Articles Tagged With:
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How Safe Is Cannabis for the Heart?
A nationwide Danish study of new prescriptions for medical cannabis for chronic pain compared to control patients has found that the 180-day incidence of atrial fibrillation/flutter is two-fold higher, but the absolute number of arrhythmias is small.
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H. pylori Infection: A Warning Sign for Alzheimer’s Dementia
A large nested case-control cohort study of subjects aged 50 years and older found that clinically apparent Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with a moderately increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
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Quality, not Quantity: Plant-Based Carbs Might Result in Less Weight Gain
This long-term prospective study found that adults on low-carbohydrate diets rich in plant-based and whole grain sources of protein and fat experienced significantly less weight gain than those on other types of low-carbohydrate diets.
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Food as Medicine? Follow the Evidence
In this randomized, controlled study of more than 400 individuals with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and food insecurity, an intensive intervention offering healthy groceries and educational efforts failed to significantly affect glycemic control but resulted in heightened engagement with preventive healthcare services in the intervention group compared to the control.
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Novel Psychoactive Substances of Abuse: Part I
This issue is the first of a two-part series on new novel or designer psychoactive drugs. Many of them represent alterations of existing agents that exhibit new effects from the modification. Keep the possibility of intoxication with these agents in mind when evaluating patients with altered levels of consciousness and mentation.
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The Silent Epidemic: Hepatitis C Virus
Hepatitis C accounts for a significant burden of disease. There are many barriers to the eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV), from infection identification to treatment, making it a very complex public health concern. Unfortunately, no vaccine for HCV exists yet, and development proves difficult because of the overwhelming genetic diversity. HCV can be treated by a patient’s primary care physician; this group is instrumental in screening for and treating hepatitis C.
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Addressing Food Insecurity in the ED
Screening ED patients for food insecurity is not particularly difficult or time-consuming, but intervening to address the problem can be complicated by various factors.
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Monthly Calls Dramatically Cut ED Visits by Super-Users
Researchers at a Virginia hospital conducted a quality improvement project to get frequent ED visitors the care they needed and keep them out of the ED. The researchers identified the 50 top super-utilizing patients at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s ED in 2020 and contacted them about enrolling in a chronic care management program.
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Solo Agers Are a Growing Demographic in Health Systems Nationwide
A rising proportion of older patients are solo agers — adults who live alone. This phenomenon leads to challenges for case managers as they try to find safe places to transition patients who lack caregivers and family support. A Pew Research Center study in 2020 found that 27% of U.S. adults older than age 60 years live solo.
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Ways to Reduce Medication Issues During Care Transitions
Medication management services and coordination tops the list of essential interventions needed during transitions of care, according to the National Transition of Care Coalition. Care transitions can falter when patients’ medication assessment and management are not handled well, which is why case managers should follow some basic standards.