Medical journal news series - June 2022
News this month from some of the top medical journals
JAMA June 21st, 2022 volume 327, number 23, pages 2257-2364
-page 2281: new diagnostic test for early Alzheimer’s disease: FDA authorized the Lumipulse G B-Amyloid Ratio test that can aid (used in conjunction with clinical exam and clinical scoring tests) early diagnosis. 97% of those who tested positive on Lumipulse had brain evidence of Alzheimer’s on PET brain scans, 84% of those testing negative correctly did not have any evidence on brain scan.
—wondering wether this would be right for you? Labcorp offers a similar test near us, call/email/text us to find out more details or to discuss any considerations for you regarding this test.
-page 2326: the major primary care task force found not enough evidence to recommend for or against daily multivitamin use to protect against heart disease (#1 most common cause of death in US) and cancer (#2 most common cause of death in US) in healthy US adults. No benefit for preventing heart. Disease was seen. They did note that there was a small benefit seen to lower incidence of any cancer (-0.2 to -1.2% chance).
They note that there are not many studies that evaluate harms of use, though some studies have shown harm with taking beta carotene (can increase lung cancer risk) and vitamin E (small increased risk of brain bleed stroke). They note Vitamin A (small increase risk of hip fracture), vitamin D and Calcium (small increase risk of kidney stones) can be harmful at high levels as well. They also note that trials used different multivitamins and had different populations, making it hard to compare data.
—wondering whether you should stop or start a daily multivitamin? We would love to discuss! Call/email/text us.
JAMA June 28th, 2022, volume 327, number 24, pages 2365-2464
-page 2385: new hotline made for mothers and new parents seeking mental health support 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS (1-833-943-5746). This is a non-emergency line, emergency line is 988 (988 reroutes to the old number 1-800-273-TALK [8255]).
-page 2386: in a trial of older men in Spain, the Mediterranean Diet performed slightly better than low-fat diet at preventing heart disease.
-page 2400: cancer risk 20-40% lower in mid age adult patients with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery. It is unclear if the surgery itself or just the weight lost and food/exercise/smoking changes led to the improvements. It could also be patients who underwent surgery are screened for cancer more frequently (with mammogram/colonoscopy/pap smear, etc).
—unsure if you are up-to-date on it is suggested to get ings? Reach out to us to find out!
—if you are on a weight journey, let us knowhow we can help!
AAFP June 2022, vol 125, no 6, pp 565-684
-page 580: hooray! Updates on pneumonia vaccination. New updated and improved vaccine + improved pneumonia risk from better childhood vaccination rates = less complexity. What was two injection series now becomes a one injection, one-time series for people with healthy immune systems. A one time dose of Prevnar 20 vaccine can protect for life.
—if you have already had the two vaccine series, you do not need the updated vaccine. If you have only had one of the two, we suggest getting the updated vaccine. Unsure? Reach out and we can help look up in the Georgia registry what vaccinations you have gotten. For people without immune system illness, recommend to consider this important protection starting at 65 years old. For those with immune system illness (heart or lung disease, diabetes, cigarette smokers, cancer patients, people on immune system shut-down meds), please reach out to us, we are happy to discuss!
-page 590: current office-based screening tools (Minicog, MMSE, MoCA) shown not highly accurate for dementia screening (screening means with no known symptoms/signs). These tools are still used in diagnosis (when people have symptoms) of dementia and have better accuracy if people have symptoms/signs.
