Many patients have been told to take antibiotics before dental procedures. This recommendation was made to prevent an infection of the lining or valves of the heart called infective endocarditis (IE). Patients who had leaky heart valves or other heart conditions that were thought to increase the risk of IE were told to take antibiotics before seeing the dentist.
Last week the American Heart Association p...
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Chondrointin Doesn’t Help Arthritis Pain
I have many patients who swear by alternative therapies that are unproven or, worse, proven not to work. How should I counsel them? On the one hand, each individual is unique and it's possible that what applies to thousands of patients in a study shouldn't be generalized to the specific patient sitting in my office right now. On the other hand, we all (I included) have a staggering capacity for self-delusion, and it's possible that my patient is just engaging in wishful thinking because he si...
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New Hope in Type 1 Diabetes
This week's Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that may be a turning point in treatment of type 1 diabetes. The study received much media coverage, including this LA Times article.
Type 1 diabetes is a very different disease than the muc...
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Computer Aided Mammography Interpretation Not Ready for Prime Time
Most of my patients know that I'm a big fan of technology. From electronic medical records to viewing diagnostic images over the web, I love finding tools that help me take better care of patients. A study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine is an important cautionary tale that reminds us that new technologies should always be tested rigorously.
The study examined the use of a technology ca...
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