November 2014

This limited systematic review found some evidence of benefit of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and little evidence of significant adverse outcomes.

Many clinicians and academicians believe that stipulation for random urine drug testing should be a part of any opioid agreement, with UDT serving the dual purposes of ensuring compliance with prescribed opioids as well as monitoring use of illicit drugs and non-prescribed medications.

As electronic health records become more or less mandatory, the question moves from how widely they are adopted by practices across the country to whether the new versions are more effective than the old pen-and-paper way of doing business.

This systematic review and meta-analysis hope to determine the influence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent use on depressive symptoms and in those with depression.

Study Shows Feeding Tubes in Advanced Dementia Leads to Worse Outcomes

Two systematic reviews found the efficacy of the two common anti-virals used for influenza to be of questionable benefit.

September 30, 2014…this is the date marking the first case of the Ebola virus diagnosed in the United States. In the 6 weeks that followed, Ebola has not only dominated mainstream media attention but also fueled a national health hysteria and panic unseen since HIV in the early 1980s.

A 28 year-old commercial realtor comes to your office on Monday morning after spraining his right ankle in a basketball game with friends the preceding Saturday afternoon. He has a swollen right ankle with tenderness inferior and anterior to the lateral malleolus. He is limping but able to apply weight to the injured extremity.

This newborn was found to have these fragile white lesions on the scrotum and extremities along with dark macules on the face. The child was otherwise asymptomatic and the pregnancy was uncomplicated, with no significant medication exposures and no family history of similar lesions.

A 35 year-old man with a history of hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea and obesity presents to clinic with complaints of non-cardiac chest discomfort. He is requesting refills of his blood pressure medications. His insurance changed 6 months ago and he has not had them since. The nurse performs the intake vital signs and reports that the patient has a blood pressure of 280/150 mmHg.

The National Lung Screening Trial, published in 2011, demonstrated that annual screening with low-dose computed tomography reduced lung cancer mortality by 20% among people aged 55-74 years. This data applied to people who had a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years and either continued to smoke or had quit within the last 15 years. This study examined the cost-effectiveness of this program.

This is 52-year-old woman presented to the emergency with department with a 4-day history of upper abdominal cramping pain, nausea, vomiting, and distended abdomen.