Articles Tagged With:
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Is Screening First-Degree Relatives of Cardiomyopathy Patients Worthwhile?
An observational study of screening first-degree relatives of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy revealed 14% will show either dilated left ventricles, low left ventricular function, or both. These findings are more common if the relatives have been diagnosed with hypertension or are obese, but their frequency is not altered by sex or race.
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Long-Term Antiplatelet Therapy After PCI
The five-year follow-up of patients randomized to clopidogrel vs. aspirin monotherapy beyond one year after percutaneous coronary intervention has shown that clopidogrel is noninferior, but not superior, to aspirin for preventing the combined endpoint of adverse cardiovascular or major bleeding events.
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Dyeing to Death: Examining the Risks of Red 40 and High-Fat Diets
This study exploring colorectal cancer development reveals that Allura Red AC (Red 40), a synthetic dye prevalent in many American diets, causes significant deoxyribonucleic acid damage and colonic inflammation in mice, especially when combined with a high-fat diet.
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Vitamin D and Marine n-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Autoimmune Diseases
Continued use of vitamin D3 and n-3 fatty acids reduced the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis.
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Acute Small Fiber Neuropathy
Acute-onset small fiber neuropathy most often is precipitated by infections, medication side effects, or vaccinations. Most cases recover spontaneously.
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Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Involvement in Posture, Gait, and Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease
The features of gait difficulty, postural instability, and cognitive deficits in patients with Parkinson’s disease appear to be attributable to degeneration of cholinergic basal forebrain systems, including loss of fiber tract integrity and reduction of cortical projections.
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Medications for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: A Note of Caution
In this post hoc secondary analysis of a Phase II/III randomized clinical trial of davunetide for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), investigators found that patients with PSP prescribed benzodiazepine derivatives experienced more rapid worsening of their PSP Rating Scale scores over time.
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Neuropeptides in Patients with Restless Legs Syndrome
The diurnal onset of restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been replicated in a mouse model using central instillation of the main melanocortin agonist, α-MSH, which stimulates excessive locomotion and grooming in rodents as well as a state of hyperalgesia. The actions of β-endorphin (β-EDP) oppose those of α-MSH, since β-EDP promotes passivity and analgesia. In this study, these prohormones were measured in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid in patients with RLS and compared to controls. Patients with RLS had elevated levels of α-MSH and lower levels of β-EDP compared to the control group.
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Posterior Cortical Atrophy: An Important Variant of Alzheimer’s Disease
This is the first comprehensive international study of patients with posterior cortical atrophy, including clinical, biomarker, and pathology data from 1,092 patients. These patients present at a younger age, have a very high prevalence of amyloid positivity on cerebrospinal fluid studies and positron emission tomography, and 94% had autopsy evidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Using Genetic Testing to Improve Patient Health
To begin shifting from a reactive to a more proactive approach to healthcare, researchers and providers are taking notice of genetic testing and its benefits in making medical decisions.