Articles related to Family Medicine/General Practice

Reports on the Vaccine Safety Datalink flagged the need to investigate a potential increased risk those 65 years of age and older, for ischemic stroke in the first 21 days after receiving the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech booster. FDA has parallel monitoring systems to confirm or fail to validate a safety signal. In this case, those other systems did not confirm the Vaccine Safety Datalink flag.

Among more than 3,000 patients taking hydroxychloroquine, overall cumulative incidence for developing retinopathy were 2.5% and 8.6% at 10 and 15 years respectively. Incidence was strongly dose-related and most cases were mild.

This review summarizes current understanding of and approaches to autism spectrum disorder and emphasizes that first-line therapy focuses on behavioral interventions.

According to a University of Washington research, only 40% of rural counties nationally had at least one licensed physician who could prescribe buprenorphine in 2016. The analysis discovered that by 2020, that number had increased to 63%. The increase was attributed by the study to modifications in federal regulations that permit NPs, PAs, and other healthcare professionals to prescribe buprenorphine. Only doctors could perform this in the past, and many remote counties lacked any. In 2002, Suboxone received approval from federal regulators, providing a new option for addiction treatment in communities without methadone facilities. Marshalltown, a town of 27,000 people encircled by rural areas, offers a feasible alternative, according to Andrea Storjohann, NP.

The American Journal of Gastroenterology published the ACG clinical guideline on the management of IBS in January 2021. Lead author gastroenterologist Brian E. Lacy, MD, PhD, says that to diagnose IBS, clinicians should take a careful history, perform a careful physical exam, use Rome IV criteria, and perform limited diagnostic testing (complete blood count, C-reactive protein, and possibly celiac serologies and fecal calprotectin, depending on symptoms). Regardless of whether a patient has constipation-predominant symptoms, diarrhea-predominant symptoms, or a combination of constipation and diarrhea, the first step is to classify the patient into a mild, moderate, or severe IBS category.

One of the main explanations for an improvement in the financial standing of medical practices is the expansion of supplementary services. Ancillary services give doctors alternatives to increase revenues and create more money. However, they also help patients by making life more convenient, saving time, and enhancing treatment and results. Here is a list of the extra services offered by internal medicine and family medicine clinics in the previous calendar year.