Despite increasing awareness about the potential impact of financial conflicts of interest on biomedical research, no comprehensive synthesis of the body of evidence relating to financial conflicts of interest has been performed.

Diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) remains challenging. An accurate diagnosis is important because effective symptomatic treatment for PD is available.

Low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) possess several potential pharmacological advantages over unfractionated heparin as an antithrombotic agent.

Artificial and bioartificial support systems may provide a "bridge" for patients with severe liver disease to recovery or transplantation.

Cholinesterase inhibitors are the primary treatment for the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD). Cholinergic dysfunction is also associated with neuropsychiatric and functional deficits, but results from randomized controlled trials of cholinesterase inhibitors are conflicting.

Although few patients with acute abdominal pain will prove to have cholecystitis, ruling in or ruling out acute cholecystitis consumes substantial diagnostic resources.

Several well-publicized recent studies have suggested that disability among older Americans has declined in the last decade.

Low adherence with prescribed treatments is ubiquitous and undermines treatment benefits.

Recent appreciation of atherosclerosis as a chronic, inflammatory disease has rekindled efforts to examine the role that infectious agents may play in atherogenesis. In particular, much interest has focused on infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae. The possibility that a prokaryote contributes to atherogenesis has high clinical interest, as C pneumoniae infection may be a treatable risk factor. To review the evidence implicating C pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we searched MEDLINE for articles published between January 1966 and October 2002 on the association of C pneumoniae and atherosclerosis. We also used online resources, texts, meeting abstracts, and expert opinion. We included 5 types of studies (epidemiological, pathology based, animal model, cell biology, and human antibiotic treatment trials) and extracted diagnostic, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic information from the selected literature; consensus was reached on interpretation discrepancies. Chlamydia pneumoniae is associated with atherosclerosis by epidemiological and pathology-based studies. Animal model and cell biology studies suggest that the pathogen can modulate atheroma biology, including lipid- and inflammatory-related processes. Although some preliminary antibiotic treatment trials in patients with coronary artery disease indicated a reduction in recurrent coronary events, larger studies have not shown benefits in individuals with stable coronary artery disease. It is unlikely that C pneumoniae infection is necessary to initiate atherosclerosis. Furthermore, conventional antibiotic therapy may not eradicate the organism or reduce mortality in individuals with atherosclerotic vascular disease. Nevertheless, the current body of evidence establishes this pathogen as a plausible, potentially modifiable risk factor in cardiovascular disease.

Diabetic complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in persons with diabetes. Chronic hyperglycemia is a major initiator of diabetic microvascular complications (eg, retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy). Glucose processing uses a variety of diverse metabolic pathways; hence, chronic hyperglycemia can induce multiple cellular changes leading to complications. Several predominant well-researched theories have been proposed to explain how hyperglycemia can produce the neural and vascular derangements that are hallmarks of diabetes. These theories can be separated into those that emphasize the toxic effects of hyperglycemia and its pathophysiological derivatives (such as oxidants, hyperosmolarity, or glycation products) on tissues directly and those that ascribe pathophysiological importance to a sustained alteration in cell signaling pathways (such as changes in phospholipids or kinases) induced by the products of glucose metabolism. This article summarizes these theories and the potential therapeutic interventions that may prevent diabetic complications in the presence of hyperglycemia, control of which is often difficult with current therapeutic options.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the leading cause of mortality in industrialized countries and is rapidly becoming a primary cause of death worldwide. Thus, identification of the dietary changes that most effectively prevent CHD is critical.

This article addresses the risk factors associated with the psychiatric disorder pedophilia, its treatment, and treatment outcomes. It addresses physician responsibilities associated with case identification of victims and possible roles in the medical management of pedophilia. The essential feature of pedophilia is that an individual is sexually attracted exclusively or in part to prepubescent children. While pedophilia may be limited to fantasies and impulses, pedophilic behaviors are the primary concern of both the mental health and criminal justice systems. Remote risk factors for development of pedophilia often include the individual having been sexually abused as a child. Proximate risk factors for its behavioral expression are prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders and substance abuse disorders. Current treatment goals focus on stopping the behavior and achieving long-term behavioral control in the community. Common treatment methods are cognitive-behavioral, group therapy, and, when appropriate, medications such as androgen-lowering agents that can act as sexual appetite suppressants. Meta-analyses have established that treatment is more effective than nontreatment in preventing recidivism of sexual offenders in general, a finding that has a high probability of application to individuals with pedophilia. Pedophilia is a chronic psychiatric disorder, but it is treatable in terms of developing strategies for preventing behavioral expression. Ultimately, reducing the prevalence of pedophilic behavior requires further collaboration between the criminal justice system and the health care communities.

Private for-profit and private not-for-profit dialysis facilities provide the majority of hemodialysis care in the United States. There has been extensive debate about whether the profit status of these facilities influences patient mortality.

Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of stroke and other vascular events.

Intensive care unit (ICU) physician staffing varies widely, and its association with patient outcomes remains unclear.

It has been suggested that total blood homocysteine concentrations are associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke.