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Articles

Jaundice in the Adult Patient

SEAN P. ROCHE, REBECCA KOBOS

Jaundice can be caused by benign or life-threatening disorders. To make the work-up more manageable, it may help to organize the differential diagnosis by prehepatic, intrahepatic, and posthepatic causes.

Facilitating Treatment Adherence with Lifestyle Changes in Diabetes

MARLON RUSSELL KOENIGSBERG, DONALD BARTLETT, J. STEVEN CRAMER

Family physicians can help patients who are at risk for diabetes delay or prevent complications by teaching them how to modify their lifestyles. By individualizing goals to the patient's preferences and progress, physicians can facilitate long-term results.

Treating Acute Bronchiolitis Associated with RSV

ROBERT WILLIAM PRASAAD STEINER

Bronchiolitis associated with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants younger than one year. Supportive care, attention to adequate hydration and, possibly, supplemental oxygen are the basis of therapy. Certain pharmacologic...

Hyperparathyroidism

EDNA D. TANIEGRA

Primary hyperparathyroidism usually presents as an incidental finding of asymptomatic hypercalcemia on a chemistry panel. Parathyroidectomy is the definitive treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism.

Pediculosis and Scabies

DAVID C. FLINDERS, PETER DE SCHWEINITZ

Pediculosis and scabies are caused by ectoparasites, and patients usually present with itching. Various treatments are available, but environmental measures are essential to prevent reinfestation.

Inside AFP

Tools to Help Your Patients Through the Cold and Flu Season

Janis Wright

This winter's assortment of viruses promises to fill the waiting rooms of family physicians with patients who have fevers, coughs, sore throats, runny noses, aches and pains, and other symptoms of colds or flu. This issue of AFP provides a collection of patient information...

Newsletter

Newsletter

Matthew Neff

HHS Announces Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program | Future of Family Medicine Project Recommendations Available Online | International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases to Be Held | HHS Funds Disease Surveillance System Along U.S.-Mexico Border |...

Quantum Sufficit

Quantum Sufficit

Sarah Evans, Heather McNeill

Where there is depression, there also may be chronic pain. As published in Internal Medicine News, reports on the findings of a survey presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting indicate that two thirds of patients with major depression also have...

Editorials

Preventive Therapy for Diabetes: Lifestyle Changes and the Primary Care Physician

MARTIN S. LIPSKY, LISA K. SHARP

During the past decade, the United States has been part of the worldwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes. From 1990 to 2000, the percentage of U.S. adults with diabetes rose from 4.9 to 7.3 percent, an astounding increase of 49 percent.1 Now more than 17 million Americans...

Diary from a Week in Practice

Diary from a Week in Practice

It's been said that we see the world not as it is but as we are. I think of that today as I pay a call on Muriel Hollander. “I'm great!” she tells me, gray and white hair cascading over a hospital pillow, blue eyes bright and eager. A 92-year-old widow, Mrs. Hollander lives...

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Behavioral Interventions to Promote Breastfeeding: Recommendations and Rationale

This statement summarizes the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations on counseling to promote breastfeeding, a new topic for the USPSTF.

FPIN's Clinical Inquiries

Does a Low-Sodium Diet Reduce Blood Pressure?

JOHN SMUCNY

Reducing sodium intake does lead to a slightly lower average blood pressure. However, no evidence from controlled trials proves that reducing sodium intake decreases morbidity or mortality, or proves that modest sodium restriction is harmful.

STEPS

Tegaserod (Zelnorm) for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

G. ROBERT DEYOUNG

Despite design limitations common to drug therapy trials for c-IBS (e.g., subjective outcomes, high placebo response rate), tegaserod is at least somewhat effective at relieving troublesome symptoms in women. Considering the modest benefits and high cost, tegaserod is best...

Point-of-Care Guides

Suspected Pulmonary Embolism: Part I. Evidence-Based Clinical Assessment

MARK H. EBELL

A number of investigators have developed and validated clinical decision rules for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

Photo Quiz

Velvety Axillary Lesions

ELIZABETH A. LEONARD, ANTHONY J. VIERA

Photo Quiz presents readers with a clinical challenge based on a photograph or other image.

POEMs

Cholinesterase Inhibitors for Alzheimer's Disease

MARK EBELL

Early Mobilization Improves Pneumonia Outcomes

MARK EBELL

Single Daily Dose of Proton Pump Inhibitor Effective

MARK EBELL

Lipid Control Is Crucial in Patients with Diabetes

ALLEN F. SHAUGHNESSY

POEMs and Tips

Diuretics Are Treatment of Choice for Hypertension

CAROLINE WELLBERY

Practice Guidelines

ACOG Releases Bulletin on Managing Cervical Insufficiency

Genevieve W. Ressel

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently published a clinical management guideline on cervical insufficiency. This report also includes evidence for screening asymptomatic at-risk women.

Clinical Briefs

Clinical Briefs

Carrie Morantz, Brian Torrey

ACOG Opinion Paper on Elective Surgery | CDC Report on Physical Activity Among Children | AHRQ Report on Spending for Prescribed Medicines

Letters to the Editor

Use of Metformin Is a Cause of Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Tips from Other Journals

Using Rectal Misoprostol in the Third Stage of Labor

ANNE D. WALLING

Effects of Physical Activity on Mortality in Older Women

CAROLINE WELLBERY

Four Patterns of Dying Require Different End-of-Life Care

CAROLINE WELLBERY

Staged Classification for Management of Heart Failure

BILL ZEPF

Increasing Adherence to Pap Screening Guidelines

KARL E. MILLER

Antibiotics for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

KARL E. MILLER

Which Patients Are Likely to Survive Ovarian Cancer?

ANNE D. WALLING

Evaluation and Management of Hirsutism in Women

ANNE D. WALLING

Clarithromycin vs. Azithromycin for Pneumonia

BILL ZEPF

Less Common Gene Variants and Infectious Disease

RICHARD SADOVSKY

Hormone Therapy and Health-Related Quality of Life

BILL ZEPF

Strength Training Eases Chronic Neck Pain in Women

CAROLINE WELLBERY

Diuretics Are Treatment of Choice for Hypertension

CAROLINE WELLBERY

New Options for Insulin Use in Patients with Diabetes

CAROLINE WELLBERY

Information from Your Family Doctor

Sticking to Lifestyle Changes: Increasing Physical Activity

You don't always need high-intensity exercise to improve fitness and decrease health risks. Increasing the amount of moderate physical activity (like walking or gardening) has clear health benefits. Start with simple, everyday activities that are fun and easy for you to do....

Sticking to Lifestyle Changes: Healthy Eating

Start easy, with a food diary. Use a chart or a journal to write down everything you eat or drink every day. Write down the date, the time of day, and about how much of every food or beverage you ate and drank. Be complete and honest. Stick with the food diary. This is the...

Hyperparathyroidism

At the front of your neck, behind the thyroid gland, lie the four small parathyroid glands. (Say: pair-ah-thigh-royd) The hormone they make is called parathyroid hormone. This hormone keeps the right levels of calcium and phosphorus in your blood and bones. It also helps your...

Head Lice

Head lice are small, wingless insects (bugs) that can get on the hair and scalp of humans. Anyone can get head lice—usually from head-to-head contact, but perhaps also from sharing hats, combs, and brushes. Head lice do not jump or fly.

Antibiotics: When They Can and Can't Help

Antibiotics are strong medicines that can stop some infections and save lives. But antibiotics can cause more harm than good if they are not used the right way. You can protect yourself and your family by knowing when you should use antibiotics and when you shouldn't.

Influenza Vaccine

Influenza (also called the flu) is a viral infection in the nose, throat, and lungs. About 10 to 20 percent of Americans get the flu each year. Some people get very sick. Each year, about 130,000 people go to a hospital with the flu, and 20,000 people die because of the flu...

Flu and Colds

Colds and the flu (also called influenza) have many of the same symptoms. A cold is generally mild, while the flu tends to be more severe.

Acute Bronchitis

Acute bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial tree. The bronchial (say: “brawn-keeull”) tree is made up of the tubes that carry air into your lungs. When these tubes get infected, they swell up, and mucus (thick fluid) forms. This makes it hard for you to breathe. You...

Sore Throat

Pharyngitis (say: “fare-en-jy-tis”)—which is what your doctor calls a sore throat—can be caused by many things. Sometimes, when mucus from your sinuses drains into your throat, the drainage can make your throat feel sore. Viruses (such as those that cause the common cold) and...



Disclosure

All editors in a position to control content for this activity, AFP journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.


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