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NOVEMBER 1, 2020
| Systemic Racism and Health Disparities: A Joint Statement from Editors of Family Medicine Journals |
Racism is a pervasive and systemic issue that has profound adverse effects on health. The editors of several North American family medicine journals have come together to issue a call to action to confront systemic racism and eliminate health disparities to better serve patients and communities. To read the full statement, click here.
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Risk factors of gout include male sex; obesity; hypertension; alcohol intake; and a diet rich in meat, seafood, and fructose-rich food and beverages. Gout is characterized by swelling, pain, or tenderness in a peripheral joint or bursa. Diagnosis is made using several validated clinical prediction rules. Arthrocentesis should be performed when suspicion for an underlying septic joint is present; synovial fluid or tophus analysis should be performed if the diagnosis is uncertain. Colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteroids all relieve pain in acute episodes. Indications for chronic urate-lowering therapy include chronic kidney disease, two or more flares per year, urolithiasis, the presence of tophus, chronic gouty arthritis, and joint damage.
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Common eye emergencies include central retinal artery occlusions, chemical injuries, mechanical globe injuries, and retinal detachments. Family physicians should be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of each condition and be able to perform a basic eye examination to evaluate the patient.
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Common benign chronic vulvar conditions include genitourinary syndrome of menopause (formerly called vulvovaginal atrophy), lichen sclerosus, lichen planus, lichen simplex chronicus, and vulvodynia. Find out which patients can be diagnosed clinically, when to order a biopsy, and how to treat each of these conditions.
Clinicians should be aware of this life-threatening manifestation of COVID-19 so that prompt and appropriate interventions can be undertaken if rhabdomyolysis is suspected or confirmed. Read more in this online ahead of print Letter to the Editor.
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