Systems

Continuous Glucose Monitors

December 2, 2009
Continuous Glucose Monitors

Ilena George

Faculty peer reviewed

Are continuous glucose monitors the answer for better glucose control in diabetes?

A poorly controlled type 2 diabetic who is non-compliant with his at-home glucose monitoring comes to Bellevue’s Adult Primary Care Clinic requesting a prescription for a needle-less glucose monitor…

Self-monitoring of glucose levels is a necessary evil of diabetes treatment. As the prospect of numerous needle-sticks each day in perpetuity is daunting to patients, researchers have been developing non- or minimally-invasive methods to measure blood sugar in hopes…

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Breaking News: Begin Cervical Cancer Screening at 21 Says ACOG

November 20, 2009
Breaking News: Begin Cervical Cancer Screening at 21 Says ACOG

Joshua Strauss, MD

In the second decision of its kind and magnitude in a matter of days, a major medical group has again recommended cutting back on cancer screening for women.  On the heels of Monday’s USPSTF release on reducing mammography, newly revised evidence-based guidelines regarding cervical cancer screening were issued today by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and published in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 

The new guidelines, “based on good and…

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What is the Role of Drug Therapy in Treating Obesity?

November 19, 2009
What is the Role of Drug Therapy in Treating Obesity?

Arlene Chung

Faculty Peer Reviewed

Despite the high prevalence of obesity1 and its associated morbidity2 and mortality 3,4, it represents one of the most difficult chronic conditions to treat. Barriers include a metabolically toxic environment, a history of ill-fated weight-loss regimens, and a general view of obesity as primarily a social, not a medical problem. 5 Deep down, the belief that obesity really is the result of gluttony and sloth probably persists. However, as we learn more about the…

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Breaking News: Initiate Mammography Screening at 50, not 40, Says USPSTF.

November 17, 2009
Breaking News: Initiate Mammography Screening at 50, not 40, Says USPSTF.

Aalok Turakhia, MD

As the debate over when to begin screening mammography in women rages on, the United States Prevention Service Task Force (USPSTF) added fuel to the fire by releasing a new recommendation statement in the November 17th issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.  Applying to women aged ≥40 who are not at an increased genetic risk or have had chest irradiation, the USPSTF now recommends biennial screening in women between ages 50-74.  In February 2002, the task force first recommended that annual…

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Therapeutic Hypothermia

November 12, 2009
Therapeutic Hypothermia

Catherine Lucero, MD

Faculty peer reviewed

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the remarkable recovery of a doctor who regained essentially all his mental function just six weeks after suffering a cardiac arrest with a post -resuscitation Glasgow coma score of 4.(1) Although the ambulance had originally rushed the doctor to the nearest hospital in Nassau County, he was quickly transferred to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where the receiving team induced hypothermia for the subsequent 24…

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Breaking News: FDA issues new warning for Exenatide (Byetta®)

November 5, 2009
Breaking News: FDA issues new warning for Exenatide (Byetta®)

Kanika Ballani, Pharm.D.
Diana Hubulasvili, Pharm.D.

 Developed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Exenatide (Byetta®) is an incretin mimetic that is used as an adjunctive therapy with metformin, a sulfonylurea or a thiazolidinedione to improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Mechanistically, Exenatide mimics the actions of endogenous incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), causing an increase in insulin secretion which slows gastric emptying and leads to a decrease in food intake. On November 3rd 2009, the FDA issued a safety warning on Exenatide associating…

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How Does Alcohol Cause Cardiomyopathy?

November 4, 2009
How Does Alcohol Cause Cardiomyopathy?

Charles Levine

Faculty peer reviewed

Excessive consumption of ethanol (EtOH) has many deleterious effects on the human body. The heart is a target of damage from EtOH consumption, as chronic consumption of EtOH leads to decreased cardiac function and structural heart disease, including dilated cardiomyopathy.(1) The exact mechanism by which EtOH exerts its deleterious effects on the heart remains poorly understood and is an area of active research. This report will focus on some of the proposed mechanisms and…

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Tailoring Colon Cancer Screening

October 29, 2009
Tailoring Colon Cancer Screening

Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer Screening and the Recent Evidence Behind Them

 Nazia Hasan, MD MPH

Faculty peer reviewed

For most residents, screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) may seem as established as that for breast and cervical cancer. In reality, the use of CRC screening has only recently approached that of screening for those other malignancies. We have seen recently changes to the CRC screening guidelines last published by The American College of Gastroenterology in 2000.…

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How to interpret troponins in renal disease?

October 21, 2009
How to interpret troponins in renal disease?

Ivan Saraiva MD

Case: A 68-year-old man, with a history of stable angina and end-stage renal disease treated by hemodialysis for the past three years, presents to the hospital with leg swelling and shortness of breath. He also complains of intermittent chest pain unrelated to exertion. Physical exam reveals bilateral pitting lower extremity edema, pulmonary crackles, and an elevated jugular venous pressure. Initial electrocardiogram is notable for some nonspecific repolarization abnormalities. Troponin I levels drawn at 0, 6, and 12 hours…

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It’s Lyme Season: How Should You Manage the Tick-bitten Patient?

October 14, 2009
It’s Lyme Season: How Should You Manage the Tick-bitten Patient?

Joshua Allen-Dicker

Faculty peer reviewed

A healthy 42-year old patient presents to your office after a day of hiking with his family in Upstate New York. This morning in the shower he found a “big black tick” on his right leg. He is currently asymptomatic and wants to know what his risk of Lyme disease is.

For New York City physicians, the end of summer and beginning of fall herald a spike in cases of Lyme Disease.…

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What is Wellens’ Syndrome?

October 7, 2009
What is Wellens’ Syndrome?

Erin Ducharme MD

Faculty peer reviewed

Wellens’ syndrome refers to a pattern of ECG signs occurring during chest-pain free periods in patients with unstable angina, heralding critical, proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) stenosis . The eponym honors Dr. Hein J.J. Wellens who first described this ECG phenomenon in 1982. Wellens and colleagues identified a subgroup of patients with unstable angina who demonstrated a pattern of inverted precordial T-waves which strongly correlated with early large anterior myocardial infarction (MI)…

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When Should You Obtain a Renal Biopsy? Indications, Risks, Follow-up and Value

September 30, 2009
When Should You Obtain a Renal Biopsy? Indications, Risks, Follow-up and Value

Frederick Gandolfo MD

Faculty peer reviewed

At a recent conference on renal transplantation, the importance of early renal biopsy for the diagnosis of acute rejection was emphasized. As busy practitioners of general internal medicine, we rarely have the opportunity to learn the details of a subspecialty procedure such as renal biopsy. However, knowing the details of these procedures is important in providing care for these specific patients. What are the indications, risks, and follow-up care required for the renal…

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