failure had increased risk of sudden cardiac death with digoxin use. Among patients with heart failure, digoxin use was associated with an increase in all‐cause death, cardiovascular death, sudden cardiac death, and death caused by HF/cardiogenic shock.
Commentary: Long-term Metformin May Reduce Coronary Calcium – Medscape (free registration required)
“Metformin may protect against atherosclerosis in men with pre-diabetes and early diabetes” (RT @CircAHA see Tweet)
Commentary: Physical Activity Might Not Ward Off Dementia – Physician’s First Watch (free)
Contradicting previous evidence, this study did not show that physical activity has a protective effect against cognitive decline and dementia.
“Physical activity may not have an impact on your chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but it will reduce a plethora of other risks…” (RT @KarenAl46890767 see Tweet)
The BMJ Opinion: Joann Elmore: When diagnostic uncertainty hits home (free)
Commentaries: Concern over huge diagnostic variability for melanoma – OnMedica (free) AND Pathologists Often Misclassify Melanoma – Physician’s First Watch (free)
9 – Perspective: Recognizing Sepsis as a Global Health Priority: A WHO Resolution – New England Journal of Medicine (free)
10 – Personal Sound Amplification Products vs a Conventional Hearing Aid for Speech Understanding in Noise – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
The Jama Network – For the Media: Certain OTC, less expensive hearing aids provide benefit similar to conventional hearing aid (free)
Commentaries: Less Expensive Hearing Devices May Work as Well as Traditional Hearing Aids – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Study Boosts Case for OTC Hearing Aids – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND OTC Hearing Devices Effective Alternative for Some, Study Shows – Medscape (free registration required)
“Some over-the-counter sound amplification devices are nearly as effective as prescription hearing aids, according to a small JAMA study” (from Physician’s First Watch)
Fri, July 7 – 10 Stories of The Day!
7 Jul, 2017 | 00:57h | UTC
1 – Long-term health status and trajectories of seriously injured patients: A population-based longitudinal study – PLOS Medicine (free) (RT @karimbrohi see Tweet – “Trauma is a chronic disease”)
“The prevalence of reporting problems at 36-months postinjury was 37% for mobility, 21% for self-care, 47% for usual activities, 50% for pain/discomfort, and 41% for anxiety/depression… the prevalence of ongoing problems at 3-years postinjury is high, confirming that serious injury is frequently a chronic disorder”
2 – Pictograms, Units and Dosing Tools, and Parent Medication Errors: A Randomized Study – Pediatrics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Most Parents Give Kids Wrong Doses – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Proper tools may help prevent medicine errors at home – Reuters (free)
3 – Free online course, starts July 17: Easing the burden of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease – University of Sidney and Coursera
7 – Suicidal Behavior During Lithium and Valproate Treatment: A Within-Individual 8-Year Prospective Study of 50,000 Patients With Bipolar Disorder – American Journal of Psychiatry (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Lithium Found to Decrease Suicide Risk in Bipolar Patients – Psychiatry News (free) AND Lithium protects against suicide – Karolinska Institutet News (free)
“Lithium, Not Valproate, Significantly Reduced Suicidal Behavior Among People With BD (an 8 y. Study)” (RT @psychopharmacol see Tweet)
Commentaries: Cases of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection are soaring – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via EurekAlert (free) AND Multiply Recurrent C difficile Infection Rates Sharply Rise – Medscape (free registration required) AND Demand for FMT likely to increase with rise in multiply recurrent C. difficile cases – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Marked increase seen in multiply recurrent C diff – CIDRAP (free)
9 – Effect of azithromycin on asthma exacerbations and quality of life in adults with persistent uncontrolled asthma (AMAZES): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Add-On Azithromycin Associated with Fewer Asthma Exacerbations – Physician’s First Watch (free)
10 – Cancer deaths and cases attributable to lifestyle factors and infections in China, 2013 – Annals of Oncology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Nearly half of China cancer deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors – American Cancer Society, via EurekAlert (free) AND One million annual cancer deaths in China attributable to lifestyle factors – treehugger (free)
Wed, July 5 – 10 Stories of The Day!
5 Jul, 2017 | 00:29h | UTC
1 – Welcoming WHO’s new Director-General – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (free)
See also: Vision statement by WHO Director-General (free) AND New WHO Priorities (free)
On 1 July 2017, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus started his 5-year term as WHO’s new Director-General.
Commentaries: Proton pump inhibitors associated with raised mortality – OnMedica (free) AND Longtime use of heartburn drugs linked to increased risk of death – NewsMedical (free) AND People taking heartburn drugs could have higher risk of death, study claims – The Guardian (free) AND Some heartburn drugs linked with higher risk of death – CBS News (free) AND PPIs Linked to Higher Risk for Death – Medscape (free registration required)
In a large observational study, PPI use was associated with increased mortality (HR 1.25; CI 1.23 to 1.28). PPIs were also associated with increased risk compared to H2 blockers (HR 1.24; CI 1.21 to 1.27). See more on the trade-offs of PPI therapy in our July 3rd issue (see #10)
3 – What I Wish I’d Known About My Knees – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related guideline: Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee arthritis and meniscal tears: a clinical practice guideline – The BMJ (free)
“There’s little evidence to support many of the procedures people undergo in the hopes of avoiding a knee replacement”. (RT @NYTHealth see Tweet)
4 – 5 Tips for Understanding Data in Meta-Analyses – Absolutely Maybe Blog, by Hilda Bastian (free) (RT @hildabast see Tweet)
5 – New Choosing Wisely Canada List: Medical Education: Residents: Five Things Residents and Patients Should Question (free) (RT @ChooseWiselyCA see Tweet)
See more on the Choosing Wisely initiative in our April 5 issue (see #6).
6 – Viewpoints in Precision Medicine:
Views and Reviews: Margaret McCartney: Are we too captivated by precision medicine? – The BMJ (free)
Related: Chief medical officer calls for gene testing revolution – BBC (free) AND Make DNA tests routine, says UK’s chief medical officer – The Guardian (free)
“Sally Davies calls for making genomic testing as common as blood tests to usher in the era of precision medicine to treat cancers and rare diseases” (from The Guardian).
“Precision medicine is also, paradoxically, a recipe for unhelpful early diagnosis, false alarms, poor sensitivity, and conflicts of interest” (from The BMJ).
7 – Allergy Testing in Children With Low-Risk Penicillin Allergy Symptoms – Pediatrics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Penicillin Allergy in Children Substantially Overreported – Medscape (free registration required) AND No Penicillin Allergy Found in Most Kids with Non-Specific Symptoms – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Low risk allergy symptoms not linked to true penicillin allergy – 2 minute medicine (free)
Related article: Penicillin Allergy Is Not Necessarily Forever – JAMA (free)
8 – Herpes Zoster Increases the Risk of Stroke and Myocardial Infarction – Journal of The American College of Cardiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Does Shingles Increase the Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke? – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Shingles may up risk of heart attack, stroke – Reuters Health (free) AND Heart attack and stroke risk higher with shingles – OnMedica (free)
9 – Editorial: Sharing Medicine – A JAMA Internal Medicine Series (free)
1st article: Sharing as the Future of Medicine – JAMA Internal Medicine (free)
10 – Essays on health: microbes aren’t the enemy, they’re a big part of who we are – The Conversation (free) (RT @Onisillos see Tweet)
Tue, July 4 – 10 Stories of The Day!
4 Jul, 2017 | 00:54h | UTC
1 – Indications for Surgical Management of Hyperparathyroidism: A Review – JAMA Surgery (free)
2 – Redesigning Care for High-Cost, High-Risk Patients – Harvard Business Review (a few articles per month are free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
Related: Designing a High-Performing Health Care System for Patients with Complex Needs: Ten Recommendations for Policymakers – The Commonwealth Fund (free) AND Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients — An Urgent Priority – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Multimorbidity: clinical assessment and management – NICE Guideline (free) AND Multimorbidity in Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Focusing on High-Cost Patients — The Key to Addressing High Costs? – NEJM Catalyst (free) AND Richard Smith: The challenge of high need, high cost patients – The BMJ Blogs (free) AND Playbook: Better Care for People with Complex Needs – Institute for Healthcare Improvement (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
4 – Prognostic Value of Noninvasive Cardiovascular Testing in Patients With Stable Chest Pain – Circulation (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: CT angiography appears better at predicting future risk for patients with chest pain – Massachusetts General Hospital, via ScienceDaily (free)
Source: EvidenceAlerts (free resource to find articles of interest)
“The most important result indicated that the ability of coronary CTA to identify nonobstructive coronary artery disease – a less-than-70-percent narrowing of a coronary artery – identifies an at-risk group of patients not found by functional testing” (from ScienceDaily).
5 – Social Determinants of Health Visualization – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (free interactive tool)
“The Social Determinants of Health visualization tool allows you to explore the relationships between determinants of health and health indicators across countries … users can visualize the relationships between these determinants and life expectancy, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by cause, years lived with disability (YLDs) by cause, and causes of death”.
6 – The 8 Things That End Childhood Too Soon: What Clinicians Should Know – Medscape (free registration required)
See also: Stolen Childhoods: End of Childhood Report 2017 (free PDF) AND Save the Children Website (free)
“In this report, Save the Children examined the life events that often signal the end of childhood for too many of the world’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged kids: girls, refugees, street children, and children with disabilities” (from Medscape).
7 – Obesity Pathogenesis: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement – Endocrine Reviews (free PDF)
Commentaries: Endocrine Society issues Scientific Statement on obesity’s causes – The Endocrine Society, via EurekAlert (free) AND After Weight Loss, How To Keep The Weight Off Is The Challenge – Reuters Health (free)
Editorial: Modern Electroconvulsive Therapy: Vastly Improved Yet Greatly Underused – JAMA Psychiatry (free) (RT @JAMA_current see Tweet)
In this observational study, electroconvulsive therapy was associated with reduced 30-day readmission risk among psychiatric inpatients with severe affective disorders.
9 – Richard Lehman’s journal review, 3 July 2017 – The BMJ Blogs (free)
Richard Lehman’s weekly review of medical journals.
10 – Functional Dyspepsia: Advances in Diagnosis and Therapy – Gut and Liver (free)
Commentary: Diagnosis and Treatment of Functional Dyspepsia – PracticeUpdate (free registration required)
Related guideline: ACG and CAG Clinical Guideline: Management of Dyspepsia – American College of Gastroenterology and Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (free PDF)
Mon, July 3 – 10 Stories of The Day!
3 Jul, 2017 | 00:08h | UTC
1 – Diagnosis and management of myocardial involvement in systemic immune-mediated diseases: a position statement of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Disease – European Heart Journal (free) (RT @rafavidalperez see Tweet)
2 – Air pollution: outdoor air quality and health – NICE Guideline (free)
News release: ‘No idling’ zones can help to protect vulnerable people from air pollution, says NICE (free)
See related articles on Air Pollution and Health in our June 30th issue (see #4)
3 – Subclinical Hypothyroidism – NEJM Resident 360 (free)
Short and practical review with algorithm on the management of subclinical hypothyroidism.
4 – Medical News & Perspectives: Can a Diet That Mimics Fasting Turn Back the Clock? – JAMA (free)
“A Longer Life Through Fasting?” (RT @JAMA_current see Tweet)
5 – When Anxiety or Depression Masks a Medical Problem – New York Times (10 articles month are free)
Related: Managing Anxiety in the Medically Ill – Psychiatric Times (free)
“Very 1st differential before making a psych diagnosis should be – is this due to medical problem? 2nd question – medication/substance/alcohol? (RT @AllenFrancesMD see Tweet)
6 – Living Systematic Reviews are going live – Cochrane UK (free) (RT @CochraneUK see Tweet)
Related: Living Systematic Reviews – Cochrane Community (free)
“Living Systematic Review is a “systematic review which is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available”.
7 – Practice: I am your trans patient – The BMJ (free)
Related infographic: Managing disclosure of gender dysphoria – The BMJ (free PDF)
“Five transgender authors share their experiences of healthcare & the important messages they’d like doctors to know” (RT @bmj_latest see Tweet)
8 – Editorial: Judging the benefits and harms of medicines – The BMJ (free for 15 days)
“Please read/comment on our editorial @bmj_latest about @acmedsci report on judging benefits and harms of medicines” (RT @fgodlee see Tweet)
Source: PracticalReviews ($)
See related article on the effect of multicomponent nonpharmacologic interventions to prevent delirium in abdominal surgery in our May 25th issue (see #5)
Delirium-friendly preprinted postoperative orders executed by regular nursing staff resulted in a significant reduction in postoperative delirium.
10 – Complications of Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy – Gastroenterology (free)
Commentary: Complications of Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy – PracticeUpdate (free registration required)
Related: Deprescribing proton pump inhibitors: Evidence-based clinical practice guideline – Canadian Family Physician (free) AND Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Incident CKD and Progression to ESRD – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (free) AND Association of Proton Pump Inhibitors With Risk of Dementia: A Pharmacoepidemiological Claims Data Analysis – Jama Neurology (free)
The authors of this review argue that the observational studies that brought up the safety issues associated with PPIs (above studies, for example) are insufficient to establish causation and suggest a more balanced approach to PPI prescribing.