Predictors of ICS/LABA prescribing in COPD patients: a study from general practice.

Background: A combination of inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2 agonist (ICS/LABA) is used frequently to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The aim of the study was to determine whether prescribing ICS/LABA to COPD patients in primary care in 2009/10 was within the GOLD guidelines and whether and to what degree patient characteristics were associated with prescription of these drugs by GPs.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in seven Norwegian GP practices.

Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or both? Diagnostic labeling and spirometry in primary care patients aged 40 years or more.

Aims: To describe symptoms and lung function in patients registered with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care and to examine how spirometry findings fit with general practitioners' (GPs) diagnoses.

Methods: Patients aged ≥40 years with a diagnosis of asthma or COPD registered in the electronic medical record during the previous 5 years were recruited at seven GP offices in Norway in 2009-2010. Registered diagnosis, spirometry results, comorbidity, and reported symptoms were compared.

Bulimia nervosa--a primary defect in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis?

Bulimia nervosa has been associated with impaired satiety, decreased resting metabolic rate and abnormal neuroendocrine regulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the diurnal cortisol secretion and the pituitary-adrenal response to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in subjects suffering from bulimia nervosa. Eight female subjects with remitted bulimia nervosa, ages 24-56, and 8 sex- and weight-matched controls volunteered to participate.