• Articles

    Dizziness: Approach to Evaluation and Management

    HERBERT L. MUNCIE, SUSAN M. SIRMANS, ERNEST JAMES

    The differential diagnosis of dizziness is broad, and symptoms are typically vague. Episodic vertigo triggered by head motion may be caused by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Vertigo with unilateral hearing loss suggests Meniere disease. Episodic vertigo not associated...

    Evaluation of Jaundice in Adults

    MATTHEW V. FARGO, SCOTT P. GROGAN, AARON SAGUIL

    Acute jaundice is caused by elevated serum bilirubin levels in the unconjugated or conjugated form. Jaundice often indicates underlying disease, and the history, physical examination, laboratory evaluation, and imaging tests can help determine the diagnosis. Unconjugated...

    Acute Coronary Syndrome: Diagnostic Evaluation

    CRAIG BARSTOW, MATTHEW RICE, JONATHAN D. McDIVITT

    The diagnosis of myocardial infarction, a subset of acute coronary syndrome, may not be possible based on initial presentation alone. Although chest pain is common with myocardial infarction, there are many noncardiac causes of chest pain. The initial assessment includes...

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    AAFP News: AFP Edition

    AAFP Blasts Decision Granting APRNs Full Practice Authority in VA Facilities | National Governors Association Looks to Ease Health Information Interoperability | AAFP to UnitedHealthcare: Coordinate Patient Care with Physicians | CMS to Waive PQRS Penalties Related to ICD-10...

    Editorials

    The Health Hazards of Air Pollution—Implications for Your Patients

    CAROLINE WELLBERY, MONA SARFATY

    Air pollution has many deleterious health effects. Physicians can encourage their patients to recognize the health cobenefits of actions to support the environment.

    Cochrane for Clinicians

    The Effect of Statins on Dementia and Cognitive Decline

    CHRISTOPHER W. BUNT, ANDREW J. HOGAN

    Statins given in later life to patients at risk of vascular disease do not prevent dementia or cognitive decline compared with placebo. Adverse effects are similar between groups.

    Interventions for Preventing Falls Among Older Adults Living in the Community

    DONNA COHEN, ASHLEY MORRISON

    Structured exercise programs and home safety interventions reduce both the rate and the risk of falling among community-dwelling adults 65 years and older, whereas multifactorial assessment and intervention programs reduce the rate of falls but not the risk of falling....

    FPIN's Help Desk Answers

    Peripheral Vascular Disease: Treatment in Older Adults

    COREY A. MAYER, ALEKSANDRA MURAWSKA, JAMIE BISHOP, JOHN WAITS, LACY SMITH

    PVD can be effectively treated with supervised exercise therapy, cilostazol, lipid-lowering therapy, and antiplatelet therapy. All of these treatments increase pain-free walking distance. Antiplatelet therapy also decreases the need for surgical revascularization. The best...

    Photo Quiz

    Progressive Hair Loss

    BROOKE CAUFIELD, JOHN CHIN, CHRIS DAVIS

    A man presents with progressive hair loss. Physical examination reveals no hair anywhere on his body, and his fingernail plates are rough with longitudinal ridging.

    Close-ups

    Physician's Friendship Eases Pain After Pregnancy Loss

    MICAHLYN POWERS

    In rural communities, physicians and their patients are uniquely bonded. These relationships can be a source of encouragement and healing.

    POEMs

    Sertraline Reduces Risk of Depression in Adults After Traumatic Brain Injury

    DAVID SLAWSON

    This study found that sertraline is more effective than placebo (number needed to treat = 6) in preventing the onset of a major depressive disorder in adults following a TBI. This study included patients with mild, moderate, and severe TBI.

    Brief Interventions for Weight Management in Kids Are Not Effective

    ALLEN F. SHAUGHNESSY

    Calculating the BMI of children and adolescents in primary care practices and counseling those who are overweight is ineffective to reduce BMI in children over several years of follow-up.

    Active Surveillance for Localized Prostate Cancer: No Increased Mortality, but Higher Rates of Clinical Progression

    MARK H. EBELL

    This landmark study compared active surveillance with radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy for patients with T1c or T2 prostate cancer. The benefits of active surveillance include avoiding radical therapy in one-half of the patients, with no effect on disease-specific...

    Practice Guidelines

    AAN Updates Guidelines on the Uses of Botulinum Neurotoxin

    JENNIFER WILKES

    In 2008, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) published guidelines on the use of botulinum neurotoxin. This summary highlights updates on four indications: blepharospasm, cervical dystonia, spasticity in adults, and headache.

    Medicine by the Numbers

    Antiepileptic Drugs After First Unprovoked Seizure

    MARIBETH PORTER, LISA CHACKO

    The decision to start an antiepileptic drug after a first unprovoked seizure has long been a clinically challenging one.

    Letters to the Editor

    Temporomandibular Disorder: An Underdiagnosed Cause of Headache, Sinus Pain, and Ear Pain

    P. HUNTER SPOTTS

    Information from Your Family Doctor

    What's Making Me Dizzy?

    Dizziness is one of the most common reasons people visit their doctors. It may make you feel off-balance, wobbly, lightheaded, or like you might faint. Vertigo is a type of dizziness that makes you feel like things are moving or spinning around you when you are not moving....

    Jaundice in Adults

    Jaundice (JAWN-dis) is when the skin turns yellow. It is caused by having too much of a chemical called bilirubin (bil-ih-RU-bin) in the body. Bilirubin comes from the normal breakdown of red blood cells. It is changed in the liver to a form that can leave the body in your...

    Corrections

    Corrections

    Incorrect wording. The Medicine by the Numbers “Controlled Cord Traction During the Third Stage of Labor” (March 1, 2016, [online only]) incorrectly stated that the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) program did not support the use of controlled cord traction in the...

    Corrections

    Misspelled author name. The STEPS department “Vilazodone (Viibryd) for the Treatment of Depression” (August 15, 2013, p. 263) misspelled the first name of the third author. Her name should have been listed as Katharine DeGeorge rather than Katherine DeGeorge. The online...



    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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