Latest Conference Articles

For patients suffering a first-time cardiac event there could be warning signs in the form of a condition called vital exhaustion. A recent study looked at the causes and signs of vital exhaustion and potential preventive measures and treatments for these patients.

The most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition that can lead to heart failure, angina, arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. There is no medical treatment shown to halt or reverse the progression of the disease-just palliative care or surgery.

Undetected neonatal heart defects can cause a variety of serious problems, including an increased risk of death. A recently enacted New Jersey law mandating screening for congenital heart defects has uncovered cases of congenital heart problems and likely saved lives.

Kirk Garratt, MD, presenting at the 2014 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, said "The TAXUS Liberte Post-approval Study (TL-PAS) was designed to provide long-term safety and efficacy information about the clinical outcomes for the TL stent combined with the use of prasugrel and aspirin."

Could hospitals be a bad place to have heart attacks? That's the finding of a North Carolina research team that looked at data from 303 California hospitals. Patients who had heart attacks while hospitalized for a non-cardiac ailment had a more than 3-fold greater in-hospital mortality than patients taken to a hospital.

Affecting just one in every 100,000 people, ANCA-associated vasculitis is not one of the more common conditions nephrologists will encounter. However, without proper treatment it can have serious adverse effects on a patient's life.

Alternate day fasting can be an effective weight loss strategy, but optimal meal timing on fast days has not been thoroughly examined.

Research and real-world experience has shown interventions such as constraint therapy, botulinum toxin therapy, and interactive computer play to be effective in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

"All kinds of obesity cause asthma," declared Akshay Sood, MBBS, FCCP during his presentation at CHEST 2014. In the scope of synergistic epidemics, the question of what kind of obesity causes asthma is a rather relevant one.

Addiction is a chronic and progressive brain disease of the reward, motivation, and memory pathway that moves from an impulse or positive reinforcement to compulsive and negative reinforcement.

Treatment failure can be caused by a variety of factors, including misdiagnosis of the primary psychiatric complaint, the presence of one or more comorbid conditions, and nonadherence to medication plans.

A pattern of sleep disturbance is a risk factor for depression and suicide and also increases the risk of cancer, infection, hypertension, weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, osteoporosis, chronic pain, and arrhythmias. It can also have a significant negative impact on cognition and creativity.

How can clinicians help veterans with PTSD deal with depression and anxiety symptoms, and process intense feelings of shame and guilt stemming from actions and situations they experienced while serving?

Carol Burke, MD, FACG, FASGE, talks about her phase-3 placebo-controlled trial of Celecoxib in pediatric subjects with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) at the 2014 ACG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA.

To ensure that anaphylaxis episodes are treated in a timely and effective manner, action plans should be developed and distributed to patients, family and other caregivers, and schools.

A detailed presentation at AAP 2014 covered recent hot topics in antibiotic development, microbial resistance, pneumonia treatment, fluoroquinolone safety, and the impact of antibiotic use on the gut microbiome.

Atopic dermatitis is the most common inflammatory pediatric skin disorder, with reported incidences ranging from 10% to 20%. The principles of effect care include fixing the skin barrier, short-circuiting inflammation, decreasing itching, treating infections, and striving for prevention by addressing the triggers.

Jeff Duchin, MD, of the Seattle and King County Departments of Public Health, discusses enterovirus and the relationship with treatment during cold and flu season.

Results from a study of herpes zoster incidence following periods of acute stress in a large cohort of patients suggest the conventional wisdom on this subject may be wrong.

Although methadone accounts for only 2% of opioid prescriptions, it caused nearly one in 3 prescription opioid overdose deaths in 2012, a 6-fold increase from 2009, according to the CDC.

Because there is no objective test for pain, and because each patient's experience of his or her painful condition is subjective and unique, physicians who treat these patients must process a variety of symptoms, signs, and cues to determine whether they can trust their patient's narrative.

A new pill could be the next tool in a patient's fight to lose weight, according to a recent study.

The brains of hyperglycemic patients with Type 1 diabetes produce elevated levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate, which may increase their risk of depression.

Researchers find that the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is a significant predictor for CVD in type 1 diabetes patients who are not using lipid-lowering drugs, and that the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is a more reliable marker for risk when considering primary prevention.

Coping strategies based on enhanced mindfulness and a greater sense of agency can help patients improve their quality of life.

Results from two studies show that treatment with the novel kinase inhibitor nintedanib significantly slowed disease progression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, only one study showed nintedanib had any effect on slowing deterioration in quality of life or reducing the risk of a first acute exacerbation compared with placebo.

Patients with schizoaffective disorder who were treated with paliperidone palmitate (as monotherapy and adjunctive therapy) experienced delayed time to relapse and reduced risk of relapse compared to patients treated with placebo.

Adult patients with binge eating disorder who were treated for 12 weeks with lisdexamfetamine dimesylate reported having 4 fewer binge days per week, and also experienced improvements in weight and triglyceride levels.