Metastatic prostate cancer: complications and treatment.

Despite highly successful treatments for localized prostate cancer, approximately 35% to 40% of men will eventually experience a detectable rise in serum prostate specific antigen. A portion of these men will go on to experience clinically expressed extracapsular disease, with as many as two-thirds having evidence of bone involvement. Diagnosis of skeletal involvement involves serum markers of disease progression and radiological evaluation.

Osteoporosis in pulmonary clinic patients: does point-of-care screening predict central dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry?

Study Objectives: Patients in a pulmonary clinic have disorders that predispose them to osteoporosis and may use glucocorticoid therapy, which has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and increased fracture risk. Ideally, all patients at risk for osteoporosis would be screened using the best test available, which is central BMD by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). We proposed to stratify the risk for osteoporosis by the use of a simple questionnaire and point-of-care heel ultrasound BMD measurements.

Urinary incontinence in the elderly.

Preview The incidence of incontinence in elderly men and women is high, and the personal and social costs of the problem are enormous. But thoughtful diagnostic evaluation can lead to treatment that in many cases results in an improvement in symptoms or even a return to continence. Dr Rosenthal and Dr McMurtry discuss five main types of incontinence and their causes and treatment and describe the components of a targeted medical evaluation.