The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
A randomized trial of acyclovir for 7 days or 21 days with and without prednisolone for treatment of acute herpes zoster.
Acyclovir given for 7 to 10 days is of proved benefit in acute herpes zoster, but studies of its effectiveness in preventing postherpetic neuralgia have had conflicting results. The role of corticosteroids in the treatment of herpes zoster is also controversial. ⋯ In acute herpes zoster, treatment with acyclovir for 21 days or the addition of prednisolone to acyclovir therapy confers only slight benefits over standard 7-day treatment with acyclovir. Neither additional treatment reduces the frequency of postherpetic neuralgia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
The effects of dietary protein restriction and blood-pressure control on the progression of chronic renal disease. Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Group.
Restricting protein intake and controlling hypertension delay the progression of renal disease in animals. We tested these interventions in 840 patients with various chronic renal diseases. ⋯ Among patients with moderate renal insufficiency, the slower decline in renal function that started four months after the introduction of a low-protein diet suggests a small benefit of this dietary intervention. Among patients with more severe renal insufficiency, a very-low-protein diet, as compared with a low-protein diet, did not significantly slow the progression of renal disease.
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Multicenter Study
Pain and its treatment in outpatients with metastatic cancer.
Pain is often inadequately treated in patients with cancer. A total of 1308 outpatients with metastatic cancer from 54 treatment locations affiliated with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group rated the severity of their pain during the preceding week, as well as the degree of pain-related functional impairment and the degree of relief provided by analgesic drugs. Their physicians attributed the pain to various factors, described its treatment, and estimated the impact of pain on the patients' ability to function. We assessed the adequacy of prescribed analgesic drugs using guidelines developed by the World Health Organization, studied the factors that influenced whether analgesia was adequate, and determined the effects of inadequate analgesia on the patients' perception of pain relief and functional status. ⋯ Despite published guidelines for pain management, many patients with cancer have considerable pain and receive inadequate analgesia.