The Big Risks And Rewards Of Artificial Intelligence Playing A Role In Doctors’ Visits
The technology could improve care and revolutionize burdensome record-keeping practices, but it also carries thorny questions about who owns the data and how it’s used. In other public health news: strokes, emergency contacts, suicide, labor, acupuncture, cancer, the E. coli outbreak, and more.
Stat:
Patients Are Taking Home Recordings Of Doctor Visits. Who Else Could Listen?
Doctors across the U.S. have begun doing what once seemed unthinkable in a litigious health care environment: recording their medical conversations with patients and encouraging them to review the audio at home. The rationale for the practice is as simple as the smartphone technology that enables it: having a recording improves patients’ understanding and recall of their doctor visits and helps them adhere to treatment regimens. (Ross, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
To Prevent Recurrent Strokes, Should Aspirin Have A Wingman? Maybe Not
When it comes to preventing the formation of potentially deadly blood clots in people at elevated risk for them, there are no easy answers. That's the upshot of a clinical trial involving patients who suffered a stroke that resolved quickly and caused no lasting damage. For these patients, adding the anti-platelet drug Plavix to usual aspirin therapy drove down some serious risks, but increased the chances of bleeding events. A second study found that an anticoagulant drug known as Xarelto performed no better than aspirin alone in heading off strokes and heart attacks after a small stroke, and also drove up subjects' risk of bleeding. (Healy, 5/17)
The New York Times:
‘Will You Be My Emergency Contact?’ Takes On A Whole New Meaning
Will you be my emergency contact? When you’re dating, the question is a sign that you’ve made it to the this-is-really-serious category. When you’re friends, it’s a sign that you’re truly beloved or truly responsible. And if you’re related, it may mean that you will now be entered into a medical study together so scientists can figure out if sinus infections or anxiety run in your family. (Murphy, 5/17)
The New York Times:
Netflix Counts The Reasons Teens Should Watch ‘13 Reasons Why’
In the second episode of the new season of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why,” the high school student Courtney Crimsen publicly reveals that she is a lesbian. Wanting to be understanding, caring parents as the news ripples through town, her two fathers hold a family movie night. They flip through a stack of DVDs — all about lesbian relationships. “Movies and shows are a wonderful way to open up a dialogue,” one of the dads says to the other, as Courtney sighs, annoyed. (Rosman, 5/17)
USA Today:
'13 Reasons Why' Should Do More To Stop Teen Suicides, Doctors Say
Some critics of the series, which showed a suicide and sexual assault in graphic detail, blame the first season for glamorizing suicide. The proportion of visits involving suicidal thoughts — known as "ideation" — jumped by more than 40% last April and May compared to the weeks before the release of the series' first season on March 31, 2017, according to a study of millions of doctors’ visits by 14- to 20-year-olds. (O'Donnell, 5/18)
The New York Times:
Inducing Labor At Full Term May Be Best Bet
Whether to induce labor for babies at or beyond full term is a difficult decision. Waiting to give birth after 41 weeks’ gestation may slightly increase the risk that the baby will die before or shortly after birth. But there are also risks in inducing labor, including lowering the baby’s heart rate and an increased likelihood of infection for both mother and baby. (Bakalar, 5/17)
The New York Times:
Acupuncture Does Not Improve Pregnancy Rates
Acupuncture is sometimes recommended as a complementary treatment for women undergoing in vitro fertilization. But a randomized clinical trial has found that the procedure does not improve pregnancy rates. The Australian study, published in JAMA, included 824 women planning to undergo I.V.F. Half received acupuncture and half sham acupuncture a week before follicle stimulation and then again before and after transfer of the embryo. The acupuncture treatment technique was based on traditional Chinese medicine, and the sham acupuncture used a non-inserted needle placed away from the true acupuncture points. (Bakalar, 5/17)
Seattle Times:
The Hutch Closes In On A Cancer Cure
The little coolers are ubiquitous at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, which four decades ago pioneered a groundbreaking treatment for blood cancers — the bone-marrow transplant, now an older science that still saves lives, but not without harrowing side effects.What has changed in cancer research since then? Almost everything. But the research growing from those transplants is blossoming today into what could be, at last, actual cures for common cancers that have long stood as irrevocable death sentences for millions of people. (Judd, 5/17)
The New York Times:
Hail Caesar Salad! Romaine Is Safe To Eat Again
Attention Caesar salad fans: You may now safely rekindle your romance with romaine. Federal health officials have concluded that the tainted lettuce that sickened 172 people across 32 states, and killed one, is no longer available for sale. Both the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that the danger had passed. (Hoffman, 5/17)
The Associated Press:
Health Officials: Stay Out Of The Pool If You Have Diarrhea
Health officials say hotel pools and hot tubs are a major source of the stomach bugs people get from swimming. And they're reminding people with diarrhea to stay out of pools, hot tubs and water playgrounds. U.S. public health officials report on safe swimming every year. Thursday's version from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on outbreaks in 2000 through 2014 that were tied to swimming or bathing in treated recreational water spots. (Stobbe, 5/17)
KQED:
Does CBD Help Kids With Autism? New Clinical Trial Aims To Find Out
A new clinical trial will attempt to determine how certain chemical compounds in marijuana might help children with autism. The compound in question is cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD. (Wiley, 5/17)
KQED:
In The Land Of Legal Weed, Drug Education Moves From ‘Don’t’ To ‘Delay’
Public schools in California are required by law to provide anti-drug abuse education, although experts say the quality of the instruction varies widely from district to district, and there’s little enforcement. ... Today, drug abuse education is an advanced pedagogy, drawing on decades of rigorous effectiveness research and the newest teaching techniques. (Feibel, 5/16)
