Background: Recent data support F-FDG PET-CT for the management of infections in immunocompromised patients, including invasive fungal infection (IFI). However, its role is not well established in clinical practice. We performed an international survey to evaluate the knowledge of physicians about the usefulness of F-FDG PET-CT in IFI, in order to define areas of uncertainty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study estimated the social and economic costs of body dissatisfaction and appearance-based discrimination (specifically, weight and skin-shade discrimination) in the United States (USA) in the 2019 calendar year. We used a prevalence-based approach and a cost-of-illness method to estimate the annual cost of harmful appearance ideals for cases of body dissatisfaction and discrimination based on weight and skin shade. Impacts on conditions/illnesses such as eating disorders that are attributable to body dissatisfaction, weight discrimination and skin-shade discrimination were identified through a quasi-systematic literature review, which captured financial, economic, and non-financial costs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFebrile neutropenia (FN) is a complication of hematologic malignancy therapy. An early diagnosis would allow optimization of antimicrobials. The F-FDG-PET-CT may be useful; however, its role is not well established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFType 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), characterized by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells and consequent insulin deficiency, leads to various complications. Management primarily focuses on optimal glycemic control through intensive insulin therapy, either via multiple daily injections (MDI) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) using insulin pumps, which offer flexibility and improved basal insulin delivery. Despite the benefits of insulin pumps, such as reduced hypoglycemia risk and better mealtime insulin management, they pose challenges such as complexity in site changes and potential ketoacidosis due to tubing issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The evaluation of staging and activity of invasive fungal infection (IFI) is used to adjust the type and duration of antifungal therapy (AT). Typically anatomy-based imaging is used. Positron emission tomography/CT with F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG PET/CT) not only evaluates more than one body area in one session, but adds functional information to the anatomic data provided by usual imaging techniques and can potentially improve staging of IFI and monitoring of the response to therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Dietary supplements sold for weight loss pose a risk to public health due to deceptive claims and unscrupulous manufacturing practices in the context of weak federal regulation. Efforts to strengthen U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To estimate one-year costs of eating disorders in the United States (U.S.) from a societal perspective, including the costs to the U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeritoneal dialysis transfer sets (extension lines) are replaced every six to nine months to minimize peritoneal dialysis catheter complications. The aim of this study was to compare a revised non-bag transfer set exchange procedure with the standard bag exchange procedure on nursing time, costs, and safety. Thirty-three people were randomized to two groups - a standard bag exchange procedure group (n = 16) and a non-bag transfer set exchange procedure group (n = 17).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the past decade, a first wave of US public policy advocacy for eating disorders made substantial progress, with passage of the federal 21st Century Cures Act in 2016 as its crowning achievement. However, the US response to eating disorders continues to fall short in several ways. On the cusp of a second wave of policy advocacy, efforts must be broadened to target structural determinants of illness and inequities to maximize clinical impact and diminish suffering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtraosseous primitive neuroectodermal tumors are very rare neoplasms. Only a few cases have been published in the literature. This report is about a 9-year-old female patient whose clinical manifestations showed spinal cord compression, so different diagnosis should be considered, including oncology disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The habenula (Hb) is a small midbrain structure that signals negative events and may play a major role in the etiology of psychiatric disorders including depression. The lateral Hb has three major efferent connections: serotonergic raphe nuclei, noradrenergic locus coeruleus, and dopaminergic ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra compacta. We wanted to test whether Hb connectivity may be important to predict treatment outcomes in depression patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of electronic cigarettes (ECs) has increased drastically over the past five years, primarily as an alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes. However, the adverse effects of acute and long-term use of ECs on the microbiota have not been explored. In this pilot study, we sought to determine if ECs or tobacco smoking alter the oral and gut microbiota in comparison to non-smoking controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: After the 2009 influenza pandemic the H1N1pdm09 strain circulate seasonally. In 2015, Puerto Montt Hospital in Chile faced a simultaneous outbreak of both seasonal H3N2 and H1N1pdm09 influenza A (IA).
Aim: To evaluate the clinical differences between the two viral strains and recent changes in the behavior of H1N1pdm09 IA.
The role of the environment in surgical site infections is surprisingly understudied. UV disinfection holds promise for reducing the level of contamination in operating rooms and thereby lowering the risk of infection for patients. Issues such as the frequency, amount and locations for UV disinfection to have an impact on the risk of surgical site infection are recently emerging in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic disorder with relapse based on both desire for reinforcement (craving) and avoidance of withdrawal. The aversive aspect of dependence and relapse has been associated with a small brain structure called the habenula, which expresses large numbers of both opioid and nicotinic receptors. Additionally, opioid withdrawal symptoms can be induced in opioid-treated rodents by blocking not only opioid, but also nicotinic receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci
April 2018
Serious mental illness (SMI) is disabling, and current interventions are ineffective for many. This exploratory study sought to demonstrate the feasibility of applying topological data analysis (TDA) to resting-state functional connectivity data obtained from a heterogeneous sample of 235 adult inpatients to identify a biomarker of treatment response. TDA identified two groups based on connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and striatal regions: patients admitted with greater functional connectivity between these regions evidenced less improvement from admission to discharge than patients with lesser connectivity between them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScrub typhus is a life-threatening zoonosis caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi organisms that are transmitted by the larvae of trombiculid mites. Endemic scrub typhus was originally thought to be confined to the so called "tsutsugamushi triangle" within the Asia-Pacific region. In 2006, however, two individual cases were detected in the Middle East and South America, which suggested that the pathogen was present farther afield.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDepression is a global health concern and when rooted in childhood adversity is particularly difficult to treat. In a previous study, we found that healing prayer was effective in reducing depressive symptoms. Subjects suffering with depression according to HAM-D scores underwent task-based brain functional MRI (fMRI) prior to and after a 6-week prayer intervention, and depression symptoms were assessed at both time points and at a 12-month follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is hypothesized to be involved in decision making and emotion regulation. Previous observations of drug dependent individuals indicate that substance dependence may be associated with cingulum white matter abnormalities. The present study evaluated cingulum white matter in cigarette smokers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci
January 2016
Abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity correlates with several neurologic and psychiatric conditions, including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and stroke. Abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity also correlates with abuse of cannabis and cocaine. In the current report, we evaluated whether tobacco abuse (i.
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