Primary-care physicians are performing colonoscopies as safely and effectively as specialists, a meta-analysis found. The American College of Gastroenterology disagrees.

A new meta-analysis confirmed "a strong and continuous association between urinary proteinuria and subsequent risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)." Meanwhile, a team of French scientists has tied excessive UAE levels to substantially higher risks of developing diabetes in men.

Off-label use of sildenafil (Viagra) relieved sexual side effects of antidepressants for women in a recent clinical trial. Side effects included lack of arousal sensation or lubrication and orgasm delay.

Adding etanercept (Enbrel) to methotrexate therapy for early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) resulted in higher rates of both remission and radiographic nonprogression in a recently reported clinical trial.

A national panel of diabetes experts, pathologists, and internists is promoting hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing as a front-line diagnostic tool for diabetes, particularly for those at high risk for the disease.

People who kept a written record of everything they ate lost more than twice as much weight as those who kept no records, say Kaiser Permanente researchers.

An integrated approach to hypertension and depression treatment yielded significantly better results for both conditions in a recent six-week pilot study.

The annual incidence of melanoma among Caucasian women aged 15-39 years rose 50% between 1980 and 2004, according to a report in Journal of Investigative Dermatology (online publication ahead of print, accessed September 8, 2008).

A short course of a cor-ticosteroid could supplant nonsteroidalanti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as the medication of choice for gout treatment, a Dutch team suggests.

Annual percentage increase in new diagnoses of malignant melanoma from 1992 to 2004.

Percentage of people diagnosed with asthma who don't have the disease.

New recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises against prostate cancer screening for men aged 75 years and older

Time is running out for patients who use albuterol inhalers to replace those propelled by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

New warfarin info for patients from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Investigators in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial published official results confirming earlier findings (N Engl J Med. 2008;358:2545-2559)

A provisional ruling became a full recommendation that adults aged 60 years and older receive the zoster vaccine (Zostavax).