Development of an accurate and sensitive method for lactate analysis in exhaled breath condensate by LC MS/MS.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easily obtained for clinical diagnosis and prognosis for pulmonary diseases and has gained much interest in biomarker discovery research and studies. Lactate, a physiological material, is found in EBC and has been demonstrated to be a potential indicator of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. Several assays are available to detect lactate in human body fluids, and yet none is suitable for detecting lactate in EBC.

Rates and predictors of renewed quitting after relapse during a one-year follow-up among primary care patients.

Background: Most people who quit smoking relapse within a year of quitting. Little is known about what prompts renewed quitting after relapse or how often this results in abstinence.

Purpose: This study seeks to identify rates, efficacy, and predictors of renewed quit attempts after relapse during a 1-year follow-up.

Healthcare costs around the time of smoking cessation.

Background: The Affordable Care Act mandates that new insurance plans cover smoking-cessation therapy without cost-sharing. Previous cost difference estimates, which show a spike around the time of cessation, suggest premiums might rise as a result of covering these services.

Purpose: The goal of the study was to test (1) whether individuals in an RCT of pharmacotherapy and counseling for smoking cessation differed in their healthcare costs around the cessation period, and (2) whether the healthcare costs of those in the trial who successfully quit were different from a matched sample of smokers in the community.

Comparative effectiveness of 5 smoking cessation pharmacotherapies in primary care clinics.

Background: Randomized efficacy clinical trials conducted in research settings may not accurately reflect the benefits of tobacco dependence treatments when used in real-world clinical settings. Effectiveness trials (eg, in primary care settings) are needed to estimate the benefits of cessation treatments in real-world use.

Methods: A total of 1346 primary care patients attending routine appointments were recruited by medical assistants in 12 primary care clinics.

Integrating smoking cessation treatment into primary care: an effectiveness study.

Background: Lack of interest has been cited as a reason not to offer cessation assistance to smokers, but research suggests that smokers accept treatments offered proactively. This study assessed acceptability, utilization, and effectiveness of free smoking cessation treatment among diverse primary care patients.

Method: Medical assistants invited 4174 adult smokers to participate.

Community medicine in action: an integrated, fourth-year urban continuity preceptorship.

Objective: To provide an opportunity for fourth-year students at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison to immerse in urban community medicine during a 34-week program. This experience enhances the integrity of the fourth year as well as merges medicine and public health perspectives in medical education as called for by the Medicine and Public Health Initiative.

Description: A limited number of fourth-year Wisconsin medical students have the opportunity to select a one-year, continuity-based preceptorship at the Milwaukee clinical campus with a focus in one of three domains: family medicine, internal medicine, or women's health.