Browse Internal Medicine Articles by Topic

Clinical Briefs

In this section: treating depression; the subdural risk of antithrombotics; and the health consequences of a poor diet.

Ocrelizumab Injection (Ocrevus)

Ocrelizumab is indicated for the treatment of patients suffering from relapsing multiple sclerosis or primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

A New Risk Score for Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation

A new, simpler score for stroke risk prediction in atrial fibrillation patients uses biomarkers to supplant many clinical variables and outperforms the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score in two large cohorts.

Treating Erectile Dysfunction After Myocardial Infarction May Be Safe

In a Swedish nationwide cohort study of men < 80 years of age hospitalized for myocardial infarction, treatment for erectile dysfunction with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors resulted in lower mortality and heart failure hospitalization.

Considering More Intensive Blood Pressure Control in the Elderly

In elderly, hypertensive patients, intensive blood pressure (BP) control (systolic BP < 140 mmHg) decreased major adverse cardiovascular events, including cardiovascular mortality and heart failure.

Diabetes Microvascular Complications

Diabetes mellitus is expensive, but most of the costs are attributed to complications and hospital care.This article will review the recommendations from the ADA 2017 Standards of Care for microvascular complications and relevant position statements, and will highlight preventive screening and clinical pearls for the primary care physician treating patients with diabetes.

A Novel Target for Migraine Prevention Through Modulation of Stress Receptors

Kappa opioid receptors (KORs) modulate response to stress, a common migraine trigger, so KOR blockade may be a novel preventive treatment for migraine as well as other stress-related diseases.

Outcomes After Surgical Treatment of Nonlesional Neocortical Epilepsy

In this study of 109 consecutive patients with medically refractory neocortical epilepsy without MRI-identifiable lesions who underwent focal resection at a single hospital from 1995 to 2005, almost 60% of patients achieved long-term seizure freedom, with anti-epileptic drugs being withdrawn successfully in about a third of these patients.

Bright-light Therapy for Daytime Sleepiness in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Light therapy has been shown to be beneficial in treating excessive daytime sleepiness in Parkinson’s disease patients and also may improve sleep quality.

Fludrocortisone for Orthostatic Hypotension Associated With Parkinson’s Disease

This double-center, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial compared the efficacy of pyridostigmine bromide vs. fludrocortisone and demonstrated that pyridostigmine bromide was not as effective as fludrocortisone. The authors also provided evidence for the efficacy of fludrocortisone in treating neurogenic orthostatic hypotension.