Internal Medicine Alert – October 15, 2014
October 15, 2014
View Archives Issues
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Do Telephone- and Internet-based Communications with Patients Increase Office Visits?
In an integrated health plan and care delivery system, before and after a medical home redesign, proportional increases in copay-free secure messaging and telephone encounters were associated with additional primary care office visits for individuals with diabetes. -
OnabotulinumtoxinA for Treatment of Chronic Migraines
A pooled analysis of four clinical trials concluded that treatment with onabotulinumtoxinA at doses of 75-260 U administered every 12 weeks for up to five treatment cycles was efficacious, safe, and well tolerated for the prophylaxis of headache in adults with chronic migraine. -
Naltrexone HCl and Bupropion HCl Extended-Release Tablets (Contrave ® )
The FDA has approved another drug combination for the treatment of chronic weight management, combining two old drugs, naltrexone and bupropion, in a fixed combination. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist and bupropion is a commonly prescribed antidepressant. -
Does It Really Make a Difference What Weight-Reduction Diet You Choose?
Since two-thirds of American adults are currently overweight or obese, we would all like to be able to help patients choose the best diet. The list of choices and categories is lengthy, with vocal advocates for the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, South Beach diet, Jenny Craig, Ornish, etc. Of course, were any of these diets sufficiently effective and easily adopted that they could gain widespread advocacy, we wouldnt be faced with such an obesity epidemic in the first place! So, apparently there is no simple answer. Among the choices we have, then, which one might be the best?