Top medicine articles for April 2014

A collection of some interesting medical articles published recently:

Vitamin D supplements are taken by nearly half of American adults. Low levels of vitamin D are a result, not a cause, of poor health. Therefore, supplement may not help http://buff.ly/Ml153n -- Vitamin D supplement sales increased more than 10-fold, from $24 million in 2002 to $605 million in 2011 (US data) http://buff.ly/Mo7Ykj

"Is Your Stethoscope Going to Join Typewriter in the Storage Closet?" http://buff.ly/1dILsbh - However, you can't listen to lungs with ultrasound.

Coffee Hydrates as Well as Water http://buff.ly/1i5Rc3V - Study defined moderate intake of coffee as 4 cups per day.

Caramel color: The health risk that may be in your soda (no real caramel there, it's 4-MeI). Artificial caramel coloring contains a potentially carcinogenic chemical called 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI). Caramel color is the single most used food coloring in the world http://buff.ly/1fmZwfn

Older adults with impaired hearing may have a faster rate of "brain shrinkage" as they age http://buff.ly/1fdxRwI

For preventing colds, frequent hand washing came out on top (review study) http://buff.ly/1fmZLad

Whole Foods Bans Produce Grown With Sludge made from municipal waste and feces/urine "biosolids" http://buff.ly/1dUhNQK


Study: Children's Vitamins Contain Far More Than Recommended Amounts (except vitamin D) http://buff.ly/1fdyw1e

Adrenal "Incidentalomas" May Increase Cardiovascular Risk http://buff.ly/1fdz1rZ - Follow-up and clinical monitoring may be indicated.

Are Dietary FODMAPs a Cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome? (Fermentable, Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides, And Polyols). IBS symptoms improved with a diet low in short-chain carbohydrates (FODMAPs - fructose, lactose, polyol sweeteners) http://buff.ly/1fdzBWJ -- Fodmaps are sugars that draw water into GI tract (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosacch, polyols) http://buff.ly/1CQpQcc

Pesticide Byproduct Linked to Alzheimer's Disease (DDT metabolite) http://buff.ly/1fn1bSc

We Are Giving Ourselves Cancer: CTs, once rare, are now routine. One in 10 Americans undergo a CT scan every year. 3-5% of all future cancers may result from exposure to medical imaging. A single CT scan exposes a patient to amount of radiation that epidemiologic evidence shows can be cancer-causing. Radiation doses of CT scans are 100 to 1,000 times higher than conventional X-rays (depends on the type of scan) http://buff.ly/1fs0whD

The articles were selected from Twitter and my RSS subscriptions. 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.