Internal Medicine

Researchers identify limited evidence base and uneven clinical application as probable reasons for variation.

Researchers at Tufts University have published a timely review of the cranberry's phytochemical composition with emphasis on urinary and cardiovascular heath.

In addition to treating episodes of major depression, Brintellix (vortioxentine) has demonstrated superiority to placebo on measures of cognitive function in adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Results from an eight-year study in Taiwan demonstrated that antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus infection is associated with improved renal and cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic patients.

Results from animal models of depression and a human clinical trial show that enhancing, instead of blocking, the NMDA glutamate receptor can cause antidepressant-like effects.

Within a year of their diagnosis, nearly half of all first-line drug-treated MDD patients were also treated with a second-line therapy, a new study finds. Cymbalta leads the market in second-line therapy, used individually or as a combination, and Abilify is the leading atypical antipsychotic.

A researcher from the University of Central Florida Medical School addresses many concerns and misperceptions of fructose-containing sugars.

Researchers using mice models have shown that the compound SR2211, which targets a nuclear receptor that is a key regulator of TH17 cells, significantly reduces joint inflammation and erosion.

A new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 56 children with Crohn's disease suggests pediatric patients treated with thalidomide have better rates of remission and response than those given placebo.

Compared to a low-fat diet, adherence to a Mediterranean diet has significant benefit in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among patients aged 55-80 years old at high baseline cardiovascular risk without cardiovascular disease.

The risk for depression exists in the years prior to menopause, but declines as a woman approaches her final menstrual period (FMP) and decreases even further after FMP, according to one study.

Study results could help lead to better treatments for hypogonadism and other steroid hormone disorders.

An update from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests strategies for prescribing antibiotics for bacterial upper respiratory tract infections in children.

The FDA has approved the NS3/4A protease inhibitor simeprevir for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C as part of combination antiretroviral therapy in genotype 1 infected adults with compensated liver disease, including cirrhosis.

Following an extended review of safety data that showed no elevated risk of heart attack or death in patients taking rosiglitazone, the FDA announced it is lifting certain restrictions on the prescribing and dispensing of the drug.

With nearly one-third of US adults suffering from vitamin D deficiency, and studies showing a strong association between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension risk, supplementation with vitamin D may increase the effectiveness of hypertension treatments.

Although there appears to be no difference in blood pressure reduction in patients who take aspirin at bedtime compared to those who take it when they awake in the morning, bedtime aspirin may be associated with reduced morning platelet reactivity.

A recent study of thienopyridine use among patients who had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a large hospital network found that the antiplatelet drug ticagrelor was more frequently prescribed in higher risk, less stable patients.

Treatment with rivaroxaban reduced the long-term risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke in patients with ACS on a thienopyridine such as clopidogrel, regardless of PPI use.

Initial results from human clinical trials involving the use of bioengineered blood vessels could point the way to cost-effective alternative therapies for hemodialysis patients with end-stage renal disease.

Patients with heart failure who received left ventricle augmentation with Algisyl-LVR hydrogel implant experienced improved quality of life and functional capacity compared to similar patients treated with optimal medical therapy.

Results from a recent study show that intensive statin therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome does not increase the risk of kidney injury.

Patients with non-ST-segment elevation (non-STEMI) acute coronary syndrome and peripheral artery disease (PAD) treated with the PAR-1 antagonist vorapaxar experienced a reduction in ischemic events and other outcomes compared to patients who received placebo, with no increased risk of bleeding compared to patients who did not have PAD.

Antiarrhythmic drug therapy was associated with increased risk of rehospitalization after one year in a population of elderly patients with atrial fibrillation and CAD.

Analysis of health claims data indicates that physicians are underprescribing anticoagulant treatment in large numbers of patients with atrial fibrillation who are at high risk of stroke and low risk of bleeding.

Researchers reported finding large differences in the incidence rates of major cardiovascular disease across a broad range of immigrant groups to Canada.

Although oral antiplatelet therapy is broadly supported as preventive therapy for patients with established atherosclerotic vascular disease, researchers say emerging evidence for specific agents shows heterogeneous outcomes by symptomatic vascular bed, and patterns of use may vary by symptomatic territory.

Treating Hispanic patients with stable CAD with daily low-dose aspirin plus ticagrelor provided lower levels of on-treatment platelet reactivity with a faster onset and greater extent of platelet inhibition, compared to treatment with aspirin plus clopidogrel.

Study results confirm the validity of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire section focusing on chronic angina frequency, showing it correlated strongly with patients' daily diary entries regarding angina frequency and medication use.

Researchers with the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study are working to understand the mechanisms of sudden cardiac arrest by "searching for novel determinants of this condition that will facilitate the identification of subjects at risk, with the overall goal of improving prevention of sudden cardiac arrest" and improving the current low rate of successful resuscitation.