The relation between body weight and mortality remains a subject of intense debate, particularly with respect to the optimal weight for longevity. Although severe obesity is clearly associated with increased mortality,¹ the health consequences of being ...

Many studies have observed a relation between weight loss or variation in weight (fluctuation) and increased mortality from cardiovascular causes and from all causes,¹–¹² although this is not a universal finding.¹³,¹⁴ Whether weight loss or fluctuations ...

The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is an important factor in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, an epithelial cancer.¹,² Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is rare in North American and European whites, with an age-adjusted incidence of 1 case per 100,000 ...

Patients with sickle cell diseases are prone to an acute chest syndrome of chest pain and the presence of pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiography.¹ The cause of most cases of the acute chest syndrome is uncertain.² Pneumonia is often among the causes ...

Neonatal diabetes mellitus is a very rare condition. For this study it is defined as hyperglycemia that requires insulin treatment, occurs during the first month of life, and lasts more than two weeks. Reviewing the literature, we found 123 publications ...

Figure 1. A posterior view of a double uterus from a 78-year-old woman with uterine bleeding is shown. On the right, an endometrial carcinoma (histologically classified as a grade II adenocarcinoma) has invaded the superficial third of the myometrium (...

The concept of oxygen as a therapeutic agent was introduced in the 1920s by Alvin Barach.¹ Since then, a better understanding of the effects of hypoxemia, and of their reversal with oxygen supplementation, has enhanced the treatment of patients with ...

Presentation of Case

A 69-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of recurrent pain in the right lower abdominal quadrant and radiographic evidence of a cecal abnormality.

The patient had been well until 44 days earlier, when fever and pain in ...

A sign next to a finger pulse meter in a Kansas truck stop makes an interesting offer: if your resting pulse rate is less than 60 per minute, you will win a double bacon cheeseburger, home fries, and a bowl of gravy. The often conflicting information ...

In this issue of the Journal, Pathmanathan et al.¹ add a new dimension to the etiologic link between Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection and anaplastic nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Genetic and environmental factors have also been implicated in nasopharyngeal ...

To the Editor: In their study of the efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who respond slowly to chemotherapy, Verdonck et al. (April 20 issue)¹ used response criteria that ...

To the Editor: The report by Kordower et al. (April 27 issue)¹ describes the remarkable survival of dopamine cells after neural transplantation in a patient with Parkinson's disease. These results provide a clear demonstration that the brains of patients ...

To the Editor: We have some concern about the study of high-dose ibuprofen in patients with cystic fibrosis by Konstan et al. (March 30 issue).¹ Only the group of children under 13 years old benefited from ibuprofen, and just 36 patients in this group ...

To the Editor: Becker's muscular dystrophy and Duchenne's muscular dystrophy are allelic disorders caused by mutations of the dystrophin gene at Xp21.¹ The 400-kd dystrophin is expressed most abundantly in the plasma membranes of skeletal and cardiac ...

To the Editor: In her reexamination of cost sharing in health insurance (April 27 issue),¹ Rasell offers a selective reading of the literature on the economics of health care and emphasizes the deleterious effects of cost sharing. In fact, cost sharing ...

To the Editor: The Journal was recently praised by the Columbia Journalism Review ¹ for its part in persuading the Marvel Comics Group to remove cigarettes from its trading cards (May 5, 1994, issue).² Although Marvel may look like a hero for doing this, ...

Medical care cannot be separated from the buildings in which it is delivered. The quality of space in such buildings affects the outcome of medical care, and architectural design is thus an important part of the healing process. This article explores the ...

The stated goal of Cardiovascular Medicine is to provide an “authoritative and comprehensive review of important, clinically relevant topics pertaining to cardiovascular diseases.” The editors have selected over 100 authors from all over the world for ...

This multiauthored textbook by well-known authorities is “intended to be of interest to primary care physicians, internal medicine practitioners, cardiologists, pediatricians, epidemiologists, public health physicians, clinical chemists, dietitians, and ...

Critical Heart Disease in Infants and Children emphasizes the basic principles surrounding the postoperative intensive care of children who have congenital heart disease. The authors come from many disciplines, including anesthesiology, nursing, pediatric ...

This treatise on pediatric heart surgery is an excellent discussion of the care of infants with congenital heart disease. The material is based on a quarter century of experience with prompt and definitive repair of congenital heart defects in neonates ...

Was it only a few years ago that card-carrying electrophysiologists were turning up their noses at the mere mention of a patient with atrial fibrillation? Their thoughts were directed elsewhere, to arrhythmias that could be managed with blade, heat, or ...