May 2015

Patients' choices for end of life care can be measured and observed, according to a pneumonia study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Hepatitis C virus screening is a challenge, and strategies must be implemented to make diagnoses and treatment therapies easier, according to a JAMA study.

Overt hyperthyroidism is a known risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures. More subtle alterations in thyroid function, such as those that occur in subclinical thyroid dysfunction, may also be associated with increased fracture risk and bone loss, but until recently no clinical trials have adequately explored that issue.

Non evidence-based proton pump inhibitor use should be discontinued in the case of Clostridium difficile infection, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

In March, the television news show 60 Minutes devoted a segment to a clinical trial using polio virus to treat glioblastoma multiforme. The segment called "Killing Cancer" did a good job of illustrating the potential power of this new treatment as well as the problems associated with glioblastoma multiforme which typically kills patients in a matter of months.