Medicine
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Meta Analysis
Prognostic significance of platelet lymphocyte ratio in patients with melanoma: A meta-analysis.
The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the prognostic role of platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with melanoma through performing a meta-analysis. ⋯ Our results showed that higher PLR was associated with poorer overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with melanoma. These findings may help to determine the prognosis and explore future novel therapies based on modulating inflammation and immune responses in melanoma.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of erzhu jiedu recipe on hepatitis B cirrhosis with hyperalphafetoproteinemia: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Hepatitis B cirrhosis with hyperalphafetoproteinemia is the intermediate stage of liver cirrhosis progressing to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), there is no effective way to treat precancerous lesions of liver in modern medicine. In recent decades, clinical and experimental evidence shows that Chinese medicine (CM) has a certain beneficial effect on Hepatitis B Cirrhosis. Therefore, this trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a CM erzhu jiedu recipe (EZJDR) for the treatment of Hepatitis B Cirrhosis with Hyperalphafetoproteinemia. ⋯ The study protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Shuguang Hospital, affiliated with University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai (NO.2018-579-08-01).
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The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the elderly population aged 60 to 84 years ranges from 6.7% to 25.2%, and the effective prevention and reversal of MCI progression to Alzheimer disease (AD) is crucial. The mini mental state examination (MMSE) is the most commonly used screening tool in Chinese outpatient clinics, with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to allow useful stratification from average to abnormal with adequate consideration of age and education. ⋯ The results indicate that herbal medicine can improve MMSE scores, and herbal medicine combined with other drugs that can improve cognition can significantly improve MMSE scores, but there are methodological flaws in the study. Experimental studies have found a basis for the ability of herbs to improve cognition and memory impairment, and herbal medicine has great potential to improve MCI cognition. Keywords mild cognitive impairment, herbal medicine, MMSE, systematic evaluation, meta-analysis. PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews protocol registration number: CRD42020202368.
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Glaucoma is the second most blinding eye disease in the world. Currently, lowering the intraocular pressure through various methods is the main treatment of glaucoma. Acupuncture has been effectively and safely used in the treatment of glaucoma. However, the evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of glaucoma is controversial, leading to inconsistent findings from systematic evaluations at abroad and home. Therefore, this protocol aims to provide a multivariate evaluation on the quality of evidences from current systematic reviews (SRs) and/or meta-analyzes (MAs) of acupuncture in the treatment of glaucoma, and literature quality, thus providing an intuitive and reliable evidence synthesis and basis for clinical decision making. ⋯ We would like to provide a visual and scientific approach for clinical decision making of acupuncture treatment of glaucoma through a accessible and useful assessment of systematic reviews.
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Clinical pharmacy specialists (CPS) were deployed nationally to improve care access and relieve provider burden in primary care. The aim of this study was to assess CPS integration in primary care and the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Rural Veteran Access (CRVA) initiative's effectiveness in improving access. Concurrent embedded mixed-methods evaluation of participating CRVA CPS and their clinical team members (primary care providers, others). ⋯ Themes in provider interviews focused on value of CPS in teams, relieving provider burden, facilitators to integration, and team communication issues. This evaluation indicates good integration of CPS on primary care teams as perceived by other team members despite some communication and role clarification challenges. CPS may play an important role in improving access to primary care.