Internal Medicine Alert – December 15, 2003
December 15, 2003
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REVERSAL Trial
The following is a late-breaking trial of the American Heart Association Annual Scientific Sessions held last month in Orlando, Fla. The REVERSAL trial is covered in the pages of Internal Medicine Alert because of the abundant coverage of this issue in the lay press, as well as possible questions your patients may ask regarding this subject. -
Why Aren’t We Mad? Variations in the Label Information of the 10 Most Commonly Purchased Herbs
Labels on the 10 most frequently used herbs failed to adequately describe the ingredients, provide the correct dose of the herb, or were not interpretable by professional pharmacists. -
Randomized, Controlled Trial of Biofeedback for Fecal Incontinence
In this study, fecal incontinence therapies, including standard care (advice), sphincter exercises, and computer-assisted biofeedback, all led to substantial improvements in continence, quality of life, psychological well being, and sphincter function with no evidence of superiority for biofeedback. -
Blood Pressure in Acute Ischemic Stroke: When More May Indeed Be More
Blood pressure reduction in the first 24 hours of stroke onset is independently associated with poor outcome after 3 months. -
Pharmacology Update: Efalizumab Injection — Raptiva
A second biological agent has been approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. -
Clinical Briefs
TZDs and HF in People with Type 2 Diabetes; Exercise Plus Behavioral Management in Patients with AD; Spironolactone in Resistant HBP -
ECG Review: A CVA to be Anticoagulated?
The ECG and rhythm strip in the Figure were obtained from an elderly woman admitted for an acute stroke. Her neurologic deficit was not progressing, and she was clinically stable at the time of admission to the hospital. No history of smoking. The computer interpreted her rhythm as atrial fibrillation. Do you agree? Should the patient be anticoagulated? -
Pharmacology Watch: Eplerenone Cleared for CHF Patients with Sustained MI
The FDA has approved Pfizer's eplerenone (Inspra) for the treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF) in patients who have sustained a myocardial infarction.