December 2014

There have been some disappointing studies and contradictory recommendations on using statins to treat stroke. HCPLive's Gale Scott interviewed Koto Ishida, MD, medical director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Stroke Care Center, about the implications for clinicians.

This month's issue of Internal Medicine World Report (IMWR) features another collection of studies selected by our physician editor for their potential impact on clinical practice.

For children with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) - an inherited condition defined by low red blood cell counts and limited progenitor cells in the bone marrow - growth hormone (GH) therapy was found to increase the short stature of patients - a symptom not widely analyzed.

There had been a "remarkable convergence of many disciplines" when weighing the health risks and effectiveness of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), according to an article published in JAMA.

When traditional medicine fails to relieve a patient's symptoms, the desire to seek alternative treatments can be a viable option for many people.

The benefits of drinking milk have been established in a number of previous studies, but one group recently looked at whether there were specific benefits in helping to delay knee osteoarthritis in women.

For patients diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) finding relief for their symptoms can make a large difference in their quality of life.

Contacts of index patients with tuberculosis (TB) are at a much higher risk of coprevalent TB than previously thought, especially contacts under 15 years of age.

Pharyngitis prediction rules are not as accurate at identifying group A streptococcus cases as previously thought, according to findings published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

For smokers and other users of nicotine, the rewarding effects of the substance had been associated with activation of nicotine receptors. But studies have found evidence that the endogenous opioid system is also involved in creating this sense of pleasure.

Attempts to calibrate statin use, revascularization procedures, and the underascertainment of atherosclerosic cardiovascular disease have not matched the current prediction ratios.

Children who are vaccinated for influenza indirectly reduced others' chances at contracting the disease, according to findings published online December 9, 2014 in PLOS ONE.

In a rat study, Brazilian researchers looked at the connections between exercise, opioid receptors (OR) and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries.

Diabetics often experience peripheral neuropathy. In an estimated 30% to 50% of patients, this condition results in pain. The most common painful neuropathy is distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy.

A larger study published ahead of print in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that progesterone's role in treating TBI was questionable.

Patients with a history of cancer are considered high-risk candidates for solid organ transplantation because of concerns about potential adverse effects or recurrence with posttransplant immunosuppression.

A new Danish database analysis in the November 2014 issue of Neurology, indicated increased mortality after ischemic stroke in patients taking older non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that inhibit COX-2 (e.g. diclofenac, etodolac).

A nationwide study of elderly enrollees in Medicare Advantage health plans concluded that disparities in control of blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose had not improved nationally for blacks in these plans despite the disparities being eliminated in the US west in 2011.