Latest Articles
- Canagliflozin (November 2013)
Readers comment on the measurement of serum calcium in a patient with tetany (June 2013) and on the metabolic side effects of canagliflozin (November 2013).
- Return of the ‘pisse-mongers,’ this time with data
Urinalysis may be the oldest surviving laboratory test. Both Hippocrates and Galen recognized its value.
- How to spot heritable breast cancer: A primary care physician’s guide
Because breast cancer is common, primary care physicians will encounter many patients who have a personal or family history of it. Many patients may benefit from referral to a cancer genetics program for assessment, genetic counseling, and consideration of genetic testing. This article discusses the complexities of risk assessment in cancer genetics (focusing on breast cancer), and highlights the primary care physician’s role in identifying and caring for patients at risk.
- Do all hospitalized patients need stress ulcer prophylaxis?
No. Only critically ill patients who meet specific criteria should receive it.
- Deep T waves and chest pain
After 3 hours of chest pain, a 67-year-old man presented with deep symmetric T-wave inversions in the precordial leads, a prognostically significant finding.
New cholesterol guidelines: Worth the wait?An appraisal of the controversial new guidelines, with case scenarios illustrating their advantages and shortcomings.
- Obesity in the elderly: More complicated than you think
The number of obese older adults is on the rise, although we lack a proper definition of obesity in this age group. The ambiguity is primarily related to sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle and gain in fat that come with aging. Whether to treat and how to treat obesity in the elderly is controversial because of a paucity of established guidelines, but also because of the obesity paradox—ie, the apparently protective effect of obesity in this age group.
- Albuminuria: When urine predicts kidney and cardiovascular disease
Albuminuria is common. Traditionally considered a precursor to diabetic nephropathy, it has now been directly linked to adverse cardiovascular outcomes and death, independent of other risk factors. In this review, we compare the measures of albuminuria, examine the evidence linking it to renal failure, cardiovascular disease, and death, and provide recommendations for its testing and management.
- An 85-year-old with muscle pain
When preventive therapy causes side effects, physicians face a dilemma.
- Third universal definition of myocardial infarction: Update, caveats, differential diagnoses
Troponin levels are elevated in nearly everyone having a myocardial infarction—but also in many who are not. Hence, clinical judgment is needed.