The American Journal of Medicine Blog

  Routine moderate-intensity physical activity confers numerous cardiovascular benefits and reduces all-cause mortality. However, the health impact of exercise doses that exceed contemporary physical activity guidelines remains incompletely understood, and an emerging body of literature suggests that high levels of exercise may have the capacity to damage the cardiovascular system. This review focuses on the […]

A 54-year-old male with decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis presented after a syncopal event and ground-level fall. Initial examination noted a distended abdomen without overlying bruising. At admission, his hemoglobin was 6.3 g/dL from a baseline of 8-10 g/dL. A computed tomography scan of the abdomen was notable for “complex ascites” adjacent to his liver concerning for […]

Type 2 myocardial infarction and nonischemic myocardial injury, corresponding to troponin elevation without atherothrombosis, are emerging concepts suspected of being common in emergency departments (ED). However, their respective frequencies, risk profiles, and short-term prognoses remain to be investigated. METHODS Among all the patients admitted from January 2014 to December 2016 in a university hospital ED […]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of cancer upon a patient’s net worth and debt in the US. Methods This longitudinal study used the Health and Retirement Study from 1998–2014. Persons ≥50 years with newly-diagnosed malignancies were included, excluding minor skin cancers. Multivariable generalized linear models assessed changes in net worth […]

Twenty children, six teachers, two sets of eyes, and a dog were a terribly tragic catalyst for my metamorphosis as a physician and person. Let me explain. Until the cataclysmic event, I was an academic physician at an Ivy League institution who worshipped at the altar of evidence-based medicine and thought housestaff and students should […]

Liver disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Geographic variations in the burden of chronic liver disease may have significant impact on public health policies but have not been explored at the national level. The objective of this study is to examine interstate variability in liver disease mortality in […]