Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Review
Exercise Training for Patients With Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease—Efficacy and Adherence.
One-third of all persons with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) suffer from intermittent claudication. Exercise training under appropriate supervision is recommended in the pertinent guidelines, but physicians order it too rarely, and so-called vascular exercise groups are not available everywhere. This situation needs improvement in view of the impor - tance of walking ability and cardiorespiratory fitness for patients' quality of life and long-term disease outcome. ⋯ Exercise improves walking ability and lowers mortality. To attract patients with intermittent claudication to exercise training, a broad assortment of analog, digital and telemetric tools and a dense network of vascular exercise groups should be made available, along with regular contact between physicians and patients.
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Review Meta Analysis
The Function of Sleep and the Treatment of Primary Insomnia.
Good sleep is correlated with health. Primary insomnia is a common reason for consulting a primary care physician. It is usually treated with drugs despite clear evidence for the efficacy of behavioral therapy. ⋯ Behavioral therapy is underused despite clear evidence of efficacy, while drugs are given too often. Better patient education and the use of digital applications might help increase the utilization of behavioral therapy for insomnia.
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Fractures of the fingers and metacarpal bones are the most common fracture type in the upper limb, with an incidence of 114 to 1483 per 100 000 persons per year. The clinical importance of closed finger and metacarpal fractures is often underestimated; inadequate diagnostic and therapeutic measures may result in serious harm. This review concerns the basic elements of the diagnosis and treatment of finger and metacarpal fractures. ⋯ Individualized treatment for finger and metacarpal fractures can improve patients' outcomes, with major socioeconomic and societal benefits. Further high-quality studies evaluating the relative merits of the available treatments are needed as a guide to optimized therapy.
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Cannabinoid drugs containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or its structural analogues, as monotherapeutic agents or as extracts or botanical preparations with or without cannabidiol (CBD) are often prescribed to multimorbid patients who are taking multiple drugs. This raises the question of the risk of drug interactions. ⋯ Potential drug interactions with THC and CBD are probably of little importance at low or moderate doses. Strong CYP inhibitors or inductors can intensify or weaken their effect. Slowly ramping up the dose of oral cannabinoid drugs can lessen their pharmacodynamic interactions, which can generally be well controlled. Administration by inhalation can worsen the interactions.
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Germ-cell tumors of the testes are the most common type of malignant tumor in men aged 20 to 40. Their incidence in Germany is 10 per 100 000 men per year, with an estimated 4200 new cases annually. ⋯ For patients with early-stage tumors, overtreatment should be avoided in order to minimize long-term sequelae. For those whose tumors are in advanced stages, it must be decided which patients should receive intensified treatment to optimize the outcome. Multimodal treatment approaches are associated with high cure rates even for patients with metastatic disease.