Current medical research and opinion
-
To assess treatment patterns and initial and maintenance dosing of biologics over 3 years in pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD), utilizing data from the ImproveCareNow registry. ⋯ The use of corticosteroids was common at the initial visit in patients. Anti-TNFs remain the most used class of biologics, however, reported doses in our study were substantially higher than the standard dosing guidelines.
-
The therapeutic management of psychiatric disorders is currently confronted with a critical need to find new therapeutic interventions due to the high rates of non-responsivity or low responsivity in the key pathologies, e.g. schizophrenia spectrum disorders, alcohol use disorders, or major depressive disorder. The modulation of intestinal microbiota has been explored in various organic and psychiatric dysfunctions, with different degrees of success. However, this type of intervention may represent a helpful add-on at a conceptual level since it does not associate negative pharmacokinetics interactions, significant adverse events, or risk for non-adherence in the long term. ⋯ Based on the current status of research, FMT may be considered a helpful intervention in specific psychiatric pathologies. Still, this review showed that most of the information is derived from entirely preclinical studies. Therefore, clinical trials with sound methodology and more participants are needed to clarify FMT's benefits and risks in psychiatric disorders.
-
This study measures the relative preference for attributes of device-aided therapies (DATs) for advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD) from the perspective of Japanese neurologists. ⋯ Our findings suggest that Japanese neurologists would prefer a DAT without surgery requirement. Other factors related to efficacy, safety, and administration mode have a significant, but a smaller influence on prescription choices.
-
Patients with type 2 diabetes nowadays have a wide range of new antidiabetic medications with better efficacy and safety. Physicians' attitude toward selecting antidiabetic medications to reach targeted glycemic control and better quality of life (QOL) has not been studied prospectively. The global DISCOVER study aims to comprehensively provide a real-world assessment of the treatment pattern changes for patients with type 2 diabetes, in addition to QOL assessment. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the countries participating in the DISCOVER study program. ⋯ There is an increasing trend of using of newly available ADMs, mainly DPP-4 inhibitors. The major limitation of ADMs use is related to efficacy, availability, and safety. This warrant taking all the measures to overcome these limitations through adopting a multidisciplinary team approach for close monitoring of the patients and any unfavorable side effects. Additionally, global insurance coverage for all patients with type 2 diabetes could be a solution for the drug availability factor.
-
It is well-established that social determinants of health contribute to health and well-being. Among the social determinants of health, health-related social needs (HRSNs) are unmet needs that can be identified by the health care system and addressed through referral to community services. Despite the importance of identifying patients with HRSNs, none of the few screening tools for HRSNs available internationally have received a comprehensive psychometric validation. This study aims to conduct a qualitative validation of the Social Determinants of Health Screening Tool (SDoHST). ⋯ The SDoHST is the first validated tool to measure social determinants of health (and specifically HRSNs) in Australia, receiving a comprehensive qualitative validation. The instrument is readily available and future studies will further investigate its psychometric properties with quantitative methods.