The American journal of medicine
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Vertebral fractures are a common cause of back pain and pain-related functional impairments in elderly patients. Despite their widespread occurrence, vertebral fractures frequently remain underdiagnosed, often leading to suboptimal management and poor clinical outcomes. ⋯ PT following vertebral fractures has been shown to significantly improve back pain and patient-reported outcomes, with studies even showing a correlation between resistance and aerobic training with improved bone mineral density. These findings highlight the need for interdisciplinary care and comprehensive PT interventions to address the growing burden of vertebral fractures as their incidence rises with the aging population.
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Perioperative medicine is an evolving field, with important publications each year across multiple disciplines. Staying up to date in the field is complicated due to the wide range of journals that publish relevant articles. This review summarizes the most noteworthy perioperative publications in 2023. ⋯ Abstracts, case reports, letters, protocols, pediatric and obstetric articles, and cardiac surgery publications were excluded. Two authors reviewed each reference using the Distiller SR systematic review software (Evidence Partners Inc., Ottawa, Ont, Canada). A modified Delphi technique was used to identify 8 practice-changing articles as well as another 8 articles for table-based summary.
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Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome is a common, increasingly recognized cause of thunderclap headache. Most patients have some type of trigger that precedes the onset (e.g., orgasm, physical exertion, Valsalva maneuvers, exposure to vasoconstrictive medications) followed by multiple short-duration thunderclap headaches that occur over days to weeks. Physical examination is often without focal neurological deficits. ⋯ Treatment is primarily analgesics and avoidance of triggers. Triptans, steroids and immunosuppressive agents, which are sometimes used if migraine or central nervous system angiitis is suspected, should be avoided. Improved recognition of RCVS will likely lead to earlier diagnosis and minimize potentially harmful empiric treatment strategies.
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Diabetes has classically been associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, heart failure is now increasingly recognized as a prevalent and often first cardiovascular complication among patients with diabetes. ⋯ The lack of specific therapy has been recognized as an unmet clinical need. In this review, we summarize current understanding of the hallmark metabolic and structural changes of diabetic cardiomyopathy, appraise current tools for diagnosis and staging among patients, and describe the emerging but still preclinical data on therapeutic options.
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In the Western world, sales of alcoholic beverages are skyrocketing. Alcohol (ethanol) is consumed for its transient euphoric effects but is a risk factor for the development of heart disease. Here, we review the possible association between alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation. ⋯ These include studies of individuals drinking only moderate amounts of alcoholic beverages (aka the "French paradox") on the one hand, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation after binge drinking ("holiday heart syndrome") on the other hand. The evidence available in the literature suggests that hypertension, structured heart disease of any form, neurohumoral stress, and cardiometabolic disorders all favor the development of atrial fibrillation triggered by alcohol. We also suggest that alcohol should be classified as a modifiable risk factor for atrial fibrillation, and also for heart disease in general.