Internal Medicine Alert – March 30, 2010
March 30, 2010
View Issues
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Why UTIs Are Different from URIs
For women with suspected urinary tract infection, there is no advantage to routinely sending midstream urine samples for testing; antibiotics based on dipstick tests with a delayed prescription as backup, or empirical delayed prescription, can help to reduce antibiotic use. -
A Persistent Pain in the Chest
Nonspecific chest pain is a persistent illness and patients with it are subject to overly extensive work-ups. -
There Really Is No Safe Level of Smoke Exposure
Even in people who had never smoked cigarettes, pipe and cigar smoking was associated with decreased lung function and increased odds of airflow obstruction. -
Dalfampridine Extended Release Tables (Ampyra™ )
The FDA has approved a potassium channel blocker to improve walking in adults with multiple sclerosis. -
Clinical Briefs by Louis Kuritzky, MD
Staging of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is based primarily upon estimated GFR. Proteinuria (PRO) is a strong marker for kidney disease, yet its severity is not included in current risk stratification schemes, which are instead driven by GFR.