April 2023

This article reviews common questions about outpatient asthma treatment and provides evidence-based answers.

This article summarizes the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19, with a particular emphasis on outpatient management. Characteristics of the predominant variants of concern should determine aspects of diagnosis and treatment.

Systemic lupus erythematosus should be considered in patients with symptoms involving multiple organ systems after infectious causes have been ruled out. Management is directed at complete remission or low disease activity, minimizing the use of glucocorticoids, preventing…

This article reviews common presentations of leukemia subtypes, initial diagnostic evaluation, principles of therapy, and long-term sequelae in leukemia survivors.

The annual installment of this series summarizes the top studies of 2022, which were summarized as POEMs (patient-oriented evidence that matters). Topics in this group of studies include preventive health care, behavioral health, asthma, gastroenterology, and diabetes.

Bell palsy is the acute onset of unilateral facial weakness or paralysis. Treatment includes oral corticosteroids with or without oral antivirals. The overall prognosis is good, and most patients recover completely within three weeks.

Asthma treatment recommendations have recently changed. These recommendations and the randomized controlled trials of SMART were heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.

The Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling has created confusion about legal rights to abortion care and legal risks for providing or supporting reproductive health care.

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

Because no data from a long-term safety profile are available, we have assigned a color recommendation of yellow (unclear benefits) to this review, despite the promising certainty of evidence supporting nicotine e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.

In pregnant patients, children, and adults with clinical signs and symptoms of appendicitis, MRI has an overall sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 96%. The posttest probability of having appendicitis after a positive MRI is 90% and 2% after a negative MRI, assuming a median…

SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests have an average sensitivity of 69.3% and specificity of 99.3%. Accuracy depends on the presence or absence of symptoms, time from symptom onset, and test brand.

There are benefits to having a primary care physician or a usual source of care. Yet, the overall percentage of U.S. patients who reported having a usual source of care declined from 84% in 2000 to 74% in 2019, with wide variations across states, patient race, and insurance…

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for hearing loss in older adults.

Metformin is more effective than standard lifestyle changes at preventing progression to type 2 diabetes. However, intensive lifestyle interventions are as effective as metformin. The effects of these interventions are enduring, with a continued benefit of intensive lifestyle…

Patients should consume less red and processed meat. Higher meat consumption increases the risk of breast, colorectal, colon, rectal, and lung cancers.

A patient presented with a sharply-demarcated, firm, erythematous lesion on her right medial thigh that was nonfluctuant and had a punctate central plug.

A patient presented with multiple skin lesions and a painful swollen right ankle.

First-person accounts from the front lines of family medicine.

POEMs

POEMs

POEMs

POEMs

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense (VA/DoD) have published guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain.

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) published new guidelines for the prevention and management of postpartum hemorrhage.

Letter

Letter

Lupus is a disease of the immune system. It can affect many parts of the body. Normally, the immune system makes antibodies to protect the body against infections. In people who have lupus, the immune system becomes overactive and attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake.

Leukemia (loo-KEE-me-uh) is cancer of the blood and bone marrow. People of any age can get it. The cause is often not clear. You may be at higher risk if you were exposed to radiation or certain chemicals and pesticides, or if you have certain genetic disorders. If you have had…

Bell palsy is paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face (see drawing). It usually develops over one to three days, and then slowly improves or completely goes away in one to three months. Most people with Bell palsy recover completely, but some are left with weakness on…