Irish journal of medical science
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We aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on emergency and cardiovascular disease-related calls in Hangzhou, China. ⋯ During the COVID-19 epidemic in Hangzhou, the numbers of emergency and cardiovascular disease-related calls have decreased significantly. These results point to a severe social problem that requires the attention of the medical community and the government.
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Restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have demanded an innovative approach to provide appropriate patient review. We have been running virtual cardiology clinics as per Health Service Executive guidance. ⋯ This study highlights that virtual clinic consultations are associated with fewer investigations, fewer management changes, and increased discharge rates compared with traditional consultations. These practice changes would reduce costs and hospital outpatient congestion by avoiding unnecessary hospital reviews. Nonetheless, it is unknown whether patients requiring face-to-face consultations could be missed as a result of this virtual approach. Longitudinal studies are required to assess clinical outcomes as a result of these practice changes and whether patient satisfaction is altered.
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Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic autoimmune condition characterised by autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cell. It is associated with macrovascular and microvascular complications. Tight glycaemic control has been shown to ameliorate the long-term complications of T1DM, but this benefit has to be balanced with the risk and fear of hypoglycaemia. ⋯ More recently, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, which measure interstitial glucose, have become available. CGM systems remove or significantly reduce the need for blood glucose testing and have been shown in real world and clinical trial settings to improve glycaemic control, reduce frequency of hypoglycaemia, improve recognition of hypoglycaemia and improve quality of life. The question now is whether CGM should replace capillary blood glucose measurements and be offered to all patients with T1DM.
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Meta Analysis
Effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on statin-induced myopathy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Statins can trigger a series of muscle-related adverse events, commonly referred to collectively as statin-induced myopathy. Although coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is widely used as a supplement in statin therapy, there is little clinical evidence for this practice. ⋯ The outcomes of this meta-analysis of existing randomized controlled trials showed that supplementation with CoQ10 did not have any significant benefit in improving statin-induced myopathy.