Plos One
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Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, also called chronic fatigue syndrome) may respond most favorably to frequent vitamin B12 injections, in vital combination with oral folic acid. However, there is no established algorithm for individualized optimal dosages, and rate of improvement may differ considerably between responders. ⋯ Dose-response relationship and long-lasting effects of B12/folic acid support a true positive response in the studied group of patients with ME/fibromyalgia. It's important to be alert on co-existing thyroid dysfunction, and we suspect a risk of counteracting interference between B12/folic acid and certain opioid analgesics and other drugs that have to be demethylated as part of their metabolism. These issues should be considered when controlled trials for ME and fibromyalgia are to be designed.
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The use of opioids for noncancer pain is widespread, and more than 16,000 die of opioid-related causes in the United States annually. The patients at greatest risk of death are those receiving high doses of opioids. Whether sex influences the risk of dose escalation or opioid-related mortality is unknown. ⋯ Men are at higher risk than women for escalation to high-dose opioid therapy and death from opioid-related causes. Both outcomes were more common than anticipated.
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Respiratory mechanics models can aid in optimising patient-specific mechanical ventilation (MV), but the applications are limited to fully sedated MV patients who have little or no spontaneously breathing efforts. This research presents a time-varying elastance (E(drs)) model that can be used in spontaneously breathing patients to determine their respiratory mechanics. ⋯ The E(drs) model captures unique dynamic respiratory mechanics for spontaneously breathing patients with respiratory failure. The model is fully general and is applicable to both fully controlled and partially assisted MV modes.
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Children with hereditary neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) are at a high risk of morbidity and mortality related to respiratory failure. The use of home mechanical ventilation (HMV) has saved the lives of many children with NMD but, due to a lack of studies, dependable guidelines are not available. We drew upon our experience to compare the various underlying NMDs and to evaluate HMV with regard to respiratory morbidity, the proper indications and timing for its use, and to develop a policy to improve the quality of home noninvasive ventilation (NIV). ⋯ The application of HMV helped reduce respiratory morbidity in children with childhood-onset hereditary NMD. Patients with SMA type I can benefit from an early diagnosis and the timely application of HMV. The choice between invasive and noninvasive HMV should be based on the patient's age and NIV trial tolerance. Systematic follow-up guidelines provided by a multidisciplinary team are needed.
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To assess the influence of diabetes mellitus (DM), glycemic control, and diabetes-related comorbidities on manifestations and outcome of treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). ⋯ Poor glycemic control is associated with poor TB treatment outcome and improved glycemic control may reduce the influence of diabetes on TB.