For those of you who haven’t had the chance to regularly read the latest primary care news on Internal Medicine News Digital Network, we have you covered. As we start 2012, here’s a rundown of last year’s most-viewed stories:
10. Patients Substitute Marijuana for Prescription Drugs, by M. Alexander Otto, reports on how People who qualify for medical marijuana prescriptions frequently report substituting the substance for their other prescription medications.
9. Making a Diagnosis of Celiac Disease Can Be Tricky, by Laird Harrison, shares the expert advice of Dr. Ivor D. Hill, of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C., who says: “Confirm before you treat.” New testing protocols are helping clinicians decide who really needs to go on a gluten-free diet.
Courtesy flickr user woodleywonderworks (Creative Commons)
8. FDA Approves Shingles Vaccine for Ages 50-59, by Alica Ault, reports on the March decision by the agency to expand the use of the live, attenuated virus vaccine to the younger age group.
7. Environment May Top Heredity in Autism, by Mary Ann Moon, reports the findings of a large twin study suggesting that environmental factors account for as much as 55% of susceptibility to autism.
6. Symptom Improvement Observed After Venoplasty in MS Patients, by Kerri Wachter, reports the preliminary results from 125 multiple sclerosis patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal venoplasty to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. The early results suggest that the treatment is safe and offers significant disease-specific and quality of life improvements.
5. House OKs 2-Year Physician Fee Fix, by Mary Ellen Schneider, tracked legislative efforts to avert the scheduled 27% cut to Medicare physician fees.
4. Healthy People Don’t Need Vitamin D Screen, Guidelines Say, by Kerri Wachter, reports on the latest recommendations from the Endocrine Society regarding controversial issue of screening patients for vitamin D deficiency.
3. Medicare Will Pay Bonuses for Intensive Primary Care, by Alicia Ault, reports on plans for Medicare to begin rewarding primary care physicians for spending more time with patients and offering services such as late hours and intensive care management beginning this summer.
2. Skin Biopsy Doesn’t Aid Diagnosis of Delusional Infestation, by Mary Ann Moon, reports the findings of a Mayo Clinic study showing that in patients thought to have delusional infestation, neither skin biopsy nor microscopic examination of patient-provided “specimens” is likely to change the clinical diagnosis.
1. IDSA Targets MRSA With New Guidelines, by Elizabeth Mechcatie, reports on the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s first-ever rollout of guidelines for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – including recommendations to battle the growing threat posed by MRSA-related skin and soft-tissue infections.