In the News

Consider age, sex when determining need for statins, study suggests

Cholesterol treatment recommendations could be improved by using age- and sex-specific thresholds for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, a study found.

Many benign thyroid nodules require little surveillance, study finds

Benign thyroid nodules typically don't grow significantly during follow-up surveillance and very rarely become cancerous, a recent study found.

MKSAP Quiz: maintaining bone health

A 54-year-old woman comes to the office for advice regarding maintaining bone health. She has no history of fracture. The patient recently had a lumpectomy and radiation therapy to treat breast cancer, is currently taking tamoxifen, and will begin taking an aromatase inhibitor in 2 months. She underwent menopause at age 52 years and has persistent hot flushes. Her risk factors for osteoporosis include a slim body habitus and a mother who had a hip fracture at age 67 years. Following a physical exam, lab results and a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan, what pharmacologic agents can be started in this patient?

Appropriate use criteria for diagnostic catheterization may not be reliable for guiding clinical decisions

Criteria developed to validate use of diagnostic cardiac catheterization may not be helpful for guiding clinical practice, a study found.

Continuous PPI use associated with C. difficile recurrences

Recurrences of Clostridium difficile were significantly more common among patients who continuously took proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) than among those who didn't, a recent study found.

Worried about ICD-10? ACP can help

The date for ICD-10 implementation is Oct. 1, and practices should be working now to make sure they are ready for the compliance deadline. To help members with the transition, ACP is offering several resources at discounted rates for ACP members.

Vote for your favorite entry

ACP Internist Weekly's cartoon caption contest continues. Readers can vote for their favorite caption to determine the winner.