Establishment and Maintenance of a Digital Therapeutic Alliance in People Living With Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Two Exploratory Single-Arm Studies.

Background: Evidence-based digital therapeutics represent a new treatment modality in mental health, potentially providing cost-efficient, accessible means of augmenting existing treatments for chronic mental illnesses. CT-155/BI 3972080 is a prescription digital therapeutic under development as an adjunct to standard of care treatments for patients 18 years of age and older with experiential negative symptoms (ENS) of schizophrenia. Individual components of CT-155/BI 3972080 are designed based on the underlying principles of face-to-face treatment.

Innovative Technologies in CNS Trials: Promises and Pitfalls for Recruitment, Retention, and Representativeness.

Objective: Recruitment of a sufficiently large and representative patient sample and its retention during central nervous system (CNS) trials presents major challenges for study sponsors. Technological advances are reshaping clinical trial operations to meet these challenges, and the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this development.

Method Of Research: The International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM; www.

Appropriate controls for digital therapeutic clinical trials: A narrative review of control conditions in clinical trials of digital therapeutics (DTx) deploying psychosocial, cognitive, or behavioral content.

Digital therapeutics (DTx) are software programs that treat a disease or condition. Increasingly, DTx are part of medical care, and in the US healthcare system they are regulated by the FDA as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). Randomized controlled trials (RCT) remain a key evidence generation step for most DTx.

Pain management consultation for acute pancreatitis: impact on length of stay and opioid utilization.

The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of a pain management consult for acute pancreatitis patients on their inpatient length of stay, morphine milligram equivalences (MMEs) and pancreatitis severity. Adult patient data were extracted from the electronic health records from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2018. Of 277 patients with a single acute pancreatitis hospitalization, 23 had a pain consultation (treatment group), whereas 254 did not (control group).

A Virtual, Randomized, Control Trial of a Digital Therapeutic for Speech, Language, and Cognitive Intervention in Post-stroke Persons With Aphasia.

Post-stroke aphasia is a chronic condition that impacts people's daily functioning and communication for many years after a stroke. Even though these individuals require sustained rehabilitation, they face extra burdens to access care due to shortages in qualified clinicians, insurance limitations and geographic access. There is a need to research alternative means to access intervention remotely, such as in the case of this study using a digital therapeutic.

Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in treatment of Takayasu arteritis: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a chronic immune vasculitis in which Interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptors play a key role in pathogenesis. Tocilizumab (TCZ), an IL-6 receptor antagonist with a favorable safety and efficacy profile, has been tried as an option for patients with TAK. This systematic review analyzed the evidence from randomized control trials (RCT) assessing the safety and efficacy of TCZ in patients with TAK.

New Media, Technology and Neurology Education.

The use of technology in neurology education has revolutionized many aspects of medical teaching, addressing some important challenges of modern education such as information overload and the unique needs of millennial learners. However, it also has inherent problems, such as depersonalization and high development costs. Due to the heterogeneity of different applications, it is difficult to establish general principles to guide front line educators, but it may be possible to describe "minimum" best practice elements.

Curriculum mapping as a tool to facilitate curriculum development: a new School of Medicine experience.

Background: Every curriculum needs to be reviewed, implemented and evaluated; it must also comply with the regulatory standards. This report demonstrates the value of curriculum mapping (CM), which shows the spatial relationships of a curriculum, in developing and managing an integrated medical curriculum.

Methods: A new medical school developed a clinical presentation driven integrated curriculum that incorporates the active-learning pedagogical practices of many educational institutions worldwide while adhering to the mandated requirements of the accreditation bodies.

Corrigendum: Matrix Metalloproteinases and Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

[This corrects the article on p. 32 in vol. 4, PMID: 23565108.

The Effectiveness of Aromatherapy in Reducing Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aromatherapy refers to the medicinal or therapeutic use of essential oils absorbed through the skin or olfactory system. Recent literature has examined the effectiveness of aromatherapy in treating pain. 12 studies examining the use of aromatherapy for pain management were identified through an electronic database search.

Neurotransmitters in hiccups.

Hiccups are the sudden involuntary contractions of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. They are generally benign and self-limited, however, in some cases they are chronic and debilitating. There are approximately 4000 admissions for hiccups each year in the United States.

Zingiberaceae extracts for pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Members of the family Zingiberaceae including turmeric, ginger, Javanese ginger, and galangal have been used for centuries in traditional medicine. Preclinical studies of Zingiberaceae extracts have shown analgesic properties. This study aims to systematically review and meta-analyze whether extracts from Zingiberaceae are clinically effective hypoalgesic agents.

Botulinum Toxin-A for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: A Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is a debilitating complication of diabetes that greatly affects the quality of life of those afflicted. There are many treatment options for neuropathic pain. Recent studies show a promising analgesic effect using botulinum toxin-A (BTX-A) for neuropathic pain.

Zonisamide add-on for drug-resistant partial epilepsy.

Background: The majority of people with epilepsy have a good prognosis and their seizures can be well controlled with the use of a single antiepileptic agent, but up to 30% develop refractory epilepsy, especially those with partial seizures. In this review we summarise the current evidence regarding zonisamide, when used as an add-on treatment for drug-resistant partial epilepsy.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of zonisamide when used as an add-on treatment for people with drug-resistant partial epilepsy.

Efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine versus haloperidol in first-episode schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic disease of global importance. The second-generation antipsychotic quetiapine has a favorable side-effect profile, however, its clinical effectiveness has been called into question when compared with first-generation antipsychotics such as haloperidol. This study evaluates the efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine versus haloperidol for first-episode schizophrenia in the outpatient setting.

The history of reimbursements in neurology.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) addresses consumer protection, employer-provided insurance coverage, as well as the government's role in providing health care access to the most vulnerable populations. Within the practice of neurology, the PPACA has the challenging goal of reconciling the needs of the growing elderly population with the financial barriers to costly yet available health care services. To bridge that gap, all health care professionals working in the field of neurology must reflect on the effect previous Medicare reimbursement policies have had on the current practice of neurology, and utilize lessons learned in recent years.

Mindfulness-based therapies in the treatment of somatization disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been used effectively to treat a variety of physical and psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. Recently, several lines of research have explored the potential for mindfulness-therapy in treating somatization disorders, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Methods: Thirteen studies were identified as fulfilling the present criteria of employing randomized controlled trials to determine the efficacy of any form of MBT in treating somatization disorders.