JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Talking about death can be difficult. Without evidence that end-of-life discussions improve patient outcomes, physicians must balance their desire to honor patient autonomy against a concern of inflicting psychological harm. ⋯ End-of-life discussions are associated with less aggressive medical care near death and earlier hospice referrals. Aggressive care is associated with worse patient quality of life and worse bereavement adjustment.
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Current epidemiological evidence suggests an association between obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and colorectal cancer risk. Adiponectin is a hormone secreted by the adipose tissue, and serum levels are inversely correlated with obesity and hyperinsulinemia. While there is evidence of an association between circulating adiponectin levels and colorectal cancer risk, no association between genes of the adiponectin pathway and colorectal cancer have been reported to date. ⋯ The SNP rs266729, which tags the 5' flanking region of the ADIPOQ gene, is associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk.
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The news media are an important source of information about medical research for patients and even some physicians. Little is known about how frequently news articles report when medication research has received funding from pharmaceutical companies or how frequently news articles use generic vs brand medication names. ⋯ News articles reporting on medication studies often fail to report pharmaceutical company funding and frequently refer to medications by their brand names despite newspaper editors' contention that this is not the case.