Clinical therapeutics
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2011
Emergent anxiety after antidepressant initiation: a retrospective cohort study of Veterans Affairs Health System patients with depression.
Initiation of antidepressant treatment for depression may be associated with new onset (emergent) anxiety. ⋯ Only a small proportion of patients developed emergent anxiety following a new antidepressant start, resulting in a new diagnosis or antianxiety medication use. Anxiety occurred more often in young adults, whites, and women.
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Clinical therapeutics · Dec 2011
Patterns of therapy switching, augmentation, and discontinuation after initiation of treatment with select medications in patients with osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating condition characterized by chronic pain. Several pain medications are recommended, and patients frequently alternate among these medications. ⋯ Results indicate that therapy switching and discontinuation were frequent among OA patients initiating treatment with the currently recommended medication classes and might suggest suboptimal pain relief or potentially intolerable therapy-related side effects.
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Clinical therapeutics · Nov 2011
ReviewEltrombopag: an oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a relatively rare acquired autoimmune disease characterized by either decreased platelet production or increased platelet destruction leading to reduced platelet counts and increased risk of bleeding. Immune modulators have been used in treatment; however, a novel class of thrombopoietin mimetics has recently been developed. Eltrombopag is approved for patients with chronic ITP who have failed initial treatments with traditional immune modulators or splenectomy. ⋯ Eltrombopag is well tolerated and effective in raising platelet counts in patients with chronic ITP.
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Clinical therapeutics · Nov 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialExtended-release quetiapine as monotherapy for the treatment of adults with acute mania: a randomized, double-blind, 3-week trial.
Bipolar disorder, a highly recurrent and chronic condition, often necessitates periods of hospitalization and requires lifelong treatment with medication. It is characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression. Given the severity of mania, physicians must be able to control symptoms rapidly. ⋯ This 3-week trial suggests that quetiapine XR (400-800 mg) once-daily monotherapy is efficacious (from day 4) and generally well tolerated in patients with manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder.
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Clinical therapeutics · Nov 2011
Relationship between patient-reported chronic low back pain severity and medication resources.
Characterization of chronic low back pain (CLBP) severity from a patient's perspective can provide a context within which management strategies may be determined and therapeutic outcomes evaluated. ⋯ The relationship between patient-reported CLBP severity and medication prescribing patterns suggests that this rapid assessment may be of value for informing decisions regarding treatment options. The data also suggest that despite greater use of medications at greater CLBP severity, current options remain less than optimal in providing analgesic efficacy.