I like the term cartoonist Hilary Price coined: “Pretendicitis.” However, the technical term Somatic Symptom Disorder (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) stopped using the older term, Somatoform disorders) refers to the group of diagnoses in …
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The clever comic strip “Rhymes with Orange” from the September 5, 2013 funny pages mentions Alzheimer’s, a disease found in the Neurology and General Internal Medicine sections of the ABIM Internal Medicine Exam blueprint:     Here, we provide you …
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Just in time for Knowmedge’s ABIM Neurology Week, the makers of one of the most widely used headache pain relievers, made an important announcement late last week.     The familiar Tylenol bottles lining the analgesia and cold/flu aisles of …
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Specific organisms are a significant part of the Infectious Diseases portion of the Internal Medicine (ABIM) board exam syllabus. Below we review Listeria monocytogenes by examining the recent outbreak and subsequent recall of infected cheese.     In late summer …
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  Remember learning about dogaracts during med school? Neither do I. But let’s take a minute to review cataracts, which are opacities or a clouding of the ocular lens. Worldwide, they represent the leading cause of blindness. In the US, …
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Traditionally, mention a clinical vignette featuring a “20-something year-old male basketball player with no known medical or surgical history suddenly collapsing during a game” to any medical student and he or she will enthusiastically respond “Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”   After news …
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The benefit of statins in preventing cardiovascular disease has been well established for years. So has the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Thus, it came as somewhat of a surprise when the 2008 JUPITER trial revealed that the use …
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Last week was one of celebrities disclosing their medical histories. First, it was Angelina Jolie writing in a New York Times op-ed that she had a undergone a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer given a strong family history. The …
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A 956-word essay by a Hollywood actress has increased awareness of breast cancer genetic syndromes on par with the work of large organizations like the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.   In a widely read …
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Politicians are known to be secretive regarding their social histories. Often—as was the case with former South Carolina governor and future U.S. representative Mark Sanford—this relates to the sexual history. For New Jersey governor Chris Christie, it was his diet …
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