Influenzaviruses are frequently transmitted within households. In some epidemics, up to 50 percent of households have one or more members who become infected. The average secondary attack rates among family members is 25 percent,¹ although family ...

Opioid dependence is an important national health problem, with an estimated 980,000 long-term users of heroin in the United States.¹ Methadone, introduced in the late 1960s,² and levomethadyl acetate, approved in 1993, are two full μ-opioid agonist ...

An association between psychological traits and coronary artery disease has been acknowledged for decades but has only recently been validated empirically.¹–¹⁶ Depression, anxiety, and hostility have each been demonstrated to be associated with the risk ...

Kidney cancers account for 2 to 3 percent of new cases of cancer in the United States. In more than 80 percent of these cases, the cancer arises from the renal parenchyma and consists of adenocarcinoma (renal-cell carcinoma); most renal-pelvis cancers are ...

Figure 1. A 28-year-old woman with a history of heroin use was admitted for increasing dyspnea. A chest radiograph (Panel A) showed diffuse bilateral pulmonary infiltrates that were predominantly interstitial. An open-lung biopsy was performed. Histologic ...

The recognition of impaired immunity in children five decades ago¹,² spurred an exponential increase in knowledge of the functions of the immune system. More than 95 inherited immunodeficiency disorders have now been identified.³,⁴ Genetically determined ...

In the United States, the annual incidence of ectopic pregnancy increased from 0.37 percent of pregnancies in 1948 to 1.97 percent in 1992.¹ Despite the continued increase in incidence, the rate of death from ectopic pregnancy declined almost 90 percent ...

Infectious diseases often spread among the members of a family. Many such diseases spread mainly to susceptible children and only to a lesser degree to older family members who have been exposed to the organism. With influenza, however, the concept that ...

Heroin use in the United States has grown considerably over the past decade. Approximately 3 million Americans have used heroin,¹ a fact that has led to increasing concern about heroin-related problems such as overdose, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ...

To the Editor: Vichinsky et al. (June 22 issue)¹ showed that among 538 patients with sickle cell disease who were followed for four years, 16 percent of 670 episodes of the acute chest syndrome were caused by a pulmonary infarction. A total of 29 percent ...

To the Editor: In their report concerning newly diagnosed cancer in patients with venous thromboembolism, Schulman and Lindmarker, for the Duration of Anticoagulation Trial (June 29 issue),¹ state that their findings strongly support the impression that ...

To the Editor: The report by Hoffman et al. (July 13 issue)¹ is a validation of the clinical criteria that most emergency physicians currently use to exclude the possibility of traumatic injury to the cervical spine. In the study, a standard three-view ...

To the Editor: I am concerned that Sloan and colleagues (June 22 issue)¹ justify separating religion and spirituality from medical practice by holding up and condemning an extreme position, which is that doctors should prescribe religious activities and ...

To the Editor: A 21-year-old man presented with a three-year history of worsening dyspnea and a four-month history of being unable to walk more than 100 yards (90 m) without resting. Physical examination revealed signs of pulmonary hypertension. A chest ...

The idea that the responses of individuals and organizations to diseases are shaped by culture is not as controversial as it once was. The great therapeutic innovations in medicine surely stem from the concept that science is insulated from social forces, ...

Shrouded in misunderstandings, both cultural and medical, the psychological anguish of blacks has been all but invisible throughout most of our nation's history. As late as the 1950s, some articles in medical journals still pronounced blacks too ...

When the doctor says, “You have cancer,” you face a disaster of momentous proportions. The doctor may have technical issues in mind, but you must face the human side of cancer. Previously, you may have thought that you were above nature, but now you ...

Drug Therapy for Breast-Feeding Women Review Article, N Engl J Med 2000:343;118-126.. On page 120, in Table 1, the management plan and rationale for radioactive compounds should have read, “Breast-feeding should be stopped until the level of radioactivity ...

Book Review of Bodies of Evidence: Medicine and the Politics of the English Inquest, 1830–1926 Book Review, N Engl J Med 2000:343;588-590.. The title of the book should have been “Bodies of Evidence: Medicine and the Politics of the English Inquest, 1830–...