Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Pharyngitis and fusobacterium

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest A recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the causes of pharyngitis at the University of Alabama at Birmingham student health center (see Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:241-247​). Details: –312 students aged 15-30 with acute pharyngitis were compared to 180 asymptomatic students (mean age 23, about 60% women, 74% white) –PCR was […]

Read More…

Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Varenicline for almost-ready smoker cessation

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest  JAMA presented a randomized controlled drug-company sponsored trial assessing the utility of varenicline for patients who are not quite ready to quit smoking (see JAMA. 2015;313(7):687-694). Details: –760 patients from 61 centers in 10 countries were randomized to varenicline titrated to 1mg bid (vs 750 placed on placebo). All patients felt they were not ready to […]

Read More…

Primary Care Corner with Geoffrey Modest MD: Length of menopausal symptoms

By: Dr. Geoffrey Modest A subgroup assessment of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiracial/multiethnic observational study from 7 US communities,  assessed the duration of frequent menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS), defined as occurring at least 6 days over prior 2 weeks, and the duration of frequent VMS after the final menstrual period (see doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8063). Details: […]

Read More…