June 15, 2010

Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of allergic rhinitis should be based on the patient's age and symptom severity. Intranasal corticosteroids are recommended as first-line therapy for mild to moderate disease, with the addition of second-line therapies for more severe…

Family physicians need practical office-based strategies for treating obesity and obesity-related conditions. This article offers suggestions about assisted self-management and popular diets, commercial weight-loss programs, weight-loss medications, bariatric surgery, and…

In children, anemia is usually caused by one of two abnormalities: decreased production of red blood cells or increased turnover of red blood cells. Anemia should not be considered a diagnosis, but a finding that warrants further investigation.

Patients who are obese walk into physician offices every day; according to one study, approximately 33 percent of U.S. adults are obese and 66 percent are overweight.1 Overweight or obesity is their primary medical complaint, or it is present in addition to another health…

The diagnosis of vWD requires two clinical criteria: (1) a personal history, family history, or physical evidence of mucocutaneous bleeding and (2) a qualitative or quantitative decrease in functional activity of von Willebrand factor (vWF).

CDC Updates Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella Vaccination Recommendations | FDA Recommends That Physicians Resume Use of Rotavirus Vaccinations | FDA Investigating McNeil Consumer Healthcare After Product Recalls | Study Shows No Effect on Patient-Physician Communication with…

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of using a whole-body skin examination by a primary care physician or patient skin self-examination for the early detection of…

Case study: S.B., a healthy 47-year-old woman, comes to your office for a routine check-up. S.B. has fair skin and a history of frequent sun exposure and sunburns when she was in college more than 25 years ago. She has no personal or family history of skin cancer.

What are the effects of treatments for minor thermal burns?

Saxagliptin lowers A1C levels to a lesser extent and is much more expensive than first-line therapy with metformin. Its ability to decrease diabetes-related complications, including mortality, is not known. It is a DPP-4 inhibitor that has a more significant drug interaction…

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

In response to new data that may lead to improved patient outcomes, the International Consensus Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Conference Group—a multidisciplinary group of 34 experts from 15 countries—developed international guidelines for managing nonvariceal upper GI…

People become overweight or obese for many reasons. Weight issues can run in families. They can be caused by unhealthy behaviors and a person's environment. Certain health problems and medicines can also lead to unwanted weight gain.