More articles from From the Editor
- Vaccination: An option not to be ignored
Outbreaks of measles are seemingly on the rise, mainly because of lower vaccination rates, which are in part due to the unfounded fear that the vaccine causes autism.
- Important changes to our CME program
Starting this month, readers can earn CME credit on a per-article basis. Each article that bears the CME logo is a separate CME test, each worth 1 credit.
- Evidence, limes, and cement
Sometimes, the results of clinical trials do not immediately affect what physicians do because the results do not jibe with experience.
- Low bone density is not always bisphosphonate deficiency
Low bone density is not a one-size-fits-all disorder. We need to carefully consider the diagnostic and therapeutic options before assuming that low bone density is osteoporosis.
- Low-tech tools, high-pressure stakes
Despite the many ways to introduce inaccuracies in low-tech cuff measurements of blood pressure, the benefits of treating high blood pressure diagnosed this way can be great.
- No pig in a poke
As we approach the 2009 flu season, “swine flu” presents a real and distinct concern for patients, clinicians, and public health officials.
- Vertebroplasty, evidence, and health care reform: What is quality care?
Two recent trials found that a popular procedure for fixing vertebral fractures lacks efficacy. Like it or not, in the future, such evidence is going to affect whether insurers pay for care.
- The internist, alphabet soup, and the hepatologist
Given the widening spectrum of viral hepatitis types and clinical syndromes, prompt referral to and consultation with a hepatologist are in our patients’ best interests.
- The blade, the flea, and the colon
Ischemic colitis often gives the internist and surgeon a chance to commiserate on the power of informed watchful waiting.
- Bone quality: A soft concept, hard to ignore
How can we better predict who, given a low T score, will have a fractured hip or spine and who will not?