January 1, 2021

Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening conditions characterized by disordered eating and weight-control behaviors that impair physical health and psychosocial functioning. Up to 8% of females and 2% of males are affected during their lifetimes. At least one-third of…

Use of a validated risk assessment tool can help guide breast cancer screening decisions. Screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality; however, false-positives are common. Overall, women 50 to 59 years of age have the best balance of risks and benefits from…

With the use of diagnostic radiography doubling over the past two decades, multiple initiatives have sought to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure. Ionizing radiation exposure varies by type of imaging study, and risks are dose-dependent. The risks of imaging must be balanced…

The editors of several North American family medicine publications have come together to address a call to action for family medicine to confront systemic racism and health disparities and share resources on racism across our readerships.

The growing role of women in family medicine is increasingly apparent—more than 50% of U.S. medical students are women,1 and higher shares of women are entering and graduating from family medicine residency programs.2,3 On average, female family physicians work different hours…

Key clinical questions and their evidence-based answers directly from the journal’s content, written by and for family physicians.

In patients with treatment-resistant depression, augmenting therapy with atypical antipsychotics can be effective.

Vitamin K antagonists reduce the recurrence of DVT and VTE (number needed to treat [NNT] = 17; 95% CI, 13 to 48) but not pulmonary embolism (PE) compared with no anticoagulation or placebo.

A patient presented with a nonhealing wound on the jaw.

e-Cigarettes with nicotine can be used to encourage smoking cessation, but continued use after cessation may be a risk factor for relapse.

Computed tomography colonography performs well for colorectal cancer screening. Long-term studies are needed to demonstrate its impact on patient morbidity and mortality, as well as to determine the risks, benefits, and costs.

A 23-year-old patient, M.P., presents to your office with upper respiratory symptoms. When you enter the room, M.P. is using earbuds to listen to music on a personal listening device. The volume is loud enough for you to hear the music but not distinguish details. After…

The American College of Physicians published guidelines for testosterone therapy in cis gender men with age-related low testosterone based on a systematic review.

This review concluded that alarm therapy appears to be effective for treating nocturnal enuresis in children, but it is uncertain if it is more effective than other interventions.

Reply: Mark H. Ebell, Henry C. Barry

Letter

A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. It is the most common screening test for breast cancer. When you get a mammogram, you stand or sit at an x-ray machine. The machine pushes on your breast and takes a picture of the inside of your breast (see photo). Your doctor can look at…

Incorrect listing of a state. In the Editorial “Closing Primary and Prenatal Care Gaps to Prevent Congenital Syphilis,” (July 15, 2020, p. 78), the sixth sentence of the first paragraph (page 78) incorrectly listed Minnesota as a state that does not require screening for…

Inaccurate statistic. In the Lown Right Care “Appropriate Use of Opioids for Chronic Pain,” (September 15, 2020, p. 335), the second sentence of the Clinical Commentary section (page 335) incorrectly listed the number of people who died from opioid overdoses in 2017. The…