Family Practice News articles from June 2000

Family Practice News archives from June 2000

Periodontitis Tied To Preterm Birth.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- New evidence linking periodontal disease and preterm birth shows for the first time a significant relationship between severity of the oral infection and the risk of premature delivery. In a prospective study of about 700...

Chlamydia Testing Still Underused in Young Women.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Many physicians assume that the infection is not prevalent enough to justify screening Seven years after an official recommendation to regularly screen sexually active adolescent girls and young women for Chlamydia trachomatis genital...

Guidelines Urge Tighter BP Control in Diabetics.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ACE inhibitors get nod as first-line therapy ATLANTA -- Forthcoming National Kidney Foundation guidelines call for a new, tighter blood pressure goal of 130/80 mm Hg or below in diabetic patients--and urge angiotensin-converting enzyme...

Delayed Pushing in Second Stage of Labor Doesn't Spare Anal Sphincter.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... MIAMI BEACH -- Contrary to popular wisdom, delaying pushing during the second stage of labor does not spare the patient anal sphincter damage, Dr. Myra Fitzpatrick said at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. In...

Nearly a Quarter of Cesareans May Be Performed Too Early.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Nearly one in four women with nonbreech, term gestations who have cesarean sections may be undergoing the procedure earlier in the course of their labor than recommended, according to a new study sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research...

High Sugar, Fat Intake in Early Pregnancy Tied to Preeclampsia.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... CHICAGO -- A diet high in sugar and fat during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy increases the risk of preeclampsia, regardless of age or prepregnancy body mass index, according to a Norwegian study "Physical activity is too low and the...

Few Diabetics Use Protective Footwear.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Only 12% of diabetic patients used protective footwear, and only 15% used custom foot orthoses in a recent survey of more than 400 patients. This is alarming, since about 25% of diabetic patients have evidence of...

Court Rules Against Termination Without Cause.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... The California Supreme Court has ruled that managed care plans can't arbitrarily dismiss physicians from provider panels. The court based its May 8 decision on a 1992 case filed by the late Dr. Louis Potvin, an Orange County, Calif.-based...

Ultrasound Reveals Occult Cancers in Dense Breasts.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Adding ultrasound to mammography screening greatly improves the ability to detect cancers in women with dense breasts, Dr. Thomas M. Kolb said at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. In a...

PSA Screening Reduces Prostate Cancer Mortality.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ATLANTA -- Prostate cancer mortality decreased 5 years after a prostate-specific antigen screening campaign was introduced in the Tyrol state of Austria. During the first year in which free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening was...

Physiotherapy For Incontinence.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Physiotherapy resolves urinary incontinence caused by prostate cancer surgery, said M. Van Kampen and associates at University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium. Within 3 months, physiotherapy resolved urinary incontinence in 88% of 48 patients...

What's a Woman to Do?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... For decades, postmenopausal women have been cajoled to take estrogens for their potential to decrease coronary heart disease risk. Now preliminary results of the Women's Health Initiative show this to be an erroneous and possibly risky premise....

Should early retirees without employer-provided health insurance be allowed to buy into Medicare?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... YES The number of people who retire before age 65 and find themselves without health insurance grows by 7% each year. For these early retirees, coverage is simply not affordable given their age and preexisting conditions. There are an...

LETTERS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Put Yourself in Patients' Shoes With millions of diabetics at risk for foot complications, it's important to be familiar with the basics of shoe anatomy and construction. Equipped with such knowledge, clinicians can help our diabetic...

Frailty Hits Home.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... I have watched people die quietly at home with hospice and I have seen trauma victims succumb in the ER. But these life lessons failed to prepare me for the near death of Aunt Marlyn. As I mentioned last month, my aunt was visiting San...

Early Milrinone Did Not Stem Worsening CHF.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Routine use of milrinone in congestive heart failure patients not dependent upon intravenous inotropic support is without benefit, according to the results of the largest-ever clinical trial involving patients hospitalized...

Aspirin Reduced CHF Mortality in Large Study.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- The use of aspirin in elderly heart failure patients was associated with reduced mortality in a large retrospective cohort study. Aspirin users with heart failure had significantly lower mortality than did nonusers,...

Stroke Belt -- A Standard of Care Phenomenon?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Regional disparities in care may be underlying the Stroke Belt phenomenon, according to two new studies presented by investigators from Yale University at a meeting on cardiovascular disease and stroke sponsored by the American...

Research Focuses on Inflammatory, Possibly Infectious, Factors in stoke Development.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... NEW ORLEANS -- Stroke, like myocardial infarction, appears to have an inflammatory component and possibly even an infectious one. With recent cardiovascular research showing that coronary atherosclerosis is mediated by inflammatory...

Leukocyte Count Can Predict Stroke.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Leukocyte count is a powerful independent predictor of ischemic stroke, Dr. Arthur L. Klatsky said at the annual conference on cardiovascular disease epidemiology and prevention sponsored by the American Heart Association. The...

Many Doctors Still Discount Systolic BP.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Many physicians still give less weight to a systolic blood pressure above 140 mm Hg than to a diastolic value above 90 mm Hg, Dr. David J. Hyman said at the annual conference on cardiovascular disease epidemiology and prevention...

Obesity May Blunt Decline In BP at Night.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Obese individuals experience a blunting of the normal nocturnal decline in blood pressure, Dr. Alexander Butkevich reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology This observation may help to explain...

CABG Preferred in Diabetes.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Among patients with diabetes, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) confers dramatically better protection against MI-related mortality than does percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), said Dr. Katherine M. Detre of the...

Nosocomial Infections Shift.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Nosocomial infections are on the decline, but infections may be on the rise in home care settings. During 1990-1999, bloodstream infection rates decreased substantially in medical (44%), coronary (43%), pediatric (32%), and surgical (31%)...

Beware Easy H. pylori Testing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Indiscriminate use of the urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori infection might lead physicians to treat any patient with positive results, which could increase antibiotic resistance in the community, said Dr. Carlo A. Fallone of McGill...

Forget Your Vegetables.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... A diet rich in fruits and vegetables--or the nutrients they contain--is not linked to a decrease in gastric cancer, said Anita A.M. Botterweck of Maastricht (the Netherlands) University and her associates. Over 6 years of follow-up, 310...

Cancer in the Sky.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Jet cockpit crew members who have flown more than 5,000 hours bear an increased risk of skin cancer and acute myeloid leukemia, said Dr. Maryanne Gundestrup and Dr. Hans H. Storm of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology Copenhagen. Among...

West Nile Virus Expected to Reemerge This Spring.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... BETHESDA, MD. -- The West Nile virus is expected to reemerge this spring after taking shelter in hibernating mosquitoes. "The virus is here, and we have to understand that it's not feasible to think about eliminating it in the Western...

Asymptomatic HSV-2 Shed at the Same Rate as Syptomatic Virus.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Men and women who are seropositive for herpes but asymptomatic shed the virus from their genital tracts at the same rate as those with symptoms, reported Dr. Anna Wald of the University of Washington, Seattle, and her associates. In a...

Rapid Test Identifies the West Nile Virus.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... A rapid diagnostic test for West Nile virus infection has been developed by investigators at the University of California, Irvine. The polymerase chain reaction test uses a sample of cerebrospinal fluid and allows diagnosis within 5 hours....

Probiotics Curb Recurrence Of C. difficile Diarrhea.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Probiotics may be useful for treating nosocomial Clostridium difficile diarrhea and provide a simple, effective way to prevent traverer's diarrhea, Dr. Jose M. Saavedra said at the annual meeting of the American Society for...

'Test and Treat' Can Work for Uninvestigated Dyspepsia Patient.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... QUEBEC CITY -- "Test and treat" for Helicobacter pylor infection was an effective way to manage uninvestigated dyspepsia in a trial with nearly 300 patients. The test-and-treat approach has been recommended, but "we believe that this is...

Adult Lactose Intolerance Is Still Hard to Diagnose.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... QUEBEC CITY -- There is no good way to diagnose lactose intolerance in an adult. The patient's symptom history is too nonspecific. Symptoms that are triggered during a lactose challenge test are somewhat more reliable but are still...

Functional Dyspepsia Persists After H. pylori Eradicated.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SARASOTA, FLA. -- Most functional dyspepsia patients with Helicobacter pylori don't feel relief from the bacteria's eradication. These patients should not generally be treated with antibiotics, despite the recommendations of the American...

Lumbago Strikes Many, Usually Resolves Quickly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... BOSTON -- Lumbago is an easy come, easy go disorder. More than 80% of adults will have lumbago at least once during their life --the prevalence at any time is usually 15%-20% of adults--but 90% of cases resolve within 3 months, Dr. Jeffrey...

No Harm Seen from Soccer 'Heading'.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- The cumulative effects of intentional soccer ball heading do not appear to adversely affect cognitive function, Dr. Margot Putukian declared at the annual meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Data from...

Not Just for Soccer Stars: Chondral Injuries Often Tricky to Diagnose.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- If a soccer player presents with nonspecific knee pain, effusion, and a vague recollection of when the pain began or how it was caused, think chondral injury, Dr. William Garrett Jr. advised at the annual meeting of the American...

Creatine and Andro Popular Among High School Athletes.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ARLINGTON, VA. -- Oral androstenedione and especially creatine are "in" among high school athletes trying to boost muscle mass and performance, Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent...

Adequate Fluid Replacement Crucial for Sports Performance.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Every athlete needs to understand that thirst is an unreliable indicator of fluid needs, Felice Kurtzman, R.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. "We so often hear the athletes say,...

Athletes Using Steroids Are Wasting Money.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Patients who take the anabolic steroid precursors androstenedione and 19-norandrostenedione to enhance athletic strength and performance are throwing their money away, Dr. Gary Green declared at the annual meeting of the American...

For Spondylolysis Dx, Do SPECT or CT Scan First.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- No single imaging technique can be used to confirm spondylolysis, Dr. Stuart Weinstein said at the annual meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. For now, the best bet is to immediately order a single...

Consider Sport in Lumbar Spine Surgical Repair Checklist.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- When you are referring an athlete with a lumbar spine injury for surgery, make sure that the surgeon is well versed in the requirements of the patient's sport, Dr. Robert Watkins advised at the annual meeting of the American...

Echo- and Electrocardiography Spot Athletes' Cardiac Death Risk.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Screening echocardiography and electrocardiography can pick up the rare high school athlete who is at high risk for sudden cardiac death, and can reveal less worrisome but important abnormalities, Dr. Mahesh Amin noted at the...

Common Errors in Diagnosing Sports Injuries.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... MIAMI BEACH -- Knowing what to expect is half the battle in dealing with sports injuries in children. "Children tend to fracture before their ligaments go," Dr. Lynn T. Staheli said at a pediatric meeting sponsored by Miami Children's...

Passive Rehabilitation Modalities May Play a Role in Acute Muscle Injury.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- When used with a dose of skepticism, passive modalities such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and ultrasound can play a useful role in the rehabilitation of patients with acute muscle injuries, Dr. Joel Press said at...

Ketoprofen Cream Appears to Relieve Delayed Muscle Soreness.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Transdermal ketoprofen, an investigational topical agent, appears to be effective in reducing self-reported delayed-onset muscle soreness after repetitive musde contraction, especially after 48 hours, Christopher Cannavino reported...

Prescription For Muscle Strain Injuries.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Using anti-inflammatory medicines immediately after an acute muscle strain injury can help athletes control pain and allow more active rehabilitation, Dr. William Garrett Jr., reported at the annual meeting of the American Medical Society for...

Achilles Tendon Tears Are Common, But Often Go Unrecognized.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Acute Achilles tendon tears are the third most common type of tear, following rotator cuff and quadricep tears, yet the diagnosis is missed in about 25% of cases, Dr. Michael W Bowman said at the annual meeting of the American...

Traveling Team Physicians Face Legal Uncertainties.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Many team physicians put themselves in legal jeopardy by treating their own team members during out-of-state competition, even though at least 18 states prohibit such practice. That was the main finding of a survey of state...

College Athletes Often Get Inadequate CV Screening.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... The preparticipation cardiovascular screening process of college athletes often falls short of recommended guidelines, a survey of 879 National Collegiate Athletic Association schools between 1995 and 1997 showed. Such screening was...

Wide Variation Found in Teaching of Sports Medicine to Family Physicians.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... ORLANDO--Don't expect to find a standard sports medicine curriculum at family practice residency programs. A national survey revealed wide variation in the way sports medicine is taught, Dr. Samuel Adkins reported at the annual meeting of...

Statement Sets Criteria For Team Physicians.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Six medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, have collaborated to release the first-ever consensus statement on what makes a good team physician. The year-long effort was aimed at creating a tool to help...

Drug Update: Irritable Bowel Syndrome.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Drug treatment of irritable bowel syndrome is appropriate for patients with disabling symptoms. Few drugs have been adequately studied for treating the syndrome, however. In general, drugs do not work very well for patients with IBS, but...

FDA Panel Backs Etanercept by 7-2 for Early RA.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- The indication for the arthritis therapy etanercept could be expanded to include the treatment of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, if the Food and Drug Administration follows the recommendation of one of its expert...

IL-4 Receptor Effective in Moderate Asthma.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- An inhaled recombinant interleukin-4 receptor antagonist was well tolerated and caused no serious adverse events in adult patients with moderate asthma, Dr. Jan M. Agosti reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of...

Antihypertensives.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Chronic hypertension during pregnancy--hypertension that is present before conception or develops during the first 20 weeks of gestation--is a common problem, affecting an estimated 1%-5% of women giving birth in the United States. Although...

Quelling Arrhythmia During Pregnancy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. -- When a pregnant woman has a life-threatening arrhythmia, focus first on keeping her alive, then worry about her fetus, Dr. Jamie B. Conti advised at a meeting sponsored by the American College of Cardiology. The...

Ultrasound Can Reduce Need For Endometrial Biopsies.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Postmenopausal women with an endometrial stripe thickness of 5 mm or less on endovaginal ultrasound probably do not need a biopsy to evaluate the endometrium, Dr. Alexi J. Phinney said at the annual-meeting of the American...

Treating Endometrial Adenocarcinoma.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... Endometrial cancer treatment is most cost effective when every patient gets surgically staged, and adjuvant radiation therapy is restricted to high-risk cases, according to an analysis of three common treatment strategies in a hypothetical...

African Americans Less Likely To Have Gene Mutation to Protect Against Endometrial Ca.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- African Americans are less likely than whites to have a genetic mutation that improves survival from advanced endometrial cancer, Dr. Andrew Berchuck and his associates reported at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic...

Tailor Maternal Weight Gain to Prepregnancy BMI.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... MIAMI BEACH -- The optimal amount and rate of weight gain in women with twin gestations should be determined based on their prepregnancy body mass index, results of a recent study suggested. The study which included 2,324 twin pregnancies,...

Prenatal Ultrasound, Leukemia.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2000... A Swedish case-control study did not find an association between prenatal ultrasound and the risk of childhood leukemia. The study compared 652 children born and diagnosed with lymphatic or myeloid leukemia between 1973 and 1989 to control...

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Treatment of peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare and often lethal disorder of unknown origin, requires dose collaboration among specialists in cardiology, obstetrics, and perinatology, Dr. Gail D. Pearson and her associates said. The...

CHF Epidemic in Women.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... There is an epidemic of congestive heart failure among women. Dr. JoAnn Lindenfeld studied a national sample of more than 2,400 Medicare patients hospitalized for CHF. Discharge rates were higher for women than men across all 5-year age...

Alosetron Eases IBS Pain.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The serotonin receptor inhibitor alosetron effectively lessened the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in women, said Dr. Michael Camilleri of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and his associates. Alosetron was given in a 1-mg dosage...

Probiotics Reduced Atopic Eczema.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Probiotic agents substantially reduced the severity of atopic eczema in infants who were switched from mother's milk to formula supplemented with Lactobacillus GG or Bifidobacterium lactis, Dr. Erika Isolauri reported at the annual...

Lactobacillus GG Reduces Severity of Rotaviral, Antibiotic-Linked Diarrhea.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... SAN DIEGO -- Probiotic research is still in its early stages, but at least one agent has already demonstrated efficacy in two conditions: rotaviral diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Dr. Jon A. Vanderhoof said at the annual meeting of...

Three Viral Exanthems Are Being Seen More Often Than in the Past.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... MIAMI BEACH -- Several viral exanthems are occurring more often than they have in the past, according to Dr. Bernice Krafchik. Among those she discussed at the annual Masters of Pediatrics conference sponsored by the University of Miami...

Newborn Exams May Soon Include DNA Screening.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. -- Routine DNA-based screening of newborns is not far off, and it will probably be used initially to detect three conditions: cystic fibrosis, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and deafness. That was the prediction of...

Newborn Hearing Screening Gets New Funding.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Health Resources and Services Administration has given $3 million to 22 states to develop and expand universal newborn hearing screening and intervention programs. A national resource and technical assistance center will also help...

Genetic Analysis Sheds Light on Mental Retardation.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... CAMBRIDGE, MASS.--When Dr. Jeff Milunsky determined the reason for a child's mental retardation, he brought an end to the mother's 8-year search for an answer. A new genetic technique revealed that the boy was missing one end of chromosome...

Garner Developmental Clues From Parents, Office Visit Behavior.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- Be alert for opportunities to survey a child's development during regular office visits. The simplest actions can provide a complete picture of a child's state of development, Dr. Marilyn Augustyn said at a meeting on...

Long-Acting Growth Hormone.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Nutropin Depot (somatropin [rDNA origin] for injection), the first long-acting dosage form of recombinant growth hormone, is indicated for treating pediatric growth hormone deficiency. The medication requires only one or two doses per month,...

Wearable Sun Protection.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Radicool hats with neck flaps and Alpha 100+ swimsuits, shirts, and shorts are made of tightly woven fabric that blocks UVA and UVB radiation. The clothes are available in sizes 2-14, according to Radicool Australia, 10572 Calle Lee, Suite 138,...

Otitis Media Rx.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Primsol Solution (trimethorpim HCl oral solution) is indicated for the treatment of acute otitis media in children aged 6 months to 12 years. In a clinical study the bubble-gum flavored liquid was found to be as effective as the...

Medicaid and Mental Health.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Two new publications describe the failure of state Medicaid programs to help children with serious mental health needs, as well as successful approaches taken by some states. "Making Sense of Medicaid," a 90-page report on barriers to...

Earn CME Credits Online.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Physicians who register at www.medlecture.com can earn CME credits by watching online Grand Round lectures from accredited medical schools. A 1-year Gold membership ($100) provides unlimited CME credits; a Silver membership ($50) provides 10...

Estrogen Patch.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Esclim estradiol transdermal system is indicated for treating moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. The stretchable patch is the only estrogen replacement patch available in five doses ranging from 0.025 mg/day to 1...

Rapid Pregnancy Test.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Quantitative hCG patient monitor is a single-use test to measure levels of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone in whole blood to determine pregnancy status. Digitally displayed results are available within 10 minutes, according to Metrika...

Vascular Probe.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... A new 8-MHz pointed-style probe, suitable, for focused vessel assessment and for use in smaller areas, has been added to the Elite series of hand-held Doppler vascular probes. The other probes are a 3-MHz broad-beam obstetrical probe, a 3-MHz...

Gonorrhea Test.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Hybrid Capture II Gonorrhea Test is a signal-amplified nucleic acid hybridization test for gonorrhea that provides a definitive diagnosis in women with or without gonorrhea symptoms. A single cervical sample collected by the Hybrid Capture...

Tissue Retraction Hook.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Model 3338 6.5-mm solid blade retractor hook, for deeper tissue retraction through a small incision, can be used when there is limited maneuverability in the surgical field. Made of stainless steel and latexfree silicone, the hook holds up...

REPRIEVE FOR PROFESSIONAL COURTESY.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The Health Care Financing Administration won't be cracking down on "professional courtesy" waivers for physician visit fees, according to recently posted .regulations. The regulations lay out penalties emanating from the Health Insurance...

TELEMEDICINE CONSULTS INCREASING.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The number of telemedicine consults grew by 24% in 1998, according to a recent report from the Association of Telehealth Service Providers, Portland, Ore. There were 52,000 telemedicine consultations--defined as both doctor/patient and...