Ishmeal Bradley MD
Faculty peer reviewed
As America enters Year Two of the current economic recession, unemployment and underemployment still remain incontrovertibly high. Not surprisingly, doctors, like other Americans, are working fewer hours these days, too. The New York Times published the result of a study from JAMA this week about the decline in the number of hours that physicians put in per week (1, 2). In their population survey study, they queried over 27,000 doctors from 1977 to…
Emily Taylor, MD
Can your case of seasonal affective disorder be cured by a healthy dose of the Vancouver Olympics? A commentary in this week’s JAMA addressed the Winter Olympics as a prime opportunity to promote safety helmets for alpine sports. There are approximately 600,000 ski-slope injuries a year, of which 15-20% include traumatic brain injury. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is quoted as claiming that 44% of these injuries are preventable by wearing a safety helmet, but despite these strong recommendations,…
Rachel Bond, MD
Faculty peer reviewed
August 12, 2003. Rosuvastatin aka Crestor becomes FDA approved in combination with diet and exercise to increase HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), reduce total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B, non-HDL cholesterol and triglycerides in patients with known hyperlipidemia and mixed dyslipidemia. Additionally, guidelines propose the use of statins in patients with hyperlipidemia and diabetes and/or established vascular disease. These effects have been shown to slow down the progression of atherosclerosis and ultimately reduce…
Rachana Jani, MD
Faculty peer reviewed
Women’s health stepped into the spotlight this week as the public and the media painted New York City red for cardiovascular awareness. And appropriately so, as new information about heart disease in women continues to emerge. In the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, a population-based study found that elderly women with gout were at increased risk of acute myocardial infarction compared to men with this ailment. De Vera et al found that…
Carolina Cabral MD
Faculty peer reviewed
As the world continues to witness the earthquake aftermath in Haiti, the stories and statistics become more unsettling. As the New York Times reported this week, after the devastating earthquake struck what was already one of the world’s most impoverished nations, Haiti saw the collapse or severe damage of 20,000 commercial buildings and 225,000 residences (1). The death toll has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area alone, not to mention those who…
Jon-Emile Kenny MD
Faculty peer reviewed
As the leading cause of death in the United States (1), cardiovascular disease enjoys much basic and clinical research. This week’s PrimeCuts will focus on recent inquiry and review pertaining to this vital system.
JAMA reported that researchers have highlighted a putative link between omega-3 fatty acids and molecular aging in patients with baseline coronary heart disease (2). Telomeres are important lengths of DNA at the ends of chromosomes. Due to…
Megha Shah, MD
Facutly Peer Reviewed
As you sit down to read this week’s Primecuts, just take a few moments to think about those affected by the tradegy in Haiti. The devastating earthquake that shook the small nation early last week not only affected the nine million inhabitants that call it home but people all over the world, including, as we do live in a global city, our colleagues, neighbors, and patients. As members of the medical community, it…
Kathir Palanisamy MD
Faculty peer reviewed
With the recent Christmas day terrorist attack fresh in our memories, the New York Times published an article about some of the health risks of the proposed whole body airport scanners. The two major technologies used in these whole body scanners are backscatter and millimeter wave. Backscatter scanners use ionizing radiation, about 1% of the amount used in dental x-rays. To put this into perspective according to Robert Barish’s book, “The Invisible…
Ramin Hastings MD
Faculty peer reviewed
While the journals and media continue to focus on the H1N1 virus, an article published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) sparked a good deal of controversy. In fact, the New York Times referenced the study in an article entitled, “F.D.A to Seek New Standards on Human Tests (1).” Dhruva et al set out to study the premarket approval process for medical devices and the quality of the evidence used…
Kevin Hsueh, MD
This week finally sees the passage of a belated, but significant milestone in healthcare reform in the United States. On Christmas Eve ’09, the Senate passed its version of the healthcare reform bill, potentially setting in motion a radical shift in the way health coverage is provided in the United States. Of course, significant political wrangling still is yet to be done, as both the House and Senate versions need to be reconciled prior to…
Sarah Lee, MD
As the national healthcare debate rages on and while winter decides to give us a premature hello, Primecuts turns its view towards the overuse of antibiotics in the Petri dish we call the intensive care unit, more discussion on the HIV vaccine we discussed last week, the plight of the uninsured and an in depth analysis of the Tiger Woods story… ok now that we have your attention…
Throughout the world today, infection continues to…
Joshua Strauss MD
Faculty peer reviewed
The weather in the Northeast dipped below freezing over the weekend, along with our first snowfall of the season. Breaking out the heavy coats, scarves and gloves, we have become acutely aware that the winter is fast approaching. This also means that we are still in the midst of flu season. Of course, this flu season is not a typical one, with the country worrying about both the seasonal flu as well as the…
