Indispensable Reads - Archive: 2014

Naeem Rahman, M.D.

Association of testosterone therapy with mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke in men with low testosterone levels., JAMA 2013;310:1829-1836.

"This is second study from major publication showing increased cardio risk. Just something to think about."

Azzam Salem, M.D.

Practice bulletin no. 140: management of abnormal cervical cancer screening test results and cervical cancer precursors., Obstet Gynecol. 2013;122:1338-1367.

"This article is an update on pap smear screening – protocol and management of abnormal results. "

Ram R. Kancherla, M.D.

How Long Have I Got Left?, New York Times. January 24, 2014.

"As physician caregivers we do our best to meet our patients expectations, but it is often challenging when we are pressed to give statistics as we balance the world of medical reality. "

The Survival Time of Chocolates on Hospital Wards: Covert ObservationalStudy, BJM.  December 2013.

"Interesting read. 
Happy Valentine's Day!"

Adele El Kareh, MD, PhD

IV Vitamin C Boosts Chemo's Cancer-Fighting Power? WebMD News.  February 5, 2014.

Abstract: High-dose parenteral ascorbate enhanced chemosensitivity of ovarian cancer and reduced toxicity of chemotherapy. Sci Transl Med. February 5, 2014.

Full Text: Effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C on inflammation in cancer patients. J Transl Med. September 2012.

"Food for Thought."

Adele El Kareh, MD, PhD

Where are we on worms? Curr Opin Gastroenterol. November 2012.

"Worms and us."

Tamer Sargios, MD, FACG 

DO PPIs have unintended consequences in the ICU? Reuters Health. February 21, 2014.

"Insight on the importance of proper use of proton pump inhibitors in the ICU setting."

Aruna Bakhru, MD, FACP 

An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Energy Medicine. Poughkeepsie Journal.

"Energy Medicine was known and practiced by almost all the ancient great civilizations and is now being newly rediscovered by the West. Biomedical research is now moving in the direction of a new model for the human body, the Energy field model."

John Choi, MD

A Systematic Assessment of Benefits and Risks to Guide Breast Cancer Screening Decisions. JAMA. April 2014. 

"An interesting article"       

Mary Dunne, MD

A ‘Code Death’ for Dying Patients. NY Times. April 2014. 

Dr. Dunne quotes Eric Cassell, MD as to why this article is important:

“The relief of suffering and the cure of diseasemust be seen as twin obligations of a medical profession that is truly dedicated to the care of the sick. Physicians’ failure to understand the nature of suffering can result in medical intervention that (though technically adequate) not only fails to relieve suffering but becomes a source of suffering itself.”—Cassell EJ. The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine. NEngl JMed. 1982Mar 18;306(11):639–45.

Russell Tigges, MD

Perioperative Pain Management in Joint Replacement. April 2014.    

Peter Varunok, MD

Treatment of HCV with ABT-450/r- Ombitasvir and Dasabuvir with Ribavirin NEJM April 24, 2014
"A non interferon treatment that has shown to cure a great number of patients."  --Dr. Varunok

Mary Dunne, MD

Medicine’s Top Earners Are Not the M.D.s. New York Times. May 17, 2014
"...the biggest bucks are currently earned not through the delivery of care, but from overseeing the business of medicine."

Sijo Padannamackal, PA

The Cost of Obesity. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. May 7, 2014
"...Every 5-unit increase of body mass index (BMI) over 30 kg/m² is associated with increased costs of $250 to $300 for primary total knee arthroplasty and $600 to $650 for revision total knee arthroplasty."
Click here to read the original article.

Mary L. Dunne, MD

Patients' End-of-Life Wishes Granted, Study Finds. The Wall Street Journal. June 9, 2014
"Patients who document their end-of-life wishes using a special medical form get the specific care they want in their final days, according to a study published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society."

Patrick Bafuma, PA-C

Outpatient Versus Hospitalization Management for Uncomplicated Diverticulitis: A Prospective, Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial (DIVER Trial). Annals of Surgery. January 2014 

Randomized clinical trial of antibiotics in acute uncomplicated diverticulitis. Br. J. Surg. April 2012 (Abstract)

Important reads "For two reasons: (1) to reiterate that the reason for admission/observation is for intractable pain in uncomplicated (nonperforated) diverticulitis, not because of potential deterioration (whereas for pneumonia, that should be the reason for admission/obs).

(2) as part of a broader argument to reiterate early conversion to PO antibiotics no matter the infectious process will decrease length of stay without changes in morbidity/mortality."

Aruna Bakhru, MD, FACP

Aruna Bakhru, MD, FACP. Diabetes Mellitus from an Ayurvedic Perspective: Are East and West Beginning to Meet! Reconnections, The Green Brain Intiative. July 2014 (pg. 46)

"Disease in Ayurveda comes to teach, at a soul level. Once the lesson is learned, the disease falls away."

 
Ronald Tatelbaum, MD, FACC

The ProCESS Trial--A New Era of Sepsis Management. NEJM. May 2014.
(If you are not on the network, access requires the library username/pw)

"The critical role of the clinician in the early recognition of sepsis continues to this day to be fundamental to our efforts to improve the rate of survival"

 
 American Society of Anesthesiologists/ Wall Street Journal

Mary Dunne, MD

Doctors Upset over Skills Review. Wall Street Journal. July 2014.
(Follow link, click on top link)

"The medical community is embroiled in a bitter debate about what board-certified physicians should be required to do to prove that their knowledge and skills are up-to-date."

 
Suleman Khawaja, MD

Factors Contributing to Emergency Department Care Within 30 Days of Hospital Discharge and Possible Ways to Prevent it.  Journal of Hospital Medicine. May 2014.

(Abstract only.  Contact vbmclibrary@health-quest.org for full text article)

"It illustrates the continued struggle to understand the attributable and potentially modifiable factors driving hospital readmissions and post-discharge ED visits. It seems that causation of readmissions is still in large part in the eye of the beholder, and we have a lot of work to do before we understand the problem well enough to develop intelligent solutions."

 
Salvatore Buffa, MD

Oral, Capsulized, Frozen Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
for Relapsing Clostridium difficile Infection

JAMA online. Oct 2014.

"With the emergence of persistant refractory cases of C-Diff to standard antibiotic therapy, the consideration of fecal transplant has become a viable alternative."

Evan Goldfischer, MD

Impact of Low Testosterone on Response to Treatment with Tadalafil 5 mg Once Daily for Erectile Dysfunction.

Urology. Jun 2014.

"In men with partial response to a PRN PDE5I, tadalafil 5 mg once daily significantly improved ED and sexual function vs placebo irrespective of testosterone levels."

Salvatore Buffa, MD

A Diet Low in FODMAPs Reduces Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome​.

Gastroenterology. Jan 2014.

"In a controlled, cross-over study of patients with IBS, a diet low in FODMAPs effectively reduced functional gastrointestinal symptoms. This high-quality evidence supports its use as a first-line therapy​." -excerpt from abstract