Current medical research and opinion
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Diabetes mellitus is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition in Canada and around the world. Treatment strategies have become increasingly complex, with a widening array of pharmacological agents available for glycemic management in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). New therapies that act in concert with available basal insulins may represent alternatives to basal insulin intensification with prandial or pre-mixed insulin. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have recently shown promise as useful additions to basal insulin, with significant reductions in glycated hemoglobin and potentially beneficial effects on body weight. This review will focus on pivotal clinical trials to assess the potential benefits of adding prandial GLP-1 RAs to basal insulin in patients with T2DM. ⋯ The results of the studies suggest that a prandial GLP-1 RA as an add-on to basal insulin may be a safe and effective treatment intensification option (vs basal-plus or basal-bolus insulin).
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To demonstrate a strategy employed by predatory publishers to trap eager-to-publish authors or researchers into submitting their work. ⋯ There was a strong reason to believe that predatory publishers may have several publication houses with different names under a single roof to trap authors from different geographic locations.
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To investigate the value of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in a cohort of a community's residents who were diagnosed as pre-diabetes, and to evaluate the association of VAT and SAT with insulin resistance. ⋯ Pre-diabetic subjects with insulin resistance had elevated levels of VAT. VAT was more strongly associated with insulin resistance than SAT in Chinese subjects with pre-diabetes.
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Clinical Trial
Impact of metoprolol treatment on cardiac function and exercise tolerance in heart failure patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.
To investigate the impact of neuropsychiatric disorders on the effect of metoprolol on cardiac and motor function in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. ⋯ Depressive and high burnout symptoms, but not anxiety, lower the improvement of cardiac and motor function by metoprolol treatment in CHF.
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To estimate the incremental healthcare utilization and costs associated with common non-infectious comorbid conditions among commercially and Medicaid-insured HIV-infected patients in the US. ⋯ The results suggested a considerable increase in healthcare utilization and costs associated with CKD, CVD and fracture/osteoporosis comorbidities among HIV patients in the past decade. Because these conditions have been associated with treatment, it is critical to consider their impact on costs and outcomes when optimizing patient care.