Medically intractable epilepsy (MIE) is a chronic disabling condition that primarily affects the young. Inadequately treated, it can produce life-long disability associated with high rates of social isolation, unemployment, depression, suicide and premature mortality. Recent advances in...

Telemedicine and disease management are relatively new concepts in healthcare delivery. Disease management focuses on the patient throughout the entire course of the disease, and aims to improve both the clinical outcomes for the patient and the overall cost effectiveness of the treatment...

Background: Screening for osteoporosis has been recommended to identify patients at high risk of fracture in order to provide preventative treatment. Given the limited availability of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and health resources, quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) has emerged as an...

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality and is associated with the consumption of considerable health resources worldwide. Initial treatment of patients with CAP is often empirical. Growing concern about the increasing prevalence of atypical organisms is...

Precise estimates of the prevalence of chronic pain syndromes are difficult to ascertain. In the US, for example, there may be 30 million people with chronic or recurrent painful conditions. To date, there is still no one treatment that consistently and permanently alleviates chronic pain for...

The pandemic caused by HIV is one of the fastest growing health problems in the world today. Given the limited resources available to healthcare systems in many of the most heavily affected countries, it is crucially important to know the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and acceptability of...

Introduction and objectives: To assess the cost effectiveness of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on the recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology and other societies for Hypercholesterolemia Management (ESCHM). Study design and perspective: A cluster-randomized,...

Alzheimer Data on the effectiveness of these drugs from information beyond the short-term clinical trials (e.g. long-term clinical trials and non-trial data) are now emerging. In most cases, the results indicate that, at least for some patients, continued treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors...

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that typically manifests during adolescence and early adulthood. Treatment of this disease consumes a significant proportion of the healthcare budget (billions of dollars in the US). Primary management options for schizophrenia include both pharmacologic and...

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have poor survival prospects, as most have advanced disease at diagnosis. Chemotherapy can be used to treat these patients if their performance status is good, although there are geographical differences in chemotherapy use. Combination...