August 15, 2004

Allergen immunotherapy (also called allergy vaccine therapy) involves the administration of gradually increasing quantities of specific allergens to patients with IgE-mediated conditions until a dose is reached that is effective in reducing disease severity from natural…

Women can use emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy after known or suspected failure of birth control or after unprotected intercourse. Many patients do not ask for emergency contraception because they do not know of its availability. Emergency contraception has been an…

Because advance directives are not yet the norm, end-of-life decisions for patients without medical decision-making capacity are made regularly within discussions between the patient's physician and family. Communication and decision making in these situations require a complex…

Infantile colic can be distressing to parents whose infant is inconsolable during crying episodes. Colic is often defined by the 'rule of three': crying for more than three hours per day, for more than three days per week, and for longer than three weeks in an infant who is…

This week members of the professional editing staff of AFP have been meeting with the incoming editorial fellow, Kenny Lin, M.D. Dr. Lin has joined us for a few days of orientation before the start of AFP’s annual editorial board meeting, a time when medical editors and…

CMS Issues Notice Warning Physicians to Protect Medicare Provider Identification Numbers from Fraudulent Employees | Veterans Returning from Combat Zones Rely on Family Physicians for Mental Health Screening | AAFP, CDC, and Others Recommend Increasing Number of Doses of…

According to a TIME.com summary of study results from the National Safekids Campaign, only 41 percent of children aged five to 14 years wear helmets when they are on roller skates, bicycles, or scooters, and 35 percent of these children do not wear their helmets correctly…

From a medical perspective, emergency contraception is safe and effective, although not as effective in preventing pregnancy as routinely used contraceptives. Despite its usefulness in the event of contraceptive lapse or failure, emergency contraception continues to provoke…

KS took one look at her patient and burst out laughing. “I can’t believe how different you look with that new hairdo!” she exclaimed. She had glanced at the patient as the nurse brought her into the examination room, but had not recognized her. She did not think much about it…

This statement summarizes the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations on screening for family and intimate partner violence based on the USPSTF’s examination of evidence specific to family and intimate partner violence.

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

A guideline on the management of dyslipidemia, particularly hypercholesterolemia, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus has been published by the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee of the American College of Physicians (ACP).

The Committee on Fetus and Newborn of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a policy statement on the length of hospital stays for healthy term newborns. The hospital stay of the mother-infant dyad should be long enough to allow identification of early problems…

Letter

Allergy shots contain small amounts of the things that you are allergic to. These things are called allergens. The dose of allergen starts very low and is slowly increased over many weeks. The goal is to increase your immunity (resistance) to the allergens, and to reduce your…

Emergency birth control is a method of birth control that you can use to keep from getting pregnant if you have unprotected sex. You can use this method if your regular birth control fails (for example, if you are using a condom and it breaks during sex) or if you have sex…

When a patient can make choices about their health, it is best to get those choices straight from the patient. Many times, a patient cannot make such choices, and the family must decide what to do. Your loved one may have left a clear guide to end-of-life choices, such as a…

Some babies cry for more than three hours a day, for several days a week, and for longer than three weeks. This crying is called colic.