Thu, August 23 – 10 Stories of The Day!

1 – Podcast: #109: Things We Do For No Reason: A High Value Episode – The Curbsiders (free audio and summary)

Related Series: Choosing Wisely: Things We Do For No Reason – Journal of Hospital Medicine (some free articles)

2 – Perspective: Outbreaks in a Rapidly Changing Central Africa — Lessons from Ebola – New England Journal of Medicine (free)

Related: Experimental Ebola treatments OK’d in DRC as cases top 100 – CIDRAP (free) AND Congo approves more experimental Ebola treatments as cases rise – Reuters (free)

3 – Sport Specialization and Risk of Overuse Injuries: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis – Pediatrics (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentary: Sport specialization tied to injuries in kids and teens – Reuters (free)

4 – Asthma and COPD Overlap in Women: Incidence and Risk Factors – Annals of the American Thoracic Society (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: More than 40 percent of women with asthma may develop COPD, but risk may be reduced – Annals of Thoracic Society (free) AND Four in 10 women with asthma may develop COPD – Reuters (free) AND Four in 10 women with asthma may develop COPD – OnMedica (free)

5 – Perspective: Exploring the Relationship Between Depression and Dementia – JAMA (free for a limited period)

6 – Association Between Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction – American Journal of Preventive Medicine (free for a limited period)

Commentary: Risk of heart attacks is double for daily e-cigarette users – University of California – San Francisco, via ScienceDaily (free)

“New analysis shows five-fold risk for people who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes daily”

7 – Phosphate binders for preventing and treating chronic kidney disease‐mineral and bone disorder (CKD‐MBD) – Cochrane Library (free for a limited period)

Summary: Phosphate binders to prevent complications of chronic kidney disease – Cochrane Library (free)

8 – Extended antibiotic infusions could save lives: Here’s how to do it – PulmCCM (free)

Related Research: Mortality lower with prolonged vs. short-term IV infusion of antipseudomonal beta-lactams (free)

“The simplest (and cheapest) technique is simply to reduce the time between doses.”

9 – Seven days of antibiotics were as good as 14 for gram-negative bacteremia – PulmCCM (free)

Related Commentary: Seven-day antibiotic course delivers similar outcomes to 14-days for Gram-negative bacteraemia – European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, via EurekAlert (free)

“It’s important to note that source control was believed to be achieved in all enrolled patients. If source control cannot be achieved (e.g., an abscess, or an infected heart valve or indwelling catheter that cannot safely be removed), prolonged antibiotic courses are often advisable.”

10 – Breastfeeding History and Risk of Stroke Among Parous Postmenopausal Women in the Women’s Health Initiative – Journal of the American Heart Association (free)

Commentaries: Breastfeeding linked to lower stroke risk – Reuters (free) AND Breastfeeding may help protect mothers against stroke – AHA News (free)

“…ultimately, the study is observational, which means that it can only prove that breastfeeding is associated with lower risk of stroke as opposed to being the cause of the lowered risk.” (from Reuters)