Articles: disease.
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Historical Article
Human brucellosis in South Africa: A review for medical practitioners.
Brucellosis is recognised as a neglected zoonotic tropical disease of global health and economic importance. Medical practitioner unawareness of the disease is reported to contribute to the overall neglect. ⋯ The overall aim of this review article is to increase medical practitioner capacity to detect, diagnose and treat brucellosis in the SA context. A brief review of the literature on human brucellosis in SA is presented, together with a discussion of current issues related to medical detection, treatment and management of brucellosis, applicable to the SA context.
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Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an underdiagnosed disease. Its incidence is estimated at 5 per 100 000 persons per year. ⋯ The management of patients with SIH calls for complementary imaging studies to demonstrate the causative spinal CSF leak. Often, successful treatment requires surgical closure of the leak. In view of the sparse evidence available to date, controlled studies should be performed.
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Observational Study
The association of obesity with health insurance coverage and demographic characteristics: a statewide cross-sectional study.
We evaluated the statewide burden of obesity and its complications among government and state funded programs (Medicare and Medicaid) and commercial insurance. We calculated the prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of relevant comorbidities among different demographic groups and based on health insurance, among adults (18-65 years old) who visited a statewide health network in the state of Rhode Island, in 2017. The overall prevalence of obesity among 74,089 individuals was 38.88% [Asians 16.77%, Whites 37.49%, Hispanics 44.23%, and Blacks 48.44%]. ⋯ Medicare beneficiaries with obesity had a statistically higher prevalence of ischemic heart disease (4.34%, 95%CI: 3.77-4.91) than privately insured (3.21%, 95%CI: 2.94-3.47). Based on statewide data among 18 to 65 years old adults, Medicare and Medicaid provide health coverage to 40% of individuals with obesity and 46% of those with the obesity-related comorbidities and complications. State and federal health care programs need to support and expand obesity-related services and coverage.
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Meta Analysis
Association between the Wilms tumor-1 rs16754 polymorphism and acute myeloid leukemia: A MOOSE-compliant meta-analysis.
The Wilms tumor-1 (WT1) protein is an important regulator of malignant hematopoiesis and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Recently special attention has been paid to the relationship of the WT1 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs16754 with AML risk and outcome, but the conflicting results made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. In the present study, we systematically reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis of existing evidence. ⋯ In subgroup analysis by race, age, and disease type, we did not find any significant association. However, the presence of rs16754 GA/GG genotype was associated with improved overall survive (HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.26-0.91, P = .024) and relapse-free survival (HR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-1.00, P = .048) compared with the rs16754 AA. In summary, the WT1 SNP rs16754 was not associated with AML risk, but it had a significant impact on clinical outcome in AML patients.
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Meta Analysis
Content and impact of pharmacy services for patients with Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Medicines optimisation is important for the management of Parkinson's disease (PD). As many patients with PD have other long-term conditions, treatment is complex and risk of adverse events for these patients is high. ⋯ ADRs were the most widely reported drug-related problems for PD patients; pharmacy services may have a role to play in medication adherence but were not found to impact on quality of life.