February 20th, 2009
Podcast 31: Making your clinical life easier — with genetics. Dr. Julie Johnson talks about using a patient’s genetic profile to help set their initial warfarin dose more accurately. You got a problem with that?
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Starting a patient on warfarin is nobody’s idea of a good time, but pharmacogenetic research can help. A study in this week’s NEJM shows the advantage of using genetic information (plus some clinical data) over the old “start at 5 mg a day and pray for success” approach. We talk with Julie Johnson of the University of Florida about the study.
We’ve shortened our news presentation, on the theory that you can’t assimilate too many details through your ears, so we give you the aural cartoon version and provide links for details at the website: podcasts.jwatch.org.
If you want to contact us with your suggestions, please call 1 617 440 4374.
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February 16th, 2009
Podcast 30: Dr. Roger Chou of Oregon Health Sciences University talks about recent guidelines for opioid use in non-cancer pain and reflects on the FDA’s recent announcement of tighter regulation on use of the drugs.
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The FDA announced an early-March meeting with manufacturers of opioids to discuss how problems with the drugs’ overuse and abuse might be addressed. We talk with an author of guidelines just published (and freely available) in the Journal of Pain that coincidentally address some of these concerns.
Then, of course, there’s the usual news roundup, and we finish off with a 200th birthday salute to Charles Darwin (no thanks to unevolved Americans).
To join the merriment or complain about the cake, call 617-440-4374 and leave a message.
To trace the evolution of “Admitting Diagnosis,” which we admit is horribly misnamed, go to podcasts.jwatch.org.
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February 8th, 2009
Podcast 29: Dr. Brian Jack of Boston University sees RED (Re-Engineered Discharge) as a way to lower hospital readmissions.
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Millions of people are discharged each year from U.S. hospitals. How many find themselves on the street with no clear idea of what they’ve been treated for, what drugs they should take and when, and how to get in touch with a clinician if something goes wrong?
No surprise, many are readmitted — either directly or through the emergency room.
Brian Jack and colleagues embarked on Project RED to re-engineer hospital discharge procedures (which, by the way, are not currently standardized).
There’s news and links too. Plus, your chance to talk back by calling 617-440-4374.
Links for this issue:
- A couple of position papers on type 2 diabetes
- 64-slice CT angiography is the equivalent of 600 chest x-rays
- Routine lower-back imaging is a waste of time
- Ending Hospitalizations Carefully Avoids Rehospitalizations
- Project RED website
- Project RED toolkit (example of an after-hospital care plan and the training manual)
January 18th, 2009
Podcast 26: Dr. Wayne A. Ray talks about the dangers of sudden cardiac death from antipsychotic drugs
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NEJM published a paper this week detailing the risks of sudden cardiac death in those taking both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs. We talk with the paper’s first author Dr. Wayne A. Ray of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
If you would like to comment or offer an idea for a future podcast, please call 617-440-4374.
Links for this podcast:
- Simple Checklist Reduces Postoperative Complications
- NEJM article on checklists
- Surgical safety checklist
- Influenza A Treatment Recommendations Emphasized
- CDC recommendations
- Vicks VapoRub May Cause Respiratory Distress in Infants, Animal Study Suggests
- Chest article
- Measuring Fractional Flow Reserve During PCI Improves 1-Year Outcomes
- Journal Watch Cardiology summary
- NEJM article
- Antipsychotics Increase Risks for Sudden Cardiac Death
- NEJM article
- Poor Sleep Patterns May Increase Risk for the Common Cold
- Archives of Internal Medicine article
About the Podcast
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