Daily Archives: January 30, 2017

Mon, Jan 30 – Top 10 Medical News Stories

30 Jan, 2017 | 00:01h | UTC

 

1 – Beta-blockers for hypertension – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Source: EvidenceAlerts (free resource to find articles of interest in all specialties – registration required)

Beta-blockers are inferior to other antihypertensive drugs and have little or no effects on mortality

 

2 – Combined Treatment With Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine Sulfate Shows No Superiority Over Placebo for Reduction of Joint Pain and Functional Impairment in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Six-Month Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial – Arthritis & Rheumatology

Source: NEJM Journal Watch ($ resource to find articles of interest in all specialties)

Another trial showed this combination is no better than placebo

 

3 – Video: Pain Expert: ‘I Haven’t Prescribed an Opioid in a Decade: Daniel Clauw, MD, states the case for avoiding opioids in chronic pain – MedPage Today (free registration required)

 

4 – Cases of Acute Liver Failure Found in Patients Taking Newer Hepatitis C Drugs – Physician’s First Watch

 

5 – Are New Drugs for Hepatitis C Safe? A Report Raises Concerns – New York Times

 

6 – Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women – Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Source: EvidenceAlerts (free resource to find articles of interest in all specialties – registration required)

Increases the risk after using it for 1 year (combined therapy):

– Coronary Event – from 2 per 1000 a year to between 3 and 7 per 1000.

– Venous Thromboembolism – from 2 per 1000 a year to between 4 and 11 per 1000.

 

Increases the risk with longer use (combined therapy):

– Stroke – after 3 years’ use: from 6 per 1000 to between 6 and 12 per 1000.

– Breast Cancer – after 5.6 years’ use: from 19 per 1000 to between 20 and 30 per 1000

– Gallbladder Disease (after 5.6 years’ use: from 27 per 1000 to between 38 and 60 per 1000

– Death from lung cancer (after 5.6 years’ use plus 2.4 years’ additional follow-up: from 5 per 1000 to between 6 and 13 per 1000)

 

7 – Hybrid zoo: Introducing pig–human embryos and a rat–mouse – Nature News

 

8 – Individualized Venous Thromboembolism Risk Stratification Using the 2005 Caprini Score to Identify the Benefits and Harms of Chemoprophylaxis in Surgical Patients: A Meta-analysis – Annals of Surgery (link to abstract – $ required for full-text)

Source: Medscape – VTE Chemoprophylaxis Not Needed for 75% of Surgery Patients (free registration required)

See also: CAPRINI SCORE: DVT RISK ASSESSMENT Tool (in this meta-analysis, patients with a Caprini Score < or = to 6 didn’t benefit from chemoprophylaxis)

 

9 – Contentious flu vaccine policies at hospitals are based on flawed research, study says – STAT News (RT @Onisillos)

 

10 – Paying doctors bonuses for better health outcomes makes sense in theory. But it doesn’t work – VOX

 

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