Effect of Viscum album 30 CH on pre-diagnosed vis-a-vis diagnosed hypertensive individuals

The World Health Organization considers hypertension the most common health problem in today's growing population. Studies show that the rate of primary hypertension is about 85-95% and the rate of secondary hypertension is only 5%. However, homoeopathy is used as an alternative in such cases (i.e., HTN) but it has good clinical results in cases of HTN. Viscum album is a circulatory remedy and has been observed to lower blood pressure by acting on the circulation in many cases, but very little research has been done to prove this. This study aimed to determine whether the homoeopathic medicine Viscum album is effective in reducing blood pressure in participants with essential hypertension. Methods: This was a monocentric, Phase 2 clinical trial, single arm, single blind, and randomized, interventional study conducted in the outpatient department of Homoeopathic Hospital & Post-graduate Research Centre of Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune. A total of 40 participants (male and female) between the ages of 20 and 75 were enrolled in this study. Blood pressure was measured in the sitting position using a sphygmomanometer according to standard procedures.  Result: The result was a decrease in blood pressure after 10-12 weeks of outpatient care. Significant reduction in blood pressure levels of hypertensive participants before and after treatment and in participants in remission. Of the 40 cases, Mean sBP before treatment is 150, in the same vein systolic blood pressure after treatment is 124.4; and Mean dBP before treatment is 94.9, where as in after treatment diastolic blood pressure is reduced with 79.2. The P-value is <0.0001. Conclusion: The homoeopathic medicine Viscum album produced a significant effect on lowering blood pressure levels in participants with essential hypertension. Further studies with control groups may provide a larger source of information to demonstrate that Viscum album is effective in the treatment of essential hypertensio

Prevalence, underlying causes, and preventability of sepsis-associated mortality in US acute care hospitals

Importance: Sepsis is present in many hospitalizations that culminate in death. The contribution of sepsis to these deaths, and the extent to which they are preventable, is unknown. Objective: To estimate the prevalence, underlying causes, and preventability of sepsis-associated mortality in acute care hospitals. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cohort study in which a retrospective medical record review was conducted of 568 randomly selected adults admitted to 6 US academic and community hospitals from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2015, who died in the hospital or were discharged to hospice and not readmitted. Medical records were reviewed from January 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Clinicians reviewed cases for sepsis during hospitalization using Sepsis-3 criteria, hospice-qualifying criteria on admission, immediate and underlying causes of death, and suboptimal sepsis-related care such as inappropriate or delayed antibiotics, inadequate source control, or other medical errors. The preventability of each sepsis-associated death was rated on a 6-point Likert scale. Results: The study cohort included 568 patients (289 [50.9%] men; mean [SD] age, 70.5 [16.1] years) who died in the hospital or were discharged to hospice. Sepsis was present in 300 hospitalizations (52.8%; 95% CI, 48.6%-57.0%) and was the immediate cause of death in 198 cases (34.9%; 95% CI, 30.9%-38.9%). The next most common immediate causes of death were progressive cancer (92 [16.2%]) and heart failure (39 [6.9%]). The most common underlying causes of death in patients with sepsis were solid cancer (63 of 300 [21.0%]), chronic heart disease (46 of 300 [15.3%]), hematologic cancer (31 of 300 [10.3%]), dementia (29 of 300 [9.7%]), and chronic lung disease (27 of 300 [9.0%]). Hospice-qualifying conditions were present on admission in 121 of 300 sepsis-associated deaths (40.3%; 95% CI 34.7%-46.1%), most commonly end-stage cancer. Suboptimal care, most commonly delays in antibiotics, was identified in 68 of 300 sepsis-associated deaths (22.7%). However, only 11 sepsis-associated deaths (3.7%) were judged definitely or moderately likely preventable; another 25 sepsis-associated deaths (8.3%) were considered possibly preventable. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort from 6 US hospitals, sepsis was the most common immediate cause of death. However, most underlying causes of death were related to severe chronic comorbidities and most sepsis-associated deaths were unlikely to be preventable through better hospital-based care. Further innovations in the prevention and care of underlying conditions may be necessary before a major reduction in sepsis-associated deaths can be achieved

The incidence of necrotizing changes in adults with pneumococcal pneumonia

Background. Necrotizing pneumonia is generally considered a rare complication of pneumococcal pneumonia in adults. We systematically studied the incidence of necrotizing changes in adult patients with pneumococcal pneumonia, and examined the severity of infection, the role of causative serotype and the association with bacteremia. Methods. We used a data base of all pneumococcal infections identified at our medical center between 2000 and 2010. Original readings of chest X-rays (CXR) and computerized tomography (CT) were noted. All images were then reread independently by 2 radiologists. The severity of disease was assessed using the SMART-COP scoring system. Results. There were 351 cases of pneumococcal pneumonia. Necrosis was reported in no original CXR readings and 6 of 136 (4.4%) CTs. With re-reading, 8 of 351 (2.3%) CXR and 15 of 136 (11.0%) CT had necrotizing changes. Overall, these changes were found in 23 of 351 (6.6%, 95% CI 4.0 - 9.1) patients. The incidence of bacteremia and the admitting SMART-COP scores were similar in patients with and without necrosis (P=1.00 and P=0.32, respectively). Type 3 pneumococcus was more commonly isolated from patients with than from patients without necrotizing pneumonia (P=0.05), but a total of 10 serotypes were identified among 16 cases in which the organism was available for typing. Conclusions. Necrotizing changes in the lungs were seen in 6.6% (95% CI 4.0 - 9.1) of a large series of adults with pneumococcal pneumonia. Patients with necrosis were not more likely to have bacteremia or more severe disease. Type 3 pneumococcus was commonly implicated, but 9 other serotypes were also identified