Editor's Note, Volume 7 Issue 2
D’Arcy Little, MD, CCFP, FRCPC
Medical Director, JCCC and HealthPlexus.NET
I am pleased to introduce the next issue of the Journal of Current Clinical Care.
Dr. Eugene K. Wai, Kristen H. Beange, Tianna H. Beharriell, and Dr. Ryan B. Graham present A Spinal Control Approach to Back Pain for the Primary Care Provider. Impaired neuromuscular control of the spine is widely recognized as an important factor in the development of low back pain (LBP). In this review, the authors summarize contemporary approaches for the assessment of spinal control variables such as stability, stiffness, coordination, and kinematics as well as the most current definitions within the LBP community. They discuss how these assessments can be incorporated into primary clinical care to improve diagnosis and treatment effectiveness.
In their article, Clinical Management of Disorders of Sex Development, Drs. Leanna W. Mah and Jennifer H. Yang, and Danielle Wang, from the University of California in Sacramento, CA review disorders of sex development (DSD) as an umbrella term for congenital conditions in which anatomic, gonadal, or chromosomal sex is atypical. DSD is found in 7.5% of all births defects and 1 in 5,000 babies born worldwide have significant ambiguous genitalia. Best practices involve multidisciplinary teams, informed consent and shared decision-making with the patient and family. As a group, DSD patients are rare and therefore clinically challenging. Primary care providers, family medicine physicians, and pediatricians are the foundation for patients' medical care and therefore play a key role in the initial diagnosis, guidance, coordination of care, and long-term management.
Dr. Mchael Gordon, from the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto offers The Need to Feed—A Powerful Force, in our Ethics column. Food is clearly one of the essentials of life. For many family members the difference between eating and drinking which is associated with the pleasure of the first maternal feed and a life-time of socially mediated eating, versus artificial nutrition and hydration is only a matter of interpretation—for others there is no comparison. How this plays out in end of life situations varies for many reasons and physicians can help families make decisions about most feeding situations to help determine their loved one's preferences.
I hope you enjoy this latest edition. Please consider commenting or submitting an article of your own.