The soaring cost of prescription drugs has caused two interrelated problems — the expense for those who can afford to pay for them and the limited access to medications for those who cannot. These problems are particularly severe for the elderly and ...

In 1859, Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution as an incessant struggle among individuals with different degrees of fitness within a species.¹ At that time, his explanations created remarkable controversy, but they were to revolutionize the ...

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions; worldwide, approximately 22 million children under five years of age are overweight.¹ During the past three decades, the number of overweight children in the Unites States has more than doubled. In 1983, ...

It is not surprising that spending for prescription drugs is the fastest-growing component of health care in the United States. Just 12 years ago, prescription drugs accounted for 6 percent of total spending on personal health. Today, drugs account for ...

Type 2 helper T (Th2) cells, a type of CD4 T cell, trigger allergic inflammation and the production of antibodies. Type 1 helper T (Th1) cells produce interferon-γ, which suppresses Th2 cells. Th2 cells have a prominent role in asthma. T-bet, a transcription factor required for the production of interferon-γ, was found in a recent study to be lacking in lymphocytes from the bronchi of patients with asthma, and asthma developed in mice with experimentally disabled T-bet genes.

To the Editor: In the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) (Oct. 11 issue),¹ the authors report that of the approximately 1000 patients randomly assigned to undergo lung-volume–reduction surgery or to receive medical treatment alone, 140 were ...

To the Editor: We wonder about the generalizability of the results of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trial of supplementary (“booster”) irradiation after lumpectomy (Nov. 8 issue).¹ The rate of recurrence of local ...

To the Editor: I was pleased to see that the report by Pearson et al. (June 14 issue)¹ supports the findings of my colleagues and me that nitric oxide synthesis and plasma arginine levels are reduced in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of ...

To the Editor: Dr. Ada's excellent review of vaccines and vaccination (Oct. 4 issue)¹ was at once comprehensive and detailed. I must, however, take exception to his statement that “the recognition that [measles] immunity can wane after vaccination led to ...

To the Editor: Fedullo et al. (Nov. 15 issue)¹ provide a concise review of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Because many of my patients with this disorder have multiple medical ...

To the Editor: The anatomical diagnosis presented in Case 32-2001 (Oct. 18 issue)¹ is “usual interstitial pneumonitis with acute exacerbation, associated with rheumatoid arthritis,” apparently one of the forms of rheumatoid lung disease. Yet the only ...

To the Editor: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci have become important nosocomial pathogens in the United States. Since November 1995, rectal swabs for surveillance for vancomycin-resistant enterococci have been collected twice weekly from adult patients ...

In 1904, Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), one of the great architects of medical science, published three articles in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, the immediate predecessor of the New England Journal of Medicine. These articles, which concerned ...

Benefit of Atrial Pacing in Sleep Apnea Syndrome Original Article, N Engl J Med 2002:346;404-412.. On page 404, the name of the sixth author should have read, “Chantal Raherison,” not “Chantal Raherisson,” as printed. In the original Web publication of ...