Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficiency of nicotinamide-based supportive therapy in lymphopenia for patients with ordinary or severe COVID-19: A randomized controlled trial.
This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of nicotinamide-based supportive therapy for lymphopenia in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). ⋯ Among patients with COVID-19, there was no statistically significant difference in the change of whole blood counts and absolute lymphocyte counts before and after intervention in both groups. Therefore, no new evidence has been found regarding the effect of niacinamide on lymphopenia in COVID-19 patients.
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Often, there is a delay in the diagnosis of inflammatory back pain (IBP) in the primary care setting. This may be attributed to the inability of healthcare providers to distinguish between inflammatory and mechanical back pain. This study aimed to evaluate primary care physicians' current practices for assessing patients with IBP using clinical, radiographic, and laboratory tests. ⋯ For treatment of IBP, NSAIDs were most prescribed (48.6%), followed by physiotherapy (45.6%) and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (41.7%). Primary care physicians were more confident in management of mechanical back pain than IBP (P < .001). Primary care physicians have good knowledge of IBP symptoms but not of disease-specific features and modest confidence in evaluating patients with IBP, indicating the need for educational programs and a more effective, feasible referral strategy.
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From the end of 2019 to now, COVID-19 is still prevalent, which poses a great threat to international public health. With the increasing number of people infected, the number of patients with COVID-19 sequelae is also increasing, but there is no specific drug for COVID-19 sequelae. In China, traditional Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture has been widely used in COVID-19 sequelae, but there is still a lack of evidence-based medicine evaluation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion in the treatment of COVID-19 sequelae. ⋯ This study will provide evidence whether there is benefit of traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion in the treatment of COVID-19 sequelae. At the same time, our research results will provide a reference for clinical decision-making and guiding development in the future.
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Smoking negatively impacts public health. There are several treatments to quit smoking, and nicotine replacement treatment (NRT) reportedly doubles the smoking cessation rate, with some limitations. Acupuncture is an alternative option with proven effects on smoking cessation. However, there has been no definite report that indicates the efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture (AA) combined with NRT on smoking cessation. ⋯ Our study will provide additional clinical evidence for AA as an adjuvant treatment for smoking cessation.
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Dry eye disease (DED) is a condition occurring worldwide. Studies have found that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients may have persistent dry eye symptoms for weeks and months after recovery, and the prevalence of dry eye is higher in COVID-19 patients than in people without COVID-19 infection. As one of the common ophthalmic diseases, the clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of DED is not widely used nowadays. ⋯ Our findings will provide references for future clinical decision and guidance development.