• Articles

    Acute Diarrhea in Adults

    WENDY BARR, ANDREW SMITH

    The most common cause of diarrhea is viral gastroenteritis. Travel, comorbidities, and foodborne illness are more often associated with a bacterial infection. Treatment usually focuses on preventing and treating dehydration. Diagnostic investigation should be reserved for...

    Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Diagnosis and Management

    JOHN P. HORNE, ROBERT FLANNERY, SAIF USMAN

    The goal of scoliosis management is identifying patients who are at risk of developing a deformity, without overtesting or overreferring patients who are unlikely to have further problems. Physical examination with the Adam's forward bend test and a scoliometer measurement...

    Update on Prenatal Care

    ADAM J. ZOLOTOR, MARTHA C. CARLOUGH

    Although much of prenatal care is based on tradition and lacks a strong evidence base, standard components include a routine physical examination, maternal weight and blood pressure measurement, fetal heart rate auscultation, and fundal height measurement. Patients should...

    Common Questions About Bell Palsy

    JANET R. ALBERS, STEPHEN TAMANG

    Patients with Bell palsy present with paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of the face. Routine testing for diabetes mellitus and Lyme disease is not recommended. Magnetic resonance imaging can be helpful to rule out cranial mass effect if there is no resolution...

    Editorials

    What's New In Childhood Vaccines

    PAMELA ROCKWELL

    Recommending and providing childhood vaccines is a vital part of a family physician's role in delivering health care to our youth. This editorial reviews several changes in childhood vaccines in the past two years.

    AFP's Conflict of Interest Policy: Disclosure Is Not Enough

    JAY SIWEK

    Medical journals go to great lengths to ensure that authors disclose potential conflicts of interest. In research journals, financial ties between authors and the makers of drugs and medical devices are inevitable because more than half of research is funded by the...

    Cochrane for Clinicians

    The Impact of Personalized Risk Communication on Screening Decisions

    DEAN A. SEEHUSEN, CHRISTY J.W. LEDFORD

    Patients presented with personalized risk information are more likely to make informed decisions about screening than patients who are presented with generic risk information. Individualizing risk appears to improve the accuracy of patients' risk perception and decrease anxiety.

    Aspirin With or Without an Antiemetic for Acute Migraine Headaches in Adults

    AARON SAGUIL, JOEL HERNESS

    Is aspirin, with or without an antiemetic, an effective therapy for acute migraine headache in adults?

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    Survey: Majority of Americans Want Physicians Handling Their Health Care | Physician Groups Urge Congress to Extend Medicaid-Medicare Parity Program | Patients Get Early Look at Rates of MRSA and <i>C. difficile</i> Infection Among Hospitals | FDA Extends Deadline for...

    Photo Quiz

    Pruritic Skin Rash and Fever

    SABESAN KARUPPIAH, SEAN P. HAMPTON

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

    Graham Center Policy One-Pager

    Ecology of Health Care: The Need to Address Low Utilization in American Indians/Alaska Natives

    ELISE A.G. DUWE, STEPHEN PETTERSON, CLAIRE GIBBONS, ANDREW BAZEMORE

    Disparities in health and access to health care continue to persist among the American Indian/Alaska Native population, despite federal efforts to call attention to and address these disparities.1 Policy makers should direct resources to ensure that this population has...

    Close-ups

    Hard Decisions About Prostate Cancer

    CARRIE NICHOLS, ANTHONY ZAMUDIO

    The personal side of medicine told from the patient's perspective. The patient's story is followed by commentary from a physician and a list of resources.

    POEMs

    Screening Echocardiography Not Beneficial

    ALLEN F. SHAUGHNESSY

    Population-based screening for heart disease or valve disease with echocardiography will identify cardiac pathology in patients but does not decrease mortality, myocardial infarction risk, or stroke risk.

    Influenza Vaccine Reduces Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Events in High-Risk Patients

    DAVID SLAWSON

    This meta-analysis found that the influenza vaccine is associated with a significantly lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with coronary disease. The benefit of influenza vaccination is strongest in adults with a history of recent acute coronary...

    Amoxicillin/Clavulanate or Ibuprofen No Better Than Placebo for Acute Bronchitis

    ALLEN F. SHAUGHNESSY

    Treating acute bronchitis with amoxicillin/clavulanate or the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen is no more effective than placebo in decreasing symptoms in general or duration of frequent cough. Treatment does, however, produce adverse effects in one in eight...

    Colchicine Effective for First Episode of Acute Pericarditis

    NITA SHRIKANT KULKARNI

    When used in addition to conventional anti-inflammatory therapy, colchicine decreases the rate of incessant or recurrent pericarditis. You would need to treat four patients with colchicine to prevent one such episode.

    Practice Guidelines

    ACIP Releases 2014 Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedules

    JAMIE LOEHR

    There are a few changes to the 2014 immunization schedule for children and adolescents, as well as the catch-up schedule, from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that are pertinent for family physicians.

    Letters to the Editor

    Clarification Regarding AFP's Conflict of Interest Policy

    Information from Your Family Doctor

    Acute Diarrhea in Adults: What You Should Know

    Acute diarrhea is three or more watery or loose stools per day for less than 14 days.

    Corrections

    Corrections



    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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