Medscape

BACKGROUND: Patients with dyslipidemia are usually multimorbid and require polypharmacy. Therefore, it is important to identify potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in time to prevent their consequences. We aimed to identify and analyze risk factors contributing to their occurrence to guide health professionals. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional study of 216 outpatients with dyslipidemia was conducted from May 2021 to April 2022 in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro...

Multiple prescriptions for different medications may be needed for chronic conditions, increasing the risk of polypharmacy. The WHO defined polypharmacy as "the administration of many drugs at the same time or the administration of an excessive number of drugs". The primary goal of this study was to evaluate polypharmacy in patients with chronic liver disease and to identify potential drug-drug interactions associated with it. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Mangalore, Karnataka, for six months, from November 2020 to April 2021...

The study aimed to assess clinical pharmacology patterns of prescribed and taken medications in older cardiovascular patients using electronic health records (EHRs) ( n = 704) (2019-2022). Medscape Drug Interaction Checker was used to identify pairwise drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Prevalence rates of DDIs were 73.5% and 68.5% among taken and prescribed drugs, respectively. However, the total number of DDIs was significantly higher among the prescribed medications ( p < 0.05). Serious DDIs comprised 16% and 7% of all DDIs among the prescribed and taken medications, respectively ( p < 0...

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly prevalent condition whose response to pharmacological treatment is associated with a number of factors including psychiatric comorbidity. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) shares clinical symptoms and biological vulnerability with BD and the two conditions are frequently comorbid, thus representing a clinical challenge. The purpose of the present review is to summarize the data related to treatment response in bipolar patients with comorbid BPD. According to systematic review process, a literature search was performed on the PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, Isi Web of Knowledge, Medscape, and Cochrane Library databases...

Repeated exposure to environmental ozone causes a chronic state of oxidative stress. This state is present in chronic degenerative diseases and induces a loss of control of the inflammatory response. Redox system dysfunction and failures in control of inflammatory responses are involved in a vicious circle that maintains and increases the degenerative process. The intestine also responds to secondary reactive species formed by exposure to ozone doses, generating noxious stimuli that increase degenerative damage...

BACKGROUND: Intellectual conflicts of interest (COI), like financial COI, may threaten the validity and trustworthiness of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). However, comparatively little is known about intellectual COI in CPGs. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of intellectual COI and corresponding management strategies among cardiology and pulmonology CPGs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective document review of CPGs published by cardiology or pulmonology professional societies from the United States, Canada, or Europe from 2018 to 2019 available via the Emergency Care Research Institute, Guidelines International Network, or Medscape databases...

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 has gravely affected patients with psychiatric conditions. Potential interactions may occur between psychotropic medications and medications used in treatment of COVID-19. This study aimed to compare the online databases in terms of the quality of drug-drug interaction related information available on them. METHODS: 216 drug interactions which included fifty-four psychotropic medication interactions with four COVID-19 drugs across six databases were analyzed by four authors independently...

Рatients with diabetes have more complications and higher mortality from COVID-19. This is due to the fact that diabetes impairs the immune response. Hyperglycemia causes a violation of the immune response, which in turn cannot control the spread of pathogenic microorganisms and therefore patients with diabetes are more susceptible to infections. The purpose of the work ₋₋ analysis of bibliometric databases of literature on new developments in diabetes and COVID-19 and focused on clinical recommendations for patients with diabetes infected with COVID-19...

Background: Inappropriate prescribing of opioids is thought to play a central role in the ongoing opioid health crisis. Tertiary information resources are commonly used by clinicians for obtaining opioid dosing information. To assist health care providers in pain management, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed a guideline for prescribing opioids. Objective: To identify discrepancies for dosing information on oxycodone between commonly used tertiary drug information resources and the CDC Guideline...

The rapid growth of genomics techniques has revolutionized and impacted, greatly and positively, the knowledge of toxicology, ushering it into a "new era": the era of genomic technology (GT). This great advance permits us to analyze the whole genome, to know the gene response to toxicants and environmental stressors, and to determine the specific profiles of gene expression, among many other approaches. The aim of this work was to compile and narrate the recent research on GT during the last 2 years (2020-2022)...

Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to enhance the visualisation and characterisation of the region of interest/lesion. Internal structures are well seen with MRI with good spatial resolution. Although MRI is generally considered safe during pregnancy, concerns have been raised regarding the safety of GBCAs, particularly during the first trimester. Limited studies have been conducted to assess the safety of GBCAs in pregnant women, with conflicting results...

OBJECTIVES: Osteoarthritis (OA) causes long-term pain and disorders of lower extremities. Paracetamol is the drug of choice, however, NSAIDs, opioids and steroids are frequently employed in the symptomatic relief of OA. The prescribing of multiple analgesics leads to potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs). The primary objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and predictors of pDDIs in OA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of three hundred and eighty-six patients, either newly diagnosed or with a history of OA were enrolled for this cross-sectional study...

OBJECTIVE: Prescribing errors and drug-drug interactions constitute a relevant topic for health professionals in these hospital settings and for the strengthening of strategies to mitigate these errors. The aim of this article was to determine the prescribing errors and drug-drug interactions present in adult patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit in the city of Barranquilla (Colombia). METHODS: A quantitative study was conducted in which 158 medical records of adult patients who were hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the city of Barranquilla during 2019 were analyzed...

Background: Tertiary drug information resources are utilized frequently by health care providers. While pharmacists are uniquely trained and prepared to interpret the information available on these resources, including the results of drug-drug interaction evaluations, discrepancies between such resources pose a major concern for clinicians with regard to patient safety and medication regimen efficacy. It was postulated that drug-drug interaction evaluations between prescription medications and over-the-counter herbal supplements would be particularly problematic...

BACKGROUND: Health care professionals are increasingly using smartphones in clinical care. Smartphone use can affect patient quality of care and clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to describe how physicians use smartphones and mobile apps in clinical settings. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported the results according to PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines...

INTRODUCTION: In most African countries, cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women, both in terms of incidence and fatality. In the existing literature, age is risk factor for developing cervical cancer since it occurs mainly after the middle life of women. However, there have been contradictory findings in the literature on whether early sexual intercourse is linked to cervical cancer, with some studies indicating no relationship and others reporting an increased risk. Hence, this review analyzed data from recently published studies on cervical cancer...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the prevalence and associated risk factors for potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in prescriptions among outpatients with depression, and report the widespread relevant drug interactions. METHODS: The cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted on outpatients in a psychiatric hospital. We included prescriptions of outpatients with a principal diagnosis of depression from April 1st to June 30th in 2021. The patients were ≥ 18 years old and treated with two or more drugs including at least one psychotropic drug...

Otosclerosis, also known as otospongiosis, is a primary osteodystrophy of the otic capsule of the inner ear and one of the leading causes of deafness in adults. The rationale for medical therapy for otospongiosis is to slow down and eventually stop the phase of bone resorption. Conservative treatments include sodium fluoride (NaF), bisphosphonates, and other modern medicines. A systematic review of the existing and published articles and books until April 2021 has been conducted in Medscape, Google Scholar, PubMed, and other databases using appropriate terms...

BACKGROUND: Clinicians need easy access to evidence-based information to inform their clinical practice. Point-of-care information summaries are increasingly available in the form of smartphone apps. However, the quality of information from the apps is questionable as there is currently no regulation on the content of the medical apps. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to systematically assess the quality and content of the medical apps providing point-of-care information summaries that were available in two major app stores...

Background and Objectives: The standard treatment approach in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) is exclusive concurrent chemoradiation therapy (RTCT). The risk of local residual disease after six months from RTCT is about 20-30%. It is directly related to relapse risk and poor survival, such as in patients with recurrent cervical cancer. This systematic review aims to describe studies investigating salvage surgery's role in persistent/recurrent disease in LACC patients who underwent definitive RTCT. Materials and Methods: Studies were eligible for inclusion when patients had LACC with radiologically suspected or histologically confirmed residual disease after definitive RTCT, diagnosed with post-treatment radiological workup or biopsy...