The Janus syndrome

Article Abstract:

The president of the Southwestern Surgical Congress presents an overview of the changes that have occurred in the practice of medicine over the past 23 years. The title of this talk refers to Janus, the Roman god of doorways. Janus had two faces; with one he looked forward to the future, with the other he looked back at the past. Like Janus, we can take what we have learned from the past and apply it to the future. Dr. William F. Sasser began private thoracic surgery practice in 1968 as a solo practitioner. At that time, the great fear of the medical community was the Medicare law, which had been passed three years earlier. Few physicians were employed by hospitals. One reason for the increased number of full-time physician employees has been the use of high level technologies which are unavailable to the private practitioner. For many people today, the emergency room has taken the place of the family doctor. Today's doctors often are no longer the primary care giver, but part of a team of medical professionals who manage the care of the patient. Even the language has sterilized the relationship between doctor and patient. As average health care costs have increased from $200 a year in 1965 to over $2,000 a year, so has a physicians' malpractice insurance (for the speaker, a cardio-thoracic surgeon, this increased from $450 in 1968 to $52,000 last year). Medicine today is more business oriented and less service oriented. The growth of outpatient care is one of the biggest changes in the past 20 years. Patients today take a more active role in caring for their health. The key element of the past that must be brought into the future is the doctor/patient relationship. The person in the hospital bed should come before paper work and audits, and complaints about government. When the patient is your first commitment, ethics and caring fall into place. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Medicine, Practice, Physician and patient, Physician-patient relations, Ethical aspects, Medical practice

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Hepatitis G virus RNA is common in AIDS patients' plasma but is not associated with abnormal liver function tests or other clinical syndromes

Article Abstract:

The hepatitis G virus (HGV) appears to be common in AIDS patients but does not affect them adversely. This virus is distantly related to hepatitis C virus but has not been linked to a specific disease. Researchers analyzed blood samples from 192 AIDS patients and found that 23% tested positive for HGV. Patients infected with hepatitis B were almost 8 times more likely to be HGV-positive. HGV-positive patients did not have liver dysfunction and HGV infection did not affect their prognosis.

Health aspects, AIDS patients, Hepatitis G virus, GB hepatitis agents

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