Family Medicine

From 2001 to 2010, the infection rate of an intestinal superbug has doubled, with increases in mortality rates and length of hospital stays reflecting this trend, suggested research in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC).

Researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have published research identifying a myriad of potentially harmful pathogens carried by New York City (NYC) rats.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic recently reported, at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (The Liver Meeting 2014), in Boston, MA, on the safety and efficacy in post-liver transplant of 2 new oral medications, simeprevir and sofosbuvir, within a 12-week treatment span.

Attempting to catch up with bacteria's resistance to drugs, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (UCLA) researchers have manufactured an antibiotic that they believe will counteract bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Ebola's evolutionary history goes back anywhere from 16 to 23 million years, much more expansive than previously thought, claimed University of Buffalo (UB) researchers, who believe their discovery will highlight viable treatments.

By adapting new technologies, George Washington University School of Medicine investigators are pressing their colleagues to research methods which will fight off parasitic worms.

Changing the combination of existing drugs could help patients save thousands of dollars in annual prescription costs.

Patients with type 1 diabetes could get much needed help from an unlikely source if positive results from animal model tests with a common diabetes drug can be replicated in clinical trials with humans.

A recent study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine has shown that aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protect against the development of colorectal cancer through cell suicide pathway induction in intestinal stem cells that carry a certain mutated gene.

The seasonality of exacerbations imposes a considerable burden on COPD patients in terms of mortality and morbidity, and on health care systems responsible for patient care.

A small but rigorous 6-month randomized, controlled parallel arm trial comparing alternate day fasting and daily calorie restriction showed that each approach can result in significant weight loss for individuals who are overweight or have obesity, with similar adherence between the two methods of dieting.

Alternate day fasting can be an effective weight loss strategy, but optimal meal timing on fast days has not been thoroughly examined.

For individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a low carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet in combination with exercise resulted in superior glycemic control with less medication use than did a higher carbohydrate diet

Acceptance-based therapy encourages a mindful but nonjudgmental approach to give participants the tools to note, but not act on, urges to overeat or to make unhealthy food choices.

Use positive language, start with the basics, and keep it fun. These are the fundamentals in designing a family-based program to combat childhood obesity.

Mindfulness-based treatment for obesity and binge eating disorder can promote self-regulation and yield significant results. A dose-response effect may yield better results for those who practice the approach more intensively.

For some patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a full dose of medication may not be needed as the condition progresses.

A recent study has shown that in addition to losing weight patients who undergo weight loss surgery also decrease their chances of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Patients with Lyme disease know that their symptoms and the effects of the disease can be debilitating and last for a long time, often persisting even after treatment.

Twenty-five years ago I was told by my partner who had considerably more experience than I that the best way to build a medical practice was to follow the 3 "A's of medicine". In order of relevance they are availability, affability, and ability. Ability comes third because unless a doctor is available to patients so they come enough to like him, they would never know if he has any ability.

Pediatric obesity is increasing in prevalence, with severe childhood obesity being seen more and more frequently.

There is currently no algorithm to guide clinicians in deciding which medication to choose to help promote weight loss in individuals with obesity. Rather, clinicians must take stock of a variety of factors when making treatment decisions for a particular patient.

The range of medication choices to treat obesity is expanding, and a rational prescribing plan requires a solid grasp of medication side effects.

Physicians treating individuals affected by obesity who are contemplating laparascopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) have a new risk assessment tool available. The user-friendly online risk calculator uses a robust statistical model and can offer an accurate preoperative risk assessment, based on updated outcome data.

Using a variety of cognitive strategies may help dampen food cravings and boost inhibitory control in individuals with obesity, according to a small neuroimaging study that draws methods from addiction research.

An intragastric dual-balloon device was well tolerated and proved effective for patients with moderate levels of obesity, owing in part to its ability to conform to stomach anatomy, according to Jaime Ponce, MD, Medical Director for the Bariatric Surgery program at Hamilton Medical Center, in Dalton, Georgia.

Even as Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems become more commonplace in the medical community there is still a large knowledge gap between health care professionals and their patients regarding the availability and use of these systems, according to a recent survey.

Ronald Nahass, MD, MHCM, FACP, FIDSA, is a certified infectious disease expert in central New Jersey with the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. He speaks with Internal Medicine World Report Editor-in-Chief, Simon Douglas Murray, MD, about several misconceptions surrounding the Ebola outbreak and provides insight to educate the readers.

A 45-year-old male accountant is seen by you complaining that when he awoke this morning, his wife noted a drooping of the right side of his face. Examination reveals a moderate right facial paralysis.

In older adults, mild control of systolic pressure is good enough, an Oregon research team has found. Writing in Drugs & Aging, Leah Goeres and colleagues at the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University said that for adults age 60 and over, said a reading of 150 for systolic blood pressure (SPB) is adequate-upsetting the conventional wisdom that these patients should get enough medications or other treatments to bring SPB down to 140.