The American journal of medicine
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Prescription opioid use and opioid related deaths continue to increase nationwide. Several states have adopted legislation allowing for recreational use of cannabis. Little is known about how recreational cannabis laws impact compliance in chronic pain patients who have been prescribed opioid therapy. The goals of this study were to (1) retrospectively assess the effect of cannabis use on compliance with opioid therapy in a high-risk patient population and (2) determine the impact of legalization of recreational cannabis on patients prescribed therapeutic opioids. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that legalization of recreational cannabis does not affect compliance rate in patients treated with opioid therapy for chronic pain.
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Observational Study
High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I Levels in Normal and Hypertensive Pregnancy.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association of circulating concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTn) in the various trimesters of pregnancy in patients with and without hypertension. ⋯ Cardiac troponin measured using a high-sensitivity assay is quantifiable in the majority of young pregnant women with 2% of individuals having concentration above the 99th percentile sex-specific threshold. Patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension or preeclampsia had higher cardiac troponin concentrations. Cardiac troponin was a strong independent predictor of pregnancy-induced hypertension or preeclampsia in pregnant and postnatal women.
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Sleep disorders are frequent and can have serious consequences on patients' health and quality of life. While some sleep disorders are more challenging to treat, most can be easily managed with adequate interventions. We review the main diagnostic features of 6 major sleep disorders (insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-disordered breathing, hypersomnia/narcolepsy, parasomnias, and restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder) to aid medical practitioners in screening and treating sleep disorders as part of clinical practice.
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The treatment of acute ischemic stroke includes both intravenous (IV) thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. Important advances regarding both treatment modalities have occurred recently that all physicians who see patients at risk for or who have had a stroke should be aware of. This review will focus on recent clinical trials of IV thrombolysis both positive and negative. Additionally, the results of a large number of early and late time window thrombectomy trials will be presented that demonstrate the remarkable efficacy of this treatment for appropriately selected patients.