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…
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!…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Commentary by Bani Chander MD, PGY-3
Childhood obesity, foodborne illness and the evil pharmaceutical industy…sorry to start your day off with some gloomy topics, but the news is full of it these days. Let’s get started.
Childhood obesity, as we know, has been on the rise, and children are starting not only to eat, but to walk, talk, and act like adults. Now should we also start treating them like adults? This week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a new…
Commentary by Judith Brenner MD, Associate Program Director, NYU Internal Medicine Residency Program
Happy July 4th! As we celebrate our nation’s 232nd birthday, I sit here wondering what “shortcuts” might have looked like in 1776. Smallpox inoculation might have made the cut. Apparently people like Thomas Jefferson inoculated themselves and their families against this dreaded disease via inhalation. It wasn’t until 20 years later, in 1796, that Dr. Edward Jenner discovered that he could protect people from smallpox by vaccinating them using cowpox. …
Commentary by Danise Schiliro- Chuang MD
Welcome to the wide world of shortcuts. While I hope this post comes to you from your laptop while you’re relaxing on the beach with a cool drink, I realize this is likely not the case. Hopefully, reading this post will be refreshing enough.
Also before we start, a warm welcome to the new intern class! We hope that you’re settling in to life as an MD with ease and that you will enjoy shortcuts for…
