Alcohol consumption is a risk factor for stroke and is associated with a higher-than-expected incidence of hypertension.¹–⁶ The underlying mechanism relating heavy alcohol consumption to cardiovascular events is unclear.⁷,⁸ One potential candidate is the ...

There are more than 150,000 survivors of childhood cancer in the United States,¹ a group that is steadily increasing. By the year 2010, 1 of every 250 adults from 15 to 45 years of age in this country may be a survivor of childhood cancer.¹ Children with ...

Adult T-cell leukemia–lymphoma is etiologically linked to the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I).¹–³ HTLV-I, a retrovirus, is endemic in southern Japan and the Caribbean basin and occurs sporadically in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, ...

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)¹ is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma.² The serum of patients with this disease contains antibodies to HTLV-I,³ and there is monoclonal integration of HTLV-I proviruses in the malignant ...

A 68-year-old man who had had biopsy-proved cryptococcal pneumonia 19 years earlier after cleaning a pigeon-infested barn was admitted to the hospital with increasing dyspnea, nonproductive cough, reduced exercise tolerance, and fever. His earlier episode ...

Deaths involving psychoactive drugs stem not only from overdose but also from drug-induced mental states that may lead to serious injuries.¹ This case has been made most convincingly for alcohol.¹ Cocaine, however, which initially produces euphoria and ...

Coronary heart disease has long been recognized as the leading cause of death among middle-aged men, but it is an equally important cause of death and disability among older women. By the age of 60 years, only 1 in 17 women in the United States has had a ...

Though rarely life-threatening, widespread urticaria and its associated angioedema can be both debilitating and frightening. In some cases, lingual swelling requires treatment with epinephrine. Although accurate data on the prevalence of urticaria are ...

Presentation of Case

A 66-year-old right-handed man was admitted to the hospital because of a right hemiparesis with sensory involvement, aphasia, and agitation with intermittent somnolence.

There was a four-year history of questionable rheumatoid ...

The study in this issue of the Journal by Randin et al.¹ demonstrates that alcohol is an acute pressor agent — a concept that may seem counterintuitive, since alcohol has historically been considered a vasodilator, causing cutaneous flushing and ...

Leukemia can be acute or chronic, derive from different types of cells, and arise by different mechanisms, most of which are still unknown. One unique form — adult T-cell leukemia–lymphoma — though rare in many geographic regions, is common in others. It ...

To the Editor: The study by Malmivaara et al. (Feb. 9 issue)¹ had unexpected and sobering results. The fact that bed rest is not helpful for mild low back pain was, of course, already known.² But what about exercise? Were we not convinced that it was ...

To the Editor: Brennan et al. (Feb. 16 issue)¹ are to be commended for their important and well-executed study. This is an excellent example of the use of emerging molecular-biology techniques to address important clinical questions. The clinical ...

To the Editor: There are misleading recommendations in the Current Concepts article entitled “Treatment of Male Infertility,” by Stuart S. Howards (Feb. 2 issue).¹ Dr. Howards recommends the use of an inappropriate dosage of metronidazole to treat ...

To the Editor: Weinblatt discussed the use of methotrexate for chronic diseases in adults (Feb. 2 issue).¹ Although folic acid is helpful in reducing the toxic effects of methotrexate therapy,² its expanded use may have an unintended consequence.

In ...

To the Editor: I found the case presented by Dr. Thibault (Feb. 2 issue)¹ reassuring in that even the expert clinician encountered the usual degree of difficulty traversing the slippery slope toward the diagnosis of chronic recurrent pulmonary embolism. ...

To the Editor: Chiu and Austin (Feb. 2 issue)¹ provide radiographic evidence of multiple, fine, metallic densities in the soft tissue of the back of a Japanese man, representing permanently placed acupuncture needles. We disagree, however, with the ...

According to my dictionary, epistemology is “the theory or science of the method and grounds of knowledge, especially with reference to its limits and validity.”¹ How do we know something? How do we know whether someone else knows something? Do formal ...

Optimists see the differences among psychiatry's multiple schools of thought as a prerequisite for the healthy debate required for growth. Skeptics see the same differences as ideological squabbling that undermines the field's credibility. Pessimists will ...

Is hysteria a brute fact of nature or is it primarily a social construct? Does the fact that hysteria mainly afflicts women reflect women's biology, or is it a reaction to oppression or some interplay between culture and biology? Approaching Hysteria ...

The main theme of this handbook for clinicians is the importance of individual differences and mechanisms of development through life. The editors have achieved a surprising cohesiveness among the 22 chapters written by over two dozen contributors. Most ...

Lassiter has attempted, somewhat naively and with an overall result that seems unacceptable, to foster increased awareness of cultural differences among white, middle-class health care professionals by summarizing key information about various cultural ...

Comparing and contrasting the development and current status of disability legislation in the United States and Britain is an effective way to highlight the major issues. It also adds dramatic impact to a scholarly work. Gooding starts with the premise ...