Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Natural history of thyroid nodules (and why do we care)

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest An Italian study looked at the natural history of apparently benign thyroid nodules, with unexpected findings (see JAMA.2015;313(9):926-935​). In this prospective, multicenter, observational study, researchers followed 992 consecutive patients with 1-4 asymptomatic nodules which were either benign by ultrasound or fine-needle aspirate (FNA), and followed them for 5 years. Results: –mean age of patients was […]

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Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Medicare warns of overuse of anti-psychotics

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest  There was an article in the NY Times highlighting the overuse of anti-psychotics  in the elderly in nursing homes. The basic thrust is that federal investigators “have found evidence of widespread overuse of psychiatric drugs by older Americans with Alzheimer’s disease, and are recommending that Medicare officials take immediate action to reduce unnecessary […]

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Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Hearing loss prevention in teens/young adults

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest The World Health Organization just highlighted “a serious threat posed by exposure to recreational noise”, with 1.1 billion people at risk of hearing loss. These are mostly teenagers and young adults who unsafely use personal audio devices (eg smartphones) and are exposed to damaging levels of sound at nightclubs, bars, sporting events. […]

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Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Coffee and decreased coronary artery calcium

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest   A Korean observational study looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and coronary artery calcium (CAC) found on cardiac CT scan, a marker of coronary atherosclerosis and pretty good predictor of future clinical coronary artery disease, or CAD (see doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2014-306663). In this study 25,130 youngish men and women (mean age 41.3, 83% male) […]

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