american journal of medicine

(Elsevier Health Sciences) As the debate about health care in the United States rages, four insightful articles in the March 2011 issue of the American Journal of Medicine strive to add reasoned arguments and empirical research findings to the dialog.

This year an estimated 1.5 million Americans will declare bankruptcy, and a study from the American Journal of Medicine suggests that more than 60 percent of people who go bankrupt are actually capsized by medical bills.

Most of these medical debtors are well educated, own homes, and have middle-class occupations; three quarters have health insurance.

(Elsevier Health Sciences) Several observational studies over the years showed that HRT use by younger postmenopausal women was associated with a significant reduction in total mortality.

A major 2002 study indicated increased risk for certain outcomes in older women, without increasing mortality.

This sparked debate regarding HRT. In an article published in the November 2009 issue of the American Journal of Medicine, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of available data using Bayesian methods and concluded that HRT almost certainly decreases mortality in younger postmenopausal women.