Annals of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Coronary heart disease in postmenopausal recipients of estrogen plus progestin therapy: does the increased risk ever disappear? A randomized trial.
Estrogen plus progestin therapy increases the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in postmenopausal women. However, this increased risk might be limited to the first years of use and to women who start therapy late in menopause. ⋯ National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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Cigarette smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but studies on the contribution of other smoking techniques are sparse. ⋯ National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.
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Review Case Reports
Narrative review: the role of Th2 immune pathway modulation in the treatment of severe asthma and its phenotypes.
New therapeutic approaches are needed for patients with severe asthma who are refractory to standard therapy comprising high doses of inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting beta(2)-agonists. Current treatment guidelines for patients with severe asthma from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program recommend the addition of oral corticosteroids, which are associated with substantial morbidity, and, for those with allergic asthma, anti-IgE. ⋯ Therefore, biological modifiers of Th2-type ILs, such as monoclonal antibodies, soluble receptors, and receptor antagonists, are a rational strategy for developing new treatment approaches but will need to be targeted to selected patients in whom the appropriate Th2 immune pathway is "active." The benefits of immune-modifier therapies targeting Th2-type cytokines, however, need to be weighed against the toxicities associated with inhibition of key biological pathways, as well as the expense of future medications. Therefore, future clinical trials need to clearly establish the efficacy and safety of biological modifiers of Th2 immune pathways before these approaches can enter routine clinical practice for the treatment of severe asthma.
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Multicenter Study
Superficial venous thrombosis and venous thromboembolism: a large, prospective epidemiologic study.
Superficial venous thrombosis (SVT) is perceived to have a benign prognosis. ⋯ GlaxoSmithKline, sanofi-aventis, and the Ministère Francais de la Santé et des Sports (Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique).