March 1, 2002

An estimated 40 million Americans of all ages are affected by osteoarthritis, and 70 to 90 percent of persons older than 75 years have at least one affected joint. New medications can help limit symptoms and improve function.

The diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis, an autosomal recessive single-gene disorder, is based on a combination of clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings (including elevated serum transferrin saturation) and, possibly, HFE gene testing. Patients with the disorder who…

The National Cholesterol Education Program has released its third set of guidelines, reflecting changes in cholesterol management. The new guidelines stress the importance of an aggressive therapeutic approach in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

The symptoms traditionally used to identify depression may be imprecise in patients who are dying because these symptoms are also present in preparatory grief and as a part of the normal dying process.

Lipomas are slow-growing, benign tumors that most often appear in subcutaneous tissues. They can be treated with steroid injections, liposuction, enucleation, or excision.

Rhabdomyolysis can be life-threatening. Early recognition of the syndrome and prompt management of complications are crucial to a successful outcome.

Serum analyte testing has become an important step in detecting congenital abnormalities. The triple screen, using alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and unconjugated estriol, provides detection of neural tube defects and increases the detection of trisomies…

The holidays are long gone, and you're moving rapidly through the new year, but many of your patients may still remember their New Year's resolutions and be wondering how to get started—and perhaps they need just a little motivation from their family physician. How often have…

AAFP Urges Congress to Reevaluate Medicare Payment Rates | HRSA Names 500th Critical Access Hospital | Survey Shows Improved Health Insurance Coverage for American Children | AAFP Responds to State of the Union, Addresses Key Health Care Issues

“Hiccup…Boo!” A case report published in Southern Medical Journal shows that lidocaine may be effective in treating chronic, intractable hiccups. A 47-year-old man began having painful hiccups several times a minute after undergoing an exploratory laparotomy. After receiving no…

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has updated its recommendations for cholesterol screening and therapeutic strategies based on coronary risk assessment.1 In this issue of American Family Physician, Safeer and Ugalat2 review the changes in the new NCEP Adult…

Organized medicine has proved to be somewhat unprepared for the current intensity of public interest in a domain—end-of-life care—that was once the province of physicians. Physicians have been appropriately criticized for providing expensive, futile care as well as being…

What is the best approach to achieve human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in pregnant women? This is a critical question because one of the great advances in HIV treatment has been the potential for virtual elimination of HIV transmission in perinatally exposed infants…

Misdiagnosis. The very word is an anathema to physicians. It connotes error, failure, and, perhaps, a threat. There is little comfort in the knowledge that all physicians make mistakes. When we make an incorrect diagnosis, it can haunt us—even when no harm befalls the patient…

What are the effects of oral drug treatments for low back pain? What are the effects of local injections for low back pain? What are the effects of nondrug treatments for low back pain?

A statement intended to update the list of agents transferred into breast milk and describe possible effects on the infant or lactation, if any are known, is now available from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

CDC Fluoride Guidelines to Prevent Tooth Decay | Scientific Exhibit Deadlines for AAFP Assembly | 2001 Cancer Progress Report | Call for Papers of Family Practice Research Presentations | First Biologic Treatment for Sepsis | New Antiretroviral for HIV Infection | Initiatives…

Hereditary hemochromatosis is a health problem that is passed from parents to children. It is inherited by passing on the HFE gene. The HFE gene makes your body store too much iron. The extra iron builds up in your body. This is called “iron overload.” Iron overload can damage…

Preparatory grief is the type of grief that people who are dying go through. They feel this grief as they go through the physical and emotional changes that are part of the dying process.

Lipomas are benign, slow-growing tumors that come from fat cells. They are not cancer. They are usually round, moveable, flattened lumps under the skin. They feel soft and doughy or rubbery. Lipomas usually grow in the neck, shoulders, back, or arms. They can occur at any age…

A triple screen is a blood test that measures three things called alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin and unconjugated estriol. The results of the blood test can help your doctor see if your baby may be at higher risk for certain birth defects.

The article “Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine for Young Children” (May 15, 2001, page 1991) contained two errors. On page 1992, the last two sentences of the left-hand column should read as follows: “Rates of invasive pneumococcal disease among blacks are about twofold to…