April 14th, 2012
Podcast 151: Most people above age 10 have at least some cross-reactive antibodies to variant influenza
Influenza A (H3N2)v — a novel flu virus that emerged last summer and shows signs of being able to transmit itself from person to person — is our topic this week. The virus carries genes from swine and avian flu viruses, and the few cases found in the U.S. all made complete recovery. We talk with CDC […]
April 23rd, 2010
Podcast 84: One year later, what have we learned from 2009 H1N1? A conversation with Richard Wenzel.
I’d forgotten that it’s only been a year since 2009 H1N1 (remember when we called it “swine flu”?) struck, but then I saw Richard Wenzel’s op-ed essay in the New York Times. Dr. Wenzel kindly agreed to a conversation, and that’s our offering this week. Interview-related links: Wenzel’s op-ed piece in the New York Times CDC’s estimates […]
April 2nd, 2010
Podcast 81: When should you start screening for type 2 diabetes?
A large-scale computer simulation based on NHANES data plotted the most cost-effective strategy, which turns out to be to start screening before middle age and to repeat every 3 to 5 years. We talk with the first author of a Lancet paper that details the findings. Interview-related link: Physician’s First Watch summary of the Lancet paper News-related links: […]
February 27th, 2010
Podcast 76: On saying “No” to patients’ requests.
A conversation with the authors of an Archives of Internal Medicine study that examines the best tactics for saying “No” to inappropriate requests. Contact me at 1-617-440-4374 or at jelia@jwatch.org. Interview-related links: Archives of Internal Medicine abstract Atul Gawande’s New Yorker article News-related links: The rosiglitazone (Avandia) controversy Advisory on thiazolidinediones Physicians’ work hours 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine Influenza-vaccination expansion […]
January 8th, 2010
Podcast 69: Eating soy foods and survival after breast cancer
I’ve been on vacation, and I hope that you’ve managed to sneak some time away as well. In December, JAMA published an article associating increased survival after breast cancer with eating even modest amounts of soy food regularly. The work was done using a cohort in Shanghai, and the study’s first author agreed to an interview. If […]
November 13th, 2009
Podcast 65: A conversation about the utility of renovascular angioplasty in the face of atherosclerosis
Investigators have suspected that there isn’t much advantage to renovascular angioplasty and stenting in atherosclerosis, but their studies haven’t had the statistical power to prove that point. A new bit of research in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine may have hit the mark. We’ve got an interview with two of the principals of […]