Fenfluramine and phentermine are prescription medications that have been individually approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as appetite suppressants for the treatment of obesity. When used in combination they may be just as effective as ...

Streptococcus iniae was first reported in 1976 to cause subcutaneous abscesses in Amazon freshwater dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) at aquariums in San Francisco and New York.¹,² Since the early 1980s, epizootic meningoencephalitis caused by streptococci has ...

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in industrialized countries and is an important cause of morbidity in later life. Studies of cardiovascular disease in women indicate that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is the ...

The dangers inherent in marked obesity have prompted physicians to advocate more aggressive strategies for weight reduction. One current strategy is the prescription of fenfluramine,¹,² either alone or in combination with phentermine, with the knowledge ...

The pituitary gonadotropins luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) regulate the production of sex steroids necessary for pubertal development and fertility. Inherited genetic defects that cause hypogonadism have been identified at ...

Figure 1. A 35-year-old laboratory researcher who was working with Mycobacterium marinum abraded the back of her left hand, and a tender, erythematous nodule developed (Panel A). Over the next few days, small amounts of yellowish fluid were discharged ...

Falls

Rates of morbidity and mortality from falls are higher among the elderly than among younger persons. Approximately 60 percent of persons who die from falls are 65 years old or older, and falls account for 87 percent of all fractures in older adults. ...

Presentation of Case

A 38-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of increasing dyspnea, chest pain, and an undiagnosed pulmonary process.

One year earlier, the patient had presented with weight loss and thrush, and a diagnosis of the acquired ...

Between 1967 and 1972, there was a serious outbreak of primary pulmonary hypertension in Western Europe.¹ The incidence of the disorder among patients seen at major cardiac catheterization centers in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria increased by a factor ...

On April 10, 1997, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed the first case ever brought against a biomedical researcher on the basis of allegations of insider trading.¹ The case involved a gastroenterologist at Wayne State University who was the lead ...

To the Editor: In this issue of the Journal is a report of 24 cases of valvular heart disease in women treated with a combination of fenfluramine and phentermine.¹ On the basis of prepublication notification of this finding, the Food and Drug ...

To the Editor: The appetite-suppressant drugs fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine (the purified d isomer of fenfluramine), and phentermine have each been associated with an increased risk of pulmonary hypertension when used alone.¹–³ In this issue of the ...

To the Editor: In 1982 we provided evidence that a diet low in dairy products may increase the risk of hypertension.¹ In 1984, using data from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we reported that in the United States a diet low in ...

To the Editor: You and Dr. Pauker (April 24 issue)¹ completely miss the point in focusing on the negligible difference in outcomes between screening and not screening for breast and prostate cancer. The difference is negligible only in large populations. ...

To the Editor: The statement by Dr. Motulsky (May 1 issue)¹ that genetic screening of adolescents should not be hindered by concern about the possible misuse of genetic information evinces a serious misreading of current law. The debate continues among ...

To the Editor: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan shown in Figure 1 of the report by Weber et al. (Feb. 13 issue)¹ shows congestion of the ethmoid sinus, not the right maxillary sinus, as the figure legend says. The scan does not show the ...

To the Editor: In June 1994, a 36-year-old man with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection who was otherwise healthy began to have recurrent swellings of the soft tissue (>20 per month) in various body regions that lasted two to three days and ...

To the Editor: In 1972, Rabin et al. described the case of an Israeli woman with primary amenorrhea due to an isolated deficiency of follicle-stimulating hormone.¹ They “revisited” the case in 1979 and reported that treatment with gonadotropin had ...

To the Editor: As former heads of medical-exemption committees in the Israeli Defense Force, we dealt with soldiers who tried to use the medical system to avoid their duties. With regard to such malingering, described in the article by Andrews et al. on ...

First editions of new textbooks often reflect prodigious effort, but rarely are they great books. In almost all medical fields, the length of the preparation process leaves some of the material a bit outdated by the time of publication, and the ...

The great majority of humans are attracted to members of the opposite sex, but a not insubstantial minority (estimated between 2 and 5 percent) are attracted to members of the same sex. Why? In the past decade, this question has moved from a backwater of ...

The contributors to this book present a thoughtful and scholarly evaluation of biomedical and psychosocial factors of major importance in the process of addiction. Comprehensive yet succinct reviews of recent advances in behavioral research and research ...

In 1989, the state of Oregon embarked on a controversial experiment in the financing of health care. The state planned to add many uninsured people to the Medicaid program and to pay for this expansion by reducing the Medicaid benefit package — more ...