First-line combination therapy versus first-line monotherapy for primary hypertension.

Background: This is the first update of a review originally published in 2017. Starting with one drug and starting with a combination of two drugs are strategies suggested in clinical guidelines as initial treatment of hypertension. The recommendations are not based on evidence about clinically relevant outcomes.

[Characterization of smoked cocaine substance users in treatment for drug abuse in Buenos Aires, Argentina].

In this paper, we present the results of a survey that was part of a regional project on smokable cocaine substance developed in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. We analyze the characteristics of users of smoked cocaine who attend treatment centers or institutions in Buenos Aires (Argentina) that provide support and care, but not a formal treatment for drug abuse. We analyze their sociodemographic characteristics, their social supports, their health, their drug use patterns (age of onset, substances, use frequency and procedures of administration) and their history of treatment.

First-line combination therapy versus first-line monotherapy for primary hypertension.

Background: Starting with one drug and starting with a combination of two drugs are strategies suggested in clinical guidelines as initial treatment of hypertension. The recommendations are not based on evidence about clinically relevant outcomes. Some antihypertensive combinations have been shown to be harmful.

Adoption of new drugs by physicians: a survival analysis.

Background: New drugs often substitute others cheaper and with a risk-benefit balance better established. Our aim was to analyse the diffusion of new drugs during the first months of use, examining the differences between family physicians and specialists.

Methods: Prescription data were obtained of cefditoren, duloxetine, etoricoxib, ezetimibe, levocetirizine, olmesartan, pregabalin and tiotropium 36 months after their launching.