J Natl Med Assoc
-
Burning Mouth syndrome (BMS) is a relatively common oral neurosensory disorder known for oral burning pain. In that there is a relative absence of oral clinical findings and systemic causation, the diagnosis of BMS is challenging. ⋯ The lip component of chronic orofacial pain is potentially an important concern with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic orofacial pain. Discussion regarding the etiology, diagnosis, and therapy of this condition is provided.
-
This study investigates the association between statin use and all-cause mortality, as well as the association between statin use and incident diabetes or prediabetes among African Americans. ⋯ Statin use was associated with a 20% decrease in all-cause mortality but an 80% increased risk of incident diabetes/prediabetes. Clinicians should consider the implications of these findings when prescribing statins to patients in this population.
-
As a prevalent persistent respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is featured by airflow limitation and chronic inflammation. This study focused on the identification of immune-related hub genes in COPD. ⋯ This study analyzed the potential biological functions enriched by COPD-IMDEGs, identified ten genes as biological markers for diagnosing COPD, and predicted potential drugs for treating COPD.
-
As part of the Community Pediatrics Rotation, the Shopping Assignment was developed to allow pediatric residents to understand social determinants of health (SDOH). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 20-year experience with the Shopping Assignment as a tool in teaching SDOH to pediatric residents. ⋯ The Shopping Assignment was a successful educational tool in improving residents' knowledge of SDOH. Residents' participation in the activity enhanced empathy for the patients served in their continuity clinics. Although training programs teach some of these concepts to trainees, this is first study to provide a scoring mechanism that quantifies the experiential learning process based on the assigned tasks.
-
The sleep quality scale (SQS) is a comprehensive multidimensional sleep assessment scale used to evaluate sleep quality (SQ) among adults in the general population. However, the scale is yet to be validated among indigenous African populations such as in Nigeria. This study validated the factor structure and evaluated the reliability of a previously developed SQS among community-based adults in Ibadan, Nigeria. ⋯ Our findings revealed that the SQS is promising for population-based assessment of SQ and may also assist in identifying sleep-related disorders and monitoring the efficacy of sleep treatment among indigenous Africans.