Curated News: JAMA

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A new study seeks to determine long-term satisfaction and regret following gender-affirming mastectomy.

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It has been known for several years that the diagnosis “multiple sclerosis” conceals a whole range of different illnesses, each requiring customized treatment. Researchers have now described a possible new MS-like disease and explained how to diagnose it.

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A new study led by Lorraine Kelley-Quon, MD, MSHS, pediatric surgeons at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shows that methadone use in babies after surgery can lead to longer hospital stays.

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In a study publishing Aug. 1, 2023, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the research team found that half of the participants with extensive tobacco exposure have a high level of ongoing respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, daily cough and phlegm, and decreased ability to exercise, but perform well in the breathing tests used to diagnose COPD.

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One common side effect of treatment for ovarian cancer is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which can damage peripheral nerves, causing severe pain and numbness. The effects can last for months – or even years — after completing chemotherapy. Currently, there is only one treatment with limited efficacy for CIPN.

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In new findings from researchers at the American Cancer Society, non-Hispanic Black individuals diagnosed with a second primary cancer experienced 21% higher cancer-related death rates and 41% higher cardiovascular-related death rates compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts.

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Huntsman Cancer Institute investigators find a way to reduce infection after pancreatic surgery, discover the best treatment combination that’s cost effective for prostate cancer patients, and learn lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have more emergency department visits. They also found a genetic mutation that makes anemia more likely after chemotherapy, and a non-invasive way to remove brain tumors.

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Road safety is a critical issue in an era of increasing cannabis legalization. Cannabis is known to impair reaction time, decision-making, coordination and perception—skills necessary for safe driving. In the last three years, California has seen a 62% increase in the number of fatal crashes involving drug-related impairment.

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A new study lends further weight to the idea that vision problems and dementia are linked. In a sample of nearly 3,000 older adults who took vision tests and cognitive tests during home visits, the risk of dementia was much higher among those with eyesight problems – including those who weren’t able to see well even when they were wearing their usual eyeglasses or contact lenses.

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Promising new research suggests a total of just 4.5 minutes of vigorous activity that makes you huff and puff during daily tasks could reduce the risk of some cancers by up to 32 percent.

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There’s no doubt that Aussies love a good celebration. We’re all in when it comes to the weekend, and most of us can’t go past a Christmas celebration without a little bit of overindulging. But all this comes at a cost, and it’s taking a massive toll on our waistline.

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Many families whose transgender children need gender-affirming care will need to drive much further than before because of laws and other actions passed since 2021 in 20 states, a new study shows. Half will need to drive an hour or more; 25% four hours each way.

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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory follicular disease which causes painful lumps to form under the skin. The lumps typically form in areas where skin rubs together – such as the armpits, groin, and under the breasts. HS can range in severity from occasional fluid-filled abscesses to widespread rope-like scarring, chronic pain, and increase of infection.

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The United States has more than 10 times the number of mass shooting incidents than other developed countries, yet little research has shown the distribution and types of shootings, geographically.

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While the incidence of influenza-associated neuropsychiatric events in children in the United States is unknown, the controversy over the use of a common antiviral medication typically administered to treat flu in children has sparked concern among parents and medical professionals alike. The dilemma about whether the treatment causes neuropsychiatric events or if the infection itself is the culprit, led a group of pediatric researchers at Monroe Carell Jr.

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More than 1.4 million times a year, people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia end up in emergency care, making up nearly 7% of all emergency visits for any reason by people over age 65, a new study shows. Compared with their peers who don’t have dementia, these patients have twice the rate of seeking emergency care after an accident or a behavioral or mental health crisis.

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The incidences of teen suicidality including self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts increased nationally between 2016 and 2021; were at seasonal high peaks in April and October; and were at their lowest when schools were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research at UTHealth Houston.

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Penicillin allergy affects more than 25 million people in the United States (up to 1 in 10 Americans) and has been shown to lead to particularly poor health outcomes in pregnant women and surgical patients. It is also a public health threat, leading to antibiotic resistance and infections in hospitalized patients that can be life threatening.

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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) surges in young children occurred outside the usual November to March season, when immune-based prophylactic is available to protect children at high risk for severe illness.

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Rutgers Institute for Health researchers find the majority of MS patients start treatment with oral medications over platform injectables or infusions.

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The number of young people in the United States visiting hospital emergency departments for mental health crises increased sharply during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study led by researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School.

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An experimental form of insulin administered just once a week was safe for patients with Type 2 diabetes and helped them maintain healthy blood sugar levels better than insulin injected daily, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher.

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U.S. military veterans who lived in what were once known as “redlined” areas had a higher risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues, according to a new study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals and the Cleveland VA Medical Center.

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A new national study, led by researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has found whole genome sequencing (WGS) to be nearly twice as effective as a targeted gene sequencing test at identifying abnormalities responsible for genetic disorders in newborns and infants.

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Two drugs commonly used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis did not shorten recovery time for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 but did reduce the likelihood of death when compared with standard care alone, according to a national study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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A unique collaborative study on hospital clinician wellbeing by teams at 60 of the nation’s best hospitals, defined by Magnet Hospital Recognition, was published today in JAMA Health Forum. The study found that physicians and nurses, even at hospitals known to be good places to work, experienced adverse outcomes during the pandemic and want hospital management to make significant improvements in their work environments and in patient safety. The solutions to high hospital clinician burnout and turnover, they say, are not resilience training for clinicians to better cope with adverse working conditions but organizational improvements that provide safe workloads and better work-life balance.

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People who are regular cannabis users are at an increased risk of experiencing complications before, during, and after surgery, according to a study by researchers with UTHealth Houston published today in JAMA Surgery.

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The use of thrombolysis, medications to break up blood clots, for acute ischemic stroke reduces post-stroke disability, but it is underutilized.

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In a peer-reviewed research letter published online today in JAMA, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimate that a Texas abortion ban that went into effect in September 2021 was associated with 9,799 additional live births in the state between April and December 2022.

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A national study of blood ferritin and hemoglobin levels from tween, teen and young adult females suggests routine screening might be needed for iron deficiency and anemia.

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A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that household and community poverty may influence brain health in children. Childhood obesity and lower cognitive function may explain, at least partially, poverty’s influence on the brain.

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Cancer patients with unmet supportive care needs are more likely to experience worse clinical outcomes, including more emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, according to new research from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Following decades of criticism for “cherry-picking” the healthiest patients, Medicare managed care plans now appear to be holding onto sicker patients with more complex health needs, new research has found. The study, which appears today (June 26, 2023) in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that older Americans with demanding health needs were not more likely to disenroll from Medicare Advantage, the increasingly popular managed care option for Americans age 65 and over.

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Most stroke patients taking the anticoagulant warfarin were no more likely than those not on the medication to experience a brain bleed when undergoing a procedure to remove a blood clot, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a new study. The findings, published in JAMA, could help doctors better gauge the risk of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), potentially expanding the pool of eligible patients for this mainstay stroke treatment.

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Patients with congestive heart failure experiencing shortness of breath are less likely to be tested in the emergency department for a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism when the reason for the visit is initially noted as congestive heart failure instead of the broader “shortness of breath”.

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Monthly cash payments to eligible families under the temporary pandemic-era expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit led to better adult health and food security, new UCLA-led research suggests.

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UCSF researchers have found that aggressive blood pressure control can lower the risk of left ventricular conduction disease, a common heart condition that often leads to pacemaker implantation.

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A new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society found children of parents with a cancer history in the United States are more at risk of having unmet needs for housing, food, and other living necessities than their counterparts without a parental cancer history. The findings will be published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open.