“The guideline was never intended to set a standard of care in the treatment of pain, much less was it intended to serve as a means to criminally prosecute clinicians. While the new guideline is a substantial improvement, harm from the 2016 guideline will not be easily erased and will require more specific wording than is currently present.” (Requires free registration / login)

Capsule endoscopy, also known as wireless capsule endoscopy or video capsule endoscopy, is a noninvasive procedure that uses a swallowed capsule-shaped miniature camera for direct visual and diagnostic evaluation of various gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Although originally intended as a tool to examine the small intestine, which is mostly beyond the reach of conventional endoscopy, capsule endoscopy is now being used to examine the entire length of the GI tract.

CVD is the leading cause of death in the US, accounting for more than one in four deaths. Following a systematic review, the US Preventive Services Task Force has provided an update on the effectiveness of aspirin to reduce the risk of CVD events.

Scientists have made a breakthrough when it comes to triggering lucid dreams. Building on their previous work, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Lucidity Institute in Hawaii wanted to investigate how acetylcholinesterase inhibitors might promote lucid dreaming. A common drug used to treat memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease – galantamine – is a fast-acting AChEI with only mild side effects, so researchers recruited 121 participants to see what effect the drug had on their ability to have and recall lucid dreams. The findings were surprising.

An 87-year-old white man presented to a hospital emergency surgical department with two round, grayish-brown nodules on his abdomen. He had no other complaints except feeling tired and dizzy for the last few months. He had a 120 pack-year smoking history but was not taking any medications and had not experienced a cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, or other breathing problems.

A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the association between cardiovascular outcomes and the coprescription of nitrates with PDE5 inhibitors in more than 42,000 men over a 10-year period. Two composite outcomes were measured: 1) cardiac arrest, shock, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or acute coronary arteriography; and 2) syncope, angina pectoris, or drug-related adverse event. The authors found no statistically significant increase in measured cardiovascular AEs.