Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a significant clinical and public health problem. Recently, attention has been paid to the potential for procalcitonin (PCT) both to differentiate the diagnosis and to indicate the prognosis of pneumonia. The purpose of this literature review was to evaluate the eligibility of PCT for defining typical bacterial infections and for predicting severity and mortality in trials for CAP. The literature review suggests that PCT has the ability to supplement clinical information to determine whether or not the cause of the infection is likely to be bacterial. In addition, PCT seems to be superior to the most prevalent inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein and also demonstrates a significant correlation between the current clinical scoring systems and actual mortality.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/TME.0b013e318261338d | DOI Listing |
J Eval Clin Pract
February 2025
Centre for Health Care Management, Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Intro: The article tests the hypothesis that we can draw practical knowledge from the experience of service providers operating in the past. The research questions were formulated: can the historical example of the organization of medical care in the Polish Children's Hospital named after Karol and Maria be used as a viable example today? Is it relevant for contemporary practitioners? And do we still use the knowledge of predecessors? The authors decided to use the interwar Hospital and an operating paediatric ward of the Child-Friendly Hospital for a comparative analysis.
Methods: The model of the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization for integrated delivery of health services was adopted as the analysis framework.
J Eval Clin Pract
February 2025
Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Biruni University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Introduction: The sense of smell is one of the most developed and important senses that forms the bond between the newborn and the mother and allows the newborn to reach the mother's breast. The sense of smell begins to form during intrauterine life, and the sense of smell can be a marking tool for a newborn baby, so that the baby can recognize both his mother and his immediate environment and develop his behaviour accordingly. This is necessary not only for feeding babies but also for them to feel safe and peaceful in their new environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Eval Clin Pract
February 2025
Initiative for Slow Medicine, Berkeley, California, USA.
Appropriate patient reassurance is an essential feature of clinical practice. My recent experience as a patient, interpreted via my expertise as a health services researcher, led me to insights on ideal and suboptimal reassurance styles in the context of worrisome symptoms. Reassurance is complex: often poorly defined in the scientific literature, rarely rigorously studied, imperfectly understood, and requiring some adaptation to each patient situation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReprod Sci
December 2024
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Division of Reproductive Sciences & Women's Health Re-search, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a widely cultivated fruit historically recognized for its health benefits and is regarded as a nutritional powerhouse. Pomegranate has a unique composition of bioactive compounds including hydrolysable tannins, anthocyanins, and other polyphenolic components. Of those, punicalagin and its subsequent metabolites are the most extensively studied, demonstrating antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-nociceptive activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRheumatol Int
December 2024
Chair of Psychiatry and Narcology, Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
Chronic pain and restricted mobility, hallmark features of rheumatic diseases, substantially affect patients' quality of life, often resulting in physical disability and emotional distress. Given the long-term nature of these conditions, there is a growing interest in complementary therapeutic approaches, emphasizing the need to explore non-pharmacological treatments. Hydrotherapy, balneotherapy, and mud therapy have emerged as effective interventions to alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, improve joint mobility, and enhance overall physical and mental well-being.
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