JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
-
Surgical problems do not end on a person's centennial, and as our overall population ages, physicians will see increasing numbers of these most senior citizens requiring surgery. Accordingly, the records of all century-old patients who have undergone surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the years 1979 to 1983 were reviewed. ⋯ The centenarian has already been tested by life and found exceptionally fit. Selectivity and meticulous attention to detail remain paramount in treating these patients, but elective surgery should not be deferred, nor emergency surgery denied the centenarian on the basis of chronologic age.
-
Based on the aggregate of behavioral risk factor surveys, almost one third of adults were smokers in 1982. Overall, significantly fewer Hispanics smoked compared with whites or blacks. ⋯ Since 1965, the rate of decline of smoking among women has not been as great as that among men, due in part to the high rate--more than 40%--of smoking among young white women. Despite continued decrease in the overall proportion of smokers, the high rate among young women emphasizes the need for continued efforts toward prevention and cessation, before the well-documented health consequences develop.
-
Letter Case Reports
Atrioventricular conduction block caused by phenylpropanolamine.
-
Historical Article
A case of professional exclusion in 1870. The formation of the first black medical society.
In the last half of the 19th century, medicine was becoming organized. In Washington, DC, in 1870, the attempt by black physicians to join the local medical society met with fierce and successful resistance. Ultimately, a separate, racially integrated medical society was formed. One hundred years ago, it became the still-vital Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia, the local branch of the National Medical Society.