Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis.

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis are common, closely related vasculitic conditions that almost exclusively occur in patients older than 50 years. They may be manifestations of the same underlying disease and often coexist. Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica usually present with acute onset of stiffness and pain in the shoulder and pelvic musculature, which may be accompanied by fever, malaise, and weight loss.

Dyspnea.

Dyspnea, defined as uncomfortable or labored breathing, is a common and often devastating cause of distress for patients and their caregivers with advanced cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. The mechanism by which dyspnea develops is not fully understood, but it involves integration of the central respiratory complex with the sensory (perceptual) cortex. The gold standard of diagnosis is patient self-report.

Dying, death, and medical education: student voices.

Background: Medical schools require time for end-of-life topic. However, there is very little medical literature that directly addresses how medical students and residents are to behave, manage emotion, and confront their own grieving process when patients die.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand how preclinical medical students describe feelings toward the death of a hypothetical patient in order to affect curricular change at our institution.