Reading Between the Lines: Navigating Nuance in Medical Literature to Optimize Clinical Decision-Making and Health Care Outcomes.

Research-based articles published in medical journals are key to communicating the results of clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. But there are challenges inherent in the communication process. While clinicians rely on the information they read in medical journals to help guide clinical decision-making, most are overwhelmed by the amount of information being published and many receive only limited training on how to critically assess what they read.

SGLT2 inhibitors: a narrative review of efficacy and safety.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a cardio-renal-metabolic condition that is frequently associated with multiple comorbidities, including atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), heart failure (HF), and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, which lower glycated hemoglobin, fasting and postprandial plasma glucose levels, body weight, and blood pressure, as well as reduce the risk of a range of cardiovascular and renal outcomes without increasing hypoglycaemic risk, have heralded a paradigm shift in the management of T2DM. These drugs are compatible with most other glucose-lowering agents and can be used in patients with a wide range of comorbid conditions, including ASCVD, HF, and CKD, and in those with estimated glomerular filtration rates as low as 30 mL/min/1.

The Phoenix Physician: defining a pathway toward leadership in patient-centered care.

Health care delivery has evolved in reaction to scientific and technological discoveries, emergent patient needs, and market forces. A current focus on patient-centered care has pointed to the need for the reallocation of resources to improve access to and delivery of efficient, cost-effective, quality care. In response to this need, primary care physicians will find themselves in a new role as team leader.

Correlating patient-reported response to hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic insert (LACRISERT®) therapy with clinical outcomes: tools for predicting response.

Background/aims: To determine whether patient-reported improvement in symptoms of dry eye syndrome, activities of daily living, and other quality-of-life measures after treatment with hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts correlates significantly with physician assessment of clinical outcomes.

Methods: Patient registry of those treated for 1 month with inserts as monotherapy or in combination with existing treatments for moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome. A total of 520 participants were enrolled.

Efficacy of hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts (LACRISERT) in subsets of patients with dry eye syndrome: findings from a patient registry.

Purpose: To determine acceptability and efficacy of hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts in patients with dry eye syndrome (DES) and additional comorbidities.

Design: A multicenter, 2-visit, open-label, 4-week registry study.

Participants: Five hundred twenty patients were recruited to the intent-to-treat group.

Improved signs, symptoms, and quality of life associated with dry eye syndrome: hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic insert patient registry.

Objectives: To evaluate the acceptability, ease of use, and efficacy of hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts in reducing signs and symptoms of moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome (DES), and improving quality of life (QoL) and activities of daily living (ADL).

Methods: The multicenter, prospective, open-label, 4-week registry comprised 520 patients with bilateral DES and a history of artificial tear use, or a desire to use artificial tears within the previous week. Visit 1 encompassed a clinical evaluation and symptom and QoL questionnaires, including the Ocular Surface Disease Index.

Hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts (lacrisert) reduce the signs and symptoms of dry eye syndrome and improve patient quality of life.

Purpose: A multicenter, 2-visit, open-label, 4-week study was conducted to determine the acceptability of hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts in adult patients with a history of dry eye syndrome (DES).

Methods: At visit 1, patients (N = 520) were evaluated, screened by slit-lamp biomicroscopy, and completed the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), a validated measure of quality of life. Patients were trained in the proper placement and use of hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic inserts and were contacted by telephone on day 3 of the study.

Guiding clinical decisions on abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risk.

Studies have shown that obesity increases cardiometabolic risk across the span of life. Obesity results in increased production of proinflammatory adipokines and decreased production of the anti-inflammatory adipokine, adiponectin, which eventually leads to atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lifestyle changes are the cornerstone for treatment of overweight and obese patients; however, pharmacotherapy and surgery are 2 additional treatment options that may be considered when lifestyle changes alone are unsuccessful.

Overweight and obesity: the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic risk.

Obesity, particularly abdominal adiposity, is increasingly recognized as a cause of elevated cardiometabolic risk--the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The predominate mechanisms appear to involve the promotion of insulin resistance, driven largely by excess free fatty acids secreted by an expanded adipose tissue mass, and the development of an inflammatory milieu due to increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines and adipokines from adipose tissue. Key proinflammatory cytokines secreted by adipocytes include tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, leptin, resistin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

Obesity as a disease state: a new paradigm for diagnosis and treatment.

While global prevalence of obesity continues to increase dramatically, treatment options remain less than optimal. The etiology of obesity is multifactorial, ranging from lifestyle choices such as excess food intake and insufficient physical activity, to use of medications that have weight gain as an undesirable side effect. Economic and political determinants of available foodstuffs and even social networks may also contribute to obesity.