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Short (< 7 hours/night) sleep duration is associated with increased BMI and increased genetic influences on BMI. Longer sleep duration may reduce genetic influences on body weight.
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Treatment of dyslipidemia with statins produces consistent, durable lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), which is associated with substantial reductions in myocardial infarction and stroke.
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Elderly patients are often prescribed analgesics after ambulatory and short-stay surgery which may lead to their long-term use.
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Scenario: The 12-lead ECG shown above was obtained from a 72-year-old woman seen in the emergency department (ED) with new-onset chest discomfort. No prior ECGs were available for comparison. The tracing was interpreted as "showing no acute changes." Do you agree? What else do you see?
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Recent ACIP recommendations for the management of influenza virus infections include: "1) early antiviral treatment of suspected or confirmed influenza among persons with severe influenza (e.g., those who have severe, complicated, or progressive illness or who require hospitalization); 2) early antiviral treatment of suspected or confirmed influenza among persons at higher risk for influenza complications; and 3) either oseltamivir or zanamivir for persons with influenza caused by 2009 H1N1 virus, influenza A (H3N2) virus, or influenza B virus or when the influenza virus type or influenza A virus subtype is unknown; 4) oseltamivir may be used for treatment or chemoprophylaxis of influenza among infants aged <1 year when indicated; 5) local influenza testing and influenza surveillance data, when available, to help guide treatment decisions; and 6) consideration of antiviral treatment for outpatients with confirmed or suspected influenza who do not have known risk factors for severe illness, if treatment can be initiated within 48 hours of illness onset."
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The risk of interrupting prophylactic warfarin for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients is unclear. Thus, these investigators from Denmark evaluated their national health registry and found 102,591 patients > age 30 with a first-time hospitalization for AF between 1997 and 2008.
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Based on their review of prior published studies of telemedicine ICUs and the initiation of a telemedicine ICU in a Veterans Health Administration hospital system, the authors find that costs of implementation are substantial and the sum impact on hospital expenses and profits remains unclear.
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Patients who present with acute myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by cardiogenic shock represent a group at high risk for early mortality. Current guidelines recommend the use of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) for these patients, but there are few randomized, controlled trial data to support this.
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Two men presented to a hospital in northwestern Missouri in June 2009 with fever, fatigue, diarrhea, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. Both had a history of frequent recent tick bites. A novel phlebovirus was isolated in cell culture from patient blood. Electron microscopy revealed virus particles consistent with Bunyaviridae. Sequencing identified the viruses as novel members of the phlebovirus genus.
