Browse Internal Medicine Articles by Topic

Party Affiliation and Social Distancing

Disparate public health messaging from political officials, news media, and online outlets has occurred throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Some have wanted to ascribe lower rates of compliance with public health guidance to political affiliation.

Extensive Loss of Health at Six Months in Survivors of COVID-19

Researchers found many survivors of COVID-19 exhibited significant loss of health six months after their acute illness, with greater risk associated with severity of the acute infection.

Is a History of Palpitations Useful for Detecting Atrial Fibrillation?

An analysis of the utility of implanted loop recorders to detect subclinical atrial fibrillation in high-risk individuals showed that among common arrhythmia-compatible symptoms, only palpitation was predictive of discovering episodes of atrial fibrillation.

Vaccines Are Available, but the Search for COVID-19 Therapeutics Continues

Right after the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for one drug, feds pressed pause on distributing another.

Researchers Observe No Connections Between Statin Therapy, Cognitive Decline

But randomized trials are needed to better detail long-term risk-benefit ratio.

Dietary Modifications with Linoleic Acid Can Have an Effect on Gut and Brain Inflammation

This study evaluated the use of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) supplementation to modulate the disease outcome in a spontaneous mouse model of central nervous system autoimmunity and also studied patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis receiving CLA supplementation. CLA may act as a modulator of the gut-brain axis by targeting immune cells in the gut, with a subsequent effect in the brain.

Neuromuscular Complications of Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Graft-versus-host disease is common in allogeneic bone marrow recipients, but neuromuscular complications are unusual (8%). The most common neuromuscular complication is an immune-mediated myositis that responds to treatment with immunosuppressive therapies.

CSF Biomarkers May Distinguish MSA from Lewy-Body Alpha-Synucleinopathies Before the Onset of Debilitating Symptoms

In patients with autonomic failure, the combination of elevated neurofilament light and alpha-synuclein oligomers in the cerebrospinal fluid can distinguish between multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease/dementia with Lewy bodies. Early diagnosis is critical for the development of treatment trials.

Recovery of Consciousness After TBI: Who Recovers and When?

The majority of patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury who survive and are treated in acute rehabilitation centers will recover consciousness.

Back Pain-Related Disability and Lumbar Spine Imaging Changes

A population-based, prospective cohort study of women in the United Kingdom found no association between the number of lumbar segments with radiographic pathology and severity of back pain-related disability.