Der Schmerz
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Treatment of depression in palliative care must take into account expected benefits and risks of antidepressants in patients with potentially limited life expectancy, poor medical condition, advanced age and higher risk to suffer from side effects and drug interactions. This systematic review assesses evidence of the efficacy and safety of different classes of antidepressants depending on the type and severity of the physical illness. ⋯ This review of the evidence allows only limited conclusions concerning the use of antidepressants in physical illness disorders at the end of life. The reviewed evidence does not allow direct conclusions to be drawn concerning the use of antidepressants in different disease severities and its benefits compared to other treatment options (psychotherapy, benzodiazepines etc.). The English full text version of this article will be available in SpringerLink as of November 2012 (under "Supplemental").
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Fabry disease is an X-linked hereditary lysosomal storage disorder with deficiency of the enzyme α-galactosidase A and lysosomal deposits of the glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramid-3 (Gb-3). Males are predominantly affected by this multisystem disorder; however, females may develop any grade of disease severity. Cardiac, renal, and cerebral involvement may be life limiting-the latter due to stroke in young age. ⋯ Pain is the most frequent first symptom of Fabry disease, but is often misjudged and undertreated. Enzyme replacement therapy is available as a treatment option. Fabry-associated pain is treated following the principles of analgesic treatment in neuropathic pain conditions, but some special features need to be considered and will be discussed.
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The therapy of tiredness, weakness and fatigue in palliative care patients is of growing interest. Glucocorticoids and androgens are habitually mentioned drugs for treatment. In this review evidence for glucocorticoids and androgens for these indications in palliative care patients are presented. ⋯ With the existing evidence no general recommendation for glucocorticoid and androgen use in tiredness and weakness in palliative care patients can be given; however, glucocorticoids in cancer patients and androgens in HIV positive-patients can be used in an individual trial for improving patient quality of life. The use in patients suffering from other disease entities should be evaluated in randomized controlled trials with a similar setting. The English full text version of this article will be available in SpringerLink as of November 2012 (under "Supplemental").
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Noisy breathing during the terminal stages of life (death rattle) is one of the most common and most difficult symptoms to treat. In palliative medicine there are still no accepted guidelines for the treatment of death rattle in the final phase of life. In the first part of this article a description of death rattle is presented and in the second part a systematic literature review gives an insight into the effectiveness of interventions for death rattle. ⋯ In general non-drug therapy is recommended as first choice. If anticholinergics are considered the selection also depends on whether simultaneous sedation is desired or not. The English full text version of this article will be available in SpringerLink as of November 2012 (under "Supplemental").
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Various recommendations exist for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in palliative care but only few studies and even less systematic reviews look into antiemetic therapy for patients receiving palliative care. ⋯ In palliative care patients with nausea and vomiting 5HT3 receptor antagonists can be used if treatment with other antiemetics, such as metoclopramide and neuroleptics is not sufficient. There is a trend that steroids in combination with other antiemetics improve symptom relief. Cannabinoids rather have a status as a second line antiemetic. In cases of nausea and vomiting caused by malignant gastrointestinal obstruction octreotide showed the best and butylscopolammonium bromide the second best results. Concerning antihistamines and benzodiazepines insufficient data was found. Recommendations in the literature are mainly based on studies in patients with cancer. The overall strength of evidence is low. More well designed studies in palliative care patients are needed in order to provide evidence-based therapy. The English full text version of this article will be available in SpringerLink as of November 2012 (under "Supplemental").