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I Have Bipolar Disorder. Can I Be a Doctor?

What does it take to become a physician, and could a disease or condition hold you back from achieving that goal?

What's to Know about WiMax?

Sprint has launched its mobile WiMax services in Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas and Portland, Ore. What is WiMax, and why is it important to you?

Reading Room: Beating the Business Cycle

Getting Urban Kids with Asthma to Use Primary Care Docs

Getting parents with children who have asthma to use primary care doctors to control the condition can be difficult in urban settings where emergency rooms are commonly used for asthma visits. A team reports on using electronic communications to get these patients to their PCPs instead.

The Face of Pain: Treating Trigeminal Neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia, or tic doloureux, is one of the least recognized and most excruciating chronic pain conditions. Anticonvulsants have been shown to be effective, but some patients require surgical intervention to find relief from the pain.

Periodically Review Your Life Insurance

Atorvastatin pretreatment in early percutaneous coronary intervention

According to results of the Atorvastatin for Reduction of Myocardial Damage During Angioplasty-Acute Coronary Syndromes (ARMYDA-ACS) trial, short-term pretreatment with high-dose atorvastatin prior to percutaneous coronary intervention improves clinical outcome in subjects with unstable angina and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. These findings support the upstream administration of high-dose statins in subjects with acute coronary syndrome treated with an early invasive strategy.

Ovarian Torsion during Pregnancy

The iPad Makes the Rounds: Part 2 - Portability, Security and Infection Control on the Hospital Wards

A physician reviewer continues using the iPad as his primary interface during a hospitalist rotation and reports on the effectiveness of the technology.

Has the RUC Destroyed Medical Student Interest in Primary Care?

Are the policies and actions of the AMA's Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) to blame for the looming primary care shortage?

Antithrombotic treatment of high-risk elderly patients hospitalized with atrial fibrillation

We assessed the pattern of use and the effectiveness of antithrombotic therapy in a cohort of high-risk elderly patients hospitalized for atrial fibrillation, with data derived from prescription, hospitalization, and mortality databases from 3 linked registries. Results showed that antithrombotic therapy was underused, even in patients with no comorbid conditions. In addition, patients exposed to antithrombotic therapy had a significantly lower mortality rate. The collection of epidemiological data by record linkage represents a flexible and readily available tool for monitoring and improving routine clinical care.

Clostridium Difficile Infection Associated With Higher Mortality Rates in Patients With Cirrhosis

Clostridium difficile infection leads to higher rates of overall mortality among patients with cirrhosis compared to those who do not have the condition.

Mortality of patients with diabetes mellitus and acute myocardial infarction

We evaluated trends in the treatment and mortality of patients with and without diabetes mellitus and acute myocardial infarction over the last decade. Despite improvements in the provision of evidence-based care, patients with diabetes did not derive improvements in long-term survival.

Kids and Cyber Safety: Q&A with Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, Part I

O'Keeffe discusses the challenges parents face in raising technology-savvy children, and offers recommendations for limiting Internet use and texting.

High plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level in patients with diabetes with myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock

We examined the association between plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (Nt-pro-BNP) levels and the occurrence of cardiac events, including cardiogenic shock and mortality, among hospitalized diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction. Nt-pro-BNP level was shown to be a reliable predictor of outcome in this group of patients.