American family physician
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Sleep disorders are common in the general adult population and are associated with adverse effects such as motor vehicle collisions, decreased quality of life, and increased mortality. Patients with sleep disorders can be categorized into three groups: people with problems falling asleep, people with behavior and movement disturbances during sleep, and people with excessive daytime sleepiness. Insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, is defined by difficulty initiating sleep, maintaining sleep, or both, resulting in daytime consequences. ⋯ Narcolepsy is treated with behavior modifications and medications such as stimulants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, sodium oxybate, and pitolisant. Obstructive sleep apnea may be diagnosed in patients with excessive snoring and witnessed apneas and can be diagnosed using overnight polysomnography. Treatment consists of positive airway pressure therapy while sleeping in conjunction with weight loss.
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Ulcerative colitis is a relapsing and remitting inflammatory bowel disease of the large intestine. Risk factors include recent Salmonella or Campylobacter infection and a family history of ulcerative colitis. Diagnosis is suspected based on symptoms of urgency, tenesmus, and hematochezia and is confirmed with endoscopic findings of continuous inflammation from the rectum to more proximal colon, depending on the extent of disease. ⋯ Other treatments such as fecal microbiota transplantation are considered experimental, and complementary therapies such as probiotics and curcumin have mixed data. Surgical treatment may be needed for fulminant or refractory disease. Increased risk of colorectal cancer and use of immunosuppressive therapies affect the preventive care needs for these patients.
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Venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence rates are three times higher in patients with chronic or no risk factors compared with those who have transient risk factors after stopping anticoagulation therapy. In patients with unprovoked VTE, age-appropriate screening is sufficient evaluation for occult malignancy. Thrombophilia evaluation should be considered only in selected patients because routine evaluation has not been shown to improve outcomes. ⋯ All pregnant patients with a prior VTE should receive postpartum prophylaxis for six weeks. Antepartum prophylaxis should be used in pregnant people with a history of unprovoked or hormonally induced VTE. High-risk patients undergoing surgery may require extended VTE prophylaxis postoperatively.