Current medical research and opinion
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of flurbiprofen 8.75 mg lozenge in patients with a swollen and inflamed sore throat.
Sore throat is often over-treated with antibiotics, therefore there is a need for non-antibiotic treatments that provide effective relief. From the patient's point of view, symptoms of pharyngeal inflammation such as a "swollen" and "inflamed" throat are often considered the most bothersome; so, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug could be an appropriate treatment. We investigated the efficacy and safety of flurbiprofen 8.75 mg lozenge in adults with a swollen and inflamed throat. ⋯ Flurbiprofen 8.75 mg lozenge appears to provide effective, well-tolerated relief of sore throat, difficulty swallowing and swollen throat in adults with a swollen and inflamed throat, as well as those with relatively severe symptoms. A limitation of these findings is that, while predetermined, these are secondary outcomes derived from a targeted sub-group of patients, not the entire study population.
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GOLD guideline recommendations are currently the "gold standard" for the treatment of COPD patients. ⋯ Real world data indicate that adherence to GOLD guidelines is only partially met by GPs in their general practice and shows higher prescription appropriateness by pulmonologists.
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Non-adherence to prescribed medication presents a barrier to effective treatment. In order to find improved ways of tackling non-adherence, it is important to understand the perspective of both patients and physicians. ⋯ Similar proportions of physicians and patients consider medication adherence to be important, but their opinions about measures used to improve adherence differ to some extent. Importantly, almost half of patients do not tell their doctor about missed doses.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (TD2M) treatment focuses on achieving glycemic control, with HbA1c targeted at 6.5-7.5%. Clinicians commonly delay treatment intensification despite patients failing glycemic targets. This study evaluated longitudinal clinical and cost outcomes in patients failing metformin monotherapy using electronic medical records. ⋯ Patients who were rapidly intensified achieved a maintained reduction in HbA1c faster than those with delayed intensification or no second-line therapy, despite a higher baseline HbA1c.