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There is no doubt that a patient with atrial fibrillation (AF) is at higher risk of ischemic stroke, this being the reason for administering oral anticoagulation treatment (OAT). Since quantifying this risk and the actual benefit of OAT are still largely undetermined, many algorithms have been [...]
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daWomen in pre-menopause who have recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) are often treated with antibiotics, but this can lead to antibiotic resistance. For this reason, other non-antibiotic therapies are being explored for the treatment of this disease. Among the natural substances being tested [...]
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Since massage is one of the most popular and important therapies for back pain, its effectiveness was investigated in a randomized study involving 400 patients with chronic low back pain (lasting longer than 3 months), treated with either usual care, 10 weekly sessions of relaxing massage (intended [...]
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Although low dose acetylsalicylic acid (75-150 mg/day) is known to lower the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with stable cardiovascular disease, its use is often discontinued by patients because of its side effects or simple negligence. This case-control study, funded by the [...]
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It is traditional knowledge that patients should undergo a lumbar puncture to ascertain subarachnoid haemorrhage, independently of the results from CT. A recent prospective study investigated 3,132 neurological patients aged over 15 years, with third generation head CT scanning to evaluate [...]
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Lung function in patients with asthma is measured using spirometry, and it is known that placebo can influence the clinical result, sometimes even remarkably. Addressing this point, a study was carried out on 46 patients with asthma: each patient was treated, in different days, with either an [...]
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The 2009 USPSTF (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force) guidelines have reopened the question of mass population mammographic screening, especially after the results of a Swedish study in which 133,000 women with no history of breast cancer were randomized to undergo either screening, once every 2 [...]
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Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors increase the risk of infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In order to quantify this risk, investigators in Japan compared the records from 646 patients treated with either etanercept or infliximab and 498 treated with nonbiological drugs.; [...]
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It is widely acknowledged that patients with chronic kidney disease are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but very little is known about its association with cardiac arrhythmia. To explore this association, investigators used the data from a large cohort study involving 10,328 patients [...]
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A number of studies has shown that treatments involving excessive doses of statins may be associated with patients developing insulin resistance, resulting in higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. To examine this possibility, investigators carried out a meta-analysis of 5 randomized statin [...]