The National Cancer Institute Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) Trial has just concluded. It was one of the largest breast cancer prevention studies ever. It found that raloxifene, which is usually used for osteoporosis, is as effective as tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer in post-menopausal women who are at high risk of breast cancer. Raloxifene also had fewer side effects. This study...

Yesterday's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine published the final study of the Women Health Initiative (WHI), the largest trial examining the benefits and risks of estrogen replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. The news is not good. The results of the study are revi...

Last week's Chicago Tribune featured an important article about transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), commonly known as mini-strokes. TIAs, just like strokes, occur when a part of the brain is cut off from its blood supply, causing th...

The March 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine has a pair of excellent articles that highlight the unresolved questions in routinely testing men for prostate cancer: Viewpoint: Limiting Prostate Cancer Screening and Vie...

SureScripts is a company that allows physicians' offices to send prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. It works with most electronic medical records (EMR) systems, including the EMR our office uses. A recent article on eWeek.com reviewed SureScrips' efforts to increase the number of physicians that are sending...

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a very common condition in which the heart becomes increasingly ineffective at pumping blood and fluid backs up and leaks into the lungs and other tissues. It is a very frequent cause of hospitalization. Diuretics (medications that remove fluid from the body by increasing the volume of urine produced) have been the mainstay of acute treatment, and in the last few ...

The recent clinical studies about dietary supplements have been largely negative, important reminders that most supplements can't deliver on the expectations that patients have for them. Given this bleak background, I wanted to share with you some good news about Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). The Medical Letter, one of the best unbiased sources o...

Most of the posts on this page will relate to things you can do or things you should know to improve your health. This post is an exception. It's about what you can do to help other people's health. It's a reminder to give blood. I'll be donating this Sunday at a blood drive for the Red Cross. You may not know that every unit donated is separated into three products -- red blood cells, platelets...

Last week's New England Journal of Medicine article publishing the results of a large National Institutes of Health (NIH) study on the effects of calcium and vitamin D supplements on risk of bone fracture and the risk of colon cancer has generated much media attention. The results were disappointing to some, but I believe that they help make our expectations of calcium and vitamin D more ...

This article published yesterday in the Los Angeles Times features a great summary of the current scientific evidence about preventive care. (Registration is required by the Times to read the article, but is free.) Some of what is known may surprise yo...