What's the Story with Statins and Stroke Prevention? - A Q&A with Koto Ishida, MD
There have been some disappointing studies and contradictory recommendations on using statins to treat stroke. HCPLive's Gale Scott interviewed Koto Ishida, MD, medical director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Stroke Care Center, about the implications for clinicians.
Growth Hormone Therapy Effective at Increasing Anemics' Height During Childhood
December 18th 2014For children with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) - an inherited condition defined by low red blood cell counts and limited progenitor cells in the bone marrow - growth hormone (GH) therapy was found to increase the short stature of patients - a symptom not widely analyzed.
Streptococcus Prediction Rules Not Accurate in Pediatric Cases
Pharyngitis prediction rules are not as accurate at identifying group A streptococcus cases as previously thought, according to findings published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Mu Opioid Receptor Binding and Smoking Pleasure
For smokers and other users of nicotine, the rewarding effects of the substance had been associated with activation of nicotine receptors. But studies have found evidence that the endogenous opioid system is also involved in creating this sense of pleasure.
Prediction Ratios for Atherosclerosis Cardiovascular Disease Factors Do Not Match Actual Use
Attempts to calibrate statin use, revascularization procedures, and the underascertainment of atherosclerosic cardiovascular disease have not matched the current prediction ratios.
Heart Transplantation in Short Term after Chemotherapy
Patients with a history of cancer are considered high-risk candidates for solid organ transplantation because of concerns about potential adverse effects or recurrence with posttransplant immunosuppression.
Older COX-2 Inhibitors Increase Mortality Risk in Ischemic Stroke
December 16th 2014A new Danish database analysis in the November 2014 issue of Neurology, indicated increased mortality after ischemic stroke in patients taking older non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that inhibit COX-2 (e.g. diclofenac, etodolac).
Racial, Ethnic Disparities Continue in Medicare Advantage Plans
A nationwide study of elderly enrollees in Medicare Advantage health plans concluded that disparities in control of blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose had not improved nationally for blacks in these plans despite the disparities being eliminated in the US west in 2011.