Curated News: JAMA

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Up to one-third of physicians reported sending patients for a thyroid ultrasound for reasons not supported by clinical care guidelines, a new study led by University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center researchers finds. Routine use of ultrasounds to detect cancerous thyroid nodules have led to a significant increase in thyroid cancer cases in recent years, although many are low-risk and unlikely to cause serious harm.

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A new study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health found that yoga improves symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

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In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers collected nationally representative data from 3,131 U.S. counties between 1968-2016, and looked at historical trends in death rates between older black and white adults living in different communities.

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Infection prevention experts at the UNC Medical Center set out to gather evidence on the fitted filtration efficiency of dozens of different types of masks and mask modifications, including masks sterilized for reuse, expired masks, novel masks sourced from domestic and overseas sources, and homemade masks.

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Young adults and adolescents who are prescribed opioids for the first time may be at a slightly greater risk of developing a substance-related problem later in life, according to a new study co-authored by Indiana University researchers. However, the risk may not be as high as previously thought.

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A team of researchers interviewed physicians and patients at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify eight scenarios impacting cancer care. Using communication strategies, they created examples of language to help oncologists respond to patients empathetically.

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As more patients recovered from COVID-19 are discharged from stressed ICUs, they face multiple problems brought on by the pandemic.

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COVID-19 swept into the U.S., hospitals across the country have reported that their emergency departments are emptying out. In a new study published Monday, Aug. 3, in JAMA Internal Medicine, a team of researchers from multiple institutions provides insights into this phenomenon.

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What The Study Did: This study defines the screening performance standards for SARS-CoV-2 tests that would permit the safe return of students to U.S. residential college campuses this fall. Authors: A. David Paltiel, Ph.D., of the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.16818) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. ### Media advisory: The full study and commentary are linked to this news release. Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article This link will be live at the embargo time http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/1

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Targetable biological mechanisms implicated in emergent psychiatric conditions associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection are discussed in this Viewpoint.

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The July 2020 Edition of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s (BIDMC) Research & Health News Digest.

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Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are studying how hearing loss can affect the neurocognitive abilities of childhood cancer survivors. Findings show that survivors with severe hearing loss are at a significant increased risk for neurocognitive deficits, independent of what type of therapy they receive.

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A study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago discovered that children younger than 5 years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have much higher levels of genetic material for the virus in the nose compared to older children and adults. Findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, point to the possibility that the youngest children transmit the virus as much as other age groups. The ability of younger children to spread COVID-19 may have been under-recognized given the rapid and sustained closure of schools and daycare during the pandemic.

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A consensus statement published today in JAMA Dermatology by a group of melanoma researchers evaluates the use of prognostic genetic expression profiling within clinical treatment of patients with melanoma. The group cautioned against routine use of currently-available genetic expression profiling tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma.

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A new blood test demonstrated remarkable promise in discriminating between persons with and without Alzheimer's disease and in persons at known genetic risk may be able to detect the disease as early as 20 years before the onset of cognitive impairment, according to a large international study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and simultaneously presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

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Smokers who have thoracic surgery are much more likely to stop using tobacco if they also complete a quitline intervention, a new UC Davis Health study shows.

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It seems there will never be enough “thank-yous” for the incredible doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff members who are working around the clock to help patients who have COVID-19, the dangerous coronavirus disease. Their dedication, determination and spirit enable Johns Hopkins to deliver the promise of medicine. As the mother of a 2-year-old, with responsibilities that sometimes require escorting COVID-19 patients at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Safety and Security Officer, SPO, Lolita Moore says she takes the necessary steps to protect herself and her family against the virus and prays daily. “I like that I can still be out helping people during the pandemic,” she says.

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New analyses by a team of researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine examine the interplay between race/ethnicity and income on COVID-19 cases and related deaths in 10 major U.S. cities. The researchers found that non-white counties had higher cumulative incidences and deaths compared to predominantly white counties—and this was true for both low-income and high-income communities.

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Depression in mothers during and after pregnancy increased the odds of depression in offspring during adolescence and adulthood by 70%, according to a new study by researchers at UTHealth.

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Although additional policies are needed to relieve insulin’s financial burden, researchers find a national cost-sharing cap helps privately insured children and young adults with type 1 diabetes pay less out-of-pocket.

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A Penn State College of Medicine research team found that playing a simple conversation game may encourage African Americans to make plans for their end-of-life care.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.

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A new study looks for the first time at patients’ views of hospital fundraising, including legally allowable practices that encourage physicians to work with their hospital’s fundraising professionals.

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Cannabis appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for the chronic pain that afflicts people with sickle cell disease, according to a new clinical trial co-led by University of California, Irvine researcher Kalpna Gupta and Dr. Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco. The findings appear in JAMA Network Open.

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For younger cancer patients, fertility counseling at the time of cancer diagnosis is important for making family planning decisions. Ranjith Ramasamy, M.D., a clinician and researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, was the lead author of a new collaborative study, “Evaluation of Reported Fertility Preservation Counseling Before Chemotherapy Using the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative Survey,” published JAMA Network Open.

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A new 10-year analysis led by Igor Puzanov, MD, MSci, FACP, Director of Early Phase Clinical Trials and Chief of Melanoma at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and published today in the journal JAMA Oncology provides new insights into an important question: whether BRAF V600E/K mutation status or previous BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) therapy with or without a MEK inhibitor (MEKi) affects response to pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda) in patients with advanced melanoma.

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In March of 2020, Mass General Brigham implemented a new policy: everyone working at the hospitals would be required to wear a surgical mask.

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While 93 percent of U.S. pediatricians surveyed were aware of the national guidelines on peanut allergy prevention in infants, only 30 percent were fully implementing the recommended practices and 64 percent reported partial implementation, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.

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Sharon Tapp, who worked as a nurse case manager at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., started experiencing sudden body weakness, chest pain, a high temperature and headache on March 18. Concerned, she went to her local urgent care center to find out what was wrong. They told her that these symptoms were flu-like, tested her for the coronavirus and told her to quarantine for 14 days. After five days and no difference in the presentation of her symptoms, the urgent care team contacted Sharon, letting her know that she tested positive for coronavirus and recommending that she go to the emergency department. Sharon’s family took her to Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Suburban Hospital. Because her condition worsened while at Suburban, she was transferred to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore within 10 days of being admitted to Suburban Hospital.

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A new study shows that middle-aged people living in the U.S. today have worse health than their English counterparts – and that the difference in health between rich and poor is much larger on the American side of the Atlantic.

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The most vulnerable residents of Michigan say their health improved significantly after they enrolled in the state’s expanded Medicaid program, a new study finds. Those with extremely low incomes or multiple chronic health problems, and those who are Black, got the biggest health boosts. But participants of all backgrounds reported improvements.

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Cleveland Clinic researchers have found a significant increase in patients experiencing stress cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A new analysis led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the number of U.S. prison residents who tested positive for COVID-19 was 5.5 times higher than the general U.S. population.

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What The Study Did: How the prescription of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to outpatients has changed in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined in this study.

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A new study at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City has found that follow-up appointments for hospitalized children treated for childhood bronchitis are often not necessary, and that switching from mandatory to “as-needed” follow-up care can save families from unnecessary medical care and expense – and may help guide treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Specific sleep problems among babies and very young children can be linked to mental disorders in adolescents, a new study has found.

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In a new study by Yale Cancer Center, researchers have demonstrated that in states with expanded Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a higher percentage of women with breast cancer had their disease diagnosed at an early stage. No such change was seen in states that didn’t expand their coverage. The findings were published today in JAMA Surgery.

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The opioid epidemic didn’t go away when the coronavirus pandemic began. But rapid changes in regulations and guidance could also help many more people get care for addiction, experts say. They caution that it will take more changes to truly lower barriers that stand in the way of delivering evidence-based addiction care to more people via telemedicine.

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Light to moderate drinking may preserve brain function in older age, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

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DALLAS – July 1, 2020 – A new report from cardiologists at UT Southwestern raises the hope that doctors will be able to visually check the jugular venous pressure of heart failure patients remotely, using the camera on a smartphone. The finding is especially timely as telemedicine expands during the pandemic.

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An outpouring of public support may have helped maintain the spirits and well-being of health care workers as they faced the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. But as the salutes fade into memory, and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise across the United States, mental health experts are worried about the health care workers-turned-heroes who were so much in the spotlight a few months ago.

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A UCLA-led study has found that in 2 of 3 states and jurisdictions with policies that require students entering school to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, vaccination rates among 13-to-17-year-olds were significantly higher than in surrounding states without such policies.

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WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2020) – When work requirements for a federal food safety-net program start again, many low-income Americans will lose benefits – and Black adults will be hardest hit, according to a study published today. In addition, some disabled people will lose these crucial food assistance benefits.

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The long-running study on aging and brain health at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Center has once again resulted in important new findings – highlighting a complex and under-recognized form of dementia.

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This case series describes 20 children and adolescents who presented with new-onset acral inflammatory lesions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the odds of a fatal opioid overdose were 1.5 times higher for individuals with one to two visits to the emergency department for any medical issue than for people with no hospital visits.

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It seems there will never be enough “thank you’s” for the incredible doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff members who are working around the clock to help patients with the dangerous coronavirus disease. Their dedication, determination and spirit enable Johns Hopkins to deliver the promise of medicine.

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In a new analysis of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, test results for nearly 38,000 people has found a positivity rate among Latinx populations about three times higher than for any other racial and ethnic group. The findings, published June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), add to evidence that there are much higher COVID-19 infection rates among U.S. minorities, particularly in Latinx communities.

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In the first study to look at objective measures of sedentary behavior and cancer mortality, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that greater inactivity was independently associated with a higher risk of dying from cancer.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.