Combining strength training along with aerobic exercise is more beneficial than aerobic exercise alone in cardiac rehabilitation exercise programs. Beniamini Y et al. J Cardiopulmonary Rehab 1999;19(1):8.

Cardiac risk stratification prior to surgery was found to be frequently inaccurate according to this Canadian study. Validated cardiac indices such as the Detsky or L'Italien scores were rarely used, and imaging studies also rare, even prior to vascular surgery. Arch Intern Med 1999;159:713.

This study of 955 patients presenting to the emergency room with nontraumatic chest pain, found that the CK-MB subform assay was a better early marker of myocardial infarction than Troponin I, Troponin T, or myoglobin levels. The EKG was diagnostic in only 45% of patients. Zimmerman J et al. Circulation 1999;99:1671.

Folate intake, through the usage of multivitamins, was found to decrease the risk of breast cancer in women who drink alcohol. There was no benefit among women who did not drink. Zhang S et al. JAMA 1999;281:1632.

This guideline put out by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians notes that no properly constructed trials have proven the superiority of one intervention over another in the treatment of migraine headaches. Ducharme J et al. J Emerg Med 1999;17:137.

In this study of 4082 women with bladder infections, the antibiotic resistance of E.Coli to trimethoprim (with or without sulfamethoxazole) increased from 9% in 1992 to 18% in 1996. Gupta K et al. JAMA 1999;281:736.

This review article notes that antibiotic resistance continues to build. It has been called the top threat to the treatment of infectious disease worldwide. This competition between the bacteria on one side, and our antibiotic medicines on the other, is starting to be won by the bacteria. Consultant 1999;39(5):1376.

According to Dr. Patricia J. Sulak (speaking at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicint), oral contraceptives should be continued until age 52 because of their significant health benefits to women, especially between the ages of 35 and 42. Family Practice News, July 15, 1999, p.25.

In this study of 107 patients with the chronic diseases of asthma or rheumatoid arthritis, those patients that wrote for 20 minutes a day, for three consecutive days, about the most stressful event in their life, demonstrated a significant improvement in their symptoms 4 months later. The control group consisted of writing for 20 minutes a day for 3 straight days about an emotionally neutral topic. Those writing about their most stressful event were twice as likely to have an improvement in their symptoms compared with the control group. Smyth JM et al. JAMA 1999;281:1304.

This study of 501 Schottish families with a child with astma and a parent who smoked, advising the parent(s)to stop smoking because of the risk of second-hand smoke on their child was not helpful. In fact, when the families were studied a year later, parents advised to stop smoking because of the effect on their child were more likely to have increased their tobacco use compared with the control families. Irvine L et al. BMJ 1999;318:1456.