Toward an effective long-term strategy for preventing motor vehicle crashes and injuries.

Casualties due to motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) include some 40,000 deaths each year in the United States and one million deaths worldwide. One strategy that has been recommended for improving automobile safety is to lower speed limits and enforce them with speed cameras. However, motor vehicles can be hazardous even at low speeds whereas properly protected human beings can survive high-speed crashes without injury.

Patient and parent preferences for orthodontic practices.

This study was designed to identify who chooses an orthodontic office and what factors might induce the attraction. Patients and parents from the lists provided by suburban orthodontic offices were contacted. A mail-out survey instrument was used to gather the data.

Smokable methamphetamine ('ice'): an old drug in a different form.

Methamphetamine has long been a drug of abuse. The smokable form of methamphetamine hydrochloride, called "ice" on the street, is twice as toxic as amphetamine and has clinical effects similar to those of cocaine. In the United States, methamphetamine use has spread eastward from Hawaii and California.

Residents' formal knowledge acquisition and preferred learning styles.

Background: Many family practice residency programs use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in their educational programs. Our purpose was to study the relationship between learning style, as determined by MBTI personality preferences, and residents' cognitive knowledge acquisition, measured by in-service training examination (ISTE) scores during the first and third years of residency.

Methods: We evaluated 36 residents using both their first- and third-year ISTE composite scores and their MBTI scores.

Management of common anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders affect 16 percent of the U.S. population.

Efficacy of sliding-scale insulin therapy: a comparison with prospective regimens.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of retroactive sliding-scale insulin therapy, proactive therapy, and a combination of the two methods in establishing glycemic control in hospitalized diabetic patients.

Methods: Medical records of 47 diabetic ketoacidosis inpatients were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: The sliding-scale insulin therapy group's glucose deviation score (167.

Ice--a new drug of concern?

Methamphetamine has long been a drug of abuse. Recently, a resurgence of its use has spread across the country. A smokable form of methamphetamine hydrochloride with the street name "ice" has spread eastward from Hawaii and California.

Cytotoxicity of orthodontic elastics.

The neon-colored orthodontic rubber bands have recently become remarkably popular to wear among the young patients. In this study we examined if the dyes used in the manufacture of these elastics might exhibit any toxic effects. Gingival fibroblasts were exposed to extracts of colored and plain elastics in vitro.

Diabetic diarrhea. An underdiagnosed complication?

Diarrhea is a common gastrointestinal problem in diabetes, and its prevalence has been underestimated. The cause of diabetic diarrhea is unknown, but it is probably related to gastrointestinal motility disturbances secondary to diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Other causes (especially primary malabsorption syndromes and islet cell tumors) must be excluded.

Graduate follow-up in the University of Mississippi family practice residency program.

Practice profiles in 120 University Medical Center Department of Family Medicine residency graduates were assessed by questionnaire and follow-up telephone calls. Physician credentials, career satisfaction, and evaluation of residency training were also addressed. Findings include some preferences for partnership or group practice settings and practices in communities of less than 25,000.

Substance abuse: the designer drugs.

Designer drugs, chemically altered compounds derived from federally controlled substances, have become a major cause of addiction and overdose deaths. These drugs include mescaline analogs, synthetic opioids, arylhexylamines, methaqualone derivatives and crack, a new form of cocaine. Sudden changes in mood, weight loss, depression, disturbed sleep patterns, deteriorating school or work performance, marital problems, and loss of interest in friends and social activities may be signs of drug addiction.

Update on street drugs in Mississippi.

Drug abuse is on the rise in Mississippi. Treatment centers across the state report significant increases in substance abuse cases. Consequently, family physicians must have the most current, accurate information available and the skills with which to treat either an acute crisis or the chronic problems related to drug abuse.