Background: Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem, and differentiated thyroid cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent. Since the American Thyroid Association's (ATA's) guidelines for the management of these disorders were revised in 2009, significant scientific advances have occurred in the field. The aim of these guidelines is to inform clinicians, patients, researchers, and health policy makers on published evidence relating to the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. Methods: The specific clinical questions addressed in these guidelines were based on prior versions of the guidelines, stakeholder input, and input of task force members. Task force panel members were educated on knowledge synthesis methods, including electronic database searching, review and selection of relevant citations, and critical appraisal of selected studies. Published English language articles on adults were eligible for inclusion. The American College of Physicians Guideline Gr...

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2015 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Adult Patients with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: The American Thyroid Association Guidelines Task Force on Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

XI. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING DIABETES CARE D iabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuing medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Diabetes care is complex and requires that many issues, beyond glycemic control, be addressed. A large body of evidence exists that supports a range of interventions to improve diabetes outcomes. These standards of care are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payors, and other interested individuals with the components of diabetes care, treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. While individual preferences, comorbidities, and other patient factors may require modification of goals, targets that are desirable for most patients with diabetes are provided. These standards are not intended to preclude more extensive evaluation and management of the patient by other specialists as needed. For more detailed information, refer to Bode (Ed.): Medical Management of Type 1 Diabetes (1), Burant (Ed): Medical Management of Type 2 Diabetes (2), and Klingensmith (Ed): Intensive Diabetes Management (3). The recommendations included are diagnostic and therapeutic actions that are known or believed to favorably affect health outcomes of patients with diabetes. A grading system (Table 1), developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and modeled after existing methods, was utilized to clarify and codify the evidence that forms the basis for the recommendations. The level of evidence that supports each recommendation is listed after each recommendation using the letters A, B, C, or E.

Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes

Background: Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem, and differentiated thyroid cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent. Since the publication of the American Thyroid Association's guidelines for the management of these disorders was published in 2006, a large amount of new information has become available, prompting a revision of the guidelines. Methods: Relevant articles through December 2008 were reviewed by the task force and categorized by topic and level of evidence according to a modified schema used by the United States Preventative Services Task Force. Results: The revised guidelines for the management of thyroid nodules include recommendations regarding initial evaluation, clinical and ultrasound criteria for fine-needle aspiration biopsy, interpretation of fine-needle aspiration biopsy results, and management of benign thyroid nodules. Recommendations regarding the initial management of thyroid cancer include those relating to optimal surgical management, radioiodine remnant ablation, a...

/pdf/revised-american-thyroid-association-management-guidelines-3i6bt8nj9c.pdf

Revised American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Patients with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

The 11th edition of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine welcomes Anthony Fauci to its editorial staff, in addition to more than 85 new contributors. While the organization of the book is similar to previous editions, major emphasis has been placed on disorders that affect multiple organ systems. Important advances in genetics, immunology, and oncology are emphasized. Many chapters of the book have been rewritten and describe major advances in internal medicine. Subjects that received only a paragraph or two of attention in previous editions are now covered in entire chapters. Among the chapters that have been extensively revised are the chapters on infections in the compromised host, on skin rashes in infections, on many of the viral infections, including cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, on sexually transmitted diseases, on diabetes mellitus, on disorders of bone and mineral metabolism, and on lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. The major revisions in these chapters and many

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine

As people get older, they may fall more often for a variety of reasons including problems with balance, poor vision, and dementia. Up to 30% may fall in a year. Although one in five falls may require medical attention, less than one in 10 results in a fracture.
This review looked at the healthcare literature to establish which fall prevention interventions are effective for older people living in the community, and included 159 randomised controlled trials with 79,193 participants.  
Group and home-based exercise programmes, usually containing some balance and strength training exercises, effectively reduced falls, as did Tai Chi. Overall, exercise programmes aimed at reducing falls appear to reduce fractures.
Multifactorial interventions assess an individual's risk of falling, and then carry out treatment or arrange referrals to reduce the identified risks. Overall, current evidence shows that this type of intervention reduces the number of falls in older people living in the community but not the number of people falling during follow-up. These are complex interventions, and their effectiveness may be dependent on factors yet to be determined.  
Interventions to improve home safety appear to be effective, especially in people at higher risk of falling and when carried out by occupational therapists. An anti-slip shoe device worn in icy conditions can also reduce falls.
Taking vitamin D supplements does not appear to reduce falls in most community-dwelling older people, but may do so in those who have lower vitamin D levels in the blood before treatment.  
Some medications increase the risk of falling. Three trials in this review failed to reduce the number of falls by reviewing and adjusting medications. A fourth trial involving family physicians and their patients in medication review was effective in reducing falls. Gradual withdrawal of a particular type of drug for improving sleep, reducing anxiety, and treating depression (psychotropic medication) has been shown to reduce falls.
Cataract surgery reduces falls in women having the operation on the first affected eye. Insertion of a pacemaker can reduce falls in people with frequent falls associated with carotid sinus hypersensitivity, a condition which causes sudden changes in heart rate and blood pressure.
In people with disabling foot pain, the addition of footwear assessment, customised insoles, and foot and ankle exercises to regular podiatry reduced the number of falls but not the number of people falling.
The evidence relating to the provision of educational materials alone for preventing falls is inconclusive.

Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40262-012-0019-4.pdf

Erratum to: Comparative Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors

Patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) failing to respond to therapy with a maximum dose of glyburide (GB) or glipizide (GZ) are often given a trial of the alternate second-generation sulfonylurea (SGS) before insulin therapy is considered. The efficacy of this therapeutic maneuver has not been thoroughly tested. We studied 26 subjects with fasting serum glucose (FSG) levels greater than 8.3 mmol/L (150 mg/dL) despite maximum doses of either GB (20 mg/day) or GZ (40 mg/day). Group 1 consisted of 16 subjects taking GB (mean FSG = 12.7 mmol/L [228 mg/dL]) and group 2 included 10 subjects taking GZ (mean FSG = 13.0 mmol/L [234 mg/dL]). Subjects continued taking their original SGS for 8 weeks then switched to a maximum dose of the alternate agent for an additional 8 weeks. Values for FSG, hemoglobin A1c, and lipids were recorded before the study and after 8 weeks on each SGS trial. No significant changes were noted for any variable in either group. When maximum dose GB therapy was compared to maximum dose GZ therapy in the combined study group (n = 26), no advantage was noted for either agent. We conclude that metabolic control in NIDDM patients failing to respond to therapy with maximum dose GB or GZ is not improved by switching to the alternate SGS.

Crossover comparison of maximum dose glyburide and glipizide.

Objectives: To develop a pharmacist-provided educational intervention that instructs participants to consume 1,200 IU vitamin D daily and to evaluate its effect on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) concentrations and self-reported daily vitamin D intake in geriatric outpatients with insufficient vitamin D. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: University-affiliated geriatric clinic, December 2005 to May 2006. Patients: 80 participants aged 65 to 89 years. Intervention: Participants with insufficient vitamin D (12–31 ng/mL) were randomized to receive either the educational intervention (n = 23) or no intervention (n = 22). Main outcome measures: Difference in change from baseline to 12 weeks in vitamin D concentrations and self-reported daily vitamin D intake between groups. Results: At 12 weeks, vitamin D concentrations in the educational intervention group (n = 22) increased from a mean (± SD) of 23.5 ± 5.0 to 30.4 ± 6.3 ng/mL. Vitamin D concentrations in the nonintervention group (n = 21) increased from 22.8 ± 5.4 to 26.9 ± 6.2 ng/mL. The difference between the groups at 12 weeks did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.07). However, 12 participants (55%) in the educational intervention group achieved sufficient vitamin D concentrations compared with only 5 participants (24%) in the nonintervention group (P = 0.04). Self-reported daily vitamin D intake increased by a mean of 647 IU/day in the educational intervention group and 67 IU/day in the nonintervention group. The difference in self-reported intake between groups at 12 weeks, controlling for baseline, was significant (P Conclusion: A pharmacist-developed and -administered vitamin D educational intervention increased the proportion of participants achieving sufficient vitamin D concentrations, increased the self-reported daily vitamin D intake, and lowered serum parathyroid hormone concentrations. However, it did not significantly increase the overall mean serum vitamin D concentration, compared with the control group. A daily recommendation of more than 1,200 IU vitamin D daily is likely necessary to ensure that all geriatric outpatients with insufficient vitamin D concentrations achieve the target of at least 32 ng/mL.

https://www.japha.org/article/S1544-3191(15)31167-5/pdf

Vitamin D intervention by pharmacists in geriatric outpatients.

Advances in radiation therapy for malignant neoplasms have produced techniques such as Gamma Knife radiosurgery, capable of delivering an ablative dose to a specific, irregular volume of tissue. However, efficient use of these techniques requires the identification of a target volume that will produce the best therapeutic response while sparing surrounding normal brain tissue. Accomplishing this task using conventional computed tomography (CT) and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques has proven difficult because of the difficulties in identifying the effective tumor margin. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has been shown to offer a clinically-feasible metabolic assessment of the presence and extent of neoplasm that can complement conventional anatomic imaging. This paper reviews current Gamma Knife protocols and MRSI acquisition, reconstruction, and interpretation techniques, and discusses the motivation for including magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings while planning focal radiation therapies. A treatment selection and planning strategy incorporating MRSI is then proposed, which can be used in the future to assess the efficacy of spectroscopy-based therapy planning.

http://www.general.monash.edu.au/ss/pdf/vol21no2/graves_01.pdf

Michael T. McDermott

Papers

Erratum to: Comparative Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors

Crossover comparison of maximum dose glyburide and glipizide.

Vitamin D intervention by pharmacists in geriatric outpatients.

Use of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data in planning focal radiation therapies for brain tumors

Calcitonin and its Clinical Applications