Key Point -Because factors such as fever and exercise can cause a transient increase in protein excretion, patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who have abnormal findings on annual measurement of the urine albumin excretion should undergo repeat urinalyses twice within the next 6 months; positive findings on two of the three urine samples would confirm a diagnosis of microalbuminuria defined as a urine albumin-creatinine ratio between 30 and 300 mg/g.
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STP and Product Development: Lessons Learned – Insurance Networking News
Omega-3s Linked to Lower Amyloid Levels
People who had a lot of omega-3 fatty acids in their diets tended to have lower plasma levels of beta-amyloid proteins, possibly reducing their risk of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers said.
In a cross-sectional study of more than 1,200 cognitively normal individuals older than 65, omega-3 fatty acid intake was significantly predictive of plasma levels of the 40- and 42-residue forms of beta-amyloid protein (AB40 and AB42, respectively), according to Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues.
Death Rate Still High in RA Vasculitis
From 1988 to 2000, the average annual incidence of this condition was 9.1 per million (95% CI 6.8 to 12), falling to 3.9 per million (95% CI 2.3 to 6.2) in the subsequent decade, according to Eleana Ntatsaki, PhD, from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in Norwich, England, and colleagues.
In the earlier and later time periods, 1-year mortality rates were 14%, and 12%, respectively.
But 5-year mortality rates for systemic rheumatoid vasculitis were 51% and 60%, respectively, despite current therapeutic strategies such as treat-to-target, she said.
via Medical News: Death Rate Still High in RA Vasculitis – in Meeting Coverage, BSR from MedPage Today.
Document Your Case – InsuranceNewsNet Magazine May 2012
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine May 2012 – page 28.
Good article on file documentation. The article is aimed at producers but the advice can be used by anyone who works with an elderly population.
Reduced Total Lung Capacity and Mortality
Background: Pulmonary restriction is associated with increased mortality in adults, especially those who are elderly. Previous studies, however, have used the FVC as a surrogate for the total lung capacity (TLC). We evaluated the association between a reduced TLC, mortality, and health-care resources use and compared this association with a reduced FVC.
Conclusions: Reduced TLC is strongly associated with mortality in adults who are elderly. Reduction of the FVC is a weaker risk factor for mortality.
via Association of Reduced Total Lung Capacity With Mortality and Use of Health Services.
Lassa Fever in Nigeria – CDC
The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health has reported an increased number of cases of Lassa fever. Nineteen of the country’s 36 states have reported cases since the beginning of 2012. As of April 13, 2012, there were reports of 818 suspected cases, including 84 deaths. At this time, 131 cases have been confirmed by laboratory testing. Seven deaths have also been reported among health care workers.
via Lassa Fever in Nigeria – Travelers’ Health – CDC.
Avoid contact with rats, especially rat urine and feces. Put food away in rodent-proof containers.
- Keep the home clean and rodent proof.
- Trap rats in and around homes.
- Do not eat rats.
Left Ventricular End-diastolic Pressure – Independent Predictor of Outcome
The abstract is © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hence, no quotes were reproduced from the abstract.
You’ll have to click through for the abstract.
Berry Good News
In the current analysis, Elizabeth Devore, an instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and her colleagues addressed the gap in the research by reviewing the eating habits of a single cohort of 16,000 women participating in the Nurses Health Study. During their 50s and 60s, every four years the women answered questions by phone about what they ate. And in their 70s, they came into the lab for six different cognitive function tests. Devore and her team also had information on the women’s education, income and other socioeconomic factors that can affect cognitive function.
She and her colleagues focused their attention on berries because rodent studies showed that the key compound in berries, a flavonoid called anthocyanidin, could seep through the blood and into brain tissues — specifically concentrating in the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory. As an antioxidant, flavonoids also fight inflammation and oxidation, both processes that affect aging brain cells.
Finasteride Sexual Side Effects Prompt FDA Warning, Label Changes
Proscar is indicated for treatment of symptoms in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and also is approved to reduce urinary retention risk or the need for surgery related to BPH. Propecia is approved for use only in men as a treatment for male pattern baldness.
Among specific changes the FDA is calling for are:
- a revision to the Propecia label to add libido disorders, ejaculation disorders and orgasm disorders that continued after the drug was discontinued;
- a revision to the Proscar label to include decreased libido that continued after the drug was discontinued; and
- revisions to both drugs’ labels that describe reports of male infertility and/or poor semen quality that normalized or, at least, improved after discontinuing the respective drug.
According to the agency, the changes were based on its review of hundreds of case reports of sexual dysfunction that persisted after patients ceased using the drugs. It should be noted that in 2011, the FDA called for both drugs’ labels to be revised to include erectile dysfunction as a side effect that continued after discontinuation of the drug.
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