Your Medical Mind_ How to Decide What Is Right for You - Jerome Groopman [101]
46 Pam’s mother’s advice about eating blueberries is featured in Frank Bruni’s article about other octogenarians: Frank Bruni, “Death takes a rain check: How many blueberries a day does it take to keep the grim reaper away? An 87-year-old billionaire’s quest to live forever—or at least to 125,” New York Times Magazine, March 6, 2011.
CHAPTER 3: BUT IS IT BEST FOR ME?
51 There are nuances to the treatment of Graves’ disease that need to be weighed in certain cases, like the size of the thyroid gland and whether there are associated eye abnormalities (called Graves’ ophthalmopathy). An excellent overview of hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease is Gregory A. Brent, “Graves’ disease,” NEJM 358 (2008), pp. 2594–2605.
52 Patrick Baptiste was treated for his diabetes by different specialists who had varying views on how to regulate his blood sugar. In this regard, it is notable that expert groups have differed on several aspects of the monitoring and treatment of diabetes, despite access to the same “evidence” from research studies; see Jako S. Burgers et al., “Inside guidelines: Comparative analysis of recommendations and evidence in diabetes guidelines from 13 countries,” Diabetes Care 25 (2002), pp. 1933–1939; Finlay A. McAlister et al., “How evidence-based are the recommendations in evidence-based guidelines?” PLoS Medicine 4 (2007), pp. 1325–1332.
52 The tight regulation of blood glucose with insulin and oral medications is an area of active research and differing opinions among specialists; see NICE-SUGAR Study Investigators, “Intensive versus conventional glucose control in critically ill patients,” NEJM 360 (2009), pp. 1283–1297; Silvio E. Inzucchi, Mark D. Siegel, “Glucose control in the ICU: How tight is too tight?” NEJM 360 (2009), pp. 1346–1349; Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes Study Group, “Effects of intensive glucose lowering in Type 2 diabetes,” NEJM 358 (2008), pp. 2545–2559; ADVANCE Collaborative Group, “Intensive blood glucose control and vascular outcomes in patients with Type 2 diabetes,” NEJM 358 (2008), pp. 2560–2572; Robert G. Dluhy, Graham T. McMahon, “Intensive glycemic control in the ACCORD and ADVANCE trials,” NEJM 358 (2008), pp. 2630–2633.
53 The randomized study of different therapies for Graves’ disease: Ove Torring et al., “Graves’ hyperthyroidism: Treatment with antithyroid drugs, surgery, or radioiodine—a prospective, randomized study: Thyroid Study Group,” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology&Metabolism 81 (1996), pp. 2986–2993.
53 Differences between physician and patient preferences are addressed in Kate Cox et al., “Patients’ involvement in decisions about medicines: GPs’ perceptions of their preferences,” British Journal of General Practice 57 (2007), pp. 777–784; Arthur S. Elstein, Gretchen B. Chapman, Sara J. Knight, “Patients’ values and clinical substituted judgments: The case of localized prostate cancer,” Health Psychology 24 (2005), pp. S85–S92; Susan M. Sawyer, H. John Fardy, “Bridging the gap between doctors’and patients’ expectations of asthma management,” Journal of Asthma 40 (2003), pp. 131–138; A. Spoorenberg et al., “Measuring disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis: Patient and physician have different perspectives,” Rheumatology (Oxford) 44 (2005), pp. 789–795.
54 The geographic variation in approaches to treatment of Graves’ disease: Leonard Wartofsky et al., “Differences and similarities in the diagnosis and treatment of Graves’ disease in Europe, Japan, and the United States,” Thyroid 1 (1991), pp. 129–135; Daniel Glinoer et al., “The management of hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease in Europe in 1986: Results of an international survey,” Acta Endocrino Logica 185 (Suppl.) (1987), pp. 9–37; Barbara Solomin et al., “Current trends in the management of Graves’ disease,” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 70 (1990), pp. 1518–1524; Y. Nagayama, M. Izumi, S. Nagataki, “The management of hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease in Japan in 1988: The Japan Thyroid