Pharmacogenomic biomarkers do not predict response to drotrecogin alfa in patients with severe sepsis.

Purpose: To explore potential design for pharmacogenomics trials in sepsis, we investigate the interaction between pharmacogenomic biomarkers and response to drotrecogin alfa (activated) (DrotAA). This trial was designed to validate whether previously identified improved response polymorphisms (IRPs A and B) were associated with an improved response to DrotAA in severe sepsis.

Methods: Patients with severe sepsis at high risk of death, who received DrotAA or not, with DNA available were included and matched to controls adjusting for age, APACHE II or SAPS II, organ dysfunction, ventilation, medical/surgical status, infection site, and propensity score (probability that a patient would have received DrotAA given their baseline characteristics).

Hypoglycaemia in sulphonylurea-treated subjects with type 2 diabetes undergoing Ramadan fasting: a five-country observational study.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of hypoglycaemia during Ramadan in Muslim subjects with type 2 diabetes treated with a sulphonylurea.

Methods: In an observational study, eligible subjects were Muslims with type 2 diabetes (age ≥18 years) who were treated with glimepiride, gliclazide, or glibenclamide with or without metformin and who expressed their intention to fast during Ramadan in 2009. Subjects were recruited by clinicians in India, Malaysia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia.

The relation between disease severity and cost of caring for patients with Alzheimer disease in Canada.

Objectives: to characterize the cost of caring for an outpatient in Canada with Alzheimer disease (AD) based on disease severity, and to describe how costs change with increases in disease severity.

Method: community-dwelling patients with mild-to-moderate AD were enrolled in a 3-year, naturalistic, observational study. Assessments included cognition (Mini Mental Status Examination), global ratings (Global Deterioration Scale [GDS]), and daily function (Functional Autonomy Measurement System) as part of the Canadian Outcomes Study in Dementia.

The contribution of neuropsychiatric symptoms to the cost of dementia care.

Objective: To estimate the contribution of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) to the costs of care.

Method: A one-year prospective study of resource utilization recorded monthly by 500 caregivers of community dwelling patients with dementia. The effect of behavior on total, direct and indirect costs of care was examined.

A cohort study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases after the Chornobyl accident: objectives, design and methods.

The thyroid gland in children is one of the organs that is most sensitive to external exposure to X and gamma rays. However, data on the risk of thyroid cancer in children after exposure to radioactive iodines are sparse. The Chornobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986 led to the exposure of large populations to radioactive iodines, particularly (131)I.