Dear all,
Greetings from Al-Ain, the Oasis city of the Middle East. Some of you may
recall one of my earlier mails in which I mentioned about a professional
news letter (JSCAN) I produce for circulation among the health professionals
in our district. JSCAN is organised under the following headings and one of
these may be of interest to the list members i.e. Evidence based practice.
Other sections in JSCAN are newer interventions, Smokers' corner, disease
and diagnostics making news, From the pages of Bandolier, Interesting
papers, drug watch, web watch and what you say.
Please find below topics covered in the summer issue which I managed to send
out today to over 100 health professionals in the district. Any
comments/criticisms are most welcome. If you don't want to go through the
list please delete it straight away.
Cheers,
Badri
The Question: What are the risk factors for the development of heart failure
in the elderly?
Risk Factors for Heart Failure in the Elderly: A Prospective Community-based
Study.Ya-Ting C Y-T, Vaccarino V, Christianna S et al. Am J Med
1999;106:605-12.
The Question: Does the addition of metformin to insulin therapy in patients
with type 2 diabetes leads to better glycemic control?
Effects of metformin in patients with poorly controlled, insulin- treated
type 2 diabetes mellitus. A randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled
trial. Aviles-Santa L; Sinding J; Raskin P. Ann Intern Med 1999;131:182-8
The Question: What is the effect of lean red meat (LRM) on serum lipids as
compared to lean white meat (LWM) in subjects with hypercholesterolemia?
Comparison of the effects of lean red meat vs lean white meat on serum lipid
levels among free-living persons with hypercholesterolemia: a long-term,
randomized clinical trial. Davidson MH, Hunninghake D, Maki KC, Kwiterovich
PO, Kafonek S. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:1331-1338.
The Question: Is the mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction
influenced by case mix (patient characteristics) or the quality of care
(physician characteristics)?
Outcome Following Acute Myocardial Infarction. Are Differences Among
Physician Specialties the Result of Quality of Care or Case Mix? Frances
CD, Go AS, Dauterman KW, Deosaransingh K, et al. Arch Intern Med.
1999;159:1429-1436.
The Question: In patients with stable coronary artery disease how good is
aggressive lipid-lowering therapy as compared to angioplasty in reducing the
incidence of ischemic events?
Aggressive lipid-Lowering therapy compared with angioplasty in stable
coronary artery disease. Pitt B, Waters D, Brown WV et al for the
Atorvastatin versus Revascularization Treatment Investigators. N Engl J Med
1999;341:70-6.
The Question: Is Gemfibrozil effective in the secondary prevention of
coronary heart disease in patients with low levels of high density
lipoprotein cholesterol?
Gemfibrozil for the Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in Men
with Low Levels of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol. Rubins HB,Robins
SJ, Collins D, et al. N Engl J Med 1999;341:410-8.
The Question: Does vegetable consumption protects against Non Insulin
Dependent Diabetes Mellitus? (NIDDM)
Frequent salad vegetable consumption is associated with a reduction in the
risk of diabetes mellitus. Williams DE et al. Journal of Clinical
Epidemiology 1999 52: 329-335.
The Question: What is the lowest-dose of Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
that can provide bone-sparing effect when given along with adequate calcium
and vitamin D in elderly women?
The Effect of Low-Dose Continuous Estrogen and Progesterone Therapy with
Calcium and Vitamin D on Bone in Elderly Women: A Randomized, Controlled
Trial. Recker RR, Davies KM, Dowd RM, Heaney RP, Ann Int Med
1999;130:897-904.
The Question: Do older (>65 years) women with prevalent vertebral fractures
have a higher mortality than those without fractures?
Vertebral Fractures and Mortality in Older Women. A Prospective Study: Kado
DM, Browner WS, Palermo L, Nevitt MC, Genant HK, Cummings SR. Arch Intern
Med 1999;159:1215-1220
The Question: Does brisk walking and vigorous exercise affect the subsequent
risk of coronary events among women?
A prospective study of walking as compared with vigorous exercise in the
prevention of coronary heart disease in women. Manson JE, Hu FB,
Rich-Edwards JW et al. N Engl J Med 1999;341:650-8.
The Question: Does brisk walking and vigorous exercise affect the subsequent
risk of coronary events among women?
A prospective study of walking as compared with vigorous exercise in the
prevention of coronary heart disease in women. Manson JE, Hu FB,
Rich-Edwards JW et al. N Engl J Med 1999;341:650-8.
The Question: Does the reduction in newborn’s length of hospital stay
affects subsequent morbidity?
Higher neonatal morbidity after routine early hospital discharge: Are we
sending newborns home too early? Lock M, Ray JG,CMAJ 1999;161:249-53.
The Question: What are the risk factors for hospital-acquired staphylococcus
aureus bacteremia (SAB)?
Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia. Jensen
AG, Wachmann CH, Poulsen KB, Espersen F, et al. Arch Intern Med.
1999;159:1437-1444.
The Question: Is there any epidemiological evidence to show that there is a
causal association between measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and
autism?
Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence
for a causal association. Taylor B, Miller E, Farrington CP, Petropoulos MC
et al. Lancet 1999; 353: 2026-29
The question: Does regular cigar smoking increase the risk of coronary heart
disease and other smoking related disorders?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Cancer in Men. Iribarren C,
Tekawa IS, Sidney S, Friedman GD N Engl J Med 1999;340:1773-80.
The Question: Does in utero exposure to cigarette smoke increases the risk
of middle ear disease (MED) in children aged 5 years?
Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy Is an Independent Predictor for
Symptoms of Middle Ear Disease at Five Years' Postdelivery. Stathis SL,
O'Callaghan M, Williams GM et al. Pediatrics 1999;104: p. e16
The Question: Does treatment with systemic glucocorticoids leads to clinical
improvement among patients hospitalized for exacerbations of COPD?
Effect of systemic glucocorticoids on exacerbations of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease. Niewoehner DE, Erbland ML, Deupree RH, Collins D, Gross
NJ, Light RW, Anderson P, Morgan NA, for the Department of Veterans Affairs
Cooperative Study Group. N Engl J Med 1999;340:1941-7.
The question: How effective are non-surgical treatments in the management of
chronic anal fissure?
A Comparison of Injections of Botulinum Toxin and Topical Nitroglycerin
Ointment for the Treatment of Chronic Anal Fissure. Brisinda G, Maria G,
Bentivoglio AR, Cassetta E, Gui D,Albanese A. N Engl J Med 1999;341:65-9.
The Question: Does active compression-decompression resuscitation leads to
better clinical outcome in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as
compared to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)?
A comparison of standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation and active
compression-decompression resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Plaisance P,Lurie KG, Vicaut E et al, N Engl J Med 1999;341:569-75.
The Question: How effective are commercially available pregnancy testing
kits?
Bastian LA et al. Diagnostic efficiency of home pregnancy kits. Arch Fam Med
1998; 7:465-9 (reviewed in Bandolier)
In diseases and diagnostics maling news I have covered the ongoing E.coli
epidemic in USA and the measles outbreak in Netherlands.
Dr.P.Badrinath M.D.,M.Phil.,(Epid) PhD(Cantab)
Assistant Professor and Epidemiologist,
Department of Community Medicine,
UAE University, PO Box 17666, Al Ain,
United Arab Emirates.
Tel: 00 971 3 5039 652
Fax: 00 971 3 672022.
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