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A subgroup analysis on elderly Chinese patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) revealed beneficial effects of Xuezhikang, a red yeast rice extract. Risk of coronary and all-cause deaths were significantly lowered, total cholesterol and LDL- cholesterol levels were reduced, and HDL-cholesterol levels were increased significantly compared to placebo.
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Dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel has become the standard of care for patients suffering an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there remains a significant incidence of recurrent ACS and mortality even in patients treated with dual antiplatelet therapy. Furthermore, clopidogrel is an irreversible platelet inhibitor, and patients requiring urgent surgery are at higher risk of bleeding if operated on within 5-7 days of clopidogrel use.
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Current recommendations for stroke prophylaxis with warfarin for patients with atrial fibrillation do not take into account the risks of hemorrhage. Thus, Singer et al from Kaiser Permanente studied more than 13,000 patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation to estimate the net clinical benefit of warfarin therapy for atrial fibrillation (reduction in thromboembolism minus the increase in intracranial hemorrhage).
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This randomized, single-center study demonstrated that light-sedation strategies in a mixed surgical and medical ICU population are associated with decreased ICU length-of-stay and duration of mechanical ventilation without adverse effects on patient safety or mental well-being.
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In patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are treated with CPAP, those who report persistent sleepiness are more likely to have history of depression, diabetes, and heart disease, and to have been sleepier prior to treatment.
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One-third of adults older than age 40 has vestibular dysfunction.
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Hand hygiene and facemasks used within 36 hours of patient symptom onset resulted in a small reduction of household transmission of influenza, but adherence to recommended practices was poor despite home-based education.
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Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a protein that might seem to be most interesting to the endocrinologist, since its sole function - until very recently - has been thought to be regulation of the availability of gonadal steroids.
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Well-characterized strains of Staphylococcus aureus were grown in broth culture and after lysis PCR primers amplifying the lukS-PV and lukF-PV genes were employed. The amplicon was inserted into a pGEX vector and was transfected into E. coli.
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The diagnosis of C. difficile-related disease (CDD) in children is controversial, as recently reviewed.
