Primary Care/Hospitalist
RSSArticles
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Angiotensin Receptor Blockers for Hypertension
Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are often used as first-line therapy for the treatment of systemic hypertension because of their perceived efficacy and relatively low incidence of adverse effects.
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Colchicine for Recurrent Pericarditis
Although colchicine has been shown to be effective for the treatment of acute pericarditis and first recurrences, little information exists about its use in patients with multiple recurrences.
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Statin Use and Cognitive Effects: Not a Brain Drain
Despite earlier concerns by the FDA about adverse effects of statins on cognitive functioning, a meta-analysis of data from more than 28,000 patients enrolled in 18 randomized, placebo-controlled trials of statin therapy failed to show a causal relationship between treatment and adverse neurocognitive effects for patients with and without cognitive impairment.
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Manipulating Degenerative Joint Disease: RCT Shows Short-term Effects
Men with low back pain who received one high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation had less pain and improvements in disc space and hip and spinal flexion.
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Treatment of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth with Botanical Therapies Equivalent to Rifaximin
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is a condition associated with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and extraintestinal manifestations. This study investigates the effectiveness of the antibiotic rifaximin compared to botanical combination therapies for the treatment of the condition as diagnosed by lactulose breath testing.
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The Role of Ginger in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Ginger supplementation exhibits a promising effect on glycemic control, triglyceride levels, and systemic inflammation in type 2 diabetics.
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Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute metabolic disorder characterized by markedly increased circulating ketone bodies leading to ketoacidosis in the presence of prolonged hyperglycemia due to an absence of insulin. Diabetic ketoacidosis may present in subjects with Type 1 diabetes mellitus with an absolute or relative insulin deficiency or in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus due to relative insulin deficiency. Diabetic ketoacidosis commonly occurs at the onset of Type 1 diabetes mellitus but also may occur from withdrawal or omission of insulin therapy due to psychiatric, social, or economic reasons or due to increased insulin requirements during an acute illness.
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Cryptogenic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation
In large prospective databases of ischemic stroke, cryptogenic stroke occurs in as many as 30% of all ischemic stroke patients. Many of these patients have the characteristics of cardioembolic stroke, and there has always been a strong suspicion that some of these patients have atrial fibrillation.
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Antibiotics for Intra-abdominal Infections: Less Is More
Complicated intra-abdominal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the elderly. Often these infections are treated with antibiotics until all the signs and symptoms of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome resolve, typically for 7 to 14 days.
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Duration of Antibiotic Treatment for Vertebral Osteomyelitis
Three hundred fifty-nine patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis were randomized to 6 weeks vs. 12 weeks of antibiotic treatment in an open-label controlled trial. Six weeks of antibiotics was found to be not inferior to 12 weeks of treatment.