Mixed Bag

New CDC Vital Signs: Colorectal cancer testing needs to increase among adults
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer among men and women in the United States, after lung cancer. About 1 in 3 adults is not getting screened for colorectal cancer as recommended by the U.S. Preventive services Task Force (USPSTF), according to a new Vital Signs report: Colorectal Cancer Screening Test Use - 2012, released today. CDC

Talking with patients about other clinicians' errors
Physicians are notably loath to fully disclose their own errors, but some progress is being made in this area due to institutional policies supporting error disclosure. This article is intended to foster discussion of an especially thorny issue: how clinicians should approach error disclosure when the error was committed by a colleague. As little prior literature exists regarding this dilemma, the authors emphasize a patient-centered approach that begins with a respectful peer-to-peer conversation and does not shirk the need to fully disclose the error. The importance of institutional support, particularly in establishing a just culture that promotes error disclosure, is also emphasized. PSNet

Brain may play key role in blood sugar metabolism and development of diabetes
New research, they write, suggests that normal glucose regulation depends on a partnership between the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, the pancreatic islet cells, and neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus and other brain areas that are intimately involved in maintaining normal glucose levels. The development of diabetes type 2, the authors argue, requires a failure of both the islet-cell system and this brain-centered system for regulating blood sugar levels. Eurekalert!

In CAD, many don't get optimal secondary prevention med combo
About one-third of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients fail to receive their optimal combination of secondary prevention medications, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. MedicalXpress

Food-borne tropical disease outbreak strikes the US
A food-borne illness is spreading quickly through the United States, an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed. The disease, called cyclosporiasis, is common to tropical and subtropical regions. While occasional outbreaks have been recorded since early 1990s in the US, the current spread of the disease has been swift and wide. MedicalXpress

Biomarker Can Predict Events in Afib Patients (CME/CE)
Beta-trace protein (BTP), a biomarker that has been associated with both kidney damage and an increased cardiovascular risk, may help identify high-risk atrial fibrillation patients, researchers found. Among patients with atrial fibrillation who were on stable oral anticoagulant therapy, high plasma levels of the protein were associated with significantly elevated risks of embolic events, adverse cardiovascular events, death, and major bleeding, according to Gregory Lip, MD, of the University of Birmingham in England, and colleagues.

Also, adding information about BTP levels modestly improved the predictive ability of models that included two established risk scores -- CHAD2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED -- as indicated by higher C-statistics, they reported in the Nov. 5 issue of CHEST. MedPage Today