Attendance at an asthma clinic did not reduce asthma morbidity more than did standard medical treatment

Etidronate, calcium, or both did not reduce fracture rates in patients with asthma receiving glucocorticoid treatment.

MAIN RESULTS The groups did not differ for mortality (10%, 24%, 16%, and 16% in the etidronate only, calcium only, etidronate plus calcium, and no treatment groups, respectively); symptomatic fractures (6%, 8%, 10%, and 7%, respectively); or symptomatic fractures, semi quantitative vertebral fractures, or both (16%, 18%, 16%, and 20%, respectively). Groups receiving etidronate compared with gro...

Doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroids during asthma deterioration did not improve asthma control.

and commentary also appear in ACP Journal Club. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For correspondence: Dr T W Harrison, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham, UK. [email protected] Sources of funding: NHS Executive. Active and placebo corticosteroid inhalers provided by AstraZeneca, GlaxoWellcome, 3M,...

Review: antileukotriene agents at licensed doses plus inhaled corticosteroids do not reduce asthma exacerbations more than inhaled corticosteroids alone.

M e t h o d s Data sources: Cochrane Airways Group Asthma trials register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, references of relevant articles, pharmaceutical companies manufacturing ALs and ICSs, and abstracts of the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society Meetings (1998 to 2003). Study selection and assessment: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ALs p...

Do women requesting only contraception find attendance at an integrated sexual health clinic more stigmatizing than attendance at a family planning–only clinic?

PURPOSE Both sexually transmitted infections and the genitourinary medicine clinics that patients attend for management of sexually transmitted infections are stigmatized by patients' perceptions. The aim of this study was to assess whether women requesting contraception only find attendance at an integrated sexual health clinic (ISHC) more stigmatizing than attendance at a family planning (FP)...

Pacemaker therapy did not reduce recurrent vasovagal syncope.