NMDAR Down-Regulation: Dual - Hit Molecular Target For COPD - Depression Comorbidity.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease characterized by sustained airflow limitation that represents one of the main causes of disability in modern society. Depression affects approximately 40% of COPD patients. Both COPD and depression are associated with chronic systemic inflammation and their comorbidity represents a critical unmet treatment need.

Reduction of health care-associated infection indicators by copper oxide-impregnated textiles: Crossover, double-blind controlled study in chronic ventilator-dependent patients.

Background: Copper oxide has potent wide-spectrum biocidal properties. The purpose of this study is to determine if replacing hospital textiles with copper oxide-impregnated textiles reduces the following health care-associated infection (HAI) indicators: antibiotic treatment initiation events (ATIEs), fever days, and antibiotic usage in hospitalized chronic ventilator-dependent patients.

Methods: A 7-month, crossover, double-blind controlled trial including all patients in 2 ventilator-dependent wards in a long-term care hospital.

Tadalafil and acetazolamide versus acetazolamide for the prevention of severe high-altitude illness.

We report an open-label study comparing tadalafil and acetazolamide (n = 24) versus acetazolamide (n = 27) for prevention of high-altitude illness (HAI) at Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tadalafil group had lower rates of severe HAI compared with controls (4% vs 26%, p = 0.

Esophageal obstruction due to enteral feed bezoar: A case report and literature review.

This paper describes a rare complication of enteral feeding, esophageal obstruction due to feeding formula bezoar, and reviews the published cases. An attempt to re-insert the nasogastric tube in a chronically ventilated 80-year-old female fed via a nasogastric tube with Jevity(®) failed. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed an 18 cm-long concretion of the feeding formula, filling most of the esophageal lumen, which was removed endoscopically.

Aeromedical transport of a patient with massive chylothorax following pneumonectomy for mesothelioma.

Introduction: Long-distance transportation of a patient in an unstable condition is a challenging operation. When circumstances require using a commercial flight it is even more so.

Case Report: A 57-yr-old man in Israel underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy for mesothelioma, following which he developed a massive chylothorax of more than 6 L x d(-1).

Contradictions in end-of-life decisions for self and other, expressed by relatives of chronically ventilated patients.

Objectives: In certain populations, social, legal, and religious factors may influence end-of-life decisions in ventilator-dependent patients. This study aims to evaluate attitudes of first-degree relatives of chronically ventilated patients in Israel, toward end-of-life decisions regarding their loved ones, themselves, and unrelated others.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted in a chronic ventilation unit.

Enteral feeding in end-stage dementia: a comparison of religious, ethnic, and national differences in Canada and Israel.

Background: Although enteral feeding in end-stage dementia is thought by many clinicians to be "futile," it is still widely used. We examined rates of tube feeding (gastrostomy or nasogastric) in end-stage dementia in hospitals in both Canada and Israel, and hypothesized that Canadian non-Jewish affiliated hospitals would have the lowest (and Israeli institutions the highest), with Canadian Jewish hospitals exhibiting intermediate rates.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of six geriatric long-term hospitals: two in Israel and four in Canada (two Jewish affiliated, two not; two in Ontario, two in Quebec province).

Nasogastric tube syndrome: a life-threatening laryngeal obstruction in a 72-year-old patient.

Nasogastric tube (NGT) syndrome is a rarely reported complication of NGT use that can cause life-threatening laryngeal obstruction. The syndrome results from post-cricoid ulceration, which affects the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles, thus causing vocal cord abduction paralysis and upper airway obstruction. We describe a case of a 72-year-old patient with this syndrome who was treated successfully and emphasise the difficulty of diagnosis in frail older adults.

SCOPE: SCripture Oriented Preventive Education.

Background: Counseling to effect lasting change in health behaviors has proven only moderately effective. The Torah, or Five Books of Moses, conveys many of the key messages regularly promulgated by prevention professionals. The promise of synergy with the behavioral messages of preventive medicine among devout Scripture-based adherents led to the development of a SCripture Oriented Preventive Education (SCOPE) tool.