Gout's toughest cases are a big headache for doctors and patients. These cases are called chronic refractory gout. It's when gout flares up often and doesn't get better with usual treatments. The goal is to keep urate levels in the blood below 6. 0 mg/dL. But for some people, this is a real struggle. A recent look into this issue focused on patients in the US. The a...
Heart attacks are scary and can happen suddenly. Doctors need to act fast. That means a lot of tests and checks. Some of these tests are pretty new. They can spot problems quickly. This can save time and money. But are they always the best choice? First, let's talk about heart attacks. They happen when blood flow to the heart is blocked. This can cause serio...
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a sneaky virus that can cause real trouble for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when they are in the hospital. It can lead to serious problems and extra, unplanned trips to the healthcare system. A recent study took a close look at how CMV affects IBD patients during their hospital stays. This study combined results from many d...
The way doctors handle baby head shape problems has been under the microscope. There is a clear issue: too many X-rays and not enough simple, non-invasive treatments. This is a big problem in the world of pediatric craniofacial healthcare. The question is: can artificial intelligence (AI) change this? A recent study looked into this question. The study wanted to...
When resources are tight, especially in healthcare, tough choices have to be made. This is especially true when it comes to micro-allocation, which is about splitting up small amounts of resources. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this issue, but it's not a new problem. The big question is: who should be the one to make these calls? It's important to think about wh...
Scabies is a skin condition that many people overlook. It can be a serious problem for people in Africa. This is especially true in poorer countries. Why? Because these countries often lack trained doctors and nurses. Plus, they don't have enough money to go around. This means that people with scabies might not get the care they need right away. But what d...
When it comes to severe mental illness (SMI), just knowing if treatments work isn't enough. Policy makers need to know if they're a good use of limited healthcare funds. That's where cost-effectiveness studies come in. But, these studies are scarce when it comes to lifestyle interventions for people with SMI who live in the community. In the Netherlands, a study com...
Between 2013 and 2022, the Department of Orthopaedic Trauma at a military hospital treated and discharged 22, 086 patients. The goal of this study was to figure out the common patterns of orthopedic injuries among these patients. This information can help improve how healthcare resources are used and make treatments more efficient. The study found that most patients...
Ever wondered why people sometimes ask for healthcare they don't really need? This kind of care is called "low-value care. " It wastes health resources and costs a lot of money. Studies on why people want this care are scattered and often ignored. Researchers decided to gather all this information in one place to understand better. Low-value care includes services t...
Myelofibrosis (MF), a type of blood cancer, has seen changes in its treatment over the years. Before the approval of ruxolitinib (RUX), hydroxyurea (HU) was commonly used. The METER study, a large-scale review of patient records from multiple countries, looked into how MF is treated and how healthcare resources are used. Out of 997 patients, most had primary MF (65. ...