Internal Medicine News articles from May 2009

Internal Medicine News archives from May 2009

Health reform must boost primary care.
May 15, 2009... PHILADELPHIA -- With health care reform efforts gaining momentum in Congress, the American College of Physicians is pushing for changes in physician reimbursement and training that would help expand the nation's primary care workforce. At...

AUA guidelines back PSA testing starting at age 40: risk of overdetection remains a concern.(American Urological Association)(prostate-specific antigen testing)(Report)
May 15, 2009... CHICAGO--New guidelines on prostate-specific antigen testing issued by the American Urological Association support the continued use of the test in conjunction with digital rectal examination as a strategy for detecting prostate cancer,...

2009-H1N1 outbreak poses challenge for fall.(influenza A virus subtype)(Report)
May 15, 2009... Even as the rate of new 2009-H1N1 infections dwindles in the Northern Hemisphere, health officials are bracing for the influenza's potential reemergence this fall. At press time, the House Appropriations Committee had approved $2.05...

Internal medicine getting closer to gender parity.(VITAL SIGNS)
May 15, 2009... Note: Age distribution if for 107, 171 male and 50,848 female internists, including subspecialists, in the United States in 2007. Source: American Medical Association

CHTs help small practices use medical home approach.(community health teams)
May 15, 2009... PHILADELPHIA -- Community health teams can bring the patient-centered medical home approach to small practices that otherwise would not be able to afford care coordinators. The idea behind community health teams (CHTs) is that the care...

New annals editor sees online media as the journal's future.(Dr. Christine Laine editor of Annals of Internal Medicine)(www.youtube.com/InternalMedicineNews)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... PHILADELPHIA -- Creating an expanded electronic presence for the Annals of Internal Medicine will be the major challenge for Dr. Christine Laine. Dr. Laine was named the journal's new editor during the annual meeting of the organization...

COPD web site promotes evidence-based care.(NEWS)(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)(www.copd.acpoline.org)
May 15, 2009... PHILADELPHIA -- A Web site devoted to information about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was launched by the American College of Physicians during its annual meeting in late April. The Web site, which includes separate sections for...

Insurers profit from banking, at our expense.(Editorial)(Editorial)
May 15, 2009... If you think the country's largest health insurance company is in the health care business, guess again. As WellPoint testified to the Federal Reserve Board, its core insurance business should be considered financial services; ergo, it's really...

More sudden deaths in triathlons than marathons.(CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE)(Report)
May 15, 2009... ORLANDO -- The risk of sudden death during a triathlon is two-to threefold greater than in running a marathon, according to the first large-scale mortality study of participants in the popular swim-bike-run events. The risk appears to be...

Warfarin's real impact less than in trials.(Report)
May 15, 2009... ORLANDO -- Warfarin was not nearly as effective in the real world as it has been in clinical trials for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, in a review of about 50,000 patients. Analysis of the same database...

Vitamin K for excessive anticoagulation.(MINDFUL PRACTICE)(Case study)
May 15, 2009... The Problem A 61-year-old man with a history of atrial fibrillation on anticoagulation with warfarin, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus presents to you with an international normalized ratio of 5.8. He has had an INR in the range...

Diabetes drug improves lipoatrophy in HIV.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)(Report)
May 15, 2009... MONTREAL -- A drug approved for use in diabetes may reverse HIV-associated lipoatrophy and insulin resistance, a study has shown. In a randomized, controlled trial of 71 HIV-positive patients with documented peripheral fat wasting, patients...

Hepatitis C coinfection complicates HIV care.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)(Report)
May 15, 2009... MONTREAL--HIV patients who are coinfected with the hepatitis C virus have significantly higher rates of health care utilization and disability days than do those with HIV alone. The findings, according to lead investigator Benjamin Linas of...

Lymphogranuloma venereum cases increasing.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)(Report)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... MAUI, HAWAII -- Lymphogranuloma venereum is making a comeback, and this time around the STD looks nothing like it did during residency training. The new clinical picture of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is proctitis in slightly older gay...

Brain injury seen in HIV patients on HAART.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)(highly active antiretroviral therapy)(Report)
May 15, 2009... MONTREAL -- Evidence of significant brain inflammation and neuronal damage in patients with clinically stable HIV infection suggests that central nervous system injury persists despite successful viral central, Dr. Bradford Navia reported at...

Provenge shows survival benefit in prostate cancer.(Report)
May 15, 2009... CHICAGO -- Autologous active cellular immunotherapy with sipuleucel-T, the controversial investigative agent with the brand name Provenge, extended survival by a median of 4.1 months in men with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer,...

Web sites mislead teens about sexual health.(ADOLESCENT HEALTH)
May 15, 2009... LOS ANGELES -- Teenagers cruising mainstream Web sites can hardly be faulted for thinking that emergency contraception is difficult to obtain, birth control pills will make them fat, and IUDs are meant for older women, not adolescents. ...

Statins improve carotid IMT in teens with type 1 diabetes.(intima-media thickness)(Report)
May 15, 2009... LOS ANGELES -- Treating adolescents with type 1 diabetes with statins early in the course of their disease may lead to measurable improvement in their carotid in-tima-media thickness, an important risk factor for stroke and heart disease,...

Celiac disease predisposes patients to bone loss.(GASTROENTEROLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... WASHINGTON -- If you're not already taking a serious look at the bone health of patients with celiac disease, you should be, according to Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, New York. The...

Depression not well managed in fibromyalgia.(RHEUMATOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... KANANASKIS, ALTA. -- A significant proportion of all fibromyalgia patients with depression are not receiving adequate treatment for the disorder, if the experience of a multidisciplinary Canadian tertiary-care pain clinic is any indication. ...

2-Minute screen helps identify psoriatic arthritis.(RHEUMATOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... SINT MAARTEN, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES -- Physicians can use a "2-minute drill" that combines questions and a physical exam to screen psoriasis patients for psoriatic arthritis. Routinely ask patients with psoriasis about musculoskeletal...

Zoledronic acid slows bone loss in osteopenia.(ENDOCRINOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... WASHINGTON -- A single yearly infusion of zoledronic acid appears to prevent further bone loss in postmenopausal women with osteopenia and in women who have already had a hip fracture, two randomized controlled trials have concluded. This...

Even after hip fracture, osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment overlooked.(Report)
May 15, 2009... WASHINGTON -- Three-fourths of patients hospitalized for a hip fracture do not receive an osteoporosis diagnosis before discharge, and most are not taking a bisphos-phonate at discharge or 6 months after the injury, a small study showed. ...

Osteoporosis often present in older black women.(Report)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... RIO GRANDE, P. R. -- Approximately one in four elderly black women have osteoporosis, findings from a small study suggest. Physicians should not ignore the possibility of osteoporosis in their older black female patients, although these...

Zoledronic acid tops raloxifene for bone loss.(ENDOCRINOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... WASHINGTON -- A single yearly infusion of zoledronic acid suppressed serum markers of bone turnover better than 6 months of daily oral raloxifene in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial....

Questionnaire helps determine risk of falls.(GERIATRICS)(Survey)
May 15, 2009... WASHINGTON -- Offering interventions to improve balance and ensure proper functioning of assistive devices can cut the incidence of falls by half in older people, researchers found. The same study showed that indicators as diverse as difficulty...

Delirium and the dying: take steps to ease suffering.(Report)
May 15, 2009... AUSTIN, TEX. -- Most palliative care patients will suffer delirium at the end of life, yet the condition is often misdiagnosed and underrecognized. The prevalence of delirium reaches 56% in hospitalized elderly patients, 87% in the ICU,...

Rosacea related to sunburn, not alcohol use.(DERMATOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... SAN FRANCISCO -- Alcohol has little to do with the development of the facial redness, swelling, and vascular abnormalities characteristic of rosacea, despite conventional wisdom, study results have shown. In a case-control study comparing...

Melanoma field cells may explain recurrence.(DERMATOLOGY)(Report)
May 15, 2009... MAUI, HAWAII -- The recent discovery of an entity called melanoma field cells that are often present in seemingly normal skin surrounding primary melanomas could ultimately force an overhaul of standard recommended excision margins. These...

FY 2010 budget includes funds for health reform.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
May 15, 2009... The Obama administration plans to finance a portion of its ambitious health care reform plan through changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the bundling of payments for inpatient and postacute care. The new details were...

Psych care often inaccessible.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(psychiatric)(Survey)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... Two-thirds of primary care physicians said they couldn't get outpatient mental health services for their patients, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The 2004-2005 data are from the center's Community Tracking...

CMS considers hospice rule.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... Physicians certifying patients for Medicare-covered hospice stays would be required to write a brief explanation of why a patient has 6 months or less to live, under a new rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services....

Medical discipline declined.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... State medical boards seriously disciplined far fewer doctors in 2007 and 2008 than they did in 2004, the peak year for such actions against doctors, according to an analysis by the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen. In 2008, there were...

Proposed ESRD policy risky.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(end-stage renal disease )(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... A proposed change in Medicare reimbursement policy could make it more difficult for African Americans with kidney disease to access dialysis services, a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology suggested. Under the possible...

PhRMA revises trial standards.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has revised its voluntary standards for how drug manufacturers run clinical trials and communicate trial results. The new PhRMA standards call on drug makers to register on a public Web...

Routine HIV testing urged.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... The American College of Physicians and the Infectious Disease Society of America have jointly called for routine HIV testing for sexually active adults, pregnant women, and newborns. Federally supported health care programs should provide...

ABMS updates standards for quality, safety.(PRACTICE TRENDS)(American Board of Medical Specialties)
May 15, 2009... NEW ORLEANS -- The American Board of Medical Specialties has approved standards for its maintenance of certification program, emphasizing public disclosure and evidence-based continuing medical education, said Dr. Richard E. Hawkins, ABMS...

Gov. Sebelius confirmed as new HHS head.(Kathleen Sebelius head of Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief article)
May 15, 2009... President Obama now has a Health and Human Services secretary to help shepherd his health reform agenda through Congress and deal with the swine flu outbreak and other challenges. In a 65-31 vote, the Senate confirmed Kansas Gov. Kathleen...

Bicycling as a way of life.(THE REST OF YOUR LIFE)(Column)
May 15, 2009... For Dr. Christiane Stahl, bicycling is not so much a hobby as a way of life. She's been commuting by bike to school or work since she was 8 years old. "I use public transportation, but the nice thing about a bike is you're kind of out...

Gross negligence.(LAW & MEDICINE)(Case overview)
May 15, 2009... Question: A patient developed postoperative paralytic ileus with intractable vomiting. The attending doctor inserted a nasogastric tube and administered intravenous fluids in the form of 5% dextrose in water. The patient died 6 days later from...

GAO calls for more regulation of supplements.(PRACTICE TRENDS)(Government Accountability Office)
May 15, 2009... The days when the dietary supplements industry is allowed to regulate itself may be numbered following release of a federal report addressing growing concerns about the dietary supplement industry. The report by the Government...

Indications.(briefs)
May 15, 2009... Now that the world may be coming to a swine flu-induced end, we thought we'd cheer everybody up with five other reasons mankind is doomed: 5. Hospital Gowns Being Redesigned A team from North Carolina State University received a...