Infectious Disease expert Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan joins us for a preview of what to expect this season. Topics covered:
- Viruses
- Influenza
- COVID-19
- RSV
- West Nile
- MPox
- Vaccines

Guest: Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan, infectious Disease expert and Division VP and CMO Physician Enterprise - Midwest, Professor, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Creighton University School of Medicine.

Back by popular demand, our mythbusting team takes looks at two new health topics making headlines and compares popular beliefs to the latest evidence:

1. Is exercise as effective as other treatments to help depression?
   • Meta-analysis: https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-075847
2. Do tattoos cause lymphoma?
   • Study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00228-1/fulltext
   • Plus a discussion on correlation vs. causation

Guest: Dr. Ankita Sagar
System Vice President for Clinical Standards and Variation Reduction, Physician Enterprise and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Creighton University

Previous Myth-Busting Episodes
Are full body, preventative scans helpful or harmful for healthy individuals?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903646/15388164

Fasting and Statins: Do statins cause muscle aches and is it necessary to fast before labs?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903646/13919434

Water Consumption and Vegetarian Diets: How much water do we really need and are vegetarian or vegan diets truly healthy?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903646/14691788

Components of social connection are associated with mortality, but research examining their independent and combined effects in the same dataset is lacking. That has now changed thanks to a recent study published in BMC Medicine. We're joined by the primary author of that study to discuss the results and to get his perspective on social connectivity, loneliness and isolation and the impact on mortality.

Discussed:
Subjective and objective types of social connection
Analysis of more than 458,000 participants with full data from the UK Biobank cohort linked to mortality registers
What types of loneliness and social isolation are linked to a higher risk of death
Potential implications for screening
Guest: study author and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow Dr. Hamish Foster

References:
Study: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-023-03055-7

Surgeon General Advisory: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Surgeon General Report on Social Connection: www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-social-connection-general.pdf

Back by popular demand, the latest myth-busting episode of the 5-Minute Check In with Dr. McGinn takes a closer look at another popular and controversial topic:

Are full body, preventative scans helpful or harmful for healthy individuals?
Watch as we separate fact from fiction and compare popular beliefs to the evidence.

Previous Myth-Busting Episodes

Myth-Busting — Fasting and Statins
Do statins cause muscle aches and is it necessary to fast before labs?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903646/episodes/13919434-5-minute-check-in-mythbusting-headlines-and-common-misconceptions

Myth-busting - Water Consumption and Vegetarian Diets
How much water do we really need and are vegetarian or vegan diets truly healthy?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903646/episodes/14691788-health-myth-or-fact-comparing-clinical-beliefs-to-the-evidence-episode-2

Learning Objectives (and corresponding articles):
Identify medications best avoided by older adults in most circumstances or specific clinical scenarios (JAGS)


Discern the benefits, harms, and efficacy of different smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and e‐cigarettes (Annals of Internal Medicine)


Evaluate the effectiveness, harms, and benefits of newer diabetic medications on mortality, cardiovascular and renal outcomes (Cochrane Review)


Understand the utilization of eGFRcr versus eGFR based on creatinine and cystatin C levels (eGFRcr-cys) in older adults (Annals of Internal Medicine)


Quantify trends in racial/ethnic disparities in TB incidence among U.S.-born persons (Annals of Internal Medicine)


Recognize the well-being and turnover rates of physicians and nurses as well as actionable factors on adverse clinician outcomes (JAMA)


The benefits of puppies: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2023-97081-001.html

Presenter:
Ankita Sagar, MD, MPH, FACP, System Vice President, Clinical Standards and Variation Reduction, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine

Guests:
Barbara Martin, PhD, System Senior Vice President, Advanced Practice
Corey Karlin Zysman, MD, System Senior Vice President, Physician Enterprise, Arizona and Nevada

Learning Objectives:
-Review the history and flawed assumptions in the use of race and how race-specific PFT reference equations might lead to health disparities.
-Understand the evidence behind the recommendation to use race-neutral reference equations.
-Review the quantitative impact of switching from race-specific to race-neutral reference equations.
-Assess the many remaining gaps in our understanding of how to use pulmonary function tests to improve health.

Speakers:
Nirav Bhakta, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Bhakta is a national thought leader and Vice-chair of the American Thoracic Society Pulmonary Function Testing Committee. Dr. Bhakta co-chaired the ATS workshop on race and PFTs that led to the publication of the 2023 ATS Statement.

Panelists:
Thomas R. Vendegna, MD, Pulmonology and Critical Care, CMO French Hospital Medical Center (Facilitator)
Jeff Sippel, MD, Critical Care Medicine, UC Health
Robert Wiebe, MD, CMO, CommonSpirit Health
Suchitra Pilli, MD, Interventional Pulmonology and Critical Care, Medical Director for Respiratory Therapy, CHI Health Omaha, Assistant Professor, Creighton University
Gary Greensweig, DO, Chief Physician Executive, Physician Enterprise, CommonSpirit Health
Ankita Sagar, MD, System Vice President, Clinical Standards and Variation Reduction, Physician Enterprise, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine

First-of-its-kind medication shows promise for liver disease patients

• Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is estimated to affect nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a form of MASLD that can cause liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. It is one of the most common reasons why patients need liver transplants.
• The FDA recently granted accelerated approval to resmetirom, the first medication to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis.
• Prior to the FDA approval, there were no approved drugs to treat this disease

In this 5-minute check in, we review the promising phase 3 data from a randomized trial that led to FDA approval including the results, the implications for patient care, and the potential to transform the landscape of NASH management

Guest: Dr. Justin Reynolds, Associate Professor, Creighton University School of Medicine, Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Transplant Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309000

This special session will explore the transformative impact of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. The session includes the firsthand perspective of Ms. Victoria Gray.

Ms. Gray is the first patient in the United States to undergo revolutionary CRISPR treatment for Sickle Cell Disease. After decades of pain and struggle, Ms. Gray's CRISPR procedure has not only modified her affected cells, she has not needed any transfusions and has not experienced any pain attacks.

In addition to Ms. Gray's story, the session will provide a brief update on gene therapy and treatment of Sickle Cell Disease. The session faculty will also discuss the ethical considerations surrounding patient selection, cost of gene therapy, and policies currently in place/needed for ensuring equitable access.

The session is meant to be an introduction to the implications the gene therapy revolution may have on individuals, health care organizations, and the broader landscape of health care delivery in the United States.

Watch our recent 5-Minute Check In about Sickle Cell Disease: https://youtu.be/clUcAR_tPbw?si=cW6Df4i6_S0bnbOa