Family Practice News articles from September 2005

Family Practice News archives from September 2005

Clinical trials: minorities needed.(News)
September 1, 2005... NEW YORK -- Racial disparities in access to health care will disappear only when adequate and representative samples of minorities participate in clinical trials, Winston Price, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the National Medical...

Doctor pay under Medicare to drop 4.3% next year: docs to Congress: you gotta fix the SGR.(News)(sustainable growth rate formula)
September 1, 2005... Physicians face a 4.3% cut to Medicare reimbursements next year unless Congress takes action to change the sustainable growth rate formula. The reduction was announced in a proposed rule that would update payment rates and revise payment...

Guidelines aim to offer VBAC to more women.(News)(vaginal birth after cesarean section)
September 1, 2005... A trial of labor after cesarean section should be offered to all appropriate candidates, and not restricted to those in facilities with surgical teams that are immediately available and present throughout labor, according to new clinical...

Information technology used mostly for electronic billing in 2003.(VITAL SIGNS)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
September 1, 2005... Information Technology Used Mostly For Electronic Billing in 2003 Electronic billing 73% Electronic medical records 17% Computerized prescription order entry 8% Note: Based on estimated data from...

Consumer ad guidelines criticized.(News)(prescription drug advertising)
September 1, 2005... New voluntary guidelines for direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have drawn criticism from politicians and consumer groups who say they don't go far enough. ...

Term 'metabolic syndrome' called into question.(News)
September 1, 2005... Avoid labeling patients with the term "metabolic syndrome," at east until its meaning and medical usefulness can be further clarified, the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes said in a joint...

Metabolic syndrome diagnostic code rarely used in practice.(News)
September 1, 2005... Despite America's obesity epidemic, use of the diagnostic code for metabolic syndrome in U.S. clinical practice is "rarer than a blue moon," according to Earl S. Ford, M.D. In 2001, the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)...

Say goodbye to paper, noncompliant Medicare claims Oct. 1.(News)
September 1, 2005... Hello, October--goodbye, paper Medicare claims. Oct. 1 marks the date that physicians and other providers may no longer submit any paper Medicare claims; electronically filed claims not in compliance with federal regulations are also...

Adult circumcision may protect against HIV.(News)
September 1, 2005... RIO DE JANEIRO -- Adult circumcision may protect against infection with HIV, according to the first randomized controlled trial to test the procedure. After 21 months of follow-up, "circumcision prevented 6-7 out of 10 potential HIV...

Fears of new virulent HIV strain assuaged.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... RIO DE JANEIRO -- Fears that a new, multidrug-resistant, rapidly progressing strain of HIV-1 had surfaced in New York City have been alleviated. Concerns have existed since February, when officials from the New York City Department of...

Reverset active in patients failing current regimens.(News)
September 1, 2005... Rio DE JANEIRO -- The novel nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Reverset is poised to become the newest member of the oldest class of antiretroviral agents, with researchers reporting its promise for HIV-infected patients for whom...

Mifepristone warnings updated in wake of deaths.(News)
September 1, 2005... The maker of the abortion drug mifepristone has again announced it is adding to the warnings section of the product's package insert--less than a year after a previous revision--to include information on four deaths that have occurred in women...

Panel recommends approval of fetal monitoring device.(News)
September 1, 2005... GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- Three years after rejecting it, the Food and Drug Administration's Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel recently unanimously recommended approval of a fetal heart monitor that provides an analysis of fetal ECG during...

Diabetes tracking: a public health necessity.(Guest Editorial)
September 1, 2005... Diabetes is epidemic in New York City and throughout the United States. Self-reported diabetes prevalence among New York City adults has more than doubled in the past decade, from less than 4% to almost 10%. Diabetes is now the fourth...

Cholesterol wars: how many wins does it take?(Guest Editorial)
September 1, 2005... For many years, naysayers have questioned the rationale that total or LDL cholesterol plays a role in vascular disease. It was only 11 years ago that results of the landmark Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) exploded into the medical...

Pay for performance and better care.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I am at a loss regarding Dr. Charles K. Francis' "pro" comments in a recent issue ("Would pay for performance result in better care?" Pro & Con, March 15, 2005, p. 15). Dr. Francis made the case for performance measures potentially being...

Provisions for marijuana Rx.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... The issue of "medical" marijuana, which is not going to go away soon despite its debatable benefits, must be addressed in a reasonable manner, preferably by the medical community first ("Medical Marijuana," Guest Editorial, July 1, 2005, p....

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2005... In "Aldosterone Can Play Role in Refractory Hypertension" (June 15, 2005, p. 15), a statement regarding the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism should have said that "the ratio of aldosterone to renin also should be greater than 20:1 or 30:1."

Medicaid cuts would hurt mentally ill.(Guest Editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... Medicaid faces new threats that would undoubtedly harm millions of people with mental disorders and other chronic illnesses. This program comprises more than half of all state and local mental health spending, and without sustained funding,...

Should we screen for Barrett's esophagus?(Pro & Con)
September 1, 2005... YES Barrett's esophagus seems to be the primary risk factor for development of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. The disease progresses through a well-defined histologic pathway of metaplasia, low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia, and...

Rosiglitazone: at 10 years, no liver toxicity seen: experience in more than 7,000 patients shows the agent to be free of troglitazone's side effect.(Metabolic Disorders)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Rosiglitazone has shown no hint of excess liver toxicity in 10 years of safety monitoring by GlaxoSmithKline, Alexander R. Cobitz, M.D., Ph.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association. ...

Novel agent lowers glucose without edema, weight gain.(Metabolic Disorders)(metaglidasen)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Metaglidasen is a novel insulin sensitizer that appears to lower blood glucose as effectively as the thiazolidinediones without causing weight gain or edema, Julio Rosenstock, M.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the...

Spironolactone effectively counteracts rosiglitazone-associated edema.(Metabolic Disorders)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Spironolactone appears to be the most effective antidiuretic for the management of rosiglitazone-associated fluid retention, Janaka Karalliedde, M.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association....

Retinopathy found prior to diabetes development.(Metabolic Disorders)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Diabetic retinopathy can occur in people who do not yet have diabetes, Richard Hamman, M.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association. The incongruous finding, among patients with impaired...

Coalition reduces amputations in 2 communities: education effort proves 'hard-to-reach' patients can be reached through family, friends, and local leaders.(Metabolic Disorders)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- A community-based education effort to improve foot care among African American males with diabetes in the communities of Charleston and Georgetown, S.C., resulted in a sharp decline in amputation rates, from 79.1 per 1,000 diabetes...

Infected or not?--Managing lesions of the diabetic foot.(Metabolic Disorders)
September 1, 2005... CHICAGO -- Clinical symptoms are critical when distinguishing between uninfected and mildly infected diabetic foot lesions, Warren S. Joseph, D.P.M., reported at the Vascular Annual Meeting. For instance, lack of cellulitis indicates lack...

Ablation improves drug refactory atrial fib.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Catheter Ablation for the Cure of Atrial Fibrillation study)
September 1, 2005... ORLANDO -- A single session of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation backed up by antiarrhythmic drug therapy proved markedly more effective than antiarrhythmic drugs alone at preventing atrial arrhythmia recurrences in the first-ever...

Gender gap in AF recurrence after cardioversion.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(atrial fibrillation)
September 1, 2005... NEW ORLEANS -- The recurrence rate of persistent atrial fibrillation following cardioversion is significantly higher in women than men, Osnat Gurevitz, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society. The mechanism...

Pipeline for heart failure drugs is chock full.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
September 1, 2005... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The recent big therapeutic successes in heart failure have come from implantable electrophysiologic devices--cardiac resynchronization therapy, implantable cardioverter defibrillators--and surgical advances, such as...

[beta]-blockers for heart failure.(Drug Update)
September 1, 2005... Since the late 1990s, [beta]-blockers have been part of the standard regimen for reducing mortality and hospitalizations among patients with heart failure. Results from several clinical trials showed that [beta]-blocker treatment produces about...

Counterpulsation therapy benefits heart failure.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
September 1, 2005... ORLANDO -- A standard 7week course of enhanced external counterpulsation therapy in patients with heart failure who are on optimal pharmacotherapy improves their exercise duration, quality of life, and New York Heart Association class for at...

FDA panel narrowly votes down AbioCor artificial heart.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
September 1, 2005... GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- The AbioCor total artificial heart did not meet the Food and Drug Administration's humanitarian-device exemption requirements, according to the FDA's Circulatory Systems Devices Panel. The vote was 7-6 against, with one...

MRSA eyed as pathogen in girls' genital abscesses.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... NEW ORLEANS -- A recent series of "curious" cases of large vulvar or labial abscesses in previously healthy children were associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and represent the first reported cases of such abscesses in...

Community-acquired MRSA expands range.(Infectious Diseases)(methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... BETHESDA, MD. -- Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was three times more prevalent than nosocomial MRSA in a small, non-teaching community hospital, reported Ananthakrishnan Ramini, M.D., at the annual conference on...

Rotavirus ups enteric gram-negative sepsis risk.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... Children with rotavirus gastroenteritis face a small but real risk of developing enteric gram-negative sepsis, investigators have reported. Be aware of the possibility of this complication, especially when a child is developing a high fever...

Don't culture for community-acquired pneumonia.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Physicians who forgo obtaining cultures from patients who come in with possible community-acquired bacterial pneumonia are probably practicing wisely, John G. Bartlett, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the American College...

Pneumonia hospitalization rule endorsed.(Infectious Diseases)(CURB-65)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- A simple clinical rule known as the CURB-65 can be a big help in identifying those patients with community-acquired pneumonia who need to be hospitalized, Michael S. Niederman, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the American...

Fed purchase of avian flu vaccine suggested: advisors want the government to purchase all doses and prioritize their use in a pandemic.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... ROCKVILLE, MD. -- Should the United States face an influenza pandemic, the federal government should buy all the vaccine, members of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee agreed at a joint meeting with the Advisory Committee on Immunization...

U.S. government requests 22 million avian flu vaccine doses.(Infectious Diseases)(Sanofi-Pasteur to supply initial order)
September 1, 2005... The U.S. government aims to buy millions of doses of avian influenza vaccine, which preliminary data have shown produces a robust immune response against the A (H5N1) virus in some doses. "We have been asked to provide up to 20 million...

Immunization info lags for children under 6.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... Fewer than half of U.S. children under 6 years of age participated in an immunization information system in 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. One of the Healthy People 2010 goals is to increase to at least 95%...

Federal officials aim to boost confidence in childhood vaccines.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... Federal health officials called a press conference to try to restore public confidence in childhood vaccines despite the charge by some parents that there is a connection between the vaccines and autism. Several autism advocacy groups...

Combination shot found as safe as its five components.(Infectious Diseases)(diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine )
September 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Children who received a combined pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine experienced fever and injection site reactions at rates similar to, or less than, those seen in children who...

Varicella vaccine found effective in outbreak at an elementary school.(Infectious Diseases)
September 1, 2005... Varicella vaccination was found to be highly effective during an outbreak of varicella among elementary school children in Utah, reported Maryam B. Haddad of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and associates. The...

Echinacea update.(Alternative Medicine: AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH)
September 1, 2005... The Trial The study, sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), included a 7-day prophylaxis phase prior to challenge with rhinovirus type 39, followed by...

In AOM, combo curbs resistant pathogens.(Infectious Diseases)(acute otitis media)
September 1, 2005... An amoxicillm/clavulanate combination was significantly more effective than azithromycin in eliminating bacterial acute otitis media, including penicillin-resistant strains, reported Alejandro Hoberman, M.D., of the Children's Hospital of...

Glove choice crucial in job-related dermatitis.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... HERSHEY, PA. -- The right pair of gloves can make all the difference to patients who develop contact dermatitis from the chemicals they are exposed to on the job, Matthew J. Zirwas, M.D., said at a meeting on contact dermatitis sponsored by...

Contact dermatitis in auto mechanic? Think isothiazolinones.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... HERSHEY, PA. -- A new onset of dermatitis in an auto mechanic should raise clinical suspicion for contact allergy to isothiazolinone preservatives found in many car repair and maintenance products, Bruce A. Brod, M.D., said at a meeting on...

Infliximab benefits lasting in plaque psoriasis: visible psoriasis was absent in 26% of patients; 47% had no significant impact on social life or activities.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- In the first phase III trial evaluating infliximab for plaque psoriasis, substantial improvements were achieved by week 10 and sustained through week 50 in the majority of patients, Kristian Reich, M.D., reported at the...

Development pipeline filled with oral psoriasis therapies.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... CHICAGO -- The future of psoriasis therapy lies in oral therapies now in development, Neil J. Korman, M.D., reported at the 11th International Psoriasis Symposium sponsored by the Skin Disease Education Foundation. "Biologics have made an...

Fumaric acid esters appear to help some patients with severe psoriasis.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- A proprietary formulation of fumaric acid esters has proved, during decades of use in Germany, to be a useful option for some patients with severe, recalcitrant psoriasis. Although the therapy is less than perfect--with...

Complex aphthosis easily mistaken for Behcet's.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... HOUSTON -- Strict adherence to diagnostic criteria for Behcet's disease can lead physicians to misdiagnose patients who actually have complex aphthosis, Peter J. Lynch, M.D., warned at a conference on vulvovaginal diseases sponsored by Baylor...

Derm Dx.(Skin Disorders)(Letterer-Siwe disease)
September 1, 2005... A girl born at 41 weeks' gestation was apneic upon delivery and had a rash from head to toe. She was intubated and sent to the NICU. Skin exam showed erythematous papules with purpura, crusting, and ulceration that involved the face, trunk,...

Low-dose flutamide may help treat female refractory acne.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... QUEBEC CITY -- Dosages of the androgen receptor blocker flutamide at 125 mg/day appear to be effective in treating acne in women who have not responded to other medications, James C. Shaw, M.D., reported at the annual conference of the Canadian...

Tips for improving teenagers' adherence to acne treatment.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Lack of treatment efficacy is only one of the reasons that acne therapy often fails in teenagers, Lee T. Zane, M.D., reported at a meeting on clinical pediatrics sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco. ...

Early pimecrolimus reduces AD flares in children.(Skin Disorders)(atopic dermatitis)
September 1, 2005... SAN DIEGO -- Initiating treatment with pimecrolimus cream 1% during the early signs of atopic dermatitis in infants and children significantly reduced the incidence of flares, prolonged flare-free intervals, and reduced the need for a topical...

Apligraf matches standard Tx of excision wounds.(Skin Disorders)
September 1, 2005... CHICAGO -- The quality of healed wounds treated with bilayered cell therapy equaled that of wounds treated with a standard dressing in a randomized, multicenter study of 172 patients, Vincent Falanga, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the...

Tool assesses depression in primary care settings.(Mental Health)(Hamilton Depression Rating Scale)
September 1, 2005... Boca RATON, FLA. -- An abbreviated Hamilton Depression Rating Scale can quickly assess depression severity and monitor patient response to treatment in a primary care setting, according to a multicenter study. Complete remission of symptoms...

Target patient's physical symptoms of depression.(Mental Health)
September 1, 2005... Boca RATON, FLA. -- Targeting physical symptoms of depression in a primary care setting increases the likelihood of treatment response and remission, according to a multicenter study. Somatic symptoms of depression are getting increased...

Depression common in teen mothers.(Mental Health)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... LOS ANGELES -- Half of adolescent mothers experience significant depression in the first year after giving birth, according to a study of 417 young mothers followed for 48 months. The study included roughly equal numbers of Mexican...

Mental illness flares for some patients in rehab: symptoms worsened in 13% of patients undergoing substance abuse treatment, a VA study showed.(Mental Health)
September 1, 2005... SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Psychiatric symptoms are common among people with substance abuse disorders, but in most patients those symptoms improve over the course of residential substance abuse treatment. A recent Veterans Affairs study...

Alcoholism study: combo Tx boosts medication compliance.(Mental Health)
September 1, 2005... SAN JUAN, P.R. -- Patients struggling with medication compliance for alcohol dependence may benefit from a clinical intervention combining medical management and brief counseling sessions, Helen M. Pettinati, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting...

Quality of life scores are poor in kleptomania, pathological gambling.(Mental Health)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... People with symptoms of pathological gambling and kleptomania, regardless of severity, seem to have a very poor quality of life, reported Jon Grant, M.D., of Brown University, Providence, R.I., and Suck-Won Kim, M.D., of the University of...

New Orleans leads nation with the most drug-related emergency department visits.(DATA WATCH)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
September 1, 2005... New Orleans Leads Nation With the Most Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits (per 100,000 population) New Orleans 56 Newark 47 Baltimore 46 Boston 46 New York 46 Philadelphia 42 St....

Gum disease again tied to pregnancy outcomes: some women with periodontal disease in the study had low-birth-weight babies or preterm babies.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... LOS ANGELES -- A small study adds to the growing body of evidence implicating periodontal disease in poor pregnancy outcomes. Twelve percent of the women with periodontal disease had low-birth-weight babies in a 277-patient observational...

Eclampsia usually occurs late in pregnancy.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... NEW YORK -- Eclampsia has become increasingly rare in Western countries, but it still occurs in 1 in 2,000-3,500 pregnancies--and obstetric clinics must be prepared to treat it, Baha M. Sibai, M.D., said at an obstetrics symposium sponsored by...

Preeclampsia presentation depends on race, ethnicity.(Women's Health)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... RENO, NEV. -- A retrospective study examining 473 pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia has uncovered several significant racial and ethnic differences in the expression of the disorder. African American women with preeclampsia tend to...

Shower helps heal open wound after C-section.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- If a cesarean wound must be opened days after the surgery, one of the best ways to help it heal by secondary intention is to get the patient into the shower, Harriet W. Hopf, M.D., said at a meeting on antepartum and...

Super obese women could boost cesarean section rates.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... PALM DESERT, CALIF. -- There may be a threshold of morbid obesity associated with a sharply increased risk of nonelective cesarean delivery that is not shared by less obese women, according to results of a preliminary study presented at the...

Delaying epidural anesthesia in labor may not be advantageous.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Data from recent studies call into question the recommendation that physicians delay administration of epidural anesthesia to nulliparous women in labor, Michael P. Nageotte, M.D., said at a meeting on antepartum and...

Desquamative vaginitis: not an infectious entity: condition may be a range of blistering disorders; as such, no one treatment is always appropriate.(Women's Health)
September 1, 2005... BETHESDA, MD. -- Most experts now believe that desquamative inflammatory vaginitis is not a diagnosis of one condition, but may represent a range of blistering disorders, such as lichen planus, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and pemphigns...

Consider patient age, lesion location when diagnosing VAIN.(Women's Health)(vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia)
September 1, 2005... BETHESDA, MD. -- An older age, a history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and the presence of multifocal lesions in the upper third of the vagina are among the features associated with vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia, Thomas C. Wright...

Teens' PMS mirrors adult women's.(Clinical Capsules)(premenstrual syndrome)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Premenstrual syndrome is common in adolescents, and symptoms are similar to those reported by women, a study suggests. The findings debunk the "commonly accepted belief that adolescents suffer mostly from dysmenorrhea, and older women...

Gender and criminality.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Women who have a dual diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and substance abuse/dependence are more at risk for engaging in criminal activity than are women in the general population, though their risk is lower than that of men with a...

Teen girls react to parental rejection.(Clinical Capsules)(causes of aggressive behavior)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Aggressive behavior in adolescents may be fueled in part by the depression associated with perceived parental rejection, said William W Hale III, Ph.D., of Utrecht (the Netherlands) University and his colleagues. In a study of 1,329...

Paps infrequent among immigrants.(Clinical Capsules)
September 1, 2005... Foreign-born women living in the United States were significantly less likely to have had a Pap test within the past 3 years, compared with American-born women, Xu Wang, M.D., and colleagues reported in a poster presented at the annual meeting...

Frozen shoulder.(Exercise Rx)
September 1, 2005... Frozen shoulder has several causes, including sports injuries (such as rotator cuff tears), and overuse injuries from occasional activities (such as gardening, painting, or pulling suitcases from the conveyor belt at the airport). Frozen...

Glucosamine delays knee replacement surgery.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... VIENNA -- The use of oral glucosamine by patients with knee osteoarthritis results in a marked reduction in need for knee replacement surgery for at least 5 years after the drug is stopped, Karel Pavelka, M.D., reported at the annual European...

Early surgery, low BMI for microfractures.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... Microfracture significantly improved knee function in patients with isolated full-thickness cartilage defects of the femur, Kai Mithoefer, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. His...

Meniscal tear may be first indicator of knee OA.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)(knee osteoarthritis)
September 1, 2005... VIENNA -- Long-term outcomes after partial meniscectomy in middle-aged and elderly patients aren't nearly as favorable as they ought to be for an operation that does a good job of preserving the key meniscal functions of shock absorption and...

Acupuncture may beat sham for knee osteoarthritis pain.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... Acupuncture relieves pain and improves function in knee osteoarthritis significantly better than sham acupuncture, at least in the short term, according to the findings of a randomized controlled study. Over the long term, however, real...

Gout prevalence rises to physicians' chagrin: several reports seem to suggest that the epidemic is due in part to longstanding undertreatment.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... VIENNA -- The rising prevalence of gout being reported in the United States and many other parts of the world constitutes in part an indictment of suboptimal physician management of the disease, Michael Doherty, M.D., said at the annual...

Desensitization offers hope to gout patients allergic to allopurinol.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... DESTIN, FLA. -- Oral desensitization appears to be a safe and effective alternative for patients who are allergic to allopurinol and who cannot take other urate-lowering drugs for gout, Adel G. Fam, M.D., reported at a rheumatology meeting...

Weight gain, body fat are linked with gout risk in men.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... Greater adiposity and weight gain are strong risk factors for gout in men, while weight loss is protective, according to the largest study to date of verified gout cases. Investigators for the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study...

Vitamin D deficiency common in osteoporosis.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
September 1, 2005... VIENNA -- More than half of postmenopausal women being treated for osteoporosis in the United States and the rest of the world have vitamin D levels that are inadequate for skeletal health, according to two recent cross-sectional surveys...