Thu, July 13 – 10 Stories of The Day!

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)