November 1, 2003

The path is unclear for the family physician trying to provide evidence-based care to women with gestational diabetes. This article uses objective data to help guide clinical decision-making, acknowledging when recommendations are based on expert opinion.

Although adverse drug reactions are common, identifying a true drug hypersensitivity or drug allergy can be challenging.

Although the combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and an angiotensin-receptor blocker theoretically may benefit patients with heart failure, most patients who take combination therapy will not experience marked improvement in symptoms or quality of life.

Dyspnea is a common problem in the outpatient primary care setting. Establishing a diagnosis can be challenging because dyspnea is a presenting symptom of many diagnostic entities.

This article reviews risk factors, assessment strategies, and risk-appropriate interventions that may help family physicians prevent suicide.

Our recent travels to the 2003 AAFP Annual Scientific Assembly in New Orleans gave us an opportunity to talk to many of our readers. As I mentioned in a previous column, we spent some time talking to readers at the publications division booth on the exhibit hall floor and…

AAFP Selects New Officers and Board Members for Upcoming Year | AAFP Establishes Center for Health Information Technology | HHS Creates Six National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health | Arizona Physician Chosen AAFP Family Physician of the Year

When riding in cars, children older than four years are safer in belt-positioning booster seats. In a cross-sectional study published in JAMA, researchers collected data on injuries to children four to seven years of age from insurance claims records and telephone surveys in 15…

In June of 2002, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a consensus development conference on the management of hepatitis C.1 This conference differed from a previous conference2 on management of hepatitis C by including presentations from a detailed systematic review…

As a group, antidepressants are an effective short-term treatment for GAD. Compared with placebo, about five to six patients must be treated to get one additional patient who responds to therapy. Side effects occur more frequently with antidepressants than with placebo, but…

For the past several years, Mr. and Mrs. Benedict have spent the winter months vacationing in the southwestern United States. This year, the 80-year-old couple was driving their pick-up truck back to Illinois when they encountered some ferocious weather in New Mexico. Wind…

What are the effects of treatments?

Atomoxetine is more effective than placebo for treating symptoms of ADHD in children and adults, based on short-term studies. Given safety concerns (growth retardation, potential adverse effects in slow metabolizers) and its high cost, atomoxetine should be considered only as…

Hepatitis C is a growing health concern. An estimated 3.9 million persons in the United States are infected with hepatitis C virus; 2.7 million of these persons have chronic infection. Cirrhosis develops in approximately 7 percent of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus…

Photo Quiz presents readers with a clinical challenge based on a photograph or other image.

Recommendations for the treatment of tuberculosis in settings where mycobacterial cultures, radiographic facilities, and drug susceptibility testing are available have been published by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC…

AHRQ Report on Treatment of Parkinson's Disease | CDC Information on Moonflower Intoxication | Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers | FDA Advisory

These questions often arise but without any obvious answer because the practice of medicine is an art as well as a science. The history of the annual physical examination for healthy women illuminates the “science” of medicine.

Gestational diabetes is a kind of diabetes some women get during pregnancy. (Say: jess-tay-shun-al die-ah-bee-tees) If you have gestational diabetes, your body cannot use glucose (blood sugar) the way it should. Too much sugar stays in your blood.