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When a hospital closes for business, the ripple effect extends near and far. Existing patients, the closing hospital’s nearby residents, the medical facilities that will tend to these residents — all are forced to make unique decisions, based on that one closing.    Investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have studied this ripple
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A significant number of patients leave the hospital with inappropriate drugs because of a lack of medication reconciliation at discharge, new research shows. Proton pump inhibitors — known to have adverse effects, such as fractures, osteoporosis, and progressive kidney disease — make up 30% of inappropriate prescriptions at discharge. Harsh Patel “These medications can have
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Nurses in all specialties and areas will, at some point, work with patients who have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Because the disease impacts each person in a different way, caring for patients can be challenging. Cindy Keith, RN, BS, CDP, owner of M.I.N.D. in Memory Care, and author of Love, Laughter, & Mayhem – Caregiver
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How long immunity lasts after a COVID-19, or SARS-CoV-2, infection is something that many studies are trying to determine. But it’s a question that may not be answered for some time, William Moss, MD, told Medical Daily. “[Since] we’re only 10 months into the pandemic … we still have a lot to learn, particularly about
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For patients with diabetic kidney disease, finerenone, an agent from a new class of selective, nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, led to significant reductions in combined adverse renal outcomes and in combined adverse cardiovascular outcomes in the pivotal FIDELIO-DKD trial. And the safety results showed a good level of tolerability. The rate of hyperkalemia was higher
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It used to be that if you saw someone speaking aloud while alone in a room, you’d wonder what was up. But these days, people have gotten used to talking to a disembodied voice that lives in their house. No, it’s not a ghost, but an artificial intelligence (AI) that includes systems like Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa
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What is COVID brain fog? Judith Graham describes the sudden emergence of cognitive dysfunction in seniors who have become seriously ill from coronavirus ~ Older COVID Patients Battle ‘Brain Fog,’ Weakness and Emotional Turmoil (Kaiser Health News) Two recent analyses reveal a steep decline in COVID-related deaths among hospitalized patients. Geoff Brumfiel explores what factors
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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Last spring, when Cliff Willmeng, RN, was working at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, he’d take off his personal protective equipment (PPE) in the same hallway where children were transported from ambulances to the neighboring Children’s Hospital emergency department. Stretchers
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Fast detection of people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is key in managing the pandemic and preventing future outbreaks. Currently, the gold standard in testing is the RT-PCR test. But this test can take time to show results and is very expensive, especially for low-income nations. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh
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Continued quality improvement in acute MI may be possible in the U.S. given lessons learned from another country with major geographic and other disparities in acute MI care and mortality: China. Rural hospitals and those with fewer resources showed opportunities for improved care in China, according to findings from two registries now published online in
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Among individuals admitted to hospitals with sepsis, statin users had a lower mortality, compared with nonstatin users, according to a recent analysis focused on a large and diverse cohort of patients in California. Mortality hazard ratios at 30 and 90 days were lower by about 20% for statin users admitted for sepsis, compared with nonstatin
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The FDA has approved the drug known as remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19.  In a statement released earlier this evening, the Food and Drug Administration said that remdesivir is allowed for patients 12 and over who weigh about 88 pounds. Remdesivir is only permitted for use in hospitals or other medical care settings that provide
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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Researchers and several medical groups on Thursday pressed for changes to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current plans for deciding how to eventually clear vaccines for COVID-19, arguing tougher standards would help bolster confidence in these critical medicines. The
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The coronavirus pandemic has demanded changes to many parts of life, and sports is no exception. We’ve already covered the “NBA bubble” and its supporting technology, but basketball isn’t the only sport that was able to reopen. The National Hockey League (NHL) designed its own plan to create a safe environment for players and staff,
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Use of multidisciplinary care (MDC) in the treatment of elderly patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) increased during the last 2 decades, but use still varied by stage and type of disease, researchers reported. A retrospective study by Thomas Galloway, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues looked at
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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Less than half of Americans now say that they would get a coronavirus vaccine if one became available, according to a survey conducted Oct. 8-10. Only 48% of the 2,200 adults participating in the national tracking poll said that they would
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Suicide screening protocols implemented in veteran and general populations reduced suicides, but making such screening tools more efficient remains a challenge, according to a pair of studies. After the Veterans Health Administration implemented the Veterans Affairs Suicide Risk Identification Strategy (Risk ID) in 2018, results were positive in outpatient visits for 3.5% and 0.4% of
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Irritability appears to be a potent independent predictor of increased risk for suicidality in children and adolescents with ADHD, Tomer Levy, MD, said at the virtual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. While there is ample evidence that ADHD is associated with increased suicidality, Levy’s recent study involving 1,516 youths aged 6-17 years attending
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October is National Dental Hygiene Month. Taking care of your mouth is an important part of your health, so we’ve reached out to experts in the field and brought together top tips, straight from the source. Read on and learn how to keep a healthy mouth and a killer smile. Protecting Your Teeth Protects Your
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The interleukin (IL)-6 receptor blocker tocilizumab (Actemra) was not effective in alleviating pain from hand osteoarthritis (OA), a French randomized multicenter study found. After two intravenous infusions of tocilizumab or placebo, the mean change from baseline on a 100-point visual analog scale of pain at 6 weeks was -7.9 in the active treatment group and
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Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute for National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, originally had a big part in the daily White House news briefings about COVID-19. After a few months, he fell out of favor with the administration when he publically disagreed with President Trump over issues such as wearing masks
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