Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for June-July 2013:Does Cigarette Smoking Make You Ugly and Old? Am. J. Epidemiol. Association of smoking and facial wrinkling may convince young persons not to begin smoking & older smokers to quit http://buff.ly/16g6NJe
"I COUGH" mnemonic: Reducing Postoperative Pulmonary Complications http://buff.ly/1e7ln6J
Perioperative beta blockers linked to lower 30-day mortality in patients with 2 or more Revised Cardiac Risk Index http://buff.ly/14PlJQq
"Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is the new enemy within. We make it in our bowels" http://buff.ly/ZiM7KA
An Exercise Plan for Middle Age: walking is, physiologically and logistically, the simplest exercise. Or just do push-ups and squats in your living room. Start with one push-up, if that’s all that you can do, and progress to 15 or 20. http://buff.ly/10Ro3Fd
Adenotonsillectomy for Childhood Sleep Apnea does not improve attention or executive function. However, as compared with the watchful-waiting group, the early-adenotonsillectomy group had significant improvement on polysomnographic, behavioral, symptomatic, and quality-of-life measures. However, 46% of the patients in the watchful-waiting group had a normalization of polysomnographic findings after 7 months - NEJM http://buff.ly/167Vndb and http://bit.ly/14xa1WZ
Short Stature - NEJM blog http://bit.ly/XoQ8Sj
Psychiatrist:“It’s not ‘doing nothing. It’s ‘doing no-thing" http://buff.ly/14A9WD3 -- Don't Do Something; Just Sit There - NYTimes.
Dog ownership is associated with decreased cardiovascular risk (AHA Scientific Statement) http://buff.ly/11zNHaZ
Don’t Take Your Vitamins - NYTimes: Supplemental vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene, taken to prevent cancers, actually increased mortality. What explains the connection between supplemental vitamins and increased rates of cancer and mortality? Antioxidants. Free radicals aren’t as evil as advertised. People need them to kill bacteria and eliminate new cancer cells http://buff.ly/11zO7OF
How to interpret surveys in medical research: A practical approach from the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine http://buff.ly/13CGs7g
Electronic siloing: An unintended consequence of the electronic health record http://buff.ly/167i7Fh -- "We asked for the EHR to look like paper, and we got it, and that has truly affected the way we practice & interact" http://buff.ly/13CHf87 -- Physician and EMR: "Some patients offer to type in their information for me—a bonding experience I could do without" http://buff.ly/13CHq3g
Paget disease of bone: Diagnosis and drug therapy - free review from CCJM 2013 http://buff.ly/167idwF
Practical management of bleeding due to the anticoagulants dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban - free review, CCJM http://buff.ly/167iUpO
A Decade of Reversal: An Analysis of 146 Contradicted Medical Practices http://bit.ly/163NNf6 -- Blog comment: Every 10 years scientific evidence causes a reversal of established medical practice in 40% of reported studies http://buff.ly/16g6VIU
The articles were selected from my Twitter and RSS streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases AT gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.