This morning STAT published an Op-Ed piece I wrote about the Apple Watch. Here’s how it starts: Set your smartwatch alarm. You’re about to be barraged by tons of hype about the health benefits of the Apple Watch. Unfortunately, it won’t include essential information and data that can put these claims in proper perspective. Last year,…
If You Look For Atrial Fibrillation You Will Find Atrial Fibrillation
July 10, 2018 by 3 Comments
If you look hard to find people who have atrial fibrillation (AF) you will in fact find people who have atrial fibrillation, a new paper published in JAMA shows. But the paper offers no evidence whatsoever that the new diagnosis improves outcomes in these people, though it does find that the diagnosis leads to increased use of…
Study Fuels Debate Over When to Start Cholesterol Screening
May 15, 2017 by 3 Comments
–For younger adults, study finds low yield of 10-year risk-based screening A new study provides ammunition to supporters of a conservative approach to initiating cholesterol tests in younger adults. But proponents of a more aggressive approach argue that the interpretation does not take into account the enormous burden of cardiovascular disease as people grow older….
Call For More Calcium Screening Gets Pushback
March 6, 2017 by 2 Comments
–But a zero calcium score can be useful to avoid statins, some argue Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans should be widely used in routine clinical practice to improve the detection of coronary disease in people without known disease, according to the authors of a new review in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging. But many experts urged caution,…
Screen-And-Treat to Prevent Diabetes Doomed to Fail
January 4, 2017 by 7 Comments
Screening must be supplemented by broader public health approaches. Screen and treat strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes are doomed to failure, according to a large new systematic review and meta-analysis published in The BMJ. Instead, the authors said and outside experts agreed, any effort to combat the already enormous and still growing problem of type 2…
Guest Post: Two Nations Separated by 5.3 mm
November 23, 2016 by 1 Comment
Editor’s note: This guest post is by Saurabh Jha, MBBS, a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania. This post will also be published on The Health Care Blog, where Jha is the associate editor. A popular meme is that the US spends more on healthcare than other developed nations but has nothing to show for…
Universal Child FH Screening Proposed
October 26, 2016 by 1 Comment
–Novel strategy would identify both children and adults at high risk for CV events. Doctors in the U.K. are proposing a novel strategy to identify very young children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The strategy would also identify and help prevent events in the parents who also have FH. The new approach begins with a heel-stick…
The Twitter Debate Over Cholesterol Screening In Kids
August 11, 2016 by 1 Comment
–Cardiologists discuss the screening controversy in 140 characters or less. My recent post on the debate over cholesterol screening in children provoked a fascinating discussion on Twitter, including comments from several highly knowledgeable experts and clinicians. The discussion started when James Stein, a preventive cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin), tweeted: Lipid screening in kids….
Experts Disagree About Cholesterol Screening In Kids
August 10, 2016 by 3 Comments
(Updated) –Lack of evidence leads to major disagreement over guidelines. Once again the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has performed an invaluable— and almost certainly thankless— service. In a series of papers published in JAMA and Annals of Internal Medicine the USPSTF states unequivocally that there is no good high quality evidence to evaluate…
No Evidence To Support Screening Young Athletes
April 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment
–More questions raised about key study suggesting ECG screening can save lives There is no good evidence to support screening young athletes to prevent sudden cardiac arrest, concludes a new analysis published in the BMJ. The analysis also raises new and troubling questions about a key Italian study that has been the main study used…
Shedding Light On The Hearts Of Pro Basketball Players
February 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Every time an athlete dies on the field there is renewed interest in the controversial topic of preparticipation screening. One key limitation in the field is that there is little or no good data about what constitutes a healthy heart in athletes. Now a new study published in JAMA Cardiology provides an extraordinarily detailed look…
Medicare Reimbursement for Lung Cancer Screening Provokes Debate
October 13, 2014 by 1 Comment
Although 160,000 people in the U.S. die each year from lung cancer, accounting for more than a quarter of all cancer deaths, screening for lung cancer remains controversial. Based on results from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in 2011, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a B recommendation in favor of low-dose…
ACC And AHA Don’t Recommend Routine ECG Screening Of Young People
September 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In a new scientific statement the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology do not recommend the routine initial use of ECGs to screen young people for underlying congenital or genetic heart disease. More aggressive screening for heart disease in young people is often advocated in response to pressure resulting from the rare but tragic cases of…
Study Casts Doubt On Value Of Genetic Testing For Familial Hypercholesterolemia
February 21, 2013 by 3 Comments
A new study published online in the Lancet suggests that one of the main screening plans that relies on genetic tests will fail to identify a substantial portion of people with familial hypercholesterolemia. Investigators from the UK and Belgium analyzed DNA from several cohorts of FH and non-FH patients. Their chief finding was that a large percentage…
Model Finds High Cost For ECG Screening Of Athletes
November 26, 2012 by 2 Comments
A national program of ECG screening for U.S. athletes would save almost 5,000 lives over 20 years but would cost more than $50 billion dollars, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The advisability of routine ECG screening for athletes has divided the experts: currently the ESC recommends ECG screening…
UK Study Casts Doubts On Value Of Type 2 Diabetes Screening
October 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The dramatic growth in type 2 diabetes has resulted in increased interest in screening programs. Now a new study published in the Lancet raises concerns that screening programs may not result in long-term improvement in outcomes. In the ADDITION-Cambridge study, investigators in the UK randomized general practices to either screening or no screening. The practices allocated to…
Screening For AAA Comes Under Renewed Scrutiny And Criticism
September 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A 2007 Medicare initiative to increase AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) screening in appropriate patients failed to prevent AAA rupture or reduce all-cause mortality, according to a new study published in Archives of Internal Medicine. The larger implications of the study are unclear, but two accompanying papers, an invited commentary and a perspective, emphasize the darker side of…
USPSTF Maintains Recommendation Against ECG Screening Of Asymptomatic Low-Risk Adults
July 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has reaffirmed its 2004 recommendation against ECG screening for asymptomatic adults who are already at low risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). The Task Force also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to assess the risks and benefits of ECG screening in asymptomatic people at intermediate- or high-risk for…
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