Table of Contents

April 21, 2009; 150 (8)

Articles

  • Differences in Control of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes by Race, Ethnicity, and Education: U.S. Trends From 1999 to 2006 and Effects of Medicare Coverage

    • J. Michael McWilliams,
    • Ellen Meara,
    • Alan M. Zaslavsky,
    • and John Z. Ayanian
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:505-515; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00005

    Improving the quality of care and expanding insurance coverage can reduce differences in outcomes experienced by different sociodemographic groups. McWilliams and colleagues used blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, and total cholesterol measurements obtained from participants in a national survey to measure changes in chronic disease control. Over 8 years, disease control improved but gaps between white and nonwhite patients did not change. The gaps narrowed after age 65 years, when universal Medicare insurance begins.

  • Using a Drug Facts Box to Communicate Drug Benefits and Harms: Two Randomized Trials

    • Lisa M. Schwartz,
    • Steven Woloshin,
    • and H. Gilbert Welch
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:516-527; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00106

    Direct-to-consumer drug advertisements do not provide standardized information about the benefits and harms of the drugs. Schwartz and coworkers tested whether adding a “drug facts box” to consumer-directed drug advertisements would improve consumer knowledge and judgment. The box contained a comparison of outcomes that might occur with 2 drugs. In a randomized experiment, consumers who were shown advertisements that included the box knew more about drug benefits and side effects than consumers shown the advertisements without the box.

  • Re-treatment of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Who Do Not Respond to Peginterferon-α2b: A Randomized Trial

    • Donald M. Jensen,
    • Patrick Marcellin,
    • Bradley Freilich,
    • Pietro Andreone,
    • Adrian Di Bisceglie,
    • Carlos E. Brandão-Mello,
    • K. Rajender Reddy,
    • Antonio Craxi,
    • Antonio Olveira Martin,
    • Gerlinde Teuber,
    • Diethelm Messinger,
    • James A. Thommes,
    • and Andreas Tietz
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:528-540; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00007

    Some patients with chronic hepatitis C do not respond to initial treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. This randomized trial compared peginterferon-α2a plus ribavirin for either 48 or 72 weeks in 950 patients with hepatitis C who had not responded to peginterferon-α2b plus ribavirin. Re-treatment for 72 weeks increased sustained virologic response rates more than re-treatment for 48 weeks (16% vs. 8%), although the rates were low.

  • Joint Effects of Common Genetic Variants on the Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in U.S. Men and Women of European Ancestry

    • Marilyn C. Cornelis,
    • Lu Qi,
    • Cuilin Zhang,
    • Peter Kraft,
    • JoAnn Manson,
    • Tianxi Cai,
    • David J. Hunter,
    • and Frank B. Hu
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:541-550; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00008

    Cornelis and colleagues developed a genetic risk score that reflected a patient's burden of polymorphisms that prior research had linked to type 2 diabetes. They then compared the prediction of diabetes using just conventional diabetes risk factors with using both the genetic risk score and conventional predictors. Adding the genetic risk score had only a small effect on discriminating between people who developed diabetes and those who did not.

History of Medicine

  • Akhenaten and the Strange Physiques of Egypt's 18th Dynasty

    • Irwin M. Braverman,
    • Donald B. Redford,
    • and Philip A. Mackowiak
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:556-560; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00010

    The authors speculate that the distinctive physical features of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten are due to his having 1 of 2 different familial disorders: the aromatase excess syndrome and the sagittal craniosynostosis syndrome—or a variant of the Antley–Bixler syndrome.

Clinical Guidelines

  • Counseling and Interventions to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant Women: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement

    • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:551-555; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00009

    The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reaffirms its 2003 recommendation on counseling to prevent tobacco use. Clinicians should ask all adults about tobacco use and provide tobacco cessation interventions for those who use tobacco products (grade A recommendation). For pregnant women, clinicians should ask about tobacco use and provide augmented, pregnancy-tailored counseling for those who smoke (grade A recommendation).

Editorials

  • Universal Health Care as a Health Disparity Intervention

    • Ashwini R. Sehgal
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:561-562; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00011

    In the issue, McWilliams and colleagues measured changes in disease control over time, as well as the association between Medicare coverage and disparities in these measures. Their findings, which contrast the effects of improving the quality of health care and acquiring health insurance, add to existing evidence indicating that simply improving quality of care will not eliminate disparities. They suggest that covering the uninsured is a key to reducing the sizable and persistent disparities in our country.

  • Communicating Drug Benefits and Risks Effectively: There Must Be a Better Way

    • Jerry Avorn and
    • William H. Shrank
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:563-564; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00012

    In this issue, Schwartz and colleagues found that the quality of information transfer with conventional direct-to-consumer drug advertisements was inferior to their own coherently designed drug boxes. Their studies have drawn our attention to the need for more creative thinking about how to communicate drug benefits and risks effectively and the need to study possible solutions in a methodologically rigorous manner.

On Being a Doctor

  • Inshala

    • Charles Broy
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:565; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00013

    It was my first day in the Iraqi pediatric burn clinic, and the experience had been exhausting. The medics called me over to the newly burned 12-year-old girl who was in respiratory distress. I am an internal medicine physician in the U.S. Army completing a 15-month rotation in Iraq. I have no training in burn treatment, and I have never treated a child.

Letters

  • Screening Strategies for Hemochromatosis

    • Jecko Thachil
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:566; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00014

  • Screening Strategies for Hemochromatosis

    • Pradyumna D. Phatak,
    • Herbert L. Bonkovsky,
    • and Kris V. Kowdley
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:566; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00015

  • Composite Outcomes Can Distort the Nature and Magnitude of Treatment Benefits in Clinical Trials

    • Ignacio Ferreira-Gonzalez,
    • Gaieta Permanyer-Miralda,
    • Jason W. Busse,
    • P. J. Devereaux,
    • Gordon H. Guyatt,
    • Pablo Alonso-Coello,
    • and Victor M. Montori
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:566-567; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00016

  • Gallbladder Carriage of Salmonella paratyphi A May Be an Important Factor in the Increasing Incidence of This Infection in South Asia

    • Nely Shrestha Khatri,
    • Pukar Maskey,
    • Sanjay Poudel,
    • Vijay Kumar Jaiswal,
    • Abhilasha Karkey,
    • Samir Koirala,
    • Nikki Shakya,
    • Krishna Agrawal,
    • Amit Arjyal,
    • Buddha Basnyat,
    • Jeremy Day,
    • Jeremy Farrar,
    • Christiane Dolecek,
    • and Stephen Baker
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:567-568; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00017

  • Isolation of Mycobacterium kyorinense in a Patient With Respiratory Failure

    • Hiroo Wada,
    • Masayuki Yamamoto,
    • Mitsuhiro Okazaki,
    • Takashi Watanabe,
    • and Hajime Goto
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:568-570; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00018

  • Strongyloides Hyperinfection: An Unusual Cause of Respiratory Failure

    • Faris Khasawneh,
    • Radhika Sreedhar,
    • and Vishnu Chundi
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:570-571; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00019

  • Correction: Delayed Splenic Rupture

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:571; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00020

  • Correction: Reliability of Compendia Methods for Off-Label Oncology Indications

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:571; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00021

Medical Writings: Book Notes

  • Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America

    • Anthony D. So
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:572; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00022

  • Narrative in Health Care: Healing Patients, Practitioners, Profession, and Community

    • David S. Riley
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:572; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00023

Current Clinical Issues

  • Cancer Care: A Microcosm of the Problems Facing All of Health Care

    • Jennifer Fisher Wilson
    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:573-576; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00024

Medical Notices

  • Medical Notices

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:0; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00025

Summaries for Patients

  • Control of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes in the United States: Trends in Disparities and Effects of Medicare Coverage

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:I-26; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00001

  • Re-treating Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Who Have Not Responded to Peginterferon-α2b

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:I-34; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00003

  • Using Genetic and Other Factors to Predict Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:I-40; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00004

  • Preventing Tobacco Use and Related Diseases in Adults and Pregnant Women: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:I-46; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-00002

ACP Journal Club

  • Editorial: Students' PEARLS: successfully incorporating evidence-based medicine in medical students' clinical attachments

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-2; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02002

  • Review: Transfer for PCI reduces 30-day mortality more than on-site thrombolysis in STEMI

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-4; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02004

  • Review: Statins are effective for prevention of cardiovascular events in patients without coronary heart disease

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-5; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02005

  • Review: Brand-name drugs are not more effective than generic versions for treating cardiovascular disease

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-6; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02006

  • Self-monitored, home-based pulmonary rehab was noninferior to outpatient, hospital-based rehab for COPD

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-7; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02007

  • Review: Metformin reduces risk for CV mortality compared with other oral diabetes drugs or placebo in type 2 diabetes

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-8; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02008

  • Review: Oral drugs for gestational diabetes do not increase adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes more than insulin

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-9; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02009

  • Review: Early surgery improves outcomes in patients with primary supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-10; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02010

  • Review: Interferon and nucleoside/tide analogues reduce risk for hepatocellular cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis B

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-11; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02011

  • Supplementation with vitamin E or vitamin C did not differ from placebo for major cardiovascular events and mortality

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-12; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02012

  • Review: Long-term annual conversion rate to dementia was 3.3% in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-13; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02013

  • Review: Individual alarm features have moderate-to-high specificity and low sensitivity for diagnosing colorectal cancer

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-14; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02014

  • Review: Newer screening tests have varied sensitivity and moderate-to-high specificity for detecting colorectal cancer

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-15; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02015

  • Glossary

    Ann Intern Med April 21, 2009 150:JC4-16; doi:10.1059/0003-4819-150-8-200904210-02016
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This Issue

April 21, 2009; 150 (8)
  1. Articles
  2. History of Medicine
  3. Clinical Guidelines
  4. Editorials
  5. On Being a Doctor
  6. Letters
  7. Medical Writings: Book Notes
  8. Current Clinical Issues
  9. Medical Notices
  10. Summaries for Patients
  11. ACP Journal Club

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