Do you know about behcet’s syndrome?
I was reading some medical records the other day and came upon a condition known as Behcet’s syndrome. It is actually a rare disease, but more frequent and severe in patients from the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia. Inherited (genetic) and environmental factors, such as microbe infections, are suspected to be factors that contribute to the development of Behcet’s. The syndrome is not proven to be contagious. The symptoms of Behcet’s syndrome depend on the area of the body affected. Behcet’s syndrome can involve inflammation of many areas of the body. These areas include the arteries that supply blood to the body’...
Source: Nursing Comments - January 24, 2016 Category: Nursing Authors: Stephanie Jewett, RN Tags: Advice/Education Caregiving General Public Nursing/Nursing Students Patients/Specific Diseases Behcet's disease Behcet's syndrome cortisone genital ulcers inflammation mouth ucerations skin test Source Type: blogs
Do you know about behcet ’s syndrome?
I was reading some medical records the other day and came upon a condition known as Behcet’s syndrome. It is actually a rare disease, but more frequent and severe in patients from the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia. Inherited (genetic) and environmental factors, such as microbe infections, are suspected to be factors that contribute to the development of Behcet’s. The syndrome is not proven to be contagious. The symptoms of Behcet’s syndrome depend on the area of the body affected. Behcet’s syndrome can involve inflammation of many areas of the body. These areas include the arteries that supply blood to the body’...
Source: Nursing Comments - January 24, 2016 Category: Nursing Authors: Stephanie Jewett, RN Tags: Advice/Education Caregiving General Public Nursing/Nursing Students Patients/Specific Diseases Behcet's disease Behcet's syndrome cortisone genital ulcers inflammation mouth ucerations skin test Source Type: blogs
Test your medicine knowledge: 59-year-old man with gout
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 59-year-old man is evaluated for a 6-month history of gout. He was doing well on colchicine and allopurinol but developed hypersensitivity to allopurinol, which resolved with cessation of the agent. He then began to have more frequent gout flares; two flares occurred in the past month and were treated with prednisone. History is also significant for hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and dyslipidemia. Current medications are colchicine, lisinopril, metoprolol, and simvastatin.
On physical examination, tempe...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 7, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
LITFL Review 198
Welcome to the 198th LITFL Review. Your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peeks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the blogosphere’s best and brightest and deliver a bite-sized chuck of FOAM.
The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beauts of the Week
A great new #FOAMcc website is born: ICM Case Summaries! This is what it is all about: “Writing ten expanded case summaries is a requirement of the CCT in Intensive Care Medicine training program for doctors in the UK. These summaries are usual...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - September 20, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Marjorie Lazoff, MD Tags: Education LITFL review Source Type: blogs
Diffuse ST Elevation. Diagnosis confirmed with Bedside Echo.
A male in 40's with left sided chest pain since last night with associated shortness of breath. The pain worsens with turning on left side and is best when sitting forward. He has some cough with sputum. There was no pericardial friction rub.Here is the initial ECG:Diffuse ST elevation, without reciprocal ST depression, mostly in inferior limb leads and lateral precordial leads. This is very typical for pericarditis.Some ECG factors to consider in diagnosing pericarditis:1. Diffuse STE, fulfills2. STE vector towards leads II and V5, fulfills3. Absence of reciprocal ST depression, fulfills4. Presence of PR segm...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 13, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Diffuse ST Elevation and Chest Pain, What is it?
A male in his 40s presented by EMS with 24 hours of chest pain. The pain was central, anterior, dull and squeezing, and 5/10, not worsened with activity but associated with mild shortness of breath.No prehospital 12-lead could be found.Here is the initial ECG at time zero:QTc is 386 ms. There is scary ST elevation especially in V2 and aVL, with some reciprocal ST depression in III. However, the ST elevation in V2 has a saddleback appearance. I have seen Anterior saddleback ST elevation as a finding in anterior MI only once ever, in all the ECGs and MIs I have reviewed.If you apply the early repol vs. LAD ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 6, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
"Science" Takes ACLS Backwards
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations have become the new pathway to riches for the pharmaceutical industry.
First, there was generic colchicine, used for years and years to treat gout for pennies a pill. The only problem was, there wasn't an FDA trial proving colchicine's efficacy in the treatment of gout. Takeda Pharmaceutical, seeing the opening, performed a trial and rebranded (Source: Dr. Wes)
Source: Dr. Wes - January 20, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Westby G. Fisher, MD Tags: colchicine Colcrys FDA Iron Triangle regulatory capture vasopressin Vasostrict Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, January 14, 2015
From MedPage Today:
Carotid Stenting Linked to High Real-World Mortality. Carotid stenting was associated with much higher than expected 2-year mortality in the Medicare population.
‘Generic’ Colchicine to Hit Market. A so-called authorized generic version of the colchicine formulation sold as Colcrys for acute gout flares and for treating familial Mediterranean fever will be “widely available” starting later this week.
Newer RA Drugs Raise Serum Lipids. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and tocilizumab (Actemra) have notable changes in serum lipids.
Scant Evide...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 14, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: MedPage Today Tags: News Heart Pain management Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
Investigating the Details of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Aging Mouse Heart
This is a look at a specific form of mitochondrial dysfunction in aging heart tissue, with a focus on the sarcoplasmic reticulum structure inside cells responsible for, among other things, storing and pumping calcium ions. Calcium has many roles; calcium ions (Ca2+) are important in signaling for muscle contractions for example. Here it seems that the problem lies in the interaction between two cellular organelles, and is more subtle than just damage to one or other:
Mitochondrial alterations are critically involved in increased vulnerability to disease during aging. We investigated the contribution of mitochondria-sarcop...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 29, 2014 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
A Young Woman with Chest Pressure and Subtle, Focal ST Elevation/Depression
A very healthy woman in her 20's (who, however, is a heavy smoker) presented with 4 days of waxing and waning substernal chest pressure radiating to the throat and both shoulders. It was not sharp, not pleuritic. There were no myalgias, no viral symptoms, no F/C/S.Looking at her, she was the picture of health, and I thought to myself: "Is there any possible way she could have an MI?". My answer, of course was yes. I've seen it too often before in young women, as for instance:in this case, and in this case, and others.So we ordered an ECG, of course:I found this very interesting and worriso...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - November 2, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 64-year-old man with knee osteoarthritis
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 64-year-old man is evaluated for a 2-year history of knee osteoarthritis. He has bilateral knee pain that worsens with walking. He has tried topical therapies, physical therapy, and acetaminophen, none of which has provided relief. The patient also has peripheral vascular disease, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. Medications are hydrochlorothiazide, pravastatin, and a daily aspirin.
On physical examination, temperature is 37.0 °C (98.6 °F), blood pressure is 116/76 mm Hg, pulse rate is 60/min, and respirati...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 12, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Meds Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals And Their Business Plan
The orphan-drug model is a popular one in the biopharma business these days. But like every other style of business, it has something-for-nothing artists waiting around it. Take a look at this article by Adam Feuerstein on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, and see what category you think they belong in.
They're developing a compound called Firdapse for Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), a rare neuromuscular disorder. It's caused by an autoimmune response to one set of voltage-gated calcium channels in the peripheral nervous system. Right now, the treatments for the condition that seem to provide much benefit are intravenou...
Source: In the Pipeline - October 21, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Regulatory Affairs Source Type: blogs
Colchicine Found Effective in Acute Pericarditis
Although colchicine has been shown to be beneficial in patients with recurrent pericarditis, which is thought to have a large inflammatory component related to an immune response, until now its efficacy in a first episode of acute pericarditis has been uncertain, as these episodes are thought to usually have a viral component that might benefit from an inflammatory response. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 240 patients with acute pericarditis and receiving conventional therapy with aspirin or ibuprofen were randomized to colchicine or placebo for 3 months. Colchicine was found effective ...
Source: CardioBrief - September 12, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes Acute pericarditis Colchicine inflammation The New England Journal of Medicine Source Type: blogs
CDM talk on updates in the diagnosis and management of ED arthritis
Welcome, readers from Clinical Decision Making. You've got a PowerPoint version of my talk on your USB drives; here's the link to today's Prezi.I frequently mentioned Chris Carpenter's excellent 2011 systematic review of ED septic arthritis; Margaretten's Systematic Review for JAMA is also worth a look.Other references from my talk:EPMonthly and EMPractice (new Rosen's chapter is not yet published)Terkeltaub's trial that changed colchicine regimens for goutKesselheim and Solomon in NEJM 2010 on the Curious Case of ColchicinePiper on the risks of local anesthetics on cartilageFitch 2008 on IA l...
Source: Blogborygmi - June 21, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Nick Genes Source Type: blogs
