J Res Med Sci
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Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders in which the blood glucose is higher than normal levels, due to insufficiency of insulin release or improper response of cells to insulin, resulting in high blood pressure. The resultant hyperglycemia produces sever complications. ⋯ Recent reports on metformin, not only indicate some implications such as renoprotective properties have been suggested for metformin, but some reports indicate its adverse effects as well that are negligible when its benefits are brought into account. We aimed here to review the new implications of metformin and discuss about the concerns in the use of metformin, referring to the recently published papers.
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Ramadan fasting represents one of the five pillars of the Islam creed according to the Sunnah and the second practice of faith for the Shiaa. Even though patients are exempted from observing this religious duty, they may be eager to share this particular moment of the year with their family and peers. However, there are no guidelines or standardized protocols that can help physicians to properly address the issue of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) fasting in Ramadan and to correctly advise them. ⋯ Our main findings are that: recipients of kidney allograft can safely fast during Ramadan;evidences for safety in patients with nephrolithiasis and CKD are instead mixed and controversial. On the other hand,most studies have been carried out during Ramadan falling in cold seasons, and there is scarce information about Ramadan fasting in hot seasons. For these reasons, the findings may be not generalizable and therefore cautions should be taken and applied; the physicians should carefully monitor their patients during the fasting period with an adequate follow-up, in order to avoid any injurious effect.
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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) tends to follow a chronic and treatment resistant course. Avoidance and numbing are symptoms associated with chronicity and impaired life quality. As D-cycloserine (DCS) can facilitate extinction of conditioned fear, we aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of DCS for the treatment of numbing and avoidance in chronic PTSD. ⋯ D-cycloserine can help as an adjunctive treatment to alleviate numbing and avoidance in combat-related chronic PTSD.
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After discontinuing oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT), the recurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is greatest in the 1(st) year and gradually diminishes. D-dimer assay was proposed to be effective in selecting patients with idiopathic DVT. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of VTE recurrence after discontinuing OAT according to the results of D-dimer. ⋯ Within 12 months follow-up, the risk of recurrence with an abnormal D-dimer, either during or at 1-month after discontinuing OAT, was 4.6% which is much lower to the annual risk of recurrence in most studies with idiopathic and provoked VTE. D-dimer has an acceptable prognostic value in detecting recurrence of idiopathic VTE before discontinuing the anticoagulant therapy.
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Low urine pH is related to obesity and insulin resistance, which are components of metabolic syndrome (MS). The aim of this study was to identify the relation between a low urine pH and MS after controlled for other covariates including demographic and lifestyle factors in adult Korean population. ⋯ The findings confirmed that low urine pH is associated with MS in the Korean population. Among MS components, elevated fasting glucose and elevated TG showed a significantly high OR.