The new American College of Gastroenterology guideline on ulcerative colitis is discussed by one of its authors, David T. Rubin, MD, from the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago, and Maylyn Martinez, MD, also from the University of Chicago.
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Acute pancreatitis can be a devastating disease. Complications of pancreatitis can be minimized by appropriate early, initial management. Joe Hines, MD, and Raman Muthusamy, MD, from UCLA discuss the recent American Gastroenterological Association guideline on managing acute pancreatitis.
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Patients with serious disease fear the unknown. A physician with a serious disease knows the potential outcomes, making it far more difficult to cope. How does a physician react to developing cancer? Adam Stern, MD, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, developed metastatic renal cell carcinoma when he was just 33 years old. He wrote about his experiences as a cancer patient in a Piece of My Mind article in the March 3, 2020, issue of JAMA and spoke about this to JAMA Clinical Reviews.
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Before COVID-19, even though most children got vaccinated for measles, too many did not, resulting in worsening outbreaks of measles. People forgot how bad a disease measles is and became lax about getting their children vaccinated. Now in the COVID-19 era everyone is aware of what an out-of-control infectious disease can do and we are all anxiously awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine. Will this experience help encourage parents to get their children vaccinated? We discussed the problems of an adequate measles vaccination with Dr. Saad Omer, PhD, from the Yale Institute for Global Health at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, flu season is almost upon us. This is concerning because there will be an overlap between flu and COVID-19 and patients could get both diseases. Daniel Solomon, MD, from the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, discusses COVID-19 and how the flu might pan out this year.
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One of the most contentious issues relating to COVID-19 is when to reopen schools. This is a complicated matter because placing people in close quarters risks spread of the disease. Yet children being at home makes it difficult for their working parents to manage their affairs and can potentially affect the learning experience. JAMA Associate Editor Preeti Malani, MD, chief health officer for the University of Michigan, discusses school reopening and how the University of Michigan is addressing this problem.
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Association Between Statewide School Closure and COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in the US
The use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 serves as an example of what is wrong with medical information being widely disseminated before it is thoroughly vetted by peer review. Preliminary studies of this treatment modality were spread widely, creating false hope that a treatment for COVID-19 existed. Several randomized trials have shown that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective therapy for COVID-19.
David Juurlink, MD, PhD, from the University of Toronto summarizes the evidence base regarding hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19.
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Pathophysiology, Transmission, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
A major study recently published in JAMA showed that many children who have appendicitis do not need surgery and, if they undergo surgery, may have more disability than if they were treated with antibiotics alone. JAMA Clinical Reviews spoke with a patient in the study whose mother happens to be JAMA Associate Editor Preeti Malani, MD, JAMA’s infectious diseases editor and chief health officer for the University of Michigan. This patient initially was treated with antibiotics, later required appendectomy, and discussed the difficulties he experienced following laparoscopic appendectomy.
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The European Society of Cardiology updated its guidelines for pulmonary embolism in 2019. Jonathan Paul, MD, from the University of Chicago discusses what is new in the management of pulmonary embolism based on his August 11, 2020, JAMA Guidelines Synopsis article.
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Before a study is carried out, it is important to define what is an important difference between groups. This is often not done correctly. Anna McGlothlin, PhD, from Berry Consultants discusses how to assess the minimal clinically important difference in research studies.
Few treatments have proven to be effective for treating COVID-19. Recently, a clinical trial reporting the results of dexamethasone for treating COVID-19 was published and has received a great deal of attention in the popular media. Greg Curfman, MD, JAMA Deputy Editor, reviews the study and discusses what the findings do or do not reveal about the efficacy of dexamethasone for treating COVID-19.
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Congestive heart failure is common and can have devastating effects on patients' quality of life. Until recently few treatments were available, but that has changed. Congestive heart failure management has substantially improved. Hutter Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School James L. Januzzi Jr, MD, reviews the diagnosis and treatment of congestive heart failure.
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