Internal Medicine Alert – November 30, 2005
November 30, 2005
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Lack of Differences Among Antidepressants
Only minimal differences in efficacy for treatment of major depressive disorders were found when SSRIs and 4 other 2nd generation antidepressants were compared to each other in randomized controlled trials, and almost all of the trials were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. -
Weight a Minute!
Death rates in the year after bariatric surgery were high (4.6%), and were higher for men, for those older than 65, and for those whose surgeon performed fewer than 35 such operations a year. -
A Shingles Vaccine
The use of an attenuated varicella zoster virus vaccine, many times more potent than that used in children for the prevention of chickenpox, was effective in the prevention of both herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in individuals 60 years of age and older. -
Smoking Cessation: Bupropion or Nortriptyline?
Sustained release bupropion treatment is an efficacious aid to smoking cessation for patients at risk for and with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. -
Esomeprazole in Patients with Upper GI Symptoms Taking NSAIDs, Including COX-2 Inhibitors
Esomeprazole 20 mg and 40 mg daily improve upper GI symptoms occurring during NSAID therapy including selective COX-2 inhibitors. -
Pharmacology Update: Nelarabine Injection (Arranon®)
The FDA has approved nelarabine for the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and lymphoblastic leukemia (T-LBL). Nelarabine was approved under the FDAs accelerated approval program. It received an Orphan Designation because it is for a rare disease affecting less than 200,000 in the United States. Nelarabine is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Arranon®. -
Clinical Briefs By Louis Kuritzky, MD
Should Empiric Treatment be Given to women with UTI Sx but negative U/A?; Is Routine Fundoscopy Worth the Bother in Hypertension?; Autoantibody Signatures in Prostate Cancer