Annals of internal medicine
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Feedback control is an important mechanism for reaching a targeted goal. Biologic examples range from achieving the appropriate blood pressure level to glycemia control. Computer-based feedback control systems have many potential applications in medicine. ⋯ However, existing applications have only scratched the surface. Many more facets of diabetes management could be standardized and assisted by open-loop control systems if the management rules could be more exactly specified, a task requiring substantial time commitments by diabetologists. Efforts to translate existing knowledge bases into precise guidelines will be helpful, but new primary studies and decision analyses are needed to define the optimal use of some interventions.
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To summarize the literature on the clinical utility of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (c-ANCA) as a diagnostic marker for Wegener granulomatosis. ⋯ Although c-ANCA test results may serve clinicians as adjunct evidence for the diagnosis of Wegener granulomatosis, these results must be viewed in the context of the patient's clinical picture and disease activity and the prevalence of Wegener granulomatosis in the clinical setting in which the patient is seen.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on glucose homeostasis and blood pressure in essential hypertension. A randomized, controlled trial.
To determine whether dietary supplementation with fish oil adversely affects glycemic control in patients with hypertension. ⋯ Fish oil, in doses that reduce blood pressure and lipid levels in hypertensive persons, does not adversely affect glucose metabolism.
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To review prospective epidemiologic studies and randomized trials regarding the role of antioxidant vitamins (vitamins E and C and beta-carotene) in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, with emphasis on differences in results obtained by these two types of studies. ⋯ The epidemiologic data suggest that antioxidant vitamins reduce cardiovascular disease, with the clearest effect for vitamin E; however, completed randomized trials do not support this finding. Much of this controversy should be resolved by the ongoing large-scale and long-term randomized trials designed specifically to evaluate effects on cardiovascular disease.