November 15, 2018

Braces and splints can immobilize and protect joints, reduce pain, decrease swelling, and facilitate healing of acute injuries. The medial unloading (valgus) knee brace is an option for patients with medial knee osteoarthritis. The patellar stabilizing brace helps maintain…

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world. U.S. inmates are disproportionately young males, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons of low socioeconomic status. Incarcerated persons have high rates of psychiatric conditions, communicable…

Conduct disorder most commonly occurs in childhood and adolescence. It is characterized by repetitive, persistent violations of the rights of others and age-appropriate societal norms. Patients who are male, whose mother smoked during pregnancy, who lived in poverty in…

Research Challenges Perceptions of Burnout | Report: U.S. Obesity Epidemic Continues to Worsen | EveryONE Project Unveils Latest Version of Social Determinants of Health Toolkit | Study: Scribes Help Reduce Physicians' Administrative Burden

AFP launches a new feature as a result of a collaboration with the Lown Institute. This new feature will promote a vision for delivering health care that is true to the evidence, balanced in its approach, and focused on the patient.

This is the first of a new collaboration between AFP and the Lown Institute. This new feature promotes a vision of delivering heath care that is based on the evidence, balanced in its approach, and focused on the patient.

A 57-year-old postmenopausal woman comes to your clinic for a wellness visit. She has no significant medical problems. She broke her left forearm as a child by falling out of a tree but has had no other fractures. She currently smokes one pack of cigarettes per day, rarely…

Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir is an effective treatment for any of six genotypes of HCV infection and has few adverse effects. It can be used to treat more genotypes over a shorter duration (eight weeks for patients without cirrhosis) and is substantially less expensive than other…

A man presented with a painless mass behind his earlobe that had been gradually enlarging for one year.

To improve the quality of care for patients of all ages with dysphonia, the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) updated guidelines to reduce inappropriate variations in care, produce optimal health outcomes, and minimize harm.

Acupuncture, with its meridians, chi, and other concepts that do not seem to line up with anything physiologic, is vexing to most of us who trained in Western medicine. However, this meta-analysis, based on data from almost 21,000 patients, found it to be more effective than no…

As-needed use of budesonide/formoterol is as effective as the daily use of maintenance budesonide plus as-needed terbutaline at preventing severe exacerbations, and results in a much lower cumulative steroid dose.

Screening with MRI is not for everyone. Women who undergo breast cancer screening with MRI are much more likely to be referred for biopsy— that will ultimately be negative—than if they have screening mammography alone.

It is time to rethink the idea that vaginal atrophy caused by diminished estrogen is the cause of vaginal symptoms associated with menopause. Vaginal estradiol is no more effective than a non-prescription vaginal lubricant or placebo lubricant in the treatment of women with…

The USPSTF recommends screening for osteoporosis with bone measurement testing to prevent osteoporotic fractures in women 65 years and older.