Table of Contents

The Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine’s new mission statement, “Dedicated to Lifelong Learning,” reflects our shift in focus to continuing education for physicians. The more functional new design uses typography and color to help readers find information quickly.

The question for physicians is no longer whether to bother to be connected to the Internet, but whether they can afford not to.

The widely held belief that gluttony and sloth underlie obesity is fading, as research sheds light on the interactions between diet, genetics, hormones, and neurotransmitters.

Clinical judgement – utilizing personal experience, analogy and extrapolation – is still necessary in a system of evidence-based medicine.

How to assess a patient’s perioperative risk, deciding when clinical factors are sufficient to gauge risk and when pharmacologic stress testing is needed.

Early detection, coupled with rigorous glycemic control and aggressive hypertensive management may slow the progression of diabetic nephropathy. Dietary protein restriction may also have a role.

The postulated immunomodulating effects of high-dose IVIg therapy make it an attractive alternative to corticosteroids or cytotoxic agents, but cost is an important issue, especially when efficacy is uncertain.

For most menopausal women, the benefits of hormone replacement therapy out-weigh the risks, despite the fears aroused by an unproven link to breast cancer.

The use of conscious sedation rather than general anesthesia is increasing in the shift to outpatient care, but the technique poses its own special dangers.