Plos One
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the main cause of blindness and the curative options are limited. The objective of this meta-analysis was to determine the association between aspirin use and risk of AMD. ⋯ The use of aspirin was not associated with the risk of AMD.
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Meta Analysis
The effect of statins on mortality in septic patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Statins are among the most prescribed drugs worldwide and their recently discovered anti-inflammatory effect seems to have an important role in inhibiting proinflammatory cytokine production, chemokines expression and counteracting the harmful effects of sepsis on the coagulation system. We decided to perform a meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials ever published on statin therapy in septic patients to evaluate their effect on survival and length of hospital stay. ⋯ Published data show that statin therapy has no effect on mortality in the overall population of adult septic patients. Scientific evidence on statins role in septic patients is still limited and larger randomized trials should be performed on this topic.
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Meta Analysis
Effects of Tai Chi in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: preliminary evidence.
Currently, several studies assessed the role of Tai Chi (TC) in management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but these studies have wide variation of sample and convey inconclusive results. We therefore undertook a meta-analysis to assess the effects of TC. ⋯ Findings suggest that TC may provide an effective alternative means to achieve results similar to those reported following participation in pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Further studies are needed to substantiate the preliminary findings and investigate the long-term effects of TC.
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Cervical dystonia is characterized by involuntary, abnormal movements and postures of the head and neck. Current views on its pathophysiology, such as faulty sensorimotor integration and impaired motor planning, are largely based on studies of focal hand dystonia. Using resting state fMRI, we explored whether cervical dystonia patients have altered functional brain connectivity compared to healthy controls, by investigating 10 resting state networks. ⋯ These findings demonstrate the involvement of multiple neural networks in cervical dystonia. The reduced connectivity within the sensorimotor and primary visual networks may provide the neural substrate to expect defective motor planning and disturbed spatial cognition. Increased connectivity within the executive control network suggests excessive attentional control and while this may be a primary trait, perhaps contributing to abnormal motor control, this may alternatively serve a compensatory function in order to reduce the consequences of the motor planning defect inflicted by the other network abnormalities.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Utility of sepsis biomarkers and the infection probability score to discriminate sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome in standard care patients.
Physicians are regularly faced with severely ill patients at risk of developing infections. In literature, standard care wards are often neglected, although their patients frequently suffer from a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) of unknown origin. Fast identification of patients with infections is vital, as they immediately require appropriate therapy. ⋯ In summary, the IPS and widely used infection parameters, including CRP or WBC, yielded a poor diagnostic performance for the detection of infection or bacteremia. Additional sepsis biomarkers do not aid in discriminating inflammation from infection. For the prediction of bacteremia procalcitonin, and bilirubin were the most promising parameters, which might be used as a rule for when to take blood cultures or using nucleic acid amplification tests for microbiological diagnostics.