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Category: Health News

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  • Is this drug more effective for individuals with a specific genetic profile?  
  • Are some people at increased risk of a serious drug reaction from a specific drug?  
  • How is pharmacogenomic information being used clinically right now?

Pharmacogenomics: Precision Medicine and Drug Response, a new CME review article from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, explores these issues.  This article provides a brief history of pharmacogenomics, information on current clinical applications, and conceptualizes the future of pharmaceogenomics.

This article is available online via ClinicalKey which is part of Himmelfarb Library's online collection.  To read more about genetics, check out these full-text e-books in ClinicalKey

To explore more genetics topics, check out Dr. Charles Macri's online Genetics Journal Club!

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FatmouseIs obesity caused by more than eating too much and exercising too little?

A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes a genetic variation called ankyrin-B which may cause people to gain weight.   This article by Damaris N. Lorezo and Vann Bennett demonstrates that ankyrin-B deficiency makes mice more likely to become obese with age or when fed a high-fat diet.

Check out additional articles on genetics research in Dr. Charles Macri’s online Genetics Journal Club.

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pumpkinpieConcerned about what the Thanksgiving meal could do to your weight or metabolism?

 

Stop worrying and read this consumer education article on Why You Seriously Don't Need to Worry About All the Calories on Thanksgiving.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Himmelfarb Library!

 

 

Image citation: Klocek, B. (2008). Pumpkin pie [image].  Retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/20148960@N00/3080323641

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genomeWhile evidence has suggested that this is true, the first study identifying specific genetic factors that exist in women with preterm deliveries was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  This study used data from nearly 50,000 women and identified specific genetic variations which can predict length of gestation and risk of preterm birth.

Image citation: Ricciardi, R. (2013). Human genome [online image].  Available at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ricricciardi/11622986115

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Can a blood test be used to screen for cancer? 

This question was addressed in a recent NEJM article which investigated if checking for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBM) in plasma samples would be a useful screening test for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in patients with no symptoms of the disease. 

To understand how this prospective study was conducted and learn about the results, read the article or watch the NEJM's quick take video:

 
Check out additional articles on genetics research in Dr. Charles Macri's online Genetics Journal Club.

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dnaResearch recently published in Nature describes how scientists edited the genes in a human embryo.  Scientists sought to remove a specific genetic mutation, the MYBPC3 mutation, which has been associated with the development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the myocardium heart muscle grows abnormally thick which makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood.  Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is frequently asymptomatic, but can also cause chest pain, lightheartedness, and palpitations  and is the most common cause of sudden death in people under 30 and competitive athletes.
You can read more about this research in a New York Times news article as well as in the original research by primary authors Hong Ma, Nuria Marti-Gutierrez, Sang-Wook Park, and Jun Wu.
Dr. Charles Macri's online Genetics Journal Club can help you connect to new genetics research with new articles posted monthly.

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Socialmedia-pmDoes learning about social media issues help students identify professionalism issues and recognize positive social media use?

A new article by GW faculty that answers these questions was recently published in Teaching and Learning in Medicine.

In The Development and Impact of a Social Media and Professionalism Course for Medical Students, Gisela Butera, Alexandra Gomes, Kathy Chretien, and Terry Kind studied student responses to a workshop on social media for medical students.

In this qualitative study, students considered who they represented when they posted online - themself, their university or employer, or the medical profession.   Students were also asked if and how their social media presence had changed since entering medical school, or would change as a result of the session.  Read the complete paper to see student responses and reactions.

Image: Ibrahim.ID (2016). Social media icons collection.  Available from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Socialmedia-pm.png

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congressIf you're interested in health policy changes, you can take advantage of Himmelfarb Library's online resources to help you keep up to date on what's going on. These online resources provide access both to the academic literature and legislative news and tracking resources:

CQ HealthBeat: Continuously updated information on health policy legislation and regulations. Includes real-time news, information on rules and regulations, legislative tracking, and schedules of forums and events.

Health Policy Reference Center: journals, books, magazines, and trade publications on health policy issues including access and delivery, administration, financing and economics, planning, quality, reform, health services research, and public health.

CQ's Trump Tracker: tracks the action on Donald Trump's campaign commitments with background, options available, what to watch, links to bills, information about key players and more.

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jamaStatistical information on medical schools and graduate medical education in the United States was published in a recent issue of JAMA.

 

Medical Schools in the United States, 2015-2016 makes available data from the 2016 LCME questionnaire and provides state-level data on the number of medical schools, 1st year medical students, in-state residency of 1st year medical students, graduates entering residency, and in-state residency of graduates entering residency.  This article also provides information on the structure of the curriculum including the length of the preclerkship phase and length of required clerkships.

 

Graduate Medical Education, 2015-2016 publishes data from the National GME Census Track, a joint endeavor by the AMA and AAMC.   This article provides a statistical snapshop of GME via data including programs and residents by specialty, programs and residents by state, and citizenship  of international medical graduates: U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, non-U.S. citizen, or unknown/foreign-born.

 

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nature19827-f3New research published in Nature traced when HIV arrived in the United States and its path from Africa via Haiti.  This research also provides a timeline for the virus' movement and exonerates Gaétan Dugas who had been identified as 'Patient 0'.

Read this research and how the virus was traced and tracked via Himmelfarb Library's online collection:

 

Image citation: M Worobey et al. Nature 1–4 (2016) doi:10.1038/nature19827

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