Curated News: JAMA

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Two Johns Hopkins prostate cancer researchers found significant disparities when they submitted identical patient samples to two different commercial liquid biopsy providers. Liquid biopsy is a new and noninvasive alternative to tumor tissue sequencing, and it is intended to specifically detect and sequence tumor DNA circulating in patients’ blood. The results are used to help guide doctors to tailor the best treatment for patients at each point of their disease.

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High-intensity exercise three times a week is safe for individuals with early-stage Parkinson’s disease and decreases worsening of motor symptoms, according to a new phase 2, multi-site trial led by Northwestern Medicine and University of Denver scientists.

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Nearly half of the people who enrolled in Medicaid after it expanded in Michigan have jobs, a new study finds. Another 11 percent can’t work, likely due to serious physical or mental health conditions. And about 1 in 4 enrollees are out of work but also are much more likely to be in poor health. The new findings may inform discussions of potential work requirements for poor and near-poor Americans who qualify for expanded Medicaid.

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Research Could Lead to New Treatment for Solar Retinopathy

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Study of Electrocardiogram Readings in National Basketball Association (NBA) Players Highlights Value of Sport-Specific Normative Data and Guidelines. The findings were published on Dec. 6 in JAMA Cardiology.

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Some surgeons might be able to prescribe a third of opioid painkiller pills that they currently give patients, and not affect their level of post-surgery pain control, a new study suggests. That would mean far fewer opioids left over to feed the ongoing national crisis of misuse, addiction and overdose.

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Substitute, for-hire physicians commonly care for hospitalized patients when doctors are sick or away. Information about outcomes is largely lacking, but a new study brings some much-needed insight. Results show no differences in 30-day mortality rates among patients treated by temporary physicians.

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Results of a national survey of more than 800 physicians suggest that their experiences with patients, family members and friends with breast cancer are linked with their recommendations for routine mammograms.

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The number of doctors and advance practitioners in the United States who focus on nursing home care rose by more than a third between 2012 and 2015, according to a new study published today in JAMA from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Of all physicians and advance practitioners who do any work in nursing homes, 21 percent now specialize in nursing home care. The authors say the trend suggests the rise of a significant new specialty in medical practice, though how it will affect patient outcomes and continuity of care is yet to be seen.

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More and more Americans have health insurance that requires them to open their wallets for the first few thousand dollars’ worth of care they receive every year, before the insurance coverage kicks in. But a new study suggests that despite the rise in these high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), most Americans who have them aren’t saving, shopping around for better prices, talking to their doctors about costs, or making other consumer-type moves.

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A quarter of newly diagnosed cancer patients 65 or older are survivors who had a prior cancer – often preventing them from participating in clinical trials, researchers from UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center have found.

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New research by UT Southwestern cardiologists counters long-held beliefs that hospitals performing greater numbers of heart valve surgeries have better outcomes.

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A University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center study shows over the past decade the proportion of cataract surgeries performed at surgery centers has outpaced surgeries done in hospitals.

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Diagnosing a concussion can sometimes be a guessing game, but clues taken from small molecules in saliva may be able to help diagnose and predict the duration of concussions in children, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

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By analyzing data from randomized clinical trials comparing blood transfusion approaches, Johns Hopkins experts, along with colleagues at Cleveland Clinic and NYU Langone Medical Center, endorse recommendations for blood transfusions that reduce blood use to improve patient safety and outcomes. Publishing this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, the report also provides a how-to guide for launching a patient blood management program.

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Using smartphone cameras, parents can reliably take high-quality photographs of their child’s skin condition to send to a dermatologist for diagnosis. This finding suggests that direct-to-patient dermatology can accurately provide pediatric dermatology care.

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Patients who go to the emergency room (ER) with chest pain often receive unnecessary tests to evaluate whether they are having a heart attack, a practice that provides no clinical benefit and adds hundreds of dollars in health-care costs, according to a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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New national research led by Jonathan Lass, MD of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center has found that corneal donor tissue can be safely stored for 11 days before transplantation surgery to correct eye problems in people with diseases of the cornea. This is four days longer than the current conventional maximum of seven days in the United States.

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In an analysis of the impact of parity laws published in JAMA Oncology, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and collaborators from Harvard Medical School report modest improvements in costs for many patients. However, patients who were already paying the most for their medications, saw their monthly costs go up.

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Genes linked to schizophrenia in psychiatric patients suffering from bipolar disorder are the reason why such patients don't respond to the "gold standard" treatment for bipolar – the drug lithium – according to international research led by the University of Adelaide.

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Study findings highlight need for manufacturing and testing standards and federal government oversight.

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Business experts estimate that the market for Cannabidiol (CBD) products will grow to more than $2 billion in consumer sales within the next three years. While interest in this area continues to grow, little has been done to ensure regulation and oversight of the sale of products containing CBD.

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A clinical trial involving hundreds of participants has shown that one of the most frequently prescribed antidepressants may not benefit millions of patients who also have chronic kidney disease.

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A combination of two antibiotics is often prescribed to treat community-acquired pneumonia in children but a JAMA Pediatrics study is now showing that using just one of the two has the same benefit to patients in most case

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Half the dollars spent on health care in America have something to do with a surgical procedure – including post-surgery care to fix problems that could have been prevented. A Michigan-based model for making surgery safer, and avoiding complications, could have a major impact on the nation’s health and bottom line, but needs federal support to go national.

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Study by Kellogg Eye Center reveals double vision associated with 850,000 outpatient and emergency department visits annually but life-threatening diagnoses are rare.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a pathway in the brain that seems to connect exposure to adverse experiences during early childhood with depression and problems with physical health in teens and preteens.

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But in Philadelphia, just 36 days after the tax went into effect, stores raised their retail soda prices by a whopping 93 percent of the tax. “I was surprised by how much of the Philadelphia tax was passed on to consumers in such a short period of time,” said Cawley.

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Analyzing samples from a prospective study, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that human exposure to glyphosate, a chemical widely found in weed killers, has increased approximately 500 percent since the introduction of genetically modified crops.

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A team led by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy has published the first population-based study that comprehensively examines pediatric patients’ risk of developing type 2 diabetes after beginning treatment with an antidepressant.

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A new study shows that using small financial incentives and accessible monitoring tools such as wireless glucometers and apps may motivate young people to engage in playing a more active role in the management of their condition. The results show that participants in the intervention group, where a $60 monthly credit was on the line, were nearly three times more likely to achieve daily glucose monitoring goals. The authors say the study, published today in JAMA Pediatrics, shows that the strategy may be an effective way to reach a population that has historically been considered difficult to engage.

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Penn Medicine study illuminates how seniors cope with Alzheimer’s-risk biomarker results

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In a review article publishing this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, physicians at Johns Hopkins, along with experts from several other institutions across north America, compiled published evidence and crafted an experience-based quality improvement blueprint to reduce repetitive lab testing for hospitalized patients.

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The number of newly diagnosed cancer patients who were uninsured fell by one-third in the first year of the Affordable Care Act's implementation, according to research from Indiana University. The research, published in a research letter by JAMA Oncology, also found significant gains in those covered for treatments of various cancers, among various demographic groups and stages of diagnosis.

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A rare cancer in patients with breast implants may be on the rise, but not all patients and physicians may be aware of the risks associated with the procedure, according to a group of Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

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The results of a national cancer survey find a significant number of childhood cancer survivors are worried about keeping their health insurance, to the point of letting it affect their career decisions. The findings were published today in JAMA Oncology.

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A recent study by a team of investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Keck Medicine of USC, provides proof of concept for a safe and effective way to derive genetic information from a retinoblastoma tumor.

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A group of international cancer researchers led by investigators from Mayo Clinic and University of New South Wales Sydney has found that the level of a type of white blood cell, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer may predict a patient’s survival.

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African American women were found to be twice as likely to be diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy as compared to women of Caucasian, Hispanic/Latina, Asian, and other ethnic backgrounds, according to a new study—the largest of its kind—published today in JAMA Cardiology by researchers from the Perelman school of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Johns Hopkins researchers report that the level, or “copy number,” of mitochondrial DNA—genetic information stored not in a cell’s nucleus but in the body’s energy-creating mitochondria—is a novel and distinct biomarker that is able to predict the risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths a decade or more before they happen. In the future, testing blood for this genetic information could not only help physicians more accurately predict a risk for life-threatening cardiac events, but also inform decisions to begin—or avoid—treatment with statins and other drugs.

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A commentary in JAMA Internal Medicine calls for improved oversight and transparency for compounded bioidentical hormone therapies.

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Researchers report in JAMA Dermatology that surgical treatment delays – defined as surgery that occurred more than six weeks after diagnosis – were common. Medicaid patients were 36 percent more likely than private insurance patients to experience delays.

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New research shows families who used activity trackers with specially designed gaming elements increased daily step counts by nearly one mile per day and achieved daily fitness goals 27 percent more than families who did not.

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An analysis reveals that the branded form of a synthetic progestin for the prevention of recurrent preterm births costs 5,000 percent more than the compounded, made-to-order version of the medication despite having the same active ingredients and being clinically interchangeable.

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A new study finds that genetic testing can help determine the safest dose of the blood thinner warfarin, with fewer side effects, in patients undergoing joint replacement surgery.

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Do you really need that MRI? Your doctor may order an MRI based on factors other than your actual medical need for imaging, researchers in UT Southwestern’s Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research found. Their study in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that a physician’s prior image-ordering habits, as well as ownership of the equipment, were strong indicators of unnecessary imaging orders.

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Largest study to date identifies gender-specific patterns of autism and related disorders occurrence among sibling pairs.

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Findings of a new and comprehensive study from FSU College of Medicine Associate Professor Antonio Terracciano and colleagues, published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, has found no evidence to support the idea that personality changes begin before the clinical onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

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Victims of gunshots and stabbings are significantly less likely to die if they’re taken to the trauma center by a private vehicle than ground emergency medical services (EMS), according to results of a new analysis.

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In addition to caring for U.S. troops and coalition forces during conflicts in the Middle East, U.S. military surgeons also provided humanitarian surgical care to nearly 6,000 local national Afghan adult patients over the course of a decade, according to a study published Sept. 13 in JAMA Surgery.