Looking to Tackle Prescription Overload

The initiative calls for a 25 percent reduction in medication use within a year, with AMDA monitoring the results. “An ambitious goal,” said Dr. Sabine von Preyss-Friedman, co-chair of the Drive to Deprescribe work group. “But if you do a little here and a little there, you don’t move the needle.” To date, 2,000 facilities…

We Could All Use a Health Coach

Courtney Hamilton, a publicist in Los Angeles, is a prime example of someone who has benefited from a health coach. She had suffered for more than 20 years with the debilitating digestive symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome until a health coach at Parsley Health, a national network of primary care clinics, told her it wasn’t…

Study suggests no link between antiseizure drugs used in pregnancy and cognitive problems in babies

WHAT: New findings published in JAMA Neurology suggest there is no difference in cognitive outcomes at age 2 among children of healthy women and children of women with epilepsy who took antiseizure medication during pregnancy. The findings are part of the large research project Maternal Outcomes and Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs (MONEAD), which is…

Largest-ever pre-adolescent brain activation study reveals cognitive function maps

Youth brain activation data from the largest longitudinal neuroimaging study to date provides valuable new information on the cognitive processes and brain systems that underlie adolescent development and might contribute to mental and physical health challenges in adulthood. The study published today online in Nature Neuroscience. Because of the notable brain, cognitive, and emotional maturation…

Considering the potential and pitfalls of “Dr. GPT-3” in a clinic near you

Artificial intelligence natural language computer applications are becoming increasingly sophisticated, raising the possibility that they could assume a greater role in health care, including interacting with patients. But before these applications enter the clinic, their potential and pitfalls need thoughtful exploration, states a new article in NPJ Digital Medicine. The authors are Diane M. Korngiebel,…