Internal Medicine Alert
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Sufentanil Sublingual Tablets (Dsuvia) CII
Sufentanil sublingual tablets are for adults with acute pain that is severe enough to require an opioid analgesic for which different treatments have proven insufficient.
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Should Aspirin Be Used for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events?
The conclusion from a series of groundbreaking studies is that primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and death by using daily low-dose aspirin is not recommended and should be reserved for those instances in which secondary prevention has been demonstrated to be effective in randomized, clinical trials.
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Costs and Consequences of Chronic Pain Among U.S. Adults
Annually, chronic pain accounts for an estimated $560 billion in direct medical costs, lost productivity, and disability programs. Identifying populations at risk is the first step for developing targeted interventions for pain management.
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Risk of Infective Endocarditis Revisited
In a comparison of patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and either bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) or mitral valve prolapse (MVP) vs. other IE patients at high or low-to-moderate risk of IE, BAV and MVP patients were more likely to exhibit viridans group streptococci infections of suspected odontogenic origin and cardiac complications at similar rates to high-risk patients.
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Effect of Diet on Hippocampal Volume in a Population at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
MRI of the brain in community-dwelling people (average age, 60 years) revealed that a long-term, high-quality diet was associated with larger hippocampal volumes after an average interval of 11 years.
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Baloxavir Marboxil Tablets (Xofluza)
For the first time in nearly 20 years, the FDA has approved a new antiviral drug for the treatment of influenza.
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Does CPAP Improve the Sex Lives of People With Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Among men using CPAP, prior noncontrolled case series have suggested an improvement in sexual function, albeit primarily among subjects who reported prior sexual difficulties. Although hormonal effects have been implicated in obstructive sleep apnea, no one has confirmed that low testosterone is a consequence of sleep-disordered breathing or that testosterone can rise with the use of CPAP. However, factors that clearly can improve with CPAP, such as weight gain and poor sleep quality, have shown a definite relationship to testosterone levels.
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LDL Cholesterol: How Low Do We Go?
A meta-analysis of 29 cholesterol-lowering outcome studies with baseline average low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels ≤ 70 mg/dL showed consistent major adverse cardiovascular event risk reductions down to average LDL levels of 21 mg/dL without any increase in adverse events.
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Primary Headaches: Look, Listen, and Diagnose Rather Than Image
The diagnosis of primary headache disorders by a computerized and clinical paradigm can predict a baseline prevalence of intracranial abnormalities on brain imaging. Some historical “red flags” in children with headaches, including morning headaches and occipital pain, are not associated with increased intracranial abnormalities.
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Prophylactic Antibiotics for Acute Aspiration
Researchers compared outcomes in patients with aspiration pneumonitis who received prophylactic antibiotics during the first two days after macroaspiration to patients who received only supportive care during this time. Among 200 patients meeting the acute aspiration pneumonitis case definition, antimicrobial prophylaxis was not associated with improvement in mortality.