1,721,053 research outputs found
Iposcialia: considerazioni eziopatogenetiche e meccanismi farmaco indotti.
No full textObjectives. To review the current hypotheses on the pathogenesis and pharmacodynamic mechanisms involved in hyposalivation induced by different classes of drugs. Materials and methods. The authors analyze the basic anatomical and functional aspects of drug-induced hyposalivation. Particular emphasis is placed on the classification of xerogenic drugs that are commonly used for the therapy of high-prevalence diseases. Results. At the dosages normally recommended, most xerogenic drugs are not harmful to the salivary glands. Care should be taken to avoid combining drugs with anticholinergic effects, which can cause hyposalivation in patients who do not experience this effect when treated with a single anticholinergic drug. Conclusions. In most cases, drug-induced xerostomia can be reversed by discontinuing/replacing the drug responsible for the symptoms. When this is done, the symptom should gradual regress
Role of community pharmacists in the detection of potentially inappropriate benzodiazepines prescriptions for insomnia
No full textBackground The appropriate management of chronic insomnia is crucial and prescribing of hypnotic drugs is common. Regular and prolonged use of hypnotics should be avoided because of the risk of tolerance to effects, dependence and an increased risk of adverse events. In 2012, updated Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication in older adults suggested to avoid all benzodiazepines in older adults to treat insomnia. In addition, successful discontinuation may result in improvements on cognitive and psychomotor function, particularly in older people. Objective To investigate the appropriateness of benzodiazepines prescription for insomnia and explore the role that community pharmacists can have in identifying signals of potential inappropriate drug prescriptions. Setting Community pharmacies in Italy. Method This is an observational study conducted in 8 community pharmacies. Each pharmacist was asked to interview a sample of patients with the prescriptions of at least one benzodiazepine and to complete a minimum data set collecting information about socio-demographic characteristics, drug indication, duration of drug prescription, number of hypnotic-drugs, previous attempt to drug-discontinuation, preference of patients about benzodiazepine withdrawal and modality of drug tapering. Main outcome measure Indications, treatment duration, dosage and drug discontinuation attempts and modalities. Results A total of 181 participants were interviewed. About half of respondents (n = 81) reported to be treated for insomnia and 62 % were elderly (mean age 68, range 27–93). Fifty-two patients (64 %) were on long term treatment (>3 years) while for thirteen patients (16 %) duration of treatment was comprised between 1 and 3 years. Thirty-three patients were in favour of benzodiazepine-discontinuation but in all cases discontinuation was unsuccessful. Conclusion Use of community pharmacy survey data allowed us to obtain information about incorrect management of insomnia and inappropriate benzodiazepines prescriptions. Stricter adherence to evidence-based guidelines is essential for a rational use of hypnotic and sedatives
Screening for unknown atrial fibrillation in older people : a feasibility study in community pharmacies
No full textIntroduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart arrhythmia. It is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality and its prevalence rises with age. The arrhythmia is often asymptomatic, and systematic AF screening could help identify asymptomatic individuals to implement therapeutic and preventive strategies. The main study aims were to test the technical feasibility and citizens’ acceptance of a freely offered service in older people using community pharmacies. Materials and methods: During 2 months, a 30-s single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) with a telemedicine device was used for screening in 20 pharmacies in a mixed rural–urban health district of Northern Italy. Results: A total of 289/335 older adults 70 years old or more agreed to participate in the study. A cardiologist considered 80% of the ECG tracings readable and unknown AF was identified in 1.3%. Conclusions: The screening scheme appears technically feasible and acceptable both to professionals and citizens/participants. Training the pharmacists could ensure broader participation and substantially improve the pharmacies’ overall performance
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Role of Community Pharmacies for the Detection of Potentially Inappropriate Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor Prescriptions
Full text linkBackground
Xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors are largely the treatment of choice for gout, but allopurinol is often inappropriately used for asymptomatic hyperuricemia. There is little evidence that allopurinol is useful in preventing cardiovascular diseases and therapeutic decisions must the balance the expected benefit with the potential harm.
Objective
To investigate the appropriateness of XO inhibitor use in relation to evidence-based indications and examine the role of community pharmacies in the detection of inappropriate prescriptions of these drugs.
Methods
This is an observational study conducted in eight community pharmacies. Each pharmacist was asked to interview a sample of patients who had received prescriptions of XO inhibitors. Patients were asked to complete a structured minimum data set that collected information on drug indication, history of gout, and presence of cardiovascular diseases.
Results
The study sample included 74 patients receiving XO inhibitors. About one third of patients reported being treated for asymptomatic hyperuricemia and had never had a gout attack. About half of the patients treated for asymptomatic hyperuricemia had been receiving the drug treatment for more than 3 years. Four asymptomatic hyperuricemic patients received allopurinol to treat hypertension. Among the patients treated for asymptomatic hyperuricemia, there was a higher presence of diabetes mellitus, obesity, previous myocardial infarction, and heart failure than in patients treated for an appropriate indication.
Conclusions
Inappropriate use of XO inhibitors is principally related to the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Community pharmacists have a central role in pharmacovigilance, by contributing to the prevention and identification of potentially inappropriate drug prescriptions
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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