Ann Clin Epidemiol
October 2024
Background: Large electronic databases have been widely used in recent years; however, they can be susceptible to bias due to incomplete information. To address this, validation studies have been conducted to assess the accuracy of disease diagnoses defined in databases. However, such studies may be constrained by potential misclassification in references and the interdependence between diagnoses from the same data source.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: X (Formerly known as Twitter) healthcare hashtags are a popular healthcare informatics and educational tool among medical professionals. #Globalhealth is one such widely used hashtag with extensive engagement. This study analyses #GlobalHealth to understand its pattern, global digital distribution, and other parameters during the COVID-19 pandemic on X.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study finds the changes in the hematological parameters of healthy individuals to predict the immune status against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among COVID -19 vaccinated and nonvaccinated individuals.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study among 210 healthy individuals was conducted. All individuals were divided into three groups, that is, IgG positive, IgG negative, and IgG and IgM positive, based on ELISA.
Homocysteine is a type of amino acid that isn't genetically encoded by the human body. This amino acid is capable of causing oxidative damage to the endothelial cells, leading to the onset of thrombosis. Moreover, it can also inflict harm to neurons by activating pro-apoptotic factors, causing DNA damage, and inducing oxidative stress, as observed in various animal models and cell cultures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The increasing popularity of cannabinoids for treating numerous neurological disorders has been reported in various countries. Although it reduces tetrahydrocannabinol psychoactivity, it helps patients tolerate higher doses and complements the anti-spasmodic effects of tetrahydrocannabinol. One of the most important potential of cannabinoids are related to its potential to help children with cerebral palsy, a contributor of lifelong disability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter only Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease. The incidence of this disease increases with age, especially for those above 70 years old. There are many risk factors that are well-established in the contribution to the development of PD, such as age, gender, ethnicity, rapid eye movement sleep disorder, high consumption of dairy products, traumatic brain injury, genetics, and pesticides/herbicides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Social media has many advantages as a tool in the healthcare industry. On the other hand, the disadvantages of using social media to obtain data include the unequal quality of uncontrolled and unchecked content. Our study aimed to assess the accuracy of the information on epilepsy or issues relevant to epilepsy observed on social media.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives This study aimed to analyze the impact of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 transition to a pass/fail scoring system in 2022 on the performance of first-time test takers in three distinct groups: Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) examinees from US/Canadian schools and examinees from non-US/Canadian schools. The analysis spans a decade-long period from 2012 to 2022, offering insights into the implications of this pivotal change in medical education. Methods We analyzed the performance of first-time USMLE Step 1 examinees from US/Canadian MD and DO programs and non-US/Canadian schools from 2012 to 2022, including the transition year to a pass/fail scoring system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In malaria-stricken regions, malaria continues to be one of the primary causes of mortality for children. The number of malaria-related fatalities has drastically decreased because of artemisinin-based pharmacological regimens.
Methods: Two independent researchers did a comprehensive literature search using PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar from its inception to September 2022.
Extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma (EES) is a rare tumor of the soft tissue that looks the same as skeletal Ewing sarcoma (ES). A male in his 50s was diagnosed with extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma (EES) of the right shoulder, which had infiltrated the muscles around the shoulder joints. Although uncommon, all members of the ES family of tumors, including EES, were treated following the same general protocol for sarcoma tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the past, BCOR-CCNB3 sarcoma was believed to be comparable to Ewing's sarcoma; however, current research has proven that it is, in reality, a distinct type of the illness, now classified as a distinct entity under undifferentiated round cell sarcomas. This tumour most frequently affects teenagers and young adults, and it is more prevalent in men. It can form in both bone and soft tissue, and it appears most frequently in the pelvis, lower extremities, and paraspinal region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 55-year-old female patient presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Laboratory evaluation revealed low calcium (4.9 mg/dl), low PTH (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDe Barsy syndrome (DBS) is an exceedingly rare autosomal recessively inherited genetic disorder that manifests as premature aging with progeroid features. Typically, the skin loses its elasticity, causing laxity, wrinkling, and sagging. Other characteristics include ophthalmological, orthopedic, and neurological abnormalities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: COVID-19 vaccines are found to be effective interventions to tackle COVID-19. However, the hesitancy towards its acceptance has been rising in Pakistan. This study highlights the opinion of the general population in Pakistan regarding the acceptance and hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is a lymphoproliferative disorder that principally displays lymph node involvement but can also spread to extranodal sites such as the spleen. Primary splenic NHL arises in the spleen and, due to its atypical presentation, can sometimes present similarly to other splenic conditions. This review aims to highlight how primary splenic NHL can be effectively differentiated from other splenic conditions, such as splenic abscesses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)is a very common psychiatric disorder occurring in an individual of any age, gender, or race who underwent trauma, with women being twice more at risk than men. It is generally seen more in American Indians, United States Latinos, and African American ethnic groups. A patient is diagnosed with PTSD if the symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, changes in cognition and emotions, arousal, and mood reactivity changes persist for more than a month and cause the individual severe difficulty in their everyday cognitive and psychological functioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCentral nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB) is rarely suspected in pregnancy because its clinical presentation may masquerade other common conditions in pregnancy, such as eclampsia. In high tuberculosis endemic areas, CNS-TB should be suspected with a high degree of suspicion among unimmunized and immunocompromised individuals. We hereby report a case of a 32-year-old pregnant woman conceived by in vitro fertilization due to tubal blockage causing infertility, probably due to chronic infection, who presented with a history of multiple seizure episodes without a history of similar complaints outside this pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dietary and lifestyle modifications to reduce subjective psychosomatic symptoms (SPS) have become an important topic worldwide. We developed a school-based dietary and lifestyle education programme that involved parents/guardians in reducing SPS in adolescents (SPRAT). The programme encouraged parents/guardians to participate in adolescents' healthy dietary and lifestyle modifications to reduce SPS, increase enjoyment of school life, and foster appropriate dietary intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlatelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), a novel inflammatory marker, has been suggested to predict the severity of COVID-19 patients. This systematic review aims to evaluate the association between PLR levels on admission and the severity of COVID-19 patients. A systematic literature search was done on 23 July 2020 to identify peer-reviewed studies, preprints, and grey literatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpatial scan statistics are widely used tools for the detection of disease clusters. Especially, the circular spatial scan statistic proposed by Kulldorff along with SaTScan software has been used in a wide variety of epidemiological studies and disease surveillance. However, as it cannot detect non-circular, irregularly shaped clusters, many authors have proposed non-circular spatial scan statistics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neurotrauma is an important global health problem. The largest cause of neurotrauma worldwide is road traffic collisions (RTCs), particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Neurotrauma and RTCs are preventable, and many preventative interventions have been implemented over the last decades, especially in high-income countries (HICs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Many clinical trials have been conducted to verify the effects of interventions for prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2D) using different treatments and outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of lifestyle modifications (LM) with other treatments in persons at high risk of T2D by a network meta-analysis (NMA).
Methods: Searches were performed of PUBMED up to January 2018 to identify randomized controlled trials.
Background: Long-term maintenance treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is important to prevent relapse. Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used for both treatment and maintenance therapy of GERD. Recently, a potassium-competitive acid blocker vonoprazan was launched in Japan.
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