Internal Medicine Alert – May 15, 2013
May 15, 2013
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New Meaning for the Term ‘Hacking’
This meta-analysis did not convincingly demonstrate a positive effect of gastric acid-suppressing treatment in patients with chronic cough. -
Is Chelation Therapy Finally Here to Stay?
Use of an intravenous chelation regimen with disodium EDTA, compared with placebo, modestly reduced the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in stable patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI). These results do not support the routine use of chelation therapy for treatment of patients who have had a prior MI. -
Fecal Transplants Promising for Clostridium difficile
The distress felt by patients with recurring bouts of Clostridium difficile diarrhea is so acute that they welcome the opportunity to accept anothers feces to bring them back to baseline. There have been more than 30 publications on the topic since it was first introduced in 1958,1 most of them in the last 10 years. -
Pharmacology Update: Doxylamine Succinate and Pyridoxine HCl Delayed-Release Tablets (Diclegis®)
The FDA has approved a fixed combination of doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine for the treatment of nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy. This is a reintroduction of a product widely used between 1956 and 1983. -
Clinical Briefs By Louis Kuritzky, MD
Risks and Benefits of an Extended 10-year Tamoxifen Regimen for Breast Cancer; Is There More Pro than Con in Probiotics in Critically Ill Adults?; The ASH Position Paper on Orthostatic Hypotension -
ECG Review: WCT in a Renal Patient
The ECG shown above was obtained from an acutely ill but alert and hemodynamically stable patient. How certain are you that the rhythm is ventricular tachycardia (VT)? Might there be another explanation if the patient in question was a young adult with renal disease and diabetes? -
Pharmacology Watch: New Study on Chelation Therapy Proves Controversial
Chelation therapy for cardiovascular disease; statins and kidney injuries; chlorthalidone for hypertension; and FDA actions.