Articles related to CLINICAL STUDY

A study of nearly 850 patients diagnosed with MDD examined the interrelationship between response rates on several outcome domains and their association with patients’ global rating of improvement.

According to surveys, up to 40% of cancer patients in the United States use cannabis, yet only one-third of doctors are comfortable advising them on it. Now, a small but significant study has found that cancer patients who use cannabis to treat their symptoms had reduced pain, better sleep, and an unexpected benefit: they appear to think more clearly after a few weeks of consistent use. The study, published in the journal Exploration in Medicine, is one of the first to look at how cannabis purchased via dispensaries, rather than government-supplied or synthetic kinds, affects cancer symptoms or chemotherapy side effects. It also sheds light on the large range of drugs used by cancer patients now that marijuana is legal in the majority of states.

Temporary suspension of endocrine medication to seek pregnancy did not give a higher short-term risk of breast cancer events, including distant recurrence, than the external control cohort among select women with previous hormone receptor-positive (HR+) early breast cancer. Further investigation is required to ensure long-term safety.

The split-hand sign, one of the first physical symptoms of ALS, refers to a loss of the pincer grasp caused by weakening and wasting of two hand muscles placed on the side of the thumb: the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and the first dorsal interosseous (FDI). Hand muscles on the side of the little finger, such as the abductor digiti minimi (ADM), are typically spared, hence the term “split.” Several studies have attempted to develop split-hand indexes (SIs) based on a measure of muscle conduction known as compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) of affected and unaffected hand muscles over the years. The CMAP and F-wave persistence (FP) of three important groups of hand muscles — APB, FDI, and ADM — were assessed in 83 ALS patients and 50 age- and height-matched healthy individuals (controls) in this study. The sensitivity and specificity of SIFP and SICMAP in identifying ALS patients from healthy participants were compared using statistical analysis. When compared to controls, both SIFP and SICMAP tended to have very low values in people with ALS.

The study followed nearly 143,000 women who underwent hysterectomy for a benign condition over a 20-year-period and compared outcomes between those who had bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) and those who didn’t. Younger (under age 45) women who had BSO had a higher 10-year cumulative risk of hospitalization for CVD. Women aged 45 to 54 with BSO had a higher 10-year risk for developing cancer. Based on the findings, the authors suggest a cautious approach to ovarian removal in postmenopausal women and recommend preserving ovaries in premenopausal women without a high risk for ovarian cancer.

In this study, participants with OCD were seen to have a complex imbalance affecting the brain pathways and regions that are linked to emotion regulation and reward. The findings point to better targets for drug therapy since current medications interventions fail to benefit many OCD sufferers.