“Love is the bone and sinew of my curse.” —Sylvia Plath Cutting the Cord Here’s the problem: No one grows up wanting to seek the cure for bursitis—or tendonitis or just about any of the other seemingly mundane maladies afflicting our body’s scaffolding. Meniscal tears, fasciitis, tendinopathies—the list is endless. Chances are, your college essay…
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation)—Many of the world’s biggest challenges, such as encouraging people to buy life-saving drugs or unpicking deeply rooted sexism, can be tackled by using subtle psychological cues to change the way people behave, according to experts in London. Behavioral economics, also known as “nudging,” is about making people more likely to make…
(Reuters Health)—Mental health problems, like anxiety and depression, may partly explain why people with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. Researchers linked anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, job stress and low social support to increasing risk of hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, for people with rheumatoid arthritis…
ROME, Italy—Fatigue, a problem experienced frequently by patients with rheumatic diseases, is best thought of as a survival mechanism and as a single phenomenon, not a condition that comes in a variety of forms, an expert said in a session at EULAR 2015, the annual congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). Gene Regulated…
A healthy 30-year-old Indian male was performing his routine workout in the gym when he developed giddiness and transient blackouts. He thought it was due to exercising excessively. Over the next month, he developed a low-grade fever and started feeling lethargic, to the extent that he was unable to exercise or work. He was admitted…
All practices share a basic need for infrastructure and governance, because this has direct implications on success. Regardless of the type of practice or location, there should be processes in place to monitor the execution of the entire business operation. Although not everyone in the practice will need to be proficient in this area, it’s…
Follow-up Visit with Time A 62-year-old male patient returns to the office for a follow-up visit for chronic idiopathic gout without tophi. The patient’s present uric acid level is 4.0, and he is now taking allopurinol 450 mg per day. Previously, he was taken off indapamide due to an increase in his uric acid. He…
(Reuters Health)—Knee replacement surgery may significantly ease pain and improve leg function and quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study suggests. While surgery doesn’t restore the same level of comfort and function patients had in their younger years, before they developed arthritis, the authors write in the journal…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Medical practitioners’ performance suffers when they are exposed to rudeness, new findings show. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team members who heard disparaging comments while participating in a simulation exercise had lower diagnostic and procedural performance scores compared to team members who didn’t hear rude comments, Dr. Arieh Riskin, of Bnai-Zion Medical…
(Reuters Health)—Women who have pregnancies less than a year apart may have a greater risk for osteoporosis later in life than those who wait longer between babies, a study suggests. Researchers compared the reproductive histories of 239 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis to 298 similar women without thinning bones. Pregnancies no more than 12 months apart…