Jama Clinical Reviews: Interviews About Ideas & Innovations In Medicine, Science & Clinical Practice. Listen & Earn Cme Credi

Atrial fibrillation is a very common problem that is treated with a variety of medications and interventions. Sandip Mukherjee, MD, a contributing editor to The Medical Letter, is the Medical Director of Physician Liaison Services with the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, and an associate professor of medicine at Yale. He summarizes the latest information published in The Medical Letter on treatments for atrial fibrillation.

Winter is coming…and with it, the onset of flu season. In this episode, Jean-Marie Pflomm, PharmD, Editor in Chief of The Medical Letter, decodes flu vaccines: trivalent vs quadrivalent, live attenuated vs inactivated, and much more.

Adolescent boys are notoriously difficult to deal with. However, some of their behaviors mask a need they have for developing intimate friendships. Being adolescent boys living in a macho culture, many deny that they need these relationships. Niobe Way, EdD, professor of Developmental Psychology at New York University, has spent her professional career studying adolescent boys’ relationships with each other and how they affect their behaviors. She explains how to intervene to help them better understand their needs for intimacy, which, in turn, helps them to better relate with people and avoid unpleasant behaviors. Related article: Loneliness Might Be a Killer, but What’s the Best Way to Protect Against It? CME Quiz The Listening Project  

Even though it gained notoriety for recreational uses, Ketamine is experiencing a resurgence in clinical settings given its versatility and potential applications, including for pain treatment and depression. David Juurlink, MD, from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and John Krystal, MD from Yale University discuss current and emerging applications of this drug.

Pancreatic cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death in the United States. Timothy Donohue, MD, chief of surgical oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles, provides an overview of the disease. Read the articles: Screening for Pancreatic Cancer Pancreatic Cancer  

Mendelian randomization is a powerful technique that enables investigators to mimic randomized clinical trials by characterizing genetic differences between groups of people and studying their clinical outcomes. Brian A. Ference, MD, MPhil, from the University of Cambridge in England, is a leading expert on this topic and spoke with us about how mendelian randomization has facilitated a better understanding of lipid biology and how it relates to cardiovascular risk.

Personal protective equipment comprises gloves, gowns, masks, regular respirators, and powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs). In this Clinical Review podcast Trish Perl, MD, of UT Southwestern Medical Center reviews the indications for each and the results of the RESPECT trial, which reported no difference in incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among health care personnel randomized to wear N95 respiratory or medical masks. She’s interviewed by JAMA Fishbein fellow Angel Desai, MD.

JAMA Fishbein Fellow Angel Desai, MD interviews Douglas S. Krakower, MD at the IDWeek 2019 conference in Washington, D.C. Related article: Rising PrEP Awareness

This Clinical Review podcast reviews some of the most important advances in clinical infectious diseases presented at IDWeek 2019 including data on rapid testing, new antimicrobial agents, and new strategies for using existing antibiotics to manage antimicrobial resistance. JAMA Fishbein Fellow Angel Desai, MD interviews Helen Boucher, MD of Tufts University.

Since the passage of the Dickey Amendment in 1996, federal funding for gun violence research has been withheld from the CDC and other federal agencies that should be tasked with figuring out the origins and solutions to this problem. But while the US government has been locked in a political stalemate, other entities are stepping up in a new model for getting the job done.

JAMA Deputy Editor Ed Livingston, MD, interviews Steven Nissen, MD, at the European Society of Cardiology's 2019 conference in Paris, France.

JAMA Deputy Editor Ed Livingston, MD, interviews James Januzzi, MD, at the European Society of Cardiology's 2019 conference in Paris, France.

JAMA Deputy Editor Ed Livingston, MD, interviews Akshay Desai, MD, at the European Society of Cardiology's 2019 conference in Paris, France.

Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, explains how obesity influences the risk of developing cancer and how it influences the prognosis of existing cancer.

Dr. Eduardo Bruera, Chair of the Department of Palliative Care at MD Anderson, discusses how to responsibly manage cancer pain using opioids.

Menopause is inevitable for women. It symptoms are uncomfortable and distressing. For women to best cope with menopause, it is useful to firmly establish the onset so that appropriate counseling can follow. In this podcast, an expert in this field, Nanette Santoro, MD, from the University of Colorado, explains how to diagnose menopause. Read the article: Diagnosing the Onset of Menopause

Using firearms to commit suicide is one of the most common causes of firearm related deaths. This can happen even in families where it seems highly unlikely to occur. In this podcast, we tell the story of a policeman’s daughter who got a hold of his gun and tried to kill herself.

Subclinical hypothyroidism is common, but it is not clear how best to treat it. Anne R. Cappola, MD, ScM, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, explains how to manage this important clinical condition. Read the article: Subclinical Hypothyroidism: A Review  

There are now 36 states and recent federal legislation that require that clinicians inform women about breast density results from mammography. Consequently, clinicians must be aware of the clinical ramifications of dense breasts and what to do about them when found. Karla Kerlikowske, MD, from UCSF explains the risks associated with dense breasts and how to manage patients who have them. CME will be available on July 2 when the print/online issue of JAMA is published.

California enacted 3 aggressive laws between 2014 and 2016 in an effort to improve measles vaccination rates. To a large extent these laws were effective in increasing vaccination rates, but some of the improvements were offset by clinicians granting inappropriate medical exemptions for vaccinations. S. Cassandra Pingali, MPH, MS, and Saad B. Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD, from the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, discuss measles and what happened in California when legislators tried to improve measles vaccination rates. CME will be available on July 2 when the print/online issue of JAMA is published.