More articles from Medical Grand Rounds
- Radiofrequency ablation of the pulmonary veins: Can it stop atrial fibrillation at its source?
Atrial fibrillation appears to originate in the pulmonary veins; ablation could be a cure.
- Andropause, testosterone therapy, and quality of life in aging men
The common wisdom that men do not undergo menopause is being replaced. Testosterone replacement therapy can help.
- In diabetes, treat hidden heart disease
Both diabetic and prediabetic patients have abnormal vascular reactivity and should be considered to have occult cardiovascular disease.
- Heart failure is a fever: The cytokine connection
The discovery that inflammation contributes to heart failure may lead to new therapies for this disease.
- Osteoporosis: Which current treatments reduce fracture risk?
With effective agents available, physicians should make osteoporosis treatment a priority, especially for patients at high risk.
- Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: How to manage it, how to avoid it
What to do when heparin paradoxically causes the very problem it is given to prevent.
- Palliative medicine: Old dogs and new tricks
Some older drugs can be used for off-label indications, to either substitute for or augment the palliative action of approved drugs.
- Maximizing antihypertensive management in the elderly
A checklist of specific considerations when treating hypertension in the elderly.
- Treatment strategies for hepatitis C: Making the best of limited options
With interferon and ribavirin therapy, 40% of patients with hepatitis C can be cured. Determining the genotype of the virus can help guide therapy.
- Controversies in the diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes
Despite agreement about the dangers of gestational diabetes to mother and child, many practical questions remain about how best to detect and treat it.