Family Practice News articles from November 2004

Family Practice News archives from November 2004

Liability surcharge keeps FP practicing.(News)
November 1, 2004... Ira Warshaw, M.D., felt he had no choice but to ask his patients to help save his practice. The family physician in North Palm Beach, Fla., had depleted his practice's line of credit at the end of 2003 and was operating at a continuing...

Exercise Rx.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Do you ever wish you could offer an exercise program geared to patients with specific health problems? Our new column, Exercise Rx, is the answer to your needs. The author, Willibald Nagler, M.D., is physiatrist-in-chief, emeritus, and...

Delegates tackle tough issues at AAFP Congress: maintenance of certification, political action committee hottest topics at meeting.(News)(American Academy of Family Physicians)
November 1, 2004... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Two issues dominated deliberations at the annual Congress of Delegates of the American Academy of Family Physicians: reforming maintenance of certification and creating a political action committee. The debate over...

Feds, Aventis offer plan to distribute influenza vaccine: seek to get shots to areas with flu activity.(News)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Vaccine manufacturer Aventis Pasteur is working with federal health officials to ensure that influenza vaccine doses are rerouted to high-risk individuals. "The overall goal of this is to target the vaccine that we do have to...

FDA puts black box on antidepressants.(News)
November 1, 2004... The Food and Drug Administration's new requirements for warning labels on antidepressants given to children and adolescents are drawing mixed reviews from physicians. On the positive side, "this announcement will raise the level of...

Officers elected.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates chose Larry Fields, M.D., of Ashland, Ky., as president-elect. Other officers elected included Thomas J. Weida, M.D., of Hershey, Pa., as speaker; Leah Raye Mabry, M.D., of San Antonio as vice-speaker; and Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise,...

Influenza vaccine.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Overruling the Reference Committee on Public Health and Science, the delegates asked the AAFP board to develop a priority list for deciding who gets influenza vaccine, and also to urge Congress to create a "short-term liability shield" for...

Global warming.(Congress Briefs)(Public Health and Science Reference Committee)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Again overruling the Public Health and Science Reference Committee, delegates voted to have the AAFP board develop a policy on the health dangers of global warming. "Global warming is having a direct impact on my patients," said John Cullen,...

Soft drinks in schools.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates referred several resolutions on soft drinks in schools to the board. These included a resolution from the California chapter advocating that the academy adopt a policy banning soft drinks and sweetened beverages from being sold in...

Medical liability.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates passed a resolution that would maximize the percentage of a malpractice award that goes to the plaintiff. "Focus should be on getting the most amount of money to the patient who's got a legitimate meritorious claim," said Thomas...

Methamphetamine abuse.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates asked the academy to include information about recognition and treatment of methamphetamine use in publications and in continuing medical education programs for family physicians. They also voted to have the academy work with...

Tobacco marketing.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates voted to have the academy reaffirm its opposition to all forms of tobacco marketing and to oppose direct or indirect marketing of tobacco products to children.

Pay for paperwork.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates asked for more information on how to bill insurers and other payers for doing paperwork and other administrative or clinical services not covered by insurance. Several delegates noted that they were not being paid for changing patient...

Care management.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Delegates voted to have the academy work with public and private payers to develop a fee structure to pay family physicians and other providers for managing the care of patients with chronic illnesses. They also voted to have the academy...

Perinatal care guidelines.(Congress Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The delegates asked the academy to intervene in a situation where an Oregon insurance company was interpreting perinatal care guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics to...

New technology may biopsy without a sample.(News)
November 1, 2004... A new generation of "optical biopsy" instruments is poised to change medical practice by giving physicians a powerful tool for visualizing cellular structure and pathology. The leading edge of this technology, confocal laser microscopy, is...

Data watch.(News)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
November 1, 2004... Nearly Half of Patients Oppose Off-Label Prescribing Oppose it 48% Favor it 31% Not Sure 22% Note: Based on a nationwide survey of 2,148 adults conducted May 25-27, 2004. Percentages do not add to 100% because of...

Visualizing the role of pathologists.(News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Will confocal endoscopy render pathologists obsolete, or will pathologists need to be stationed in the endoscopy suite for instantaneous interpretation of confocal images? Dr. Evans said it's too soon to tell. "The gold standard for...

Heart failure society to issue new practice guidelines: for the first time, the guidance addresses treating patients with acutely decompensated chronic heart failure.(News)(Heart Failure Society of America)
November 1, 2004... TORONTO -- A preview of the Heart Failure Society of America's new guidelines confirms ACE inhibitors as first-line therapy for patients with chronic heart failure, but is also bullish on the use of [beta]-blockers. Slated for release in...

Genetic marker could be a guide for heart failure therapy.(News)
November 1, 2004... TORONTO -- A new study suggests that a specific polymorphic variant of the [beta]-1-adrenergic receptor influences the pharmacologic response to [beta]-receptor blockade in patients with heart failure. In a DNA sub-analysis of the...

Hospitals may help with malpractice premiums.(News)
November 1, 2004... BALTIMORE -- Will the hospital you have privileges at help you pay your rising malpractice premium? Possibly, but there are barriers that may prevent it, Gerald Griffith said at a forum sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association. ...

'Deprofessionalization'.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... The article on the new Louisiana prescribing law identifies important issues in medical care contributing to this inauspicious development. Contributing factors include access and the trivialization of the doctor-patient relationship...

Not user friendly.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I see two barriers to using electronic health records: * Typing. I can't type fast enough to be productive. * Platforms. There are too many of them from which to choose. The variety of proprietary software products precludes ease of...

Clarification.(Opinion)(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2004... A quote attributed to Susanna N. Visser ("Survey Suggests ADHD Overtreatment Is Unlikely," Oct. 1, 2004, p. 36) overstated her study findings. Ms. Visser, an epidemiologist with the CDC in Atlanta, collected data from parent reports of being...

Ear infections in the PCV7 era.(Guest Editorial)(7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine)(Editorial)
November 1, 2004... Treatment of acute otitis media in 2004 should target Haemophilus influenzae, especially in the case of antibiotic failures. Contrary to predictions that the 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7) would have a minimal impact on...

Is liability the reason for the flu vaccine shortage?(Pro & Con)(fears of pharmaceutical industry curbing domestic vaccine manufacture)
November 1, 2004... [YES] There is strong evidence that our nation's culture of lawsuit abuse is a contributing factor to the current flu vaccine crisis--a crisis that undermines public health and threatens public safety. This shortfall in flu vaccine...

High body fat linked to lower CHF mortality.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Chronic heart failure)
November 1, 2004... MUNICH -- High body fat is a powerful independent predictor of better survival in patients with chronic heart failure, Mariantonietta Cicoira, M.D., said at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology. Dr. Cicoira of the...

Bad weather: good for cutting MI risk.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(acute myocardial infarction )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... MUNICH -- The weather has a marked effect on acute myocardial infarction rates, according to a Swiss epidemiologic study. Dr. Remo Osterwalder and his coinvestigators analyzed 5,553 patients who experienced an acute MI during 1999-2002 and...

HDL drop on low-fat, high-carb diet not worrisome.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(High-density lipoprotein)
November 1, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO -- A declining plasma concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol induced by a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet may well be a cardiovascular-risk red herring, according to a Canadian researcher. Although conventional...

Antihistamine Cetirizine safe in long QT syndrome.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO -- Cetirizine appears to be the antihistamine of choice for patients with long QT syndrome because of the drug's lack of effect on ventricular repolarization, Anna-Mari Hekkala, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm...

Program tested in Former Soviet state improves blood pressure control rates.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
November 1, 2004... DETROIT -- A blood pressure control program that proved highly effective in a rural community in the Republic of Georgia might do the same in underserved rural and inner-city areas in the United States, Dr. Clarence Grim said in presenting a...

Patients' sodium intake higher than recommended.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ATLANTA -- Sodium intake is significantly lower in hypertensive adults than in normotensive adults but is much higher than recommended in both groups, survey data suggest. The mean estimated daily sodium intake in the more than 4,000...

Better emergency BP assessment needed in trauma patients.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ATLANTA -- Patients presenting to the emergency department with a traumatic injury may not receive adequate blood pressure assessment, results of a retrospective study suggested. Many patients whose hypertension might otherwise be...

Fewer than half of MI patients adhere to [beta]-blockers 1 year later.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(myocardial infarctions)
November 1, 2004... Of more than 17,000 patients who were prescribed [beta]-blockers after myocardial infarctions, 45% were still taking the drugs a year later, Judith M. Kramer, M.D., reported at a conference on compliance in health care and research sponsored by...

Depression ups heart risks in older women: women with angina were 57% more likely to have depression than those without angina.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
November 1, 2004... Postmenopausal women who report depressive symptoms are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and they are more likely to have a history of cardiovascular morbidity than those who don't have depressive symptoms, according to Sylvia...

DHEA may enhance exercise benefits on glucose, lipids.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Dehydroepiandrosterone)
November 1, 2004... LISBON -- Dehydroepiandrosterone supplementation may enhance the glucose- and lipid-lowering effects of resistance exercise in women, Chia-Hua Kuo, Ph.D., reported at the 12th International Congress on Endocrinology. The findings suggest...

Clopidogrel, statins indicated for elderly CV disease patients.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
November 1, 2004... LAS VEGAS -- Judicious drug therapy can lower risk for recurrence in elderly persons with a history of myocardial infarction Wilbert Aronow, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Aronow presented two...

Self-management reduced men's UT symptoms: education, reassurance, and lifestyle modification helped reduce mean number of voids.(Infectious Diseases)
November 1, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO -- A drug-free self-management program and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug helped men reduce lower urinary tract symptoms in two separate studies reported at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. An...

For bladder infection prevention, Rx is more cranberry juice.(Infectious Diseases)
November 1, 2004... BOSTON -- The more cranberry juice one drinks, the better its effectiveness at preventing bladder infections, a study has shown. Urine samples from volunteers who drank cranberry juice cocktail showed that 8 ounces of the drink resulted the...

New drug Anaferon promising for pediatric URIs.(Infectious Diseases)
November 1, 2004... TAMPERE, FINLAND -- A new antiviral and immunomodulating agent called Anaferon appears to have properties that prevent and treat pediatric upper respiratory illnesses, Dr. Andrey V. Martyushev-Poklad reported at the annual meeting of the...

Keep a high suspicion for bacterial meningitis.(Infectious Diseases)
November 1, 2004... PALM BEACH, FLA. -- Clinical suspicion of bacterial meningitis is critical, especially when patients present with fever, nuchal rigidity, headache, and/or altered mental status, Richard J. Duma, M.D., said at a meeting on infectious diseases...

White blood cells poor predictor of meningitis.(Infectious Diseases)
November 1, 2004... ASPEN, COLO. --Although a relatively small number of physicians find themselves actually treating bacterial meningitis, oftentimes they must rule out the disease, which means making the difficult decision of whether to perform a spinal tap. ...

Synagis, Clarinex syrup.(New & Approved)
November 1, 2004... Synagis (palivizumab, MedImmune Inc.) The Food and Drug Administration approved a new liquid formulation of Synagis (palivizumab). The new premixed formulation for injection does not require reconstitution, which was necessary with the...

Use the six C's to care for burns: keep in mind: clothing, cooling, cleaning, chemoprophylaxis, covering, and comforting.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... PARIS -- Caring for burn wounds is as simple as following the six C's, Sue Mendez-Eastman, R.N., said at a meeting of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies. The six C's of burn care include: clothing, cooling, cleaning,...

Maggots finally get some respect in wound care.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... PARIS -- Using maggots to debride a wound may be hard to stomach, but the technique offers a number of advantages, according to one expert who spoke at a meeting of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies. "They are more accurate than...

Derm Dx.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... BELFAST -- Eight weeks after the exam, the patient became acutely confused, and a CT scan showed lesions in the right cerebral hemisphere and hydrocephalus and a midline shift. Multiple skin biopsies showed noncaseating granulomata and...

Preventing pressure ulcers requires vigilance.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... SAN DIEGO -- It can often be difficult to heal pressure ulcers, so prevention is the key to effective care, Chesley Richards, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the National Medical Association. Prevention starts with risk assessment...

Complex aphthous ulcers frequently have an underlying cause, expert says.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... VICTORIA, B.C. -- In patients with recurrent, persistent canker sores, physicians should look seriously for an underlying condition, because many of them may have an identifiable cause that needs to be treated, Dr. Roy Rogers said at the annual...

Adverse cosmetic reactions wear many faces.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. -- Adverse reactions to cosmetics take a variety of forms, Patricia Engasser, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the Pacific Dermatologic Association. Irritant reactions are surprisingly common, because many products...

Avoid steroid overuse, NSAIDs with chronic idiopathic urticaria therapy.(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... AUSTIN TEX. -- Successful long-term management of chronic idiopathic urticaria in patients who've already seen other physicians involves convincing them to buy into realistic treatment goals: namely, flattening of lesions and reduced itching...

If it seems too good to be true ...(Skin Disorders)
November 1, 2004... Like many other therapeutically challenging disorders, chronic idiopathic urticaria has seen an abundance of fad therapies come and go. In 28 years of practicing dermatology, Dr. Jorizzo has experienced brief enthusiasm for a diverse...

Data suggest urticarial reactions underreported, self-treated.(Skin Disorders)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO -- Urticarial drug reactions may be more common than has previously been reported, Dr. Vincent S. Beltrani said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Textbooks say that the most...

More adolescents abusing prescription drugs: lifetime nonmedical use of these drugs by young adults rose from 27% to 29% in 1 year.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Prescription drug abuse continues to rise among young adults, although fewer youths are smoking marijuana and using other illicit drugs, a federal survey of substance abuse habits showed. From 2002 to 2003, lifetime nonmedical...

Naltrexone may control alcohol abuse over long term.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... PARIS -- Long-term therapy with naltrexone can help keep alcohol-dependent patients on the wagon, Barbara J. Mason, Ph.D., said in a poster presentation at the 24th Congress of the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum. In a...

Help! My child won't sleep: insomnia advice to give parents.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... BALTIMORE -- Why anyone would want to "sleep like a baby" is beyond any parent who has ever faced a sleepless child night after night. "Insomnia is actually a very common problem in children," Ann C. Halbower, M.D., co-director of the...

Musculoskeletal pain syndromes in teens cause sleep problems.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... PHILADELPHIA -- Adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes have significantly more complaints of disrupted sleep and daytime sleepiness and take longer to fall asleep than do those without such syndromes, according to a preliminary...

Telepsychiatry rivals in-person Tx for depression.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... Telepsychiatry could be a viable alternative to conventional, in-person sessions for treating depression, Paul Ruskin, M.D., and his associates reported. This is encouraging news for people who live far from a treatment center, as well as...

Medication + CBT works best for depressed teens.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... Depressed adolescents respond best to a combination of fluoxetine and cognitive-behavioral therapy, said John S. March, M.D., of Duke University, Durham, N.C., and his colleagues on the Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study. In a...

Symptoms can identify depression in young girls.(Mental Health)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Depressive symptoms can be reliably measured in girls aged 5-8 years, said Kate Keenan, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago, and her associates. In a community sample of 2,451 girls, 19% had one symptom of depression, 6% had two symptoms,...

Treating acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis: how can therapy be optimized?(Advertisement)
November 1, 2004... Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is the fourth leading cause of death in the US. (1,2) In 1997, chronic bronchitis cost one corporate benefits system almost $6,000 per beneficiary, and over $31...

Smoking cessation.(Drug Update)
November 1, 2004... Nicotine addiction is a chronic condition with a very high rate of relapse. Pharmacologic agents significantly increase a person's chances of quitting, particularly when used as part of a comprehensive plan that also includes counseling and...

Nicotine patch efficacy is unaffected by bupropion.(Mental Health)
November 1, 2004... Bupropion hydrochloride does not improve smoking cessation rates among adolescents when added to nicotine patch therapy, according to a randomized clinical trial. There is a paucity of controlled studies assessing strategies for adolescent...

Surgeon general takes a crack at osteoporosis.(Women's Health)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- More than enough is known about how to promote bone health and prevent fractures, yet too few health care providers make use of this information, according to the first-ever U.S. Surgeon General's report aimed at raising the...

Use of [beta]-blockers and/or thiazide diuretics may reduce fracture risk.(Women's Health)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... [beta]-blockers and thiazide diuretics may protect against osteoporosis, according to the findings of a case-control study. In the investigation, [beta]-blockers--alone or in combination with thiazide diuretics--were associated with a...

Menopause society moderates stances on HT.(Women's Health)(Hormone Therapy)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- The latest position statement on hormone therapy in peri- and postmenopausal women issued by the North American Menopause Society moderates prior guidance on treatment duration and adds a new warning about "bioidentical" hormone...

ACOG offers a simplified approach to hormone counseling.(Women's Health)(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
November 1, 2004... The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a new report with evidence-based clinical recommendations in an effort to simplify the increasingly complex task of counseling patients about hormone therapy. The Hormone...

Transference of fewer embryos during IVF urged.(Women's Health)
November 1, 2004... U.S. physicians who perform in vitro fertilization are being urged for the first time to consider transferring a single embryo in patients with the most favorable prognosis. The suggestion is part of recently revised embryo transfer...

Fear prevents many infertile couples from seeking help.(Women's Health)
November 1, 2004... RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. -- Far fewer than half of the infertile couples in the United States eventually become pregnant, Dr. G. David Adamson said at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society. Prospective patients who...

OCD often found with lupus.(Clinical Capsules)(obsessive-compulsive disorder)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus appear to have a much greater risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder than the general population, according to the first study to examine rates of the illness in a clinic sample. Sixteen of 50...

Respiratory function.(Clinical Capsules)(risks rise for Alzheimers disease with poor oxygen supply)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Poor respiratory function increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease in women, Xinxin Guo, M.D., reported at the Ninth International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, in Philadelphia. Poor lung function reduces oxygen...

Cholestasis of pregnancy.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The rate of fetal complications increases when maternal serum bile acid levels become elevated in women who develop intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, reported Anna Glantz, M.D., of Sahlgrenska University Hospital/East, Goteborg, Sweden,...

Labor pains.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... African American women tend to experience more pain during labor than white women, according to a recent study. In the multicenter study of 174 women, the 74 African American participants reported higher mean pain scores on a 1-10 scale at...

Diet & exercise assistant, PDA GPS.(Digital Assistance)(new software for personal digital assistants)
November 1, 2004... Featured App: Diet & Exercise Assistant Extra Halloween candy, Thanksgiving turkey and gravy, Christmas treats--these are only a few of the delicacies we have to look forward to in this rapidly approaching holiday season. But New Year's...

Some federal antiobesity efforts target education.(Obesity)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- As recognition of the national problem of obesity increases, the federal government has begun to fight back on several fronts. AHRQ As part of the Department of Health and Human Services' efforts to address the problem,...

Adipocytes may illuminate obesity-cancer link.(Obesity)
November 1, 2004... NEW ORLEANS -- Investigators are examining the roles of estrogen, insulin, and their related growth factors in obesity-related cancer, Andrew Renehan, Ph.D., of Christie Hospital, Manchester, England, said in an interview at the annual meeting...

Two drugs benefit blacks.(Obesity)(treating obese African Americans)
November 1, 2004... SAN DIEGO -- Orlistat and sibutramine may be an effective part of an overall strategy to treat obesity in some African American patients, James R. Gavin III, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the National Medical Association. Although...

Optimal BMI for black women?(Obesity)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... SAN DIEGO -- A body mass index of less than 25 kg/[m.sup.2] may not be optimal for African American women, Anne E. Sumner. M.D. said at the annual meeting of the National Medical Association. "The optimal BMI in terms of morbidity and...

Personal responsibility a factor in weight loss.(Obesity)
November 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Although there may be outside contributing factors, obese patients must take personal responsibility for their condition and its treatment, Gerard Musante, Ph.D., said at a meeting on obesity sponsored by Global Business Research...

Weight loss drugs alone not enough for diabetics.(Obesity)
November 1, 2004... Simply prescribing a weight-loss drug for a patient with type 2 diabetes, and doing nothing more, is not likely to be adequate management, according to an analysis of the published literature by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control...

Cardiac warning to be added to pioglitazone label.(Obesity)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The pioglitazone label will incorporate a new warning about congestive heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The label will warn that in a postmarketing safety study of patients with...

Effective anxiety busters for needle-phobic patients.(Diabetes)
November 1, 2004... KEYSTONE, COLO. -- Needle anxiety is a common unrecognized problem affecting diabetes management in children and adolescents, Rita Temple-Trujillo said at a conference on management of diabetes in youth. Patients don't present as having...

Strength and flexibility for older patients, Part 1.(Exercise Rx)
November 1, 2004... Between ages 55 and 65, your patients will lose about 15%-20% of their muscle mass unless they take action to prevent it. Even people who are fairly healthy are vulnerable to this age-related change. In my first three columns, I'll describe...

Botox can be useful for back/neck pain.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
November 1, 2004... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Botulinum toxin can alleviate soft-tissue, back, and neck pain, according to poster presentations at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society. Use of botulinum toxin (Botox), a relatively common practice, has...

Joint defects may be asymptomatic.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
November 1, 2004... BERLIN -- Structural joint defects that suggest osteoarthritis were seen in a majority of asymptomatic individuals in two independent studies. The high prevalence of these abnormalities, seen with either magnetic resonance imaging or plain...