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Picks of the Week: Primary care, mental health and more!

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A plethora of news were shared on the Among Doctors network last week by fellow physicians; a result of a community which starts to grow with members wishing to share what they have appraised. Primary care and mental health, asthma over diagnosis, updates on the Zika virus and a new report on eHealth from the European office of the WHO. Let’s see the latest top news:

  • Getting Primary Care at the Psychiatrist’s Office
    People with severe mental illnesses are more likely to die prematurely than those without, and it’s often from treatable chronic diseases—in part because many, don’t receive regular medical care.
  • Overdiagnosis of asthma in children in primary care: a retrospective analysis
    Overdiagnosis of childhood asthma is common in primary care, leading to unnecessary treatment, disease burden, and impact on quality of life. However, only in a small percentage of children is a diagnosis of asthma confirmed by lung function tests.
  • From innovation to implementation – eHealth in the WHO European Region
    A new report on e-Health in the WHO European Region reveals that tangible progress has been made, with clear benefits for many countries. In most Member States, it has become commonplace for technology to be used to deliver health services and public health improvements, such as electronic health records.
  • Effects of Long-Term Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin on Fractures and Bone Density in Non-Pregnant Adults
    Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for 3–6 months may not increase the risk of fractures, but longer exposure for up to 24 months may adversely affect bone mineral density (BMD). Clinicians should consider monitoring BMD in adults on long-term LMWH who are at increased risk of bone loss or fracture.
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Picks of the Week: Updates on diabetes mellitus

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This week many news updates were shared by fellow colleagues on the Among Doctors network. As many of you have already experienced, with this feature we can all become editors by appraising and sharing new evidence and other piece of news with the rest of your network. Give it try by sharing something interesting from your home page on Among Doctors, and let us know your thoughts!

Let’s see the latest top news:

  • Cancer incidence in persons with type 1 diabetes: a five-country study of 9,000 cancers in type 1 diabetic individuals
    On average, type 1 diabetes confers an excess incidence of several cancers: persons with type 1 diabetes had a higher incidence of cancer of the liver, pancreas, kidney, endometrium and ovary and a lower incidence of prostate cancer than those in the general population. However, similar to the findings for type 2 diabetes, the HRs of cancer were highest at time of diabetes diagnosis and declined over time.
  • Diagnosis and Management of Diabetes: Synopsis of the 2016 American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
    The synopsis focuses on 8 key areas that are important to primary care providers. The recommendations highlight individualized care to manage the disease, prevent or delay complications, and improve outcomes.
  • Effect of Behavioral Interventions on Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescribing Among Primary Care Practices
    Among primary care practices, the use of accountable justification and peer comparison as behavioral interventions resulted in lower rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections.
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Picks of the Week: Dementia risk, corticosteroids for CAP, and much more!

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The last days were quite busy for our fellow colleagues of the Among Doctors network! Many shared selected opinion papers and blogs, systematic reviews, and new evidence regarding a wide range of conditions. Let’s have a look at the top picks of these news:

  • Association of Proton Pump Inhibitors With Risk of Dementia
    The avoidance of PPI medication may prevent the development of dementia. This finding is supported by recent pharmacoepidemiological analyses on primary data and is in line with mouse models in which the use of PPIs increased the levels of β-amyloid in the brains of mice.
  • Efficacy and Safety of Corticosteroids for Community-Acquired Pneumonia
    Short-term treatment with corticosteroids is safe and may reduce the risk of ARDS, shortening the length of the disease in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.
  • Zika Outbreak Signals the Urgent Need for Strong Primary Health Care Systems
    Despite the wide-ranging functions of primary health care -immunizations, family planning, diagnostics, antenatal care, maternity services, rehabilitation, counseling, and referrals- it is often underfunded and deprioritized, forcing people to use whatever cash they have for low-quality private services. The volatile Zika outbreak should remind health advocates and policymakers alike that investments in strong comprehensive primary health care systems is the very best precaution for such emergencies.
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Picks of the Week: Zika virus updates

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This week many of the shared updates focused on the presently ongoing, large outbreak of the Zika virus. Let’s have a look at the top news that were shared on the Among Doctors network:

  • Zika virus: all the updates
    All the latest evidence on DynaMed Plus, a map of the outbreak and the European Medicines Agency to provide support to global response on the emerging epidemic of the Zika virus.
  • WHO joins the world in marking the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
    More than 125 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of Female Genital Mutilation in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the harmful practice is most concentrated.
  • Recommendations for screening for depression in adults
    Although major depressive disorder is one of the world’s great public health problems, the morbidity and increased mortality associated with this common illness can be attenuated by the large number of effective treatments that are now widely available. It is therefore important to ensure that efficient methods for population screening are in place and directly linked to health care systems so depressed patients receive appropriate treatment.
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Pick of the Week: Chest pain, lung cancer screening and more!

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Plenty of news were posted on the Among Doctors network over the past days. Some of the highlights of what our fellow colleagues shared include the clinical assessment of patients with chest pain and practical guidelines for the lung cancer screening. Let’s have a more in-depth look at this week’s top updates:

  • Clinical assessment of patients with chest pain: a systematic review of predictive tools
    The risk of coronary artery disease can be estimated on clinical grounds in patients with chest pain in different clinical settings with high accuracy. The estimation of probabilities of coronary artery disease could be used for a better management of patients with chest pain and also in the development of future predictive tools.
  • Lung cancer screening: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines
    The use of low-dose computed tomography presents an exciting development for high-risk individuals. Several expert bodies and governments have recently issued and updated their clinical practice guidelines for lung cancer screening. In this review the clinical practice guidelines are evaluated and the recommendations are compared between them.
  • Smoking associated with increased mortality in breast cancer patients
    In a prospective cohort study of over 4500 women with invasive breast cancer, patients who actively smoked prior to breast cancer diagnosis demonstrated a 25% increase in overall mortality compared to never smokers. Patients who continued to smoke post-breast cancer diagnosis demonstrated a significant increase in both cancer-specific and overall mortality. Patients who quit smoking after breast cancer diagnosis demonstrated a 9% risk reduction in overall mortality.
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Picks of the Week: Vaccines for HIV-positive adults and new guidelines!

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Everyday all of us curate information, appraise much content and select what is relevant for our profession based on our interests. We are very delighted to see that the result of this information curation can be useful for other colleagues too; the sharing of appraised information is taking off on the Among Doctors network indeed! Many news were posted once again this week by our fellow colleagues and we have a selection of them below:

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Picks of the Week: Cancer screening, white coats and more!

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Dear colleagues, first of all we’d like to wish you all a very happy new year!

In this blog, we continue picking up the top news updates from those that fellow colleagues have shared on the Among Doctors network. As many of you have already experienced, with this feature we can all become editors by selecting and sharing interesting news with the rest of our network. If you haven’t used it yet, give it try and let us know your thoughts.

Now, back to the latest top news:

  • Effects of cancer screening on overall mortality overstated, says report
    There is insufficient evidence to claim cancer screening saves lives, argue experts in a report published in The BMJ, who call for future studies to assess the impact of cancer screening on overall mortality rather than disease-specific mortality alone.
  • Effect of body surface decolonisation on bacteriuria and candiduria in intensive care units
    Universal decolonisation of patients in the ICU with once a day chlorhexidine baths and short-course nasal mupirocin could be a potential preventive strategy in male patients because it significantly decreases candiduria and any bacteriuria, but not for women.
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Picks of the Week: T2DM guidance, levothyroxine intake, generics and more!

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As physicians, we use the Internet on a daily basis to obtain current health and medical information, and access journal articles and synthesis of evidence-based information. We regularly curate information: we process and appraise vast amounts of content; we select what is relevant and meaningful for our profession, based on our background, interests and knowledge gaps.

But why should this effort go unnoticed? Wouldn’t it be great to share what we personally find interesting, exciting and meaningful -whether it is an important piece of news, an updated scientific guidance or a hot debate? And wouldn’t be fantastic to browse the news that our trusted colleagues have selected for us?

Now, the Among Doctors network enables us to share news updates right from the front page. So let the crowd-sourcing of appraised information begin! In this blog, we will be picking the week’s top updates from those that fellow colleagues have shared on Among Doctors. Without further ado, here are the latest news:

  • Update NICE guidance on the management of type 2 diabetes in adults.
    Since the publication of the 2009 guideline, availability of new evidence and several key developments have prompted an update in the following areas: managing blood glucose levels, antiplatelet therapy and erectile dysfunction.
  • Effects of Evening vs Morning Levothyroxine Intake: A Randomized Double-blind Crossover
    Levothyroxine taken at bedtime significantly improved thyroid hormone levels. Quality-of-life variables and plasma lipid levels showed no significant changes with bedtime vs morning intake. Clinicians should consider prescribing levothyroxine intake at bedtime.
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Picks of the Week: Birth control, prasugrel, syphilis screening and more!

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We continue our reporting of the latest news from those that fellow colleagues have shared on Among Doctors. Here are this week’s picks:

  • Voluntary Birth Control Is a Climate Change Solution Nobody Wants To Talk About
    A growing population means greater environmental strain. The solution could be rooted in women’s rights.
  • A Multinational Trial of Prasugrel for Sickle Cell Vaso-Occlusive Events
    Among children and adolescents with sickle cell anemia, the rate of vaso-occlusive crisis was not significantly lower among those who received prasugrel than among those who received placebo.
  • Screen At-risk Adults, Teens for Syphilis, Says USPSTF
    A draft statement recommends that nonpregnant adults and adolescents who are at increased risk for syphilis be screened for the disease (“A” recommendation).
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