Commentary by Jon-Emile Kenny MD, PGY-2 

Those crazy Canadians. My Grandmother would have liked new research from Canada demonstrating that honey is very effective in killing drug-resistant biofilms found in human nares. This adaptive virulence factor seen in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and MRSA has made treating chronic rhinosinusitis difficult for Otolaryngologists. Honey had significantly more bacteriocidal activity compared with commonly used antibiotics. This research will be presented during the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Bare Metal vs.…

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Commentary by Michael Tanner MD, Section Editor, Clinical Correlations

Stormy SEAS for Vytorin

This week the New England Journal published the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis  (SEAS) trial, whose findings had already been widely publicized in July.  The study compared ezetimibe 10/simvastatin 40 mg to placebo in 1873 patients with mild-to-moderate, asymptomatic aortic stenosis. Why a trial of lipid lowering in aortic stenosis, a classically surgical disease?  Because hyperlipidemia has been suggested as a risk factor and some data suggest that…

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Commentary by Rachana Jani MD, PGY-2

This past week has been emotional to say the least. Fall has officially begun and the stock market continues to be in disarray. Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal found time to focus on news other than the current state of our financial system.

The WSJ had brokers reading about denosumab, which may be a much needed jackpot drug for Amgen. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research released the results from the FREEDOM trial, a Phase III study…

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Commentary by Cara Litvin MD, Executive Editor, Clinical Correlations 

It’s been easy to become distracted from medicine with all the other news going on this week. First Ike ravaged Texas and now Wall Street appears to be crumbling. Nevertheless, medical news continues and ShortCuts lives on…

Several themes emerged within journals this week. The focus of the NEJM was on the knee, with two articles devoted to this vulnerable joint. The first reported the results of a randomized trial comparing…

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Commentary by Sandeep Mangalmurti MD, JD, Health Care Policy Section Editor

As the summer of 2008 winds down, I hope everyone looks backward with fond memories. Last week was the Republican National Convention, and I suspect that there will be a great deal of discussion of politics in the upcoming weeks. If you’re a politics junkie, you’ll be in ecstasy. If you hate politics, it may be time to subscribe to HBO. Regardless of your preferences, take this opportunity to register to vote!…

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Commentary by Judith Brenner MD, Associate Editor, Clinical Correlations

In a week dominated by the politics of first, the Democratic National Convention, and later, Senator McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as the VP nominee, reviewing all of this week’s breaking medical news was a welcome relief. I’ll say no more about politics since this is clearly not the right blog to air my opinions except to relay to you a term I learned this week that put it all together for me: zen…

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Commentary by Josh Remick MD, NYU Senior Chief Resident

Well, it’s been quite a week! First there was Obama’s VP buzz putting the world in a frenzy, which finally culminated with his 3am “phone call” telling the world that it would be Senator Biden. Then there was the final week of the 2008 Summer Olympics and what an Olympics it was! We witnessed Phelps and Bolt shatter the record books, we reveled in the “Redeem Team’s” triumph and we thrilled in the amazing…

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Commentary by Danise Schiliro- Chuang MD

Welcome to this week’s edition of ShortCuts. Hoping as always that this post finds you all doing well. For those of you who have taken or who are about to take the boards, congratulations on the end of a most memorable chapter in your life; you are hereby rewarded with some light reading that you will not be tested on. Enjoy. The studies and events that made headlines this week attempt to answer some of our most common…

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Commentary by Michael Poles MD, Associate Editor, Clinical Correlations  

Well, it is early Saturday morning and I am sitting at my keyboard with coffee in hand. Gotta figure out what interesting tidbits from the world of medicine to discuss with you. Certainly, there are plenty of timely issues; the Olympics just began. Should I discuss something related to exercise or to the smog that is enveloping the athletes? This is good coffee. It is mid-summer. Should I discuss the effect of…

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Commentary by Neil Shapiro, Editor in Chief, Clinical Correlations 

Summer. A time for exercise, eating right and staying healthy. It’s a time to take things slow and focus on the lighter side of life. Summer is definitely a time to avoid delving into the deep, heavy, ground breaking stuff. So consider this a disclaimer for this week’s edition of ShortCuts- it’s a few less calories, not quite earth shattering but no less intriguing…ironically keeping with our theme this week , researchers everywhere…

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Commentary by Michael Tanner MD, Section Editor, Clinical Correlations

This week in the Lancet, a study of the life expectancy of HIV-positive patients in affluent countries highlights the amazing gains made in this disease. The Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration reports that a 20-year-old person starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has an average life expectancy of 43 years. A 35-year-old starting cART can look forward to another 32 years of life. That adds up to half-price-Metro-Card eligibility! Life expectancy is 10 years shorter for…

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Commentary by Cara Litvin MD, Executive Editor, Clinical Correlations

First let’s start off with some rare  good news in the political arena. Last week, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to override President Bush’s veto on a controversial Medicare bill that reverses a scheduled 10.6% cut in Medicare payments to doctors.  Senator Edward Kennedy even made a dramatic appearance to cast his vote. The bill also reduces federal payments to private Medicare Advantage plans. The government currently subsidizes Medicare Advantage plans, paying on average 13% more…

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