Top medicine articles for December 2012

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for December 2012:

How doctors on social media are changing the face of medicine - Twitter takes the debate worldwide http://buff.ly/PSRmBv

"The Family Doctor, Minus the M.D." - NYTimes keeps pushing the idea of "The Nurse as Family Doctor" http://buff.ly/R1rbn9

Air travel and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a new algorithm for pre-flight evaluation http://buff.ly/RMN37n

Long-term natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) http://buff.ly/RMNa2C

Among patients with CAD, CHF or HTN, continuing selective beta blockers during COPD hospitalisation appears to be safe http://buff.ly/RMOJO5

Hepatitis—Do you “C” it? Many infected adults do not know they have HCV http://bit.ly/URgBFx

Do Mentors Know Who They Are Mentoring? Columbia University Medical Center reviews the evidence http://bit.ly/URgVUC

Discovery of “vitamin” D began with childhood rickets. Nonskeletal effects of this hormone are now recognized http://bit.ly/URhdLk

The prevalence of eating breakfast daily was low in boys (47%) and girls (45%). Skipping meals, mainly breakfast, is associated with worse glucose and lipid levels in obese children and adolescents. http://bit.ly/URhGgF

Prevalence of erectile dysfunction in U.S. is 34%, 47% in Middle East. Risk factors: diabetes mellitus, HTN, CAD, obesity, stress, depression http://bit.ly/URjVAC

Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors use for ED in U.S.: 16% of men buy PDEi over the Internet (68% without prescription) http://bit.ly/URkvON

The Cost of Living Longer: The average rent at assisted-living facilities in U.S. is now $3,486 per month. The price of a private room at a nursing home is now $248 a day http://on.wsj.com/VSQ3Fs

Certain phrases in Latin carry both historic and modern significance. Top 10 Latin phrases for hospitalists: http://buff.ly/S2dCpa

The articles were selected from my Twitter and Google Reader streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases@gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.