March 15, 2003

Armed with clinical experience and a few surgical tools and medicines, family physicians can treat most cases of molluscum contagiosum and warts.

Physician advice about physical activity is beneficial but may be overlooked. Physician guidance on exercise is particularly timely, given the epidemic of obesity in the United States.

Joint injection should be considered only after other interventions such as nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, physical therapy, and rest have been tried. Indications and techniques for joint injection are discussed.

Saw palmetto is an herbal product that has proved effective in the treatment of symptoms related to benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is better tolerated, less expensive, and as effective as finasteride.

Tubal sterilization is the most commonly used contraceptive among women in the United States. Physicians should ensure that women understand the permanence of the procedure, the possibility of future regret, and the possible complications.

Cover photographs provided by Utah Valley Family Practice Residency Program, a division of Intermountain Health Care.

In two U.S. studies about medical errors in 2000 and 2001, family physicians offered their ideas on how to prevent, avoid, or remedy the five most often reported medical errors. Almost all reports (94 percent) included at least one idea on how to overcome the reported error…

AHRQ Launches New Web-Based Quality Measures Resource | CDC Report Shows Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Stroke Mortality | FDA Initiative to Improve Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Practices | HHS to Improve Quality of Care by Providing Home Health Quality Information

Here is some calming news. Researchers have found a way to simulate the brain's “all-clear” signal that turns off fear, shows a study published in Nature. Rats that had been conditioned to freeze with fear when a tone was followed by an electric shock no longer froze when the…

In this issue of American Family Physician, we are pleased to introduce an ongoing feature called POEMs, a series that may already be familiar to many of our readers. The acronym POEMs, which stands for Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters, refers to summaries of valid…

It is a daily and unfortunate scene in the family physician's office: a succession of patients for whom the best prescription is a lifestyle modification. One such modification could be an increase in physical activity. The preventive health benefits of regular physical…

Lately, I'm fielding questions about the smallpox vaccine. Misinformation abounds. Some believe that they retain immunity to smallpox no matter how long it has been since they were originally vaccinated. Others fear that the rate of serious adverse reactions from the vaccine is…

This statement summarizes the current U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for the chemoprevention of breast cancer and the supporting scientific evidence. Explanations of the current ratings and of the strength of overall evidence are given in Tables 1…

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a statement clarifying issues of diagnosis and treatment of head lice and making recommendations for dealing with it in the school setting.

Guidelines for primary care physicians on the pharmacologic management of acute migraine attacks and the prevention of migraines are available from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP…

Guidelines on Allergen Immunotherapy | AHRQ Report on Hospital Care of Women | ACOG Guidelines on Perinatal Care | Update on West Nile Virus Activity | AHRQ Releases New Clinical Preventive Services Guidebook | CDC Guidelines on Testing for Anti-HCV | FDA Approvals | CDC…

Hypertension Should Be Confirmed Before Treatment

Early Diagnosis and Treatment Vital in Cases of Foot Fractures

Importance of Colorectal Cancer Screening

Possible Side Effects Should Be Discussed with Patients

Update on Prescribing Information for Pantoprazole

Identifying and Diagnosing the Adult Neck Mass

Warts are hard bumps on your skin. They can be as small as a pinhead or as large as a penny. You may have just one wart or many. Warts can develop anywhere on your skin, but they usually appear on the hands or feet.

Most people are not active enough. Without enough exercise, we can become tired and unfit. This leaves us feeling unhealthy and less happy. Consider these points:

Tubal sterilization is a type of surgery that helps keep you from getting pregnant. It closes off your fallopian tubes (where your eggs can be fertilized by sperm). When the tubes are closed, sperm can't reach the egg, so you can't get pregnant.

The exercises described below (see Pictures 1 through 4) are to help you strengthen the muscles in your shoulder (especially the rotator cuff muscles). These exercises should not cause you pain. If the exercise hurts, stop exercising. Start again using a lighter weight.

A common cause of shoulder pain is soreness of the tendon in the rotator cuff. The tendon is a cord that attaches a muscle to another body part. The rotator cuff is the part of the shoulder that helps the arm do a circular motion. Another common cause of shoulder pain is…

If you cannot move your shoulder around like you used to, you might have adhesive capsulitis (say: add-he-sive cap-sool-eye-tis). When it hurts to move your shoulder or you do not have as much movement in your shoulder as before, your shoulder may be “frozen.” Because of this…