Family Medicine

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of an experimental drug to treat patients who have Ebola Virus Disease.

Scientists in Germany have discovered a causal relationship between psychological factors and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) after viewing high rates of anxiety and depression among IBS patients.

The same week that there was a confirmed case of the Ebola virus in the United States, a California university has joined the fight to battle the deadly outbreak.

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge recently announced findings from a study that showed there is likely no link between a person's vitamin D levels and their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

News reports on the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the US have stoked fears that we could be facing an outbreak of the disease. However, experts say that characteristics of the disease itself, plus a robust public health infrastructure, make that highly unlikely.

Trials of tabalumab showed "insufficient efficacy."

The Ebola epidemic in Central Africa has riveted the American public. Press accounts of the homegrown case of a Liberian man who developed symptoms after arriving in Texas has driven anxiety higher. There is growing fear among many that the virus will spread rapidly in the US causing widespread death. This week a patient advised me to stock up on food and water and get a gun to prepare for the impending epidemic.

Study results show that a multifaceted pilot telehealth program designed to improve self-management among patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was well received by patients.

Research from Denmark finds that people with diabetes are nearly twice as likely as non-diabetic people to develop atrial fibrillation.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found hospitals' administration of pharmacologic venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis was not associated with lower rates of VTE.

Current users of oral fluoroquinolone (FQs) antibiotics, especially new users of FQs, are at higher risk of developing peripheral neuropathy (PN), concludes a recent study published in Neurology.

For individuals with hypercholesterolemia, research published in the Journal of American Medical Association provided recommendations on statin use for treating their condition prior to age 80.

The majority of patients with psoriatic arthritis treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs will switch medications, discontinue treatment, or add an additional medicine, usually within a few months of initiating treatment.

Research using an animal model of pain suggests that mechanical hyperalgesia may be reversible in mice after spinal pain pathways are reactivated in a manner analogous to memory reconsolidation.

Patients of Indian ancestry living in the United States are at greater risk for all types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than other American populations, according to a new study by Reenu Malhotra, MD, and colleagues published online in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology on July 29, 2014.

A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal looked at the steady progression of treatments for patients with degenerative muscular tears as well as the different efficiency levels between those patients who had surgery and those who took another treatment option.

Physicians have few effective weapons to treat a migraine, an ailment that accounts for more than half of disability with a neurological cause. Chronic migraine is said to affect 2% of the world's population.

For individuals without diabetes, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels not only predicted the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD), but also anticipated its severity, according to research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection is now the leading cause of infectious nosocomial diarrhea in the industrialized world. But by following Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) treatment guidelines, clinicians can significantly reduce recurrence and mortality, a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy team reports.

Scientists from Sanofi Pasteur's Swiftwater, PA facility have published results of a study indicating that a high-dose, trivalent, inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3-HD or high dose Fluzone®) improves antibody responses to influenza among adults 65 years of age or older.

Prescription medications for mental health diagnoses (e.g. antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers) consume approximately 25% of commercial health insurers' pharmacy budgets and almost 35% of public payers' pharmacy spending. In 2011, an estimated 26.8 million US adults-more than 11%-took prescription medications for mental illness.

A letter published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association presents the first microbiologic pathogens trend analysis in hospitalized patients in the United States.

As people spend more time sitting and working in front of computer screens, studies have shown the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has grown. A team of researchers recently worked to take a deeper look at specific factors and their roles in the development in the condition.

Because a key antiviral defense mechanism is present in asthmatics, another defect in their immune system must explain their difficulty combating respiratory viruses, according to researchers from Washington University in St. Louis.

A patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for the deadly virus.

Kevin Skole, MD is a board-certified gastroenterologist practicing in central New Jersey, part of the gastroenterology division of Princeton Healthcare Affiliated Physicians, a multi-specialty medical practice based out of the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (see www.princetonhcs.org). He discusses the increased incidence, risk factors, and prevention of Clostridium Difficile (C. diff) infection.

Device therapy eligibility requirements are underestimated using 2D echocardiography compared to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, according to a study from the Netherlands Heart Journal.

Omega-3 supplementation can help reduce behavioral issues in adolescents who may be particularly prone to oxytocin receptor gene methylation.

The start of the fall season means that around the country children are settling into their school routines. It also means cold and flu season is just around the corner, and with a particularly harsh winter predicted for parts of the country that could mean bad news for the end of 2014.

Study results show many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may experience cognitive deterioration that becomes more severe as their COPD worsens.