Current medical research and opinion
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of ambrisentan in Japanese adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
To investigate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of ambrisentan in Japanese adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). ⋯ Ambrisentan is considered as safe and effective for Japanese adults with PAH.
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Meta Analysis
The effects of statin on atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis of published data from randomized controlled trials.
Some clinical and experimental studies have shown the use of statins could protect against AF, but there are not adequate data at present. ⋯ Our meta-analysis suggests that the use of statins may be associated with preventing AF in short term trials and long term trials, but in the long term trials of more intensive versus standard statin, there was no evidence of a reduction in the risk of AF. However, we still need large-scale randomized double blind statin trials with AF occurrence as the main endpoint in order to finally confirm the benefits of statin in AF patients.
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Pain is still one of the most prevalent and distressing symptom in patients with chronic pain. Opioids are the most potent existing analgesics available in clinical practice. However, they are not always effective, particularly in the non-cancer population. ⋯ Several different drug-development strategies have attempted to reduce side effects by exploiting anatomic barriers to drug distribution and to provide different analgesic mechanisms, as in the case of the oxycodone-naloxone combination or tapentadol. New delivery systems have been developed for a more effective management of breakthrough pain. Pharmacogenetics could play a critical role in personalizing pain management in the future.