Postgraduate medicine
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Postgraduate medicine · Apr 2023
Ground-glass opacity on Emergency Department chest X-ray: a risk factor for in-hospital mortality and organ failure in elderly admitted for COVID-19.
Ground-glass opacity is commonly seen on radiographic imaging tests of patients admitted for COVID-19. The main objective of this study is to determine if the presence of ground-glass opacity on chest X-rays carried out at the Emergency Department correlates with significantly higher mortality. A secondary objective is to clarify which characteristics are associated with those patients who presented ground-glass opacity. ⋯ Based on these results, the variable 'finding ground-glass opacity on chest X-rays carried out at the Emergency Department' should be assessed for inclusion in the different calculators that estimate the prognosis/mortality rate of patients admitted for COVID-19.
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Postgraduate medicine · Apr 2023
Short night-time sleep duration is associated with thyroid nodules: A community-based survey from Guangzhou, China.
Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining human health. This study aimed to explore the association between sleep status and thyroid nodules. ⋯ Short nighttime sleep duration was associated with thyroid nodules in our community-based population. Screening for thyroid nodules among these individuals is recommended.
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The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has triggered great interest in the search for the pathophysiological mechanisms of COVID-19 and its associated hyperinflammatory state. The presence of prognostic factors such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and age influence the expression of the disease's clinical severity. Other elements, such as 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3) concentrations, are currently being studied. ⋯ Thus, there are biological factors linking vitamin D to the cytokine storm, which can herald some of the most severe consequences of COVID-19, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome. Hypovitaminosis D is widespread worldwide, so the prevention of COVID-19 through vitamin D supplementation is being considered as a possible therapeutic strategy easy to implement. However, more-quality studies and well-designed randomized clinical trials are needed to address this relevant question.
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Postgraduate medicine · Apr 2023
ReviewThe debate over the optimal blood pressure treatment target of less than 130/80 mmHg.
The objective of this study was to analyze the controversy regarding the optimal blood pressure (BP) target of <130/80 mmHg as proposed by the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) across all age groups. Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, and chronic kidney disease (CKD), and its optimal control is associated with lessening or preventing these complications. A recent study has argued that this BP level is universally accepted as an optimal and safe BP level. However, this argument is not accepted by other investigators, arguing that higher BP levels are as effective and safe. ⋯ Based on the current evidence, the current proposed by the 2017 ACC/AHA treatment guidelines are effective in lowering the BP and decreasing its cardiovascular complications and should followed, till perhaps, new data come out to the contrary.