A Study of Cultural Complications in the Management of Diabetes

April 18, 2012
A Study of Cultural Complications in the Management of Diabetes

By Kimberly Jean Atiyeh

Faculty Peer Reviewed

Ms. KS is a 49- year-old Bangladeshi woman with a history of diabetes mellitus and non-adherence to medical treatment or follow up, who was reluctantly brought to the Bellevue ER by her family for nausea, vomiting, and fevers for one day. Her most recent hospitalization was 9 months prior for epigastric discomfort in the setting of uncontrolled diabetes with a hemoglobin A1C of 12.4%. On arrival, her physical exam was significant for tachypnea, tachycardia, and dry mucus membranes.…

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Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

April 16, 2012
Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

By Becky Naoulou, MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

This week in Primecuts, we will get down to the “heart” of business and discuss several recent publications in cardiovascular research. St. Jude, one of the country’s biggest medical device producers has been in the news recently . A report was recently published in the medical journal HeartRhythm that linked 20 deaths to the failures of a component of a St. Jude implanted heart device. The problem involves a particular model, called the Riata, of a lead that…

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RTS,S/AS01: Is This The Beginning Of The End Of Malaria?

April 12, 2012
RTS,S/AS01: Is This The Beginning Of The End Of Malaria?

By Nicole Sunseri

Faculty Peer Reviewed

In Africa, there lurks a stealthy and powerful beast. Is it a lion, a black mamba, or a crocodile? No, it is the Anopheles mosquito. Although less than the size of a paperclip, these insects inflict an incapacitating blow, inoculating their larger human prey with Plasmodium spp., the parasites responsible for malaria. According to the World Health Organization, the worldwide incidence of malaria infection in 2009 was 225 million cases with a death toll of 781,000 Most of these…

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Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

April 10, 2012
Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

By Robert J Gianotti, MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

Spring has arrived. Here in the Northeast we have been showered with continual sunshine and our flowering trees are approaching full bloom. Whether enjoying matzah or marshmallow peeps we were all blessed with an action packed weekend on the sports front. Opening weekend in baseball came and went with some great wins, some impressive long balls, and one record breaking 16 inning game. The spring tradition continued with the first major tournament in professional golf, The Masters.…

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Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

April 2, 2012
Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

By Devyani Kothari, MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

In news this week, Obama’s healthcare reform is under scrutiny by the Supreme Court, the NCAA’s March Madness comes to a close with the championship game tonight, and Mitt Romey and Rick Santorum are still battling it out in the GOP primaries.

In Primecuts this week, I will present new research on two prevalent and chronic health conditions: type II diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia.

In the first paper, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, entitled “Bariatric…

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Use it or Lose it- Do cognitive leisure activities protect against the development of Alzheimer’s?

March 30, 2012
Use it or Lose it- Do cognitive leisure activities protect against the development of Alzheimer’s?

By Courtney Cunningham, MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

As the world population ages, enormous resources will be required to adequately care for persons suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The disease is the fifth leading cause of death for adults aged 65 years and older, and is estimated to affect 1 in 8 persons in this age group. Despite recent advances, the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is not well understood. The FDA-approved medications in common use—donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne), rivastigmine (Exelon), and memantine (Namenda)–help to manage symptoms; however…

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Medical Etymology: The Origins of Our Language

March 28, 2012
Medical Etymology: The Origins of Our Language

By Robert Gianotti , MD, Todd Cutler, MD and Patrick Cocks, MD

Welcome. We are proud to present the first installment of a new section dedicated to exploring the roots of common medical terminology. We hope this will give you a chance to incorporate a historical perspective into your daily practice and to reflect on the rich and often unexpected stories lying at the heart of our profession. This is our ode to the days of the giants…..

It was the winter of 1933 and something…

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Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

March 26, 2012
Primecuts – This Week In The Journals

By Vincent M. Santillo, MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

The Wonder Drug that Works Wonders!

On March 21st, readers of the New York Times woke up to the headline “Studies Link Daily Doses of Aspirin to Reduced Risk of Cancer.” The author Roni Rabin stated that daily aspirin “may significantly reduce the risk of many cancers and prevent tumors from spreading.” Exciting news for those looking for some way to avoid a dreaded diagnosis, as well as those with cancer looking to prevent metastasis. The…

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