Articles related to Internal Medicine

In the 5-year, multi-center, randomized, controlled GRADE trial (Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study), insulin glargine and liraglutide were about 13% more effective than glimepiride in keeping HbA1c lower than 7.0%, and 30% more effective than sitagliptin.

Palliative care (PC) can help reduce emergency department use, hospitalizations, and symptom burden across a spectrum of diseases. To assist clinicians in keeping their expertise current, the authors reviewed and summarized the top PC articles of 2020. The analysis included 28 PC intervention trials for heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dementia.

Gabapentin has been increasingly used as part of a multimodal analgesia regimen to reduce opioid use in perioperative pain management. In this cohort study of 237,872 adults aged 65 years or older, perioperative gabapentin users had significantly increased risk of delirium, new antipsychotic use, and pneumonia compared with nonusers after major surgery.

An 18-year-old man comes to you for a sports physical. He is asymptomatic, with no limitation in his exercise capacity. He has a history of exercise-induced bronchospasm for which he takes a budesonide-formoterol inhaler. He does not smoke, drink alcohol, or use any drugs. There is no family history of cardiac disease or sudden death. What’s the next appropriate test?

Because this GLP-1 agonist is known to reduce food intake, physicians have been prescribing tirzepatide off-label for weight loss for years. But unlike other drugs in its class, tirzepatide targets GLP-1 and GIP receptors.

In a study involving 212 adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, an unsupervised online yoga program delivered via prerecorded videos over 12 weeks netted improved physical function vs. the control group. At 12 weeks, knee stiffness, quality of life, and arthritis self-efficacy improved more with yoga than the control intervention. Benefits were not maintained at 24 weeks. Adverse events were minor.