The American Journal of Medicine RSS feed: Articles in Press. The American Journal of Medicine - "The Green Journal" - publishes original clinical research of interest to physicians in internal medicine, both in academia and community-based practice. The American Journal of Medicine is the official journal of The Association of Professors of Medicine, a prestigious group comprised of chairs of departments of internal medicine at more than 125 medical schools across the country. Each issue carries useful reviews as well as seminal articles of immediate interest to the practicing physician, including peer-reviewed, original scientific studies that have direct clinical significance, and position papers on health care issues, medical education, and public policy. The journal's ISI factor - the international measure of cited manuscripts and scientific impact - is fourteenth in the world among all general medical journals. The AJM publishes studies performed by multi-center groups in the various disciplines of medicine, including clinical trials and cohort studies from large patient populations, specifically: Phase I, phase II, and phase III studies performed under the auspices of groups such as general clinical research centers, cooperative oncology groups, and the like. Reports of patients with common presentations or diseases, especially studies that delineate the natural history and therapy of important conditions. Reviews oriented to the practicing internist and diagnostic puzzles, complete with images from a variety of specialties. Careful physiological or pharmacological studies that explain normal function or the body's response to disease. Analytic reviews such as meta-analyses and decision analyses that use a formal structure to summarize an important field. http://www.amjmed.com//inpress?rss=yesElsevier Inc.en © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The American Journal of Medicine0002-93432012-02-03 © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. healthpermissions@elsevier.comhttp://www.amjmed.com/article/PIIS0002934311005821/abstract?rss=yesTraditionally, personal integrity and professional accountability have guaranteed appropriate authorship of biomedical journal articles. However, recent controversies, including exposés of ghostwriting and guest authorship, have shown the fallibility of this trust.Ghostwriting: Research Misconduct, Plagiarism, or Fool's Gold? - Corrected ProofXavier Bosch, Joseph S. Ross10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.07.015The American Journal of Medicine (2012)2012-02-03The American Journal of Medicine2012-02-03COMMENTARYhttp://www.amjmed.com/article/PIIS0002934311006450/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether time-dependent annual fasting plasma glucose (FPG) variation, as represented by coefficient of variation (CV), can predict mortality in subsequent all-cause, expanded, and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease-related mortality independent of mean FPG, renal function, mean hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), HbA1C variation, and other risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A computerized database of all patients with type 2 diabetes aged 30 years and over (n = 5008) enrolled in the Diabetes Care Management Program of China Medical University Hospital before 2007 was used in a time-dependent Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: The mortality rates were 8.64, 12.71, and 30.82 per 1000 person-years in groups of first, second, and third tertiles of baseline FPG-CV, respectively. Among these patients with type 2 diabetes, 336, 1191, 914, 585, and 1979 patients provided 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 or more years of annual FPG-CV measurements, respectively. After adjusting for mean FPG, mean HbA1C, HbA1C variation, and other risk factors, annual FPG-CV was independently associated with all-cause mortality and mortality due to expanded and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease, and the corresponding hazard ratios for third versus first tertile of annual FPG-CV were 5.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.85-7.94), 3.21 (95% CI, 2.00-5.15), and 9.45 (95% CI, 5.37-16.63), respectively. Conclusions: Time-dependent variation of FPG was a strong predictor of all-cause, expanded, and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease-related mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that glucose variation may become a measure in clinical practice for the goal in the management of these patients. Variation of Fasting Plasma Glucose: A Predictor of Mortality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes - Corrected ProofCheng-Chieh Lin, Chia-Ing Li, Sing-Yu Yang, Chiu-Shong Liu, Ching-Chu Chen, Martin Mao-Tsu Fuh, Walter Chen, Tsai-Chung Li10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.07.027The American Journal of Medicine (2012)2012-02-03The American Journal of Medicine2012-02-03CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDYhttp://www.amjmed.com/article/PIIS0002934311006462/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Purpose: We report on clinical indicators of 6-month mortality in advanced noncancer illnesses and the effect of treatment on survival.Methods: The MEDLINE database was searched comprehensively to find studies evaluating survival for common advanced noncancer illnesses. We retrieved and evaluated studies that reported a median survival of ≤1 year and evaluated prognostic factors or effect of treatment on survival. We extracted data on presentations with median survivals of ≤6 months for heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, geriatric failure to thrive, cirrhosis, and end-stage renal failure. Independent risk factors for survival were combined and included if their combination was associated with a 6-month mortality of ≥50%.Results: The search identified 1000 potentially relevant studies, of which 475 were retrieved and evaluated, and 74 were included. We report the common clinical presentations that are consistently associated with a 6-month median survival. Even though advanced noncancer syndromes differ clinically, a universal set of prognostic factors signals progression to terminal disease, including poor performance status, advanced age, malnutrition, comorbid illness, organ dysfunction, and hospitalization for acute decompensation. Generally, a 6-month median survival is associated with the presence of 2-4 of these factors. With few exceptions, these terminal presentations are quite refractory to treatment.Conclusion: This systematic review summarizes prognostic factors common to advanced noncancer illness. There is little evidence at present that treatment prolongs survival at these terminal stages.Systematic Review of Noncancer Presentations with a Median Survival of 6 Months or Less - Corrected ProofShelley R. Salpeter, Esther J. Luo, Dawn S. Malter, Brad Stuart10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.07.028The American Journal of Medicine (2011)2011-10-25The American Journal of Medicine2011-10-25CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDY