JAMA Clinical Reviews

A new virus known as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is rapidly spreading through China. The rapid spread and severity of this illness are worrisome and the possibility that it develops into a pandemic is very real. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, provides an update on this new disease.

American football is a dangerous sport and is characterized by violent contact between people that often leads to repetitive head injury. A multitude of health effects may result from this sort of head injury, but a new finding reported in the December issue of JAMA Neurology maintains that football players are at risk for developing low testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction. Rachel Grashow, PhD, from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Football Players Health Study at Harvard Medical School discusses the findings regarding the relationship between head injury and erectile dysfunction.

The keto diet is very popular and involves eating very few carbohydrates, a fair amount of fat, and normal amounts of protein. It is one of many ways to lose weight. David Heber, MD, formerly the chair of Clinical Nutrition at UCLA, explains the keto diet. Related article: Ketogenic Diets

There are many named diets that receive a great deal of attention. But what are they and do they work? David Heber, MD, PhD, from the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition explains these diets. Related articles: Ketogenic Diets (Patient Page) Interest in the Ketogenic Diet Grows for Weight Loss and Type 2 Diabetes Comparison of Weight Loss Among Named Diet Programs in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Meta-analysis

e-Cigarettes are dangerous, but the public has been falsely led to believe that they are safe. Because of this misconception and the inherent dangers, the American Heart Association (AHA) has taken an aggressive stance to educate the public about e-cigarettes, especially their use by kids. Rose Marie Robertson, MD,deputy chief science and medical officer for the AHA, spoke to JAMA about e-cigarettes and the frightening increase in their use among kids. Read the article: The American Heart Association Takes on Vaping

Animal bites can be a cause of significant injury and on occasion, fatalities. In this episode, JAMA Fishbein Fellow Angel Desai, MD, MPH discusses the prevention, treatment, and epidemiological oddities of animal bites with Dr Sandra Nelson, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General, Dr Justin Hensley from Children's Hospital of San Antonio, and others. Desai also talks prevention and risk of rabies acquisition with Dr Catherine Brown, state epidemiologist and public health veterinarian from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently issued guidelines for how to manage heavy menstrual bleeding. Guidelines only provide guidance and they must be interpreted for an individual patient's clinical context. Andrew Kauntiz, MD, professor and associate chair in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville, an expert in this topic, discusses these new NICE guidelines and how clinicians should use them. Read the article: Assessment and Management of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

On March 15, 2019, a lone gunman walked into 2 mosques within minutes of each other in Christchurch, New Zealand, and opened fire with semiautomatic weapons, killing 51 and wounding many more. We spoke to Greg Robertson, MB ChB, the surgeon who coordinated the medical response to this mass casualty event. Robertson talks about what his hospital had to do to manage all these casualties and also how New Zealand quickly changed its laws to restrict the availability of weapons used for these sorts of attacks.

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, otherwise known as "vaping," has been increasing since 2010. This podcast reviews research on the epidemiology and possible adverse health effects of e-cigarette and nicotine use, and the pitfalls associated with using e-cigarettes as a method to stop smoking. These issues are discussed by Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, PhD, a professor with the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, and JAMA Associate Editor George O'Connor, a professor of medicine at Boston University. Related article: e-Cigarette Use Among Youth in the United States, 2019

Barbra Streisand and Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Streisand Women's Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California, discuss the problem of cardiovascular disease in women and especially coronary microvascular disease, which causes an unusual presentation of cardiac ischemic disease in women.