Month: February 2019

Reading of the Week: Can Psychotherapy Help Inpatients? Why did Michael Wilson Speak Out? Are Patients Experts?

From the Editor

Almost two decades ago, I was invited to a conference. The keynote speaker was Michael Wilson, the former federal Minister of Finance, who died earlier this month. I remember two things about this presentation: first, the audience was perfectly still – as Wilson spoke about his son’s suicide, no one shuffled her papers or chatted with his neighbour; second, I remember thinking how unusual this presentation was: he spoke about suicide at a time when suicide wasn’t discussed.

This week, we look at three selections, including an interview in which Wilson discusses his decision to speak out.

We also consider two other pieces: a new study on psychotherapy for inpatients with depression and an essay considering whether patients are experts.

pjimage-11Michael Wilson

Enjoy.

And I hope you will take a few minutes to complete our survey, aimed at improving the Readings.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GP5XXMB

DG

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Reading of the Week: Do E-Cigarettes Help with Smoking Cessation? The New NEJM Paper

From the Editor

Last week, I spoke to a patient who wanted passes off the ward so that he could smoke. When I suggested that we could help him reduce his nicotine use – and maybe even help him quit – he responded: “I’ve been smoking for 40 years. I’ll never quit.”

As much as the comment is disappointing, it is all too familiar. Nicotine is highly addictive, and it’s very challenging for our patients to quit.

What then to make of e-cigarettes? While they have been marketed well for smoking cessation, the evidence to date has been lacking. Do they offer a pathway to ending nicotine use? Or are e-cigarettes another type of nicotine product – addictive and ultimately unhelpful?

This week, we look at a paper just published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Queen Mary University of London’s Peter Hajek and his co-authors report on a “pragmatic, multicenter, individually randomized, controlled trial” comparing e-cigarettes to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). It’s the first adequately powered study on this topic. And this Very Big Paper comes with a Very Big Result: e-cigarettes offered a strong advantage over NRTs.

e-cigGreat ad, great product?

In this week’s Reading, we look at the Hayek et al. paper and consider e-cigarettes.

Have thoughts on the Readings of the Week? Please take this 15-question survey to make the Readings better: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GP5XXMB.

DG

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Reading of the Week: “It was scary and sad, but it was also a terrible sort of relief” – Dr. Danziger on Her Father’s Suicide

From the Editor

“By the time my father died, it wasn’t a surprise. It was scary and sad, but it was also a terrible sort of relief.”

So begins a short and honest essay by Dr. Phoebe Danziger. Our American colleague’s JAMA paper doesn’t require much of an introduction. She speaks about her father, his mental illness, and his death. She also touches on her own depression. And she speaks candidly of a childhood coloured by her father’s illness.

36yts2xd_400x400Phoebe Danziger

In this Reading, we consider Dr. Danziger’s essay.

DG

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Reading of the Week: How to Cope With a Patient’s Suicide? What to do When Nudges Don’t Work? Can Technology Bring Physicians Together?

From the Editor

“We talk about the toll suicide takes on families… We talk about the tragedy for the people who’ve died… What we don’t openly talk about is suicide’s toll on the doctors who have treated these patients.”

So writes Dr. Dinah Miller, a psychiatrist affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine. She discusses the death of a patient and the impact on her life.

Dr. Miller’s essay is one of three selections in this week’s Reading.

The papers are different and look at different issues. The one common thread: they were all published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

And they all ask important, thought-provoking questions:

How to cope with a patient’s suicide?

What to do when nudges don’t work?

Can technology bring physicians together?

p17Dr. Dinah Miller

Enjoy.

DG

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