Internal Medicine Alert – November 30, 2014

November 30, 2014

• The Holy Grail of Diagnosing Depression: An Effective Blood Test

  An objective, laboratory based diagnostic tool for depression would be extremely helpful to primary care physicians. This study using nine biomarkers holds promise that a blood test may be able to identify depressed patients among non-depressed primary care patients

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• Aspirin for the Prevention of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism

  Patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE) are at high risk of recurrence after discontinuation of vitamin K antagonist (such as warfarin) therapy, with an approximately 10% risk of recurrence within the first year and 5% risk per year thereafter.

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• Probiotic Supplementation Reduces Upper Respiratory Tract Infections

  This 150-day, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial (RCT) with 465 healthy adult volunteers (mean age 37 years old) was designed to examine the effects of probiotics on the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI).

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• Pirfenidone Capsule (Esbriet®) and Nintedanib Capsules (Ofev®)

  The FDA has approved two drugs for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Pirfenidone is an antifibrotic agent and nintedanib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Both products were approved on a fast-track priority review, with orphan status and breakthrough designation. Pirfenidone is marketed by InterMune as Esbriet and nintedanib as Ofev by Boehringer Ingelheim.

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• Clinical Briefs

  Johnston BC, et al. Comparison of weight loss among named diet programs in overweight and obese adults: A meta-analysis.

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