Month: December 2019

Reading of the Week: Lithium Prescribing – Rare, Too Rare (CJP)? Also, Social Media & Medical Research (Nat Med) and Chocolate Survival Time (BMJ)

December 19, 2019 /

From the Editor

Lithium is effective as a medication. How often is it prescribed?

This week, there are three selections, and we open with a small paper with a big finding.

In the first selection, Dr. Scott B. Patten and Jeanne V. A. Williams (both of the University of Calgary) draw on national survey data to consider lithium prescribing in Canada. “The frequency of lithium use is surprisingly low,” they find.

lithium-on-the-periodic-tableLithium: on the Periodic Table, but not in the drug cabinet

In the second selection, we look at a Nature Medicine article that contemplates social media and medical research. Writer Nicole Wetsman quotes Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency physician who is prominent on Twitter: “It’s incredible medical education.”

Finally, for the third selection, we tip our hats to the holiday season, and consider a not-so-new BMJ paper on holiday chocolates. Published as part of a past Christmas issue – the popular, annual tradition that takes a light-hearted approach to inquiry – Bedford Hospital’s Parag R. Gajendragadkar and his co-authors ask a not-so-weighty question: how long do holiday chocolates last on hospital wards?

Note that there will be no Reading next week. Happy Holidays.

DG

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Reading of the Week: A Century After Osler, Is He Relevant (NEJM)? Also, AI & Diagnosis (CMAJ) and Ketamine & Safety (JAD)

December 12, 2019 /

From the Editor

A century after his death, is Dr. Osler still relevant?

This week, there are three selections. First, we start with a look back with an essay on Dr. William Osler. We then look forward: with papers on AI and ketamine.

In the first selection, Drs. Charles S. Bryan (the University of South Carolina) and Scott H. Podolsky (Harvard University) write in The New England Journal of Medicine about Dr. Osler on the 100th anniversary of his death. Contemplating his life and views, they note that he “gave physicians what certain national historians gave their countries: warm feelings of togetherness, pride, and purpose.”

nlc012022-v6William Osler

In the second selection, we look at a CMAJ paper. Considering AI and health care, University of Strasbourg’s Dr. Thierry Pelaccia and his co-authors write about the reasoning of mind and machine. They see a bright future: “AI can assume its place as a routine tool in medical practice.”

Finally, for the third selection, we consider a new paper on ketamine and safety from the Journal of Affective Disorders. Drawing on several studies, NIMH’s Elia E. Acevedo-Diaz and her co-authors conclude: “The results indicate that a single intravenous subanesthetic-dose ketamine infusion was relatively safe for the treatment of [treatment-resistant depression].”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Better PTSD Symptom Control, Less Diabetes (JAMA Psych)? Also, Buckley on Cannabis (Quick Takes), and the Life of Kajander (Globe)

December 5, 2019 /

From the Editor

Better PTSD symptom control, less diabetes? How do we talk to our patients about cannabis (and cannabis use disorder)? Who was Dr. Ruth Kajander?

This week, there are three selections. The first two deal with timely and relevant topics: the intersection of physical and mental health and the use of cannabis post-legalization. The third reminds us of the youth of our field.

In the first selection, Saint Louis University School of Medicine’s Jeffrey F. Scherrer and his co-authors consider PTSD and diabetes, asking if improvement with the mental health disorder results in a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Drawing on Veterans Health Affairs data involving nearly 1 600 people, they find that “clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD symptoms are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.”

treating-ptsd-may-help-reduce-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-696x464

In the second selection, we draw on a podcast interview with the University of Toronto’s Dr. Leslie Buckley, the chief of addictions division at CAMH, on cannabis. What advice would she give clinicians about cannabis use? “Try to have that long conversation with [patients] about their use and make sure that they know the harms – because I feel like most people don’t.”

Finally, with an eye on yesterday and not today, we look at the recent Globe obituary for Dr. Ruth Kajander, a psychiatrist who served in many roles, and was a member of the Order of Canada.

DG

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