JAMA Author Interviews

Interview with Michael P. Pignone, MD, MPH, author of Screening for Skin Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Richard N. Rosenthal, MD discusses a randomized clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of an implantable buprenorphine-releasing device for treating opioid use disorder.

Lyme disease is very common in certain regions of the country and is caused by the spirochete Borrelia bergdorferi. Lyme disease is transmitted by tick bites and in this podcast we review the discovery of Lyme disease, its major clinical features, and how to diagnose and treat it, as told by Dr Alan Steere, Dr Lyndon Hu, and Dr Paul Auerwerter. Related article: Review of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis

Interview with Dorry Segev, MD, PhD, author of HIV and Transplantation: New Reasons for HOPE

Interview with Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, author of Attitudes and Practices of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States, Canada, and Europe

Persistent diarrhea is a poorly recognized syndrome in all populations that requires proper assessment and diagnosis to ensure that affected individuals receive the treatment needed to experience improvement of clinical symptoms. Listen to Drs Herbert DuPont and Annie Feagins discuss how to diagnose and treat diarrhea. Related article: Persistent Diarrhea

Interview with Jeff D. Williamson, MD, MHS, author of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control and Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes in Adults Aged ≥75 Years: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Howard Bauchner, MD, Editor in Chief of JAMA, interviews Simon Chapman, MD, author of Association Between Gun Law Reforms and Intentional Firearm Deaths in Australia, 1979-2013

Interview with Douglas K. Owens, MD, MS, author of Screening for Colorectal Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Dr Allen Steere discovered Lyme disease and discusses what he saw and did when confronted early in his career with a previously undescribed disease. Late stage disease, a form not commonly seen today, is discussed in detail since that is how the disease presented before its cause was determined. Related article: Review of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis

Interview with Ann E. Kurth, PhD, RN, MSN, MPH, author of Screening for Syphilis Infection in Nonpregnant Adults and Adolescents: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Interview with Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, author of Trends in Obesity Among Adults in the United States, 2005 to 2014

Interview with Gillian L. Booth, MD, author of Association of Neighborhood Walkability With Change in Overweight, Obesity, and Diabetes

Drs Stuart Spechler and Peter Kahrilis discuss GERD and esophagitis--how they occur and how they are treated. Dr Spechler also discusses a new hypothesis regarding how reflux esophagitis is caused that differs from the traditional teaching that acid and pepsin reflux into the esophagus and burn the mucosa layers. Related articles: Association of Acute Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease With Esophageal Histologic Changes Turning the Pathogenesis of Acute Peptic Esophagitis Inside Out

Interview with Douglas B. White, MD, MAS, author of Prevalence of and Factors Related to Discordance About Prognosis Between Physicians and Surrogate Decision Makers of Critically Ill Patients

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD is a very common problem affecting about 10% of all adolescents. Children with ADHD have short attention spans, are hyperactive, talk a great deal, can be disruptive in the classroom etc.-features that are common in many adolescents. However, to have true ADHD, children must be significantly impaired by these problems. An array of medical and behavioral treatments can successfully help manage ADHD. These are reviewed in a series of articles appearing in the May 10, 2016, issue of JAMA. In this podcast, we discuss ADHD with the authors of some of those papers, Eugenia Chan, MD, MPH from Harvard and Philip Shaw, MD, PhD from the National Human Genome Research Institute. Articles discussed in this episode: Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adolescents: A Systematic Review Quantifying the Benefits and Risks of Methylphenidate as Treatment for Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Methylphenidate for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Interview with Pascal Hammel, MD, author of Effect of Chemoradiotherapy vs Chemotherapy on Survival in Patients With Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Controlled After 4 Months of Gemcitabine With or Without Erlotinib: The LAP07 Randomized Clinical Trial

Christine Curry, MD, PhD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami, discusses the challenges of keeping pregnant patients and her colleagues well-informed of the facts as Zika virus fears circulate.

Interview with Linden Hu, MD, author of Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: A Review

Interview with Céline Vetter, PhD, author of Association Between Rotating Night Shift Work and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Among Women

Interview with Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, author of Association of Pembrolizumab With Tumor Response and Survival Among Patients With Advanced Melanoma

Mononucleosis is a common disease of young adults manifested by lethargy, fever, pharyngitis, lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. In this podcast, we review the clinical features of the disease and how good each of them is at establishing a diagnosis of mononucleosis. We also review how Epstein Barr virus was discovered as the cause of mononucleosis and talk to Mark H. Ebell, MD, MS, author of Does This Patient Have Infectious Mononucleosis? The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review. Articles discussed in this episode: Does This Patient Have Infectious Mononucleosis? The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review (2016) Acute Lymphatic Leukemia and Infectious Mononucleosis (1931) Infectious Mononucleosis: Part I. Clinical Aspects (1935) Infectious Mononucleosis: Clinical Manifestations in Relation to EB Virus Antibodies (1968)

Interview with Kiros Berhane, PhD, author of Association of Changes in Air Quality With Bronchitic Symptoms in Children in California, 1993-2012

Interview with Raj Chetty, PhD, author of The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014, and Angus Deaton, PhD, author of On Death and Money: History, Facts, and Explanations

Interview with William R. Phillips, MD, MPH, author of Screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Interview with Wendy C. King, PhD, author of Change in Pain and Physical Function Following Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity

Interview with Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, author of Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Usual Care on Back Pain and Functional Limitations in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

An opioid abuse epidemic now plagues US healthcare. It was caused, in part, by overzealous advocacy for controlling chronic pain resulting in overuse of narcotics. There are now 2 million Americans addicted to opioids. The approach for treating chronic pain must change. In this podcast, we summarize recent CDC guidelines for the proper use of opioids for treating chronic pain. Articles discussed in this episode: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain— United States, 2016, The CDC Guideline on Opioid Prescribing: Rising to the Challenge (Yngvild Olsen, MD, MPH), The DSM-V definition for opioid use disorder and 11 point checklist

Interview with Saad B. Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD, author of Association Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States A Review of Measles and Pertussis

Polypharmacy is a rapidly worsening problem that hits elderly patients particularly hard. As patients grow older, they need more medications but at the same time become less capable of managing the complexity of drug treatments. In order to simplify treatment regimens for older patients, it is necessary to consider the evidence supporting treatment of various conditions and when the evidence is not particularly strong, reduce or eliminate medications accordingly. Diabetes management in the elderly is highlighted in this podcast with specific attention given to deintensifying diabetes treatment in the elderly. Articles discussed in this episode: Polypharmacy in the Aging Patient: Glycemic Control in Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Review (Kasia J. Lipska, MD, MHS) Evaluation and Treatment of Older Patients With Hypercholesterolemia: A Clinical Review (Timo E. Strandberg, MD, PhD) Trends in Prescription Drug Use Among Adults in the United States From 1999-2012 (Elizabeth D. Kantor, PhD, MPH)

Interview with Lynn Babcock, MD, MS, author of Identifying Children and Adolescents at Risk for Persistent Postconcussion Symptoms

Interview with Michael P. Pignone, MD, MPH, author of Screening for Impaired Visual Acuity in Older Adults: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Robert O. Bonow, MD, the editor-in-chief of JAMA Cardiology, the JAMA Network’s newest addition, discusses his editorial vision for the journal, as well as his insights on advances in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Interview with Clifford Deutschman, MD, MS, Mervyn Singer, MD and Derek Angus, MD, MPH, authors of The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3)

Interview with John G. Laffey, MD, MA, author of Epidemiology, Patterns of Care, and Mortality for Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Intensive Care Units in 50 Countries

Interview with David C. Grossman, MD, MPH, author of Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Community acquired pneumonia accounts for 600,000 hospital admissions a year. Many patients with this disease are quite ill and have a very high mortality. To save lives, the appropriate antibiotics should be given in a timely basis, but it is not clear what the best antibiotics are and how long they should be given. In this podcast we interview the author of a JAMA review on community acquired pneumonia, Dr Jonathan Lee, author of Antibiotic Therapy for Adults Hospitalized With Community-Acquired Pneumonia, who performed a systematic review of the literature to determine the best way to treat community acquired pneumonia.

The 2015-2020 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans were recently released. They are intended to provide guidance for health policy officials and clinicians regarding healthy diets and establishing goals for improving nutrition. These are important since bad eating habits are the underlying cause for a great deal of disease in the US and that these guidelines influence the operations of programs such as school lunch assistance, meals on wheels etc. Because these guidelines influence policy, they have been criticized by various investigators and special interest groups. Karen DeSalvo, MD, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS and author of Dietary Guidelines for Americans responds to some of these criticisms and explains how the guideline was created and what it is intended to do. Implementation of the guidelines dietary advice may be challenging and Deborah Clegg, RD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine at UCLA discusses how the various recommendations can be followed.

Interview with Martha Clare Morris, ScD, author of Association of Seafood Consumption, Brain Mercury Level, and APOE ε4 Status With Brain Neuropathology in Older Adults

Interview with Michael P. Pignone, MD, MPH, author of Screening for Depression in Adults: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Peripheral neuropathy is a highly prevalent and morbid condition affecting 2% to 7% of the population. Patients frequently experience pain and are at risk of falls, ulcerations, and amputations. It is most commonly occurs in patients with diabetes. For most cases, the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathy can be made without complex testing or referral to specialists. Drs. Eva Feldman and Brian Callaghan from the University of Michigan Department of Neurology, authors of Distal Symmetric Polyneuropathy and Electrodiagnostic Tests in Polyneuropathy and Radiculopathy, explain how to manage neuropathy.

Interview with Justin E. Bekelman, MD, author of Comparison of Site of Death, Health Care Utilization, and Hospital Expenditures for Patients Dying With Cancer in 7 Developed Countries

Constipation is one of the most frequent problems clinicians are asked to deal with. Despite how common it is, constipation is frequently not treated adequately. In this podcast, Arnold Wald, MD, explains a stepwise approach to the management of constipation ranging from very simple measures to the most novel and complicated new medical therapies.

Interview with Gaëtan Deslée, MD, PhD, author of Lung Volume Reduction Coil Treatment vs Usual Care in Patients With Severe Emphysema: The REVOLENS Randomized Clinical Trial

Interview with Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, author of Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Interview with Dalane W. Kitzman, MD, author of Effect of Caloric Restriction or Aerobic Exercise Training on Peak Oxygen Consumption and Quality of Life in Obese Older Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Minor head trauma usually does not cause significant brain injury. To be safe, clinicians often obtain head CT scans to ensure no major injury is present. For minor head trauma (Glascow coma scale 13-15), the risk to benefit ratio for head CT is usually not in favor of getting CT scans. When the Canadian head CT rule or New Orleans Criteria are negative, there is a very small risk for missing a significant brain injury. Joshua Easter, MD from the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia who authored a JAMA Rational Clinical Examination article on this topic is interviewed as is Frederick Rivara, from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington who wrote an accompanying editorial. Michelle Mello, a Law Professor at Stanford, discusses the medical liability associated with not obtaining neuroimaging for minor head trauma.

Interview with Debbie A. Lawlor, PhD, author of Live-Birth Rate Associated With Repeat In Vitro Fertilization Treatment Cycles

Edward H. Livingston, MD discusses Graves disease with David Cooper, MD, author of Management of Graves Disease: A Review

Interview with John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MHSc, MBA, author of Alternating Electric Fields for the Treatment of Glioblastoma