Top medicine articles for May-June 2014

A collection of some interesting medical articles published recently:

Why Chocolate Is Good for Us - NYTimes http://buff.ly/1igUILM -- “The evidence does not show that you can eat a chocolate bar every day and expect to improve your health. A few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder sprinkled onto oatmeal or a handful of cocoa nibs — bits of the cacao bean, available at natural-food stores — would be better."

Y chromomose may have stabilized and ceased to lose genes for the last 25 million years http://buff.ly/1igVeto

Adult haemophagocytic syndrome leads to hyperinflammatory response and organ damage - 2014 Lancet review http://buff.ly/1hwAfkz

How do we tell the stories of medicine? The Lancet http://buff.ly/1nP0ZxE

Mysterious symptoms: Canada's oil sands residents complain of health effects http://buff.ly/1nP184b

Colorectal cancer is closely linked to elements of a so-called western lifestyle - 2014 Lancet review http://buff.ly/1nP1dF7

Only 60% of adults aged 50 years and older get screened for colorectal cancer http://buff.ly/1hwB2lm

Transition to westernised lifestyle (high-fat diets and physical inactivity) leads to increase in colorectal cancer http://buff.ly/1hwBgZN

"Dollar bills carry 3,000 types of bacteria" http://buff.ly/1hwCDYp

7% of American schoolchildren (1 in 13) are taking medications for emotional or behavioral difficulties http://buff.ly/1nP2EmW

Alcohol and mortality in Russia (study of 150,000 adults): vodka is a major cause of premature death http://buff.ly/1nP1gAP

One in three Americans has trouble paying the medical bills (survey) http://buff.ly/1jbc9w8

Laughter May Work Like Meditation in the Brain – WebMD http://buff.ly/1m4orpk

Dress to Avoid Tick Bites: Wearing Clothing Pretreated with Insect Repellent Reduced Bites http://buff.ly/1m4pu8S

WebMD: "Type 2 Diabetes May Shrink the Brain" http://buff.ly/1rDz1Ft

FDA approves new COPD medication: once-daily anticholinergic (LAMA) umeclidinium (Incruse Ellipta) http://buff.ly/1rHofhB

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.