-
The Commonwealth Fund's 2008 update to its initial National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, issued in 2006, contains a sobering assessment that health care in this country typically falls far short of what is achievable.
-
-
The successful repair of congenital heart diseases has led to an increase in the incidence of pediatric dysrhythmias. The presentation of dysrhythmias can be a diagnostic challenge to clinicians, and is especially difficult since most children present with vague and nonspecific symptoms such as "fussiness" or "difficulty feeding."
-
After skin cancer, prostate cancer (P-CA) is the most common cancer among American men. Despite the absence of major consensus group endorsement, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been sufficiently popular that in a 2003 report, ADT was employed second only to surgery for localized disease.
-
The combination of the first direct renin inhibitor and hydrochlorothiazide was approved by the FDA this year for the treatment of hypertension.
-
Women who had sexual dysfunction that was believed to be a side effect of antidepressants were more likely to report improved sexual function if they were assigned to the sildenafil, rather than to the placebo arm of a placebo-controlled trial.
-
Regular ingestion of caffeine, either as coffee, tea or chocolate was followed in 2 large cohorts of men and women for more than two decades. When caffeine was consumed regularly, there was no increase in the overall mortality. Indeed, a modest benefit of caffeine consumption was noted on overall mortality and in particular death related to cardiovascular disorders. This effect was more pronounced in women.
-
Women who do not take supplemental calcium frequently need more education, and state they would be positively influenced by their physician's recommendations.
-
-
Over a 5-year period, 16% of elderly people developed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and had double the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) than normals; however, 30% with MCI reverted to normal.