JAMA Medical News

Many health care professionals are already dealing with the effects of climate change. In this Q&A, the World Health Organization’s first-ever Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health, Vanessa Kerry, MD, MSc, joins JAMA Medical News Director Jennifer Abbasi to discuss how a changing climate and extreme weather events are impacting human health, what clinicians should expect in the years ahead, and how they can help protect patients—and the planet.

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What to Know About the First Pill Approved for Postpartum Depression; Will the Updated COVID Vaccines Protect Against the New Variant? CDC Assesses Risk From BA.2.86, Highly Mutated COVID-19 Variant

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• A Fast-Acting Pill Received Approval for Postpartum Depression—Is It a Game Changer?
• What to Know About EG.5, the Latest SARS-CoV-2 “Variant of Interest”
• CDC Assesses Risk From BA.2.86, Highly Mutated COVID-19 Variant

Treating Long COVID’s Mental Health Symptoms in Primary Care; This Fall’s COVID-19 Vaccine Will Target Omicron XBB Subvariants—Who Needs to Get It; Avian Influenza Update

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• HHS Urges Primary Care Clinicians to Help Patients Manage Long COVID’s Mental Health Symptoms
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• This Fall’s COVID-19 Vaccines Will Target Omicron XBB Subvariants, but Who Needs Them Remains to Be Seen

Data on a new crop of hormone analogues for weight loss—including an oral version of semaglutide and the triple agent retatrutide—were recently presented at the American Diabetes Association’s annual Scientific Sessions. Robert Gabbay, MD, PhD, the ADA’s chief scientific and medical officer, speaks with JAMA’s Jennifer Abbasi about this and other clinical data presented at the meeting.

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• New Weight Loss Drugs Make Headlines at Diabetes Meeting

The 2021 US maternal mortality rate is more than 10 times the rate of other high-income countries, according to a March 2023 CDC report. In this Q&A, JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, is joined by Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, University of Washington, Audra Meadows, MD, MPH, UC San Diego, and Joia Crear-Perry, MD, founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, to discuss these concerning numbers and why preventable death rates are worsening in the US.

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• Trends in State-Level Maternal Mortality by Racial and Ethnic Group in the United States
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• US Maternal Mortality Is Unacceptably High, Unequal, and Getting Worse—What Can Be Done About It?
• Trends in Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity During Delivery-Related Hospitalizations in the United States, 2008 to 2021

Sugar Substitutes Don’t Help Weight Control and May Increase Risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes, WHO Warns; Social Media and the Youth Mental Health Crisis

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• Surgeon General Sounds the Alarm on Social Media Use and Youth Mental Health Crisis

JAMA Deputy Editor and JAMA Oncology Editor Mary (Nora) L. Disis, MD, speaks with Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, chair of the meeting’s Scientific Program Committee and associate chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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• Highlights From the ASCO Annual Meeting—New Approaches to Cancers of the Blood, Brain, Lung, and More

JAMA Senior Editor Kristin L. Walter, MD, MS, speaks with Debra Boyer, MD, MHPE, about important research studies and keynote addresses presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in May 2023. Dr Boyer is a pediatric pulmonologist and chief medical education officer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and was cochair of this year’s conference.

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• COPD Mortality, Goals-of-Care Conversations in Serious Illness, and Advocating for Climate Change Science and Gun Violence Prevention—Highlights From the American Thoracic Society Conference

What Clinicians Need to Know About “Tranq”; As Laws Restricting Health Care Surge, Some US Physicians Choose Between Fight or Flight

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• Risk of Parkinson Disease Among Camp Lejeune Veterans

JAMA Fishbein Fellow Revital Marcus, MD, talks with American Academy of Neurology president-elect and meeting science committee chair Natalia Rost, MD, about hot topics at this year’s conference in Boston, including new Alzheimer disease drugs, long COVID and the central nervous system, and a nasal spray for migraines.

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• New Alzheimer Disease Drugs, Long COVID and the Central Nervous System, and a Nasal Spray for Migraines—Highlights From the 2023 American Academy of Neurology Conference