JAAPA-Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants articles from June 2008

JAAPA-Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants archives from June 2008

AAPA supports funding for global HW/AIDS fight.(FROM THE AAPA)(American Academy of Physician Assistants)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... AAPA has expressed support for federal legislation known as the Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. The measure would provide $50 billion over 5 years in the global fight against these...

National e-prescribing awareness campaign launched.(FROM THE AAPA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... AAPA and a diverse partnership of pharmacies, consumer organizations, business groups, and other health care organizations, coordinated by SureScripts, announced in April a nationwide consumer awareness campaign to support electronic...

PA Foundation, Chevron launch global partners.(FROM THE AAPA)(physician assistant)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Imagine a situation in the United States or abroad in which one-third of the population is infected with HIV/ AIDS and a PA-led team responds with resources to collaborate with the existing health system on training local health providers to...

Connecting health insurance to quality of medical care.
June 1, 2008... My husband entered my home office looking somewhat stunned. What he said took me completely by surprise. "I've been rejected by two companies for health coverage." "You've what?" I asked. "I've been turned down because of my knee replacement....

Product: Pristiq.(New Drug Information)(Drug overview)
June 1, 2008... COMPANY: Wyeth PHARMACOLOGIC CLASS: Antidepressant (SNRI) ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Desvenlafaxine (as succinate) 50mg, 100mg; ext-rel tabs INDICATION: Major depressive disorder (MDD) PHARMACOLOGY: Desvenlafaxine, the major active...

The lesion on this patient's tongue really hurts.(Dermatology Digest)
June 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] * CASE A 56-year-old female was referred to dermatology by her primary care physician for evaluation of a moderately painful lesion on her tongue. On examination, a 2-cm, ovoid-shaped erosion was noted on the left...

A day in the life.
June 1, 2008... Many years ago, when I was planning a career change, I knew one thing for sure: I wanted to teach. I knew that my next move had to put me in a field in which education was guided by practitioners. I wanted to be able to help students learn what...

Come hear, baby! Identifying and managing congenital hearing loss: thanks to universal hearing screening for newborns and improved assistive technology, hearing-impaired children born today have a vastly better prognosis than did those in previous generations.(CME)
June 1, 2008... Helen Keller is believed to have said that whereas blindness cuts you off from things, deafness cuts you off from people. She later explained that of the two disabilities, she would prefer to be blind. (1) Indeed, the impact of congenital...

Severe hyponatremia develops in a runner following a half-marathon: it's essential to know how to distinguish dehydration from fluid overload in endurance athletes, because the treatment for one can greatly worsen the other.(Clinical report)
June 1, 2008... CASE A 34-year old woman sought nutritional guidance at our clinic after what she described as a recent episode of dehydration. Medical records were obtained, and the following clinical picture emerged. A month earlier, the patient had...

Examining modern approaches to inguinal and femoral herniorrhaphy: the newest hernia repair techniques, including the various laparoscopic approaches, require continued learning and practice by the surgeon to develop and maintain proficiency.(SURGICAL REVIEW)
June 1, 2008... Groin hernias are the most common clinical problem addressed by surgeons, with more than 700,000 repairs performed annually in the United States alone. (1,2) This article reviews the basics of hernia repair in 2008. The authors describe the...

Hypothermia: a cool intervention for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: the window of time for diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic insult is short. Quick recognition and fast referral ensure the best possible outcome for affected infants.(REVIEW ARTICLE)(Clinical report)
June 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a serious condition that causes significant neonatal morbidity and mortality. The incidence of HIE is estimated at 2.8 cases per 1,000 live births. (13) Ten percent to 15% of...

Diverticular disease of the colon: a conservative approach works best: the most effective treatment regimen is antibiotics, fluids, and bowel rest. When surgical intervention is indicated for diverticulitis, a single-stage elective procedure is the preferred method.(CME)(Disease/Disorder overview)(Cover story)
June 1, 2008... Diverticular disease of the colon (DDC) used to be extremely rare, but the introduction of milled grains and refined sugars to the diet in industrialized countries has increased its prevalence. DDC continues to be rare in rural areas of Africa,...

CME posttest.(continuing medical education)
June 1, 2008... All posttests must be submitted online to AAPA. The CME scoring service is provided at no charge to current Fellow members of AAPA. Others must submit a $20 scoring fee for each posttest using AAPA's secure server. Payment may be made using...

Homeless, housed, and homeless again.(SOUNDING BOARD)
June 1, 2008... My patient "Bill" is a 59-year-old Vietnam veteran who has lived on the streets of Boston for many years. He suffers from chronic alcohol abuse, has never married, and has no kids. Bill doesn't talk a lot about his past, but he did tell me that...

Adults with both anxiety and depression respond poorly to treatment.(Patient-oriented evidence that matters)(Clinical report)
June 1, 2008... Clinical question Are adults with both anxiety and depression more difficult to treat than patients with depression alone? Bottom line Adults with the combination of both anxiety and depression are significantly more difficult to...

CV event prediction methods perform equally well.(Patient-oriented evidence that matters)(cardiovascular)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
June 1, 2008... Clinical question Are risk prediction methods using laboratory testing and methods not using laboratory testing comparable in predicting cardiovascular (CV) events? Bottom line CV prediction models that do not require laboratory testing...

Imiquimod and 5-FU are effective for actinic keratoses.(Patient-oriented evidence that matters)(5-fluorouracil)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
June 1, 2008... Clinical question What is the best treatment for actinic keratoses? Bottom line Although more and larger studies are needed, these results suggest that imiquimod and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) are somewhat more effective than cryotherapy for the...

A relatively common cause of pain in the hand.(Diagnostic Imaging Review)
June 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] * CASE A 22-year-old teacher presented to our clinic with a complaint of right hand pain while pulling a zipper attached to her boots. She stated that while trying to zip her boot, she experienced pain along the top...

PAs in pediatrics emphasize patient education and advocacy and recognize the social and environmental factors that shape children's health.(Specialty Update: FOCUS ON PA SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS)(physicians' assistants)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... PAs in pediatrics emphasize patient education and advocacy and recognize the social and environmental factors that shape children's health. PAs work in pediatrics in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in...

Society for PAs in Pediatrics (SPAP).(Specialty Update: FOCUS ON PA SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS)(physicians' assistants)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... SPAP works to provide PAs who care for children with valuable resources related to the care of pediatric patients, including those affected by our presidential initiative for this year, childhood obesity. SPAP also helps PAs who care for...

PAs in gastroenterology treat patients with a wide variety of gastroenterologic illnesses, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal dysmotility, esophageal cancer, gastroduodenal ulcer disease, celiac disease, gallbladder disease, and various other ailments.(Specialty Update: FOCUS ON PA SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS)(physicians' assistants)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... PAs in gastroenterology treat patients with a wide variety of gastroenterologic illnesses, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal dysmotility, esophageal cancer, gastroduodenal ulcer disease, celiac disease, gallbladder disease,...

Gastroenterology Physician Assistants (GIPA).(Specialty Update: FOCUS ON PA SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... GIPA continues to explore new ways to address the needs of our members. In order to improve communications and better organize activities for members, our membership year was recently changed from an anniversary cycle to a uniform cycle....

Case of the month.
June 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] * CASE The patient is a 51-year-old female who presented to the emergency department (ED) via ambulance with a 1-month history of progressive lower back pain that had worsened over the previous 3 to 4 days. She was...