Annals of medicine
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In this study, we investigated the independent and combined effects of sleep duration and afternoon napping on the risk of incident diabetes among a cohort of middle-aged and older Chinese adults. ⋯ Both long sleep duration and afternoon napping were independently and jointly associated with higher risk of incident diabetes. Key messages Sleep duration was associated with diabetes, but whether it is a real cause of incident diabetes especially in Chinese still remains to be elucidated. The association of afternoon napping and diabetes was not consistent and definite, we clarified this association in a large prospective study. Long sleep duration and afternoon napping were independently and jointly associated with higher risk of incident diabetes.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of use of diabetic medication and clinical guidelines in four Nordic countries.
Clinical guidelines form one of the cornerstones for providing high-quality care for patients with diabetes. We compare the national guidelines and the use of glucose lowering medication for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. ⋯ All guidelines stress regular and comprehensive diabetes care. Danish and Finnish guidelines strongly underline the importance of individualized glycemic targets. All guidelines recommend metformin as the initial oral antihyperglycemic drug. In relation to recommended second line drug therapy and initial insulin type for patients with T2D, the guidelines vary largely between the four countries.
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The association of diabetes with new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) remains controversial. Hypertension may partly explain the risk association ascribed to diabetes. We studied the role and characteristics of diabetes in hypertensive patients with no ischemic vascular disease. ⋯ Diabetes was modestly associated with new-onset AF in hypertensive patients with no ischemic vascular disease. Among diabetic patients, only obesity reached significance in its association with this arrhythmia.
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Sepsis is a systemic uncontrolled inflammatory response in the presence of an infection. It remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. According to its severity, sepsis can progress to three different states: severe sepsis, septic shock, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, related to organ dysfunction and/or tissue hypoperfusion. ⋯ Therefore, it is essential to explore alternative approaches to therapy development. The aim of this review is to present an update of evidence supporting the role of oxidative stress and angiogenesis-related factors in the pathophysiology of the different forms of sepsis. It proposes a novel convergence between both elements in their role in the disease, and it will cover their utility as new diagnostic tools, predictors of outcome, and as novel therapeutic targets.
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The Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a novel concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess effectiveness. BCTs provide evidence of the comparative effectiveness between health service providers, and of effectiveness due to particular features of the health and social care systems. BCTs complement randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as the sources of evidence on effectiveness. This paper presents a definition of the BCT; compares the position of BCTs in assessing effectiveness with that of RCTs; presents a checklist for assessing methodological validity of a BCT; and pilot-tests the checklist with BCTs published recently in the leading medical journals.