Postgraduate medical journal
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This paper discusses the rapidly evolving healthcare risk landscape and considers how emerging trends-such as advancement of medical technology, cyber security, pandemic risks, increasing prevalence of noncommunicable health conditions, and the shift towards patient autonomy-are shaping the nature of liabilities faced by doctors and healthcare professionals. Then it discusses practical ways to mitigate clinical risks and resolve the medico-legal claims or inquiries that arise while addressing the role that indemnity providers should play.
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Women physicians are promoted less often, more likely to experience harassment and bias, and paid less than their male peers. Although many institutions have developed initiatives to help women physicians overcome these professional hurdles, few are specifically geared toward physicians-in-training. ⋯ Nearly all agreed that they would advise other training programs to implement a similar program. We present our model for women-trainee support to further the collective advancement of women physicians.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Intensive blood pressure control in older patients with hypertension-a STEP in the right direction?
In November 2022, the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension in China were updated; the definition of hypertension and the target of treatment was changed from 140/90 mm Hg to 130/80 mm Hg. This was prompted by the results of the Strategy of Blood Pressure Intervention in the Elderly Hypertensive Patients (STEP) study, a large multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted in China. ⋯ It is also reassuring to know that treating adults aged 60 years or older to achieve a systolic blood pressure of <130 mm Hg is safe, while reducing cardiovascular events, stroke and all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to delineate the risks and benefits in subgroups, such as the elderly with diabetes or a history of stroke.
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The associations between female infertility and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) or endometrial cancer (EC) have been reported in observational studies, but its causal relationship remains unknown. We intended to assess the causal effect of female infertility on EOCs and ECs using a two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) approach. ⋯ This large MR analysis supported a causal association between female infertility and increased risk of EOCs, but did not find a causal relationship between infertility and ECs.
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Dengue fever is the second most common mosquito-borne disease affecting human beings and neurological manifestations (NMs) of this arboviral infection are increasingly being reported. ⋯ The NMs of dengue infection are varied, and a high index of suspicion is needed to identify them in patients who present with lethargy or altered sensorium on the background of an acute febrile illness suggestive of dengue.