Curated News: JAMA

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Duk-Woo Park, M.D., of the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, and Manesh R. Patel, M.D., of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, N.C., and colleagues investigated the incidence, extent, and location of obstructive non-infarct-related artery (IRA) disease and compared 30-day mortality according to the presence of non-IRA disease in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

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A blocked artery causes a deadly kind of heart attack known as STEMI, and a rapid response to clear the blockage saves lives. But in more than half of cases studied recently by Duke Medicine researchers, one or both of the patient’s other arteries were also obstructed, raising questions about whether and when additional procedures might be undertaken.

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In patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, neither aspirin nor clonidine (a medication primarily used to treat high blood pressure) taken before and after surgery reduced the risk of acute kidney injury, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual Kidney Week meeting.

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Among kidney transplant recipients, a 3-month course of the antibiotic levofloxacin following transplantation did not prevent the major complication known as BK virus from appearing in the urine. The intervention was associated with an increased risk of adverse events such as bacterial resistance, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual Kidney Week meeting.

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Eye screenings via medicine of people with diabetes in underserved communities revealed that one in five had early stage diabetic retinopathy, according to a new study by a research consortium including investigators at UAB.

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Soldiers hospitalized with a psychiatric disorder have a significantly elevated risk for suicide in the year following hospital discharge, according to findings published in JAMA Psychiatry, Nov. 12, 2014. Although this has long been known in the civilian sector, it has never before been studied in the military population.

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A key brain region involved in emotion is smaller in older children diagnosed with depression as preschoolers, and predicts risk of later recurrence, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Among approximately 26,000 women, receipt of the tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine during pregnancy was not associated with increased risk of preterm delivery or small-for-gestational-age birth or with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, although a small increased risk of being diagnosed with chorioamnionitis (an inflammation of the membranes that surround the fetus) was observed, according to a study in the November 12 issue of JAMA.

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Teens and young adults who get seriously injured in an assault are nearly twice as likely as their peers to end up back in the emergency room for a violent injury within the next two years, a new University of Michigan study finds. The researchers call this repeating pattern of violent injury a reoccurring disease.

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November 5, 2014 – In the next 15 years, more than one in 10 colon cancers and nearly one in four rectal cancers will be diagnosed in patients younger than the traditional screening age, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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An important addition to the “eat less, move more” strategy for weight loss lies in behavioral counseling to achieve these goals. But research on how primary care practitioners can best provide behavioral weight loss counseling to obese patients in their practices — as encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — remains slim, according to a systematic review of this topic published today in JAMA. The study was led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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An important addition to the “eat less, move more” strategy for weight loss lies in behavioral counseling to achieve these goals. But research on how primary care practitioners can best provide behavioral weight loss counseling to obese patients in their practices — as encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — remains slim, according to a systematic review of this topic published today in JAMA. The study was led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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A recently awarded grant will fund a human clinical trial in type 1 diabetes beginning in early 2015 to see if verapamil will have an effect in humans by attacking the disease where it occurs. Meanwhile, more small molecule drugs at UAB are in development.

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A common drug used to clean a person’s bowels before a colonoscopy could become the future standard of care for patients with acute hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a mental disorientation problem that affects up to one in two cirrhosis patients. The finding comes from new research, known as the “HELP Clinical Trial,” that appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine on Sept. 22.

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Patients with tinnitus hear phantom noise and are sometimes so bothered by the perceived ringing in their ears, they have difficulty concentrating. A new therapy does not lessen perception of the noise but appears to help patients cope better with it in their daily lives, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Both agave nectar and a placebo were more effective than no treatment for young children's cough symptoms, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. The findings suggest that a placebo could help children more than "watchful waiting."

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In an analysis that included approximately 35,000 participants, genetic predisposition to elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was associated with aortic valve calcium and narrowing of the aortic valve, findings that support a causal association between LDL-C and aortic valve disease, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

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In response to research indicating that healthcare costs go down when physicians are shown the cost of tests at the time of ordering, a pair of medical ethicists at Johns Hopkins have outlined the ethical issues that need consideration when designing and displaying prices for physicians.