Neurology referrals for headache are often unnecessary and delay appropriate headache care. A Geisinger Medical Center neurologist developed a tool that pops up on the EMR when the diagnosis of headache is entered. It guides with questions and suggested medications. The tool was developed in response to a chart review showing that referrals for headache from PCPs did not regularly document enough data in their notes on headache to reach a viable diagnosis nor were they regularly trying medications before referring.

A 75-y-o man is found to have an INR of 8.5 on routine monitoring. There is no evidence of bleeding, and he is otherwise well. He is instructed to stop warfarin. His hemoglobin comes back normal. What is the best next step in managing him: intervention or observation?

The new guidelines have drawn criticism and many or most hospitals are sticking to state guidelines, which generally mandate masking. Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, of Brown University tweeted that CDC’s logic “escapes me,” as it pertains to society’s “most health-vulnerable” people in a setting with a higher-than-average risk of COVID positivity.

When tested at 32 weeks gestation, fetuses whose mothers ate carrots reacted with smiles, while those whose mothers ate kale showed crying faces. And those reactions became more expressive as the fetuses mature.

This case-control study carried out at six hospitals between Oct 2021 and July 2022 found that boosters yielded a 75% reduction in COVID hospitalization risk in the first 50 days post-booster, declining to 25% reduction in hospitalization risk at over 150 days. Other factors associated with an increased odds of hospitalization for COVID-19 included age of 70 years or older, male sex, cognitive disease, COPD, diabetes, immunodeficiency, obesity, rheumatologic disease, transplant, and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination.

In the 5-year, multi-center, randomized, controlled GRADE trial (Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study), insulin glargine and liraglutide were about 13% more effective than glimepiride in keeping HbA1c lower than 7.0%, and 30% more effective than sitagliptin.