Table of Contents

Is managed care improving the quality of health care for populations at the expense of care for individuals?

Beta agonists are used too often and inhaled steroids too little. Leukotrine receptor antagonists will be an important new asthma therapy, but allergy shots remain controversial.

The four newest anticonvulsant drugs— gabapentin, lamotrigine, felbamate, and topiramate—offer some advantages over older agents.

Clinicians should apply clinical reasoning when interpreting trial results, and researchers should find better ways of measuring “soft” outcomes, such as quality of life.

The CARE findings indicate that average LDL-cholesterol levels are too high in patients with coronary artery disease and can contribute to a reoccurrence of cardiovascular events.

What testing and action is needed to prepare this patient for evacuation of a hematoma?

Bite wounds can be deceptive, as seemingly minor wounds can result in serious complications, such as septic arthritis.

Systolic pressure predicts risk more accurately than diastolic pressure. The current goal of 140/90 is probably not aggressive enough.

Acute pulmonary edema due to upper respiratory obstruction (in this case an endotracheal tube obstructed by dry mucus plugs), may be underdiagnosed.

Although the screening of natural products remains the major method of discovering new anticancer drugs, new techniques of computer-aided drug design and combinatorial synthesis will also play a role.