JAMA Medical News

JAMA Medical News comes to you live from the American Heart Association’s first-ever virtual Scientific Sessions conference. Host Jennifer Abbasi chats with conference chair and AHA president-elect Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, about this year’s hottest clinical trials and themes: fish oil vs corn oil placebo for primary or secondary prevention; Polycap polypill with or without aspirin for primary prevention; statins, side effects, and the nocebo effect; ferric carboxymaltose iron infusion in acute heart failure; omecamtiv mecarbil, a novel cardiac myosin activator, in HFrEF; sotagliflozin, an SGLT2/1 inhibitor, in diabetes with recent worsening heart failure or in diabetes and chronic kidney disease; MINOCA’s underlying cause in women; rilonacept, an IL-1α and IL-1β Trap, in recurrent pericarditis; COVID-19’s cardiovascular effects, risk factors, and racial/ethnic disparities. Related article: Omega-3 Fatty Acids vs Corn Oil and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients at High Risk

Large Meta-analysis Digs Into Obesity’s COVID-19 Risks; As Their Numbers Grow, COVID-19 “Long Haulers” Stump Experts; Telephone Visits Surge During the Pandemic, but Will They Last? Related articles: Large Meta-analysis Digs Into Obesity’s COVID-19 Risks As Their Numbers Grow, COVID-19 “Long Haulers” Stump Experts Telephone Visits Surge During the Pandemic, but Will They Last?

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill nutrition scholar Barry Popkin, PhD, and JAMA Medical News Associate Managing Editor Jennifer Abbasi discuss new findings on obesity and COVID-19. Popkin is the lead author of a systematic review and meta-analysis on the topic that was published recently in Obesity Reviews. He is a distinguished professor in the department of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Related Article(s): Large Meta-analysis Digs Into Obesity’s COVID-19 Risks

What Happens When COVID-19 Collides With Flu Season?; Flu Vaccination Urged During COVID-19 Pandemic; COVID-19 and mRNA Vaccines—First Large Test for a New Approach Related Article(s): What Happens When COVID-19 Collides With Flu Season? Flu Vaccination Urged During COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19 and mRNA Vaccines—First Large Test for a New Approach

Science communications expert Dominique Brossard, PhD, and JAMA Medical News Associate Managing Editor Jennifer Abbasi discuss research-based strategies to encourage mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Brossard is a professor and chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and part of a new COVID-19-focused National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine group. Related Article(s): The Science of Persuasion Offers Lessons for COVID-19 Prevention

Researchers Strive to Recruit Hard-Hit Minorities Into COVID-19 Vaccine Trials; Taking a Closer Look at COVID-19, Health Inequities, and Racism; From Auto Mechanic to Emergency Medicine Resident: Inspiring Young Blacks to Become Physicians Related articles: Researchers Strive to Recruit Hard-Hit Minorities Into COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Taking a Closer Look at COVID-19, Health Inequities, and Racism From Auto Mechanic to Emergency Medicine Resident: Inspiring Young Blacks to Become Physicians

Carl Allamby, MD, discusses his circuitous route from long-time auto repair shop owner to emergency medicine resident with JAMA Medical News Senior Writer Rita Rubin. Growing up in Cleveland, Allamby never saw physicians who looked like him, but an introductory biology course required for his undergraduate business degree sparked a long dormant dream of becoming a physician. Related Article(s): From Auto Mechanic to Emergency Medicine Resident: Inspiring Young Blacks to Become Physicians

School Superintendents Confront COVID-19—“There Are No Good Options for Next Year”; Social Isolation—the Other COVID-19 Threat in Nursing Homes; COVID-19’s Lasting Impact on Medical Practices Related articles: COVID-19’s Crushing Effects on Medical Practices, Some of Which Might Not Survive School Superintendents Confront COVID-19—“There Are No Good Options for Next Year” Social Isolation—the Other COVID-19 Threat in Nursing Homes

Chicago public health legend and retired physician Linda Rae Murray, MD, discusses systemic racism and the pandemic’s disproportionate effect among African Americans and other people of color with JAMA Medical News Associate Managing Editor Jennifer Abbasi. Dr Murray is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and a past president of the American Public Health Association. Related: Taking a Closer Look at COVID-19, Health Inequities, and Racism  

Latin America and Its Global Partners Toil to Procure Medical Supplies as COVID-19 Pushes the Region to Its Limit; “Abandoned” Nursing Homes Continue to Face Critical Supply and Staff Shortages as COVID-19 Toll Has Mounted; Challenge Trials—Could Deliberate Coronavirus Exposure Hasten Vaccine Development? Article links: Latin America and Its Global Partners Toil to Procure Medical Supplies as COVID-19 Pushes the Region to Its Limit “Abandoned” Nursing Homes Continue to Face Critical Supply and Staff Shortages as COVID-19 Toll Has Mounted Challenge Trials—Could Deliberate Coronavirus Exposure Hasten Vaccine Development?