Sitting and standing tolerance in patients with chronic back pain: comparison between physician prediction and covert observation.

Objectives: To measure covertly observed continuous sitting and standing tolerance in patients with chronic back pain and to compare observations to physician predictions.

Design: Blinded, prospective, cohort study.

Setting: Ambulatory referral centers, both public and private, at 5 major medical centers in the eastern United States.

Mirtazapine is associated with less anxiolytic use among elderly depressed patients in long-term care facilities.

Background: Depression is a common, treatable disorder among nursing facility residents.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine medication use and cost between two groups of patients: (1) persons treated with mirtazapine, as compared with (2) persons taking other antidepressants.

Design: This study was a retrospective chart review of long-term care patients.

The pharmacist's role in managing patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Early recognition of Alzheimer's disease is important, because medications can slow but not reverse cognitive decline, offering the benefits of delaying the onset of troublesome behavior and loss of independence, easing caregiver burden, and delaying placement in a long-term care facility. Researchers are assessing whether pharmacologic treatment might be useful in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Dietary factors and alterations in lipid levels are increasingly believed to be important factors in Alzheimer's disease that are modifiable through lifestyle changes and medications.