August 2014

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.

There is a wide variety of evidence to support benefits of low-fat diets versus low carbohydrate diets and vice versa. As of today, no one can tell us with certainty whether the well-worn dictum "calories in calories out" is really true. The National Weight Control Registry data give us some confidence in recommending that to lose weight most people need to alter their diet to reduce calories, and need to exercise on a near-daily basis.

The leading cause of cancer related deaths in both men and women is lung cancer. The 5-year survival rate of lung cancer is only 16%, as 75% of patients with lung cancer are presented with symptoms of advanced disease.

The risks of marijuana are greatest for teen users, according to an analysis of current data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse published June 5, 2014 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The International Antiviral Society–USA Panel has released its 2014 report, which provided clinical recommendations to stop HIV transmission.

Although previous research has found probiotics can prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile diarrhea, a study from researchers in the United Kingdom and Germany reported contradicting results.

For patients with hypertension, finding the right course of treatment can be critically important especially when other health factors are taken into consideration.

Men who are socially well-integrated show more than a 2-fold reduced risk of suicide, according to a longitudinal study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

When a patient gets bitten by a dog, there can be many issues doctors need to confront as treatment begins. Two doctors shared their experiences of a patient who was bitten by a dog and still had symptoms including swelling and pain 2 weeks after his K-9 encounter.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and of the top 5 causes of death, it is the only one that increased in incidence between 2007 and 2010, and our understanding of how to assess, manage, and treat COPD has advanced significantly over the past decade.

The costs of Medicare associated with Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), an emerging hepatitis C drug, will vary depending on how many people are given the treatment, a blog in Health Affairs found.

As the practice of telecare continues to gain momentum, a group of researchers conducted a study to test how effective that course of treatment is in patients with chronic illnesses.

As the life expectancy of patients continues to grow, healthcare professionals are seeing a rise in cases of osteoarthritis in their case files and are charged with discovering the best treatment possible for them.

While the US Preventive Services Task Force does not recommend screening for hepatitis B virus infection in asymptomatic persons in the general population, a recent update focuses on identifying those who are high risk and should be screened.

When a patient arrives at a hospital or other urgent care center, there are seemingly endless tests that can be undertaken to appropriately diagnose the patient. A recent study reviewed the necessity of some tests, particularly in regard to acute, nonspecific lower back pain.

Using the metric of time to first cigarette after waking was found to help improve efficiency and reduce false-positive detection in lung cancer screening, a new case-control study suggests.

Although ribotype 027 remains a significant cause of C. difficile infection, other strain types are gaining in prevalence, according to a study published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Among couples with an HIV-positive member, a study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews deemed antiretroviral therapy effective at preventing HIV transmission to the HIV-negative partner.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms may be reduced with intravenous ketamine, according to research published in JAMA Psychiatry.