• Articles

    Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

    JOHN NAITOH, REBECCA L. ZEINER, JEAN B. DEKERNION

    Universal prostate cancer screening is a matter of controversy because of the lack of scientific evidence showing that early detection decreases morbidity and mortality. Treatment options include radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy and watchful waiting.

    Calcium Channel Antagonists: Morbidity and Mortality—What's the Evidence?

    ROBERT J. STRAKA, AMY L. SWANSON, DAVID PARRA

    Recent reports of the potentially harmful effects of calcium channel antagonists in hypertensive patients must be critically evaluated to allow clinicians to make sound clinical decisions about the use of these agents in the treatment of hypertension.

    SIDS: Counseling Parents to Reduce the Risk

    JOHN L. CARROLL, ELLEN S. SISKA

    The incidence of sudden infant death syndrome is on the decline, largely as a result of public education campaigns in recent years. Risk-reduction measures that appear to be beneficial are placing healthy infants to sleep in the supine position, avoiding passive smoke...

    Evaluation and Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections in Children

    SYED M. AHMED, STEVEN K. SWEDLUND

    Controversy continues regarding the appropriate management of urinary tract infections in children. Aggressive diagnostic and treatment strategies should be reserved for use in patients who are at higher risk for renal scarring and complications.

    Management of Seizures and Epilepsy

    WILLIAM J. MARKS, JR., PAUL A. GARCIA

    Successful management of patients with seizures includes accurate diagnosis and appropriate use of medications. New medications and surgical treatments may help patients who do not respond to conventional therapy.

    Office Management of Bartholin Gland Cysts and Abscesses

    D. ASHLEY HILL, JORGE J. LENSE

    Bartholin gland cysts and abscesses can often be effectively managed in the office or emergency department. A number of proven treatment options are available.

    Recognition and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

    MARK F. EDDY, GORDON S. WALBROEHL

    Although once considered resistant to treatment, obsessive-compulsive disorder can be effectively managed with behavioral and/or pharmacologic therapy.

    Family Practice International

    Anne D. Walling

    (Great Britain—The Practitioner, December 1997, p. 763.) Modern management of osteoarthritis emphasizes individualized exercise programs, judicious use of medications and, eventually, consideration of surgery. When the knee is affected, taping and injections may relieve...

    Inside AFP

    Practical Therapeutics Series

    JANIS WRIGHT

    The article beginning on page 1623, titled “Recognition and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” launches a series of articles from the Department of Family Medicine at Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio. The guest editors of this “Practical...

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    Newsletter

    Rosemarie Sweeney, Verna L. Rose

    Selected policy and health issues news briefs from AAFP News Now.

    Quantum Sufficit

    Quantum Sufficit

    Monica A. Preboth, Rachel Richards

    Wait—don't toss that umbilical cord just yet! It may still have some life-saving left to do. At Duke University Medical Center, a patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia needed a bone marrow transplant badly, but no match was available. Doctors decided to try placental blood,...

    Editorials

    The Calcium Channel Antagonist Controversy

    IRENE GAVRAS, HARALAMBOS GAVRAS

    After their introduction in the mid-1980s, the calcium channel antagonists became an increasingly popular first choice for the treatment of hypertension. Patients liked them for various reasons: they are effective and easy to take (a once-daily regimen); they do not cause...

    Diary from a Week in Practice

    Diary from a Week in Practice

    In the care of a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy, we usually devote one visit to discussing the labor and delivery orders that will fit best into the patient's desires concerning the upcoming delivery and our concerns for a safe delivery. Today, JRH encountered a...

    Photo Quiz

    Projections on the Glans Penis

    Marc S. Berger, MARC S. BERGER

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

    Tips from Other Journals

    Use of Bupropion as an Aid in Smoking Cessation

    BARBARA APGAR

    Urease Breath Test for Helicobacter pylori Infection

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Falls from Low Heights and Pediatric Cervical Spine Injury

    RICHARD SADOVSKY

    Incidence of Bicycle-Related Injuries in Preschool Children

    RICHARD SADOVSKY

    Diagnostic Proficiency and Use of Cardiac Auscultation

    GRACE BROOKE HUFFMAN

    Low-Dose Steroids and Theophylline in Moderate Asthma

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Implantable Defibrillators for Ventricular Arrhythmias

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Effect of Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Nonsmokers

    ANNE D. WALLING

    Precepting Medical Students: Effect on Patient Satisfaction

    GRACE BROOKE HUFFMAN

    Home-Based Therapy After Hip Fracture in the Elderly

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Asthma Education for Inner-City Children

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Drug Treatment Used as a Diagnostic Tool in GERD

    KARL MILLER

    Efficacy of Dong Quai for Symptoms of Menopause

    KARL E. MILLER

    Fluoxetine for Depression in Children and Adolescents

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Prophylaxis Following Occupational Exposure to HIV

    JEFFREY T. KIRCHNER

    Cancer Screening in Women with Physical Disabilities

    KARL E. MILLER

    Evaluation of Patients Who Resume Driving After a Stroke

    KARL E. MILLER

    Histologic Examination of Seborrheic Keratotic Lesions

    BARBARA APGAR

    Special Medical Reports

    American Heart Association Issues Guidelines on Imaging in Transient Ischemic Attacks and Stroke

    SHARON SCOTT MOREY

    The American Heart Association (AHA) has released practice guidelines on the use of diagnostic imaging in patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and acute stroke. The guidelines, published in the July 1997 issue of Stroke, were developed by the Stroke Council of the AHA.

    ACOG Issues Report on the Management of Post-term Pregnancy

    VERNA L. ROSE

    The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued a report (Practice Pattern No. 6, 1997) on the management of women with post-term pregnancy. The report includes discussions on the etiologic factors, assessment of gestational age, antenatal monitoring...

    Clinical Briefs

    Clinical Briefs

    Verna L. Rose

    The overall rate of cesarean delivery is generally thought to be too high. Because breech presentations are associated with cesarean delivery, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has evaluated results of studies on external cephalic version and made...

    Resident and Student Voice

    The Patient/Medical Student Relationship

    ANGELO VOLANDES

    Visiting the doctor can provoke anxiety. No one likes waiting in that sterile, rubbing-alcohol–scented room for the doctor to magically appear. But for a few, the experience is made atypical. To these patients, the doctor announces, “I have a medical student here today and I...

    Physician's Bookshelf

    Book Reviews

    KIM BULLOCK, LINDA FORD

    Also Received

    Letters to the Editor

    Cookouts and the Seasonal Peak of Escherichia coli Infection

    Comparing Family Physicians: Canada and the United States

    GEORGE D. STRELIOFF

    Preventing Falls in the Elderly

    CHARLES E. SMITH

    Down Syndrome and Incidence of Alzheimer's Disease

    DAVID S. SMITH

    Impact of Patient-Directed Pharmaceutical Advertising

    ROBERT S. THOMPSON

    Hepatitis A Vaccination

    THELMA KING THIEL

    Correction

    Information from Your Family Doctor

    Screening for Prostate Cancer

    The prostate gland is like a doughnut under your bladder. The urethra (the tube that carries urine out of your body) goes through the middle of the prostate gland. The prostate is about the size of a walnut (see the picture below). The prostate gland makes a fluid that...

    Treatment Choices for Prostate Cancer

    A physical exam of the rectum (the area where the prostate gland can best be felt) and a test of the level of prostate-specific antigen (also called PSA) in the blood are the usual ways to find prostate cancer. A PSA level higher than 4 ng per mL is considered suspicious. If...

    When Your Child Has a UTI

    A UTI is an infection of the urinary tract. The urinary tract includes the kidneys, the bladder and the urethra. The bladder is a balloon-shaped organ that stores the urine. The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder outside the body. The kidneys are two bean...

    Managing Your Epilepsy

    Epilepsy is a name for a condition that causes brief disturbances in the normal electric function of the brain. These disturbances are called seizures. Another name for epilepsy is “seizure disorder.” In someone who has epilepsy, the normal activity in the brain is...

    What is a Bartholin gland cyst?

    The Bartholin gland is a tiny organ on each of the labia (vaginal lips), near the opening of the vagina. If the vagina were the face of a clock, these glands would be found at about 4 and 8 o'clock. Normally they are invisible. They put out a small amount of fluid to...

    Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: What It Is and How It's Treated

    Obsessive-compulsive disorder is surprisingly common and affects about two or three people out of every 100. It has two main symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are upsetting thoughts, pictures or urges that keep coming into your mind even though you don't want...



    Disclosure

    All editors in a position to control content for this activity, AFP journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.


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