The New England journal of medicine
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Obesity is associated with diverse health risks, but the role of body weight as a risk factor for death remains controversial. ⋯ Underweight, overweight, and obese men and women had higher rates of death than men and women of normal weight. The association of BMI with death varied according to the cause of death and was modified by age, sex, and smoking history.
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Although the relationship between extreme poverty and poor health among older adults has long been recognized, less attention has been devoted to investigating whether a gradient in disability exists in the United States among persons with middle-class and upper-class incomes. We attempted to determine whether a gradient in functional limitation exists across the full spectrum of income among persons 55 years of age or older. ⋯ Our findings suggest that functional limitation in Americans between the ages of 55 and 84 years is inversely related to social class across the full spectrum of the socioeconomic gradient.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Alendronate or alfacalcidol in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.
Treatment with glucocorticoids is associated with bone loss starting soon after therapy is initiated and an increased risk of fracture. ⋯ During this 18-month trial in patients with rheumatic diseases, alendronate was more effective in the prevention of glucocorticoid-induced bone loss than was alfacalcidol. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00138983 [ClinicalTrials.gov].).
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is increasingly recognized in infections among persons in the community without established risk factors for MRSA. ⋯ MRSA is the most common identifiable cause of skin and soft-tissue infections among patients presenting to emergency departments in 11 U.S. cities. When antimicrobial therapy is indicated for the treatment of skin and soft-tissue infections, clinicians should consider obtaining cultures and modifying empirical therapy to provide MRSA coverage.