No reason not to treat

Prehypertension: to treat or not to treat should no longer be the question.

Prehypertension: To Treat or Not To Treat Should No Longer Be the Question To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Selassie et al that progression from prehypertension to full-blown hypertension occurs more rapidly in blacks, with 50% transitioning to hypertension within 1.7 years compared with 2.7 years in whites. Although the authors highlight the importance of controlling p...

Distress: to treat or not to treat?

In one of our research group meetings, we took an informal poll to find out who would prescribe a benzodiazepine to someone who was acutely grieving, felt anxious, was experiencing some insomnia, and wanted relief from distress. The younger among us mostly would prescribe while those of us who are grizzled would mostly refrain from doing so. Coincidentally, within the next week, one of my patie...

[Fever : to treat or not to treat ?]

Fever is routinely faced during medical practice. Although it is part of the immune response against pathogens, it is often seen as deleterious and a source of discomfort leading to the use of antipyretic drugs. However, few clinical data support this common practice. On the contrary, to date, results tilt in favor of the beneficial effect of fever, such as a better immune response and inhibiti...

The elderly patient: no reason to worry!?

In December 2013, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has placed Switzerland for the first time at the top of the list of countries’ general population life ex- pectancy. The augmenting life expectancy and demographic changes are leading to an increase in the number of older people who are dependent on care (Höpflinger & Hugentobler 2003, Höpflinger et al. 2011). M...

Levalbuterol toxicity: no reason to be jittery.