The American journal of medicine
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Review
The relationship between retinal microvascular abnormalities and coronary heart disease: a review.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States despite decades of advancement in its diagnosis and treatment. Because of the limitations of traditional risk stratification for heart disease, evaluation of the retinal vasculature has been proposed as an easily and safely measured adjunct to commonly used screening methods. ⋯ We outline details of the most recent large epidemiologic studies and discuss their potential implications for clinical practice. Finally, we propose a change to the current guidelines regarding the screening of "low-risk" women, a group that is often failed by traditional evaluation algorithms.
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Management of peptic ulcer disease has improved over the past few decades. However, the widespread use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and low-dose acetylsalicylic acid means that the burden of peptic ulcer disease remains a relevant issue. ⋯ Peptic ulcer disease significantly impairs well-being and aspects of health-related quality of life, and is associated with high costs for employers and health care systems.
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The relationships between blood pressure and depression are unclear. There are inconsistent reports of an association between low blood pressure and depressive symptoms. ⋯ Low blood pressure was independently associated with depressive symptoms in both older subjects who were treated for hypertension and those who were not.
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Review
Health economics of use fluoroquinolones to treat patients with community-acquired pneumonia.
Respiratory diseases account for approximately 10% of all hospital admissions in the United States. Pneumonia constitutes 35% of these cases, with an average length of stay (LOS) of 5.1 days. ⋯ As such, medical decisions, including empiric antibiotic choice, potentially exert an impact on hospital LOS and associated costs. In this review, we focus on the empiric antibiotic choices and associated costs of treatment for hospitalized patients with CAP, focusing on the use of fluoroquinolone therapy as recommended by the CAP guidelines.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a diffuse fibrotic lung disease of unknown etiology with no effective treatment. Emerging data support a role for chronic microaspiration (ie, subclinical aspiration of small droplets) in the pathogenesis and natural history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, the precise relationship between chronic microaspiration and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains unknown. ⋯ This review aims to describe the relationship between chronic microaspiration and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by laying out the clinical and biologic rationale for this relationship and exploring the scientific evidence available. The gaps in our current understanding of the diagnosis of chronic microaspiration and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and the ongoing uncertainties in management and treatment will be highlighted. Defining the role of chronic microaspiration in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is essential as it has potential clinical, pathobiological, and treatment implications for this deadly disease.