Latest Articles
- Perioperative management of bariatric surgery patients: Focus on metabolic bone disease
Obese people are at risk of low bone mass to begin with, and bariatric surgery increases the risk. Primary care physicians play an important role in their preventive care.
- How safe are erythropoiesis-stimulating agents?
The year 2007 was a rough one for these agents, and the story is far from over.
- ‘Blood will have blood’
Why should more patients die when hemoglobin levels are normalized with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents? It could be another case of “messing with Mother Nature.”
- Anemia of chronic kidney disease: When normalcy becomes undesirable
Several recent studies indicate that raising hemoglobin levels to the normal range with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents can be too much of a good thing, and the US Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning on the use of these drugs in renal disease.
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: 2008 Update
This is one of the few hematologic emergencies. Untreated, most patients die, but prompt treatment allows most patients not only to survive but to recover.
- The Women’s Health Initiative: Implications for clinicians
Postmenopausal women who were randomized to follow a diet low in fat and high in fruits, vegetables, and grains did not have significantly lower rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, or cardiovascular disease. However, a long-term follow-up study is under way. What have we learned, and what are the implications for clinical practice?
- Antibiotic prophylaxis dosage error
Correction to Kim A, Keys T. Infective endocarditis prophylaxis before dental procedures: new guidelines spark controversy. Cleve Clin J Med 2008; 75:89–92.
- Dropped gallstones disguised as a liver abscess
The patient, who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy 3 months ago, now has abdominal pain and a spot on computed tomography that could be a liver abscess. But is it?
- A 61-year-old with bipolar disorder and cognitive impairment: Dementia or polypharmacy?
He reports poor concentration, using wrong words, forgetting names, and sleepiness. What is the cause?