71 research outputs found
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The prevalence and awareness of sleep apnea in patients suffering chronic pain: an assessment using the STOP-Bang sleep apnea questionnaire.
Purpose: Some patient subsets are at higher risk of sleep apnea, including patients with chronic pain. However, it is unclear whether patients and their caregivers are aware of the possibly increased risk of sleep apnea in this population. Chronic pain is often treated with opioids which may decrease both the central respiratory drive and the patency of the upper airway, potentially contributing to this sleep disorder. Using a self-reporting questionnaire approach in the chronic pain population, this study surveyed patient and caregiver awareness surrounding the risk of sleep apnea. In addition, we looked at the influence of opioid therapy on the prevalence of sleep apnea.
Participants and methods: Consecutive patients presenting to a pain clinic were invited to participate anonymously in a survey that included the STOP-Bang sleep apnea questionnaire, which assesses patients\u27 knowledge, testing, diagnosis, or treatment of sleep apnea and whether their caregivers had discussed with them their increased risk of sleep apnea and opioid use.
Results: Among 305 participating patients, 58.2% (n=173) screened positive for sleep apnea. Among the 202 patients on opioid therapy, 59.2% (116/202) were STOP-Bang positive (score ≥3). However, only 37.5% (n=72/173) of these patients had discussed their risk of sleep apnea with a caregiver and only 30.7% (n=59) underwent testing. Against expectation, opioids did not increase the prevalence of sleep apnea in our study population.
Conclusion: Chronic pain patients had a high risk of sleep apnea, regardless of opioid prescription. Most patients were unaware of their increased risk and denied undergoing the necessary testing. Greater attention to screening, testing, and education for sleep apnea needs to be paid in chronic pain patients, especially given the potentially dangerous ramifications of opioid-induced sleep apnea
Land, history or modernization? Explaining ethnic fractionalization
Ethnic fractionalization (EF) is frequently used as an explanatory tool in models of economic development, civil war and public goods provision. However, if EF is endogenous to political and economic change, its utility for further research diminishes. This turns out not to be the case. This paper provides the first comprehensive model of EF as a dependent variable. It contributes new data on the founding date of the largest ethnic group in each state. It builds political and international variables into the analysis alongside historical and geoclimatic parameters. It extends previous work by testing models of politically relevant EF. In addition, this research interprets model results in light of competing theories of nationalism and political change. Results show that cross-national variation in EF is largely exogenous to modern politico-economic change. However, the data are inconclusive with respect to competing geoclimatic, historical institutional and modernist theories of ethnogenesis
Rare Variants in Ischemic Stroke: An Exome Pilot Study
The genetic architecture of ischemic stroke is complex and is likely to include rare or low frequency variants with high penetrance and large effect sizes. Such variants are likely to provide important insights into disease pathogenesis compared to common variants with small effect sizes. Because a significant portion of human functional variation may derive from the protein-coding portion of genes we undertook a pilot study to identify variation across the human exome (i.e., the coding exons across the entire human genome) in 10 ischemic stroke cases. Our efforts focused on evaluating the feasibility and identifying the difficulties in this type of research as it applies to ischemic stroke. The cases included 8 African-Americans and 2 Caucasians selected on the basis of similar stroke subtypes and by implementing a case selection algorithm that emphasized the genetic contribution of stroke risk. Following construction of paired-end sequencing libraries, all predicted human exons in each sample were captured and sequenced. Sequencing generated an average of 25.5 million read pairs (75 bp×2) and 3.8 Gbp per sample. After passing quality filters, screening the exomes against dbSNP demonstrated an average of 2839 novel SNPs among African-Americans and 1105 among Caucasians. In an aggregate analysis, 48 genes were identified to have at least one rare variant across all stroke cases. One gene, CSN3, identified by screening our prior GWAS results in conjunction with our exome results, was found to contain an interesting coding polymorphism as well as containing excess rare variation as compared with the other genes evaluated. In conclusion, while rare coding variants may predispose to the risk of ischemic stroke, this fact has yet to be definitively proven. Our study demonstrates the complexities of such research and highlights that while exome data can be obtained, the optimal analytical methods have yet to be determined
The predictive mirror: interactions of mirror and affordance processes during action observation
An important question for the study of social interactions is how the motor actions of others are represented. Research has demonstrated that simply watching someone perform an action activates a similar motor representation in oneself. Key issues include (1) the automaticity of such processes, and (2) the role object affordances play in establishing motor representations of others’ actions. Participants were asked to move a lever to the left or right to respond to the grip width of a hand moving across a workspace. Stimulus-response compatibility effects were modulated by two task-irrelevant aspects of the visual stimulus: the observed reach direction and the match between hand-grasp and the affordance evoked by an incidentally presented visual object. These findings demonstrate that the observation of another person’s actions automatically evokes sophisticated motor representations that reflect the relationship between actions and objects even when an action is not directed towards an object
AHA/ACC Guidelines for Preventing Heart Attack and Death in Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: 2001 Update: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology
"Since the original publication (in 1995) of the American Heart Association (AHA) consensus statement on secondary prevention, which was endorsed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), important evidence from clinical trials has emerged that further supports the merits of aggressive risk reduction therapies for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. As noted in that statement, aggressive risk factor management clearly improves patient survival, reduces recurrent events and the need for interventional procedures, and improves the quality of life for these patients. The compelling evidence from recent clinical trials was the impetus to revise the 1995 guidelines (Table). As examples, the many lipid reduction trials have generated significant changes in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Adult Treatment Panel III report. This report further defined target cholesterol levels, expanded indications for drug treatment, and initiated therapy earlier. Accumulating β-blocker data have resulted in broader indications for a larger patient group. The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial has demonstrated the benefit of ACE inhibitor therapy in high-risk patients with cardiovascular disease without a history of an acute event. Further data from ongoing trials should provide insight into the potential benefits of treating lower risk patients with combined therapies. The Clopidogrel versus Aspirin in Patients at Risk of Ischemic Events (CAPRIE) trial has provided evidence for clopidogrel benefit in certain patients. Diabetes management recommendations have been updated to include recent guidelines from the American Diabetes Association for risk factor management of diabetics and the growing body of evidence showing diabetics at high risk for cardiovascular events. The Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS) documented that hormone replacement therapy is ineffective for secondary prevention. The writing group revising this document also considered other important trials and reports, and they are included in the selected reading list.
AHA/ACC Guidelines for Preventing Heart Attack and Death in Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: 2001 Update - A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology
Novel SNP Discovery in African Buffalo, Syncerus caffer, using high-throughput Sequencing
The African buffalo, Syncerus caffer, is one of the most abundant and ecologically important species of megafauna in the savannah ecosystem. It is an important prey species, as well as a host for a vast array of nematodes, pathogens and infectious diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis and corridor disease. Large-scale SNP discovery in this species would greatly facilitate further research into the area of host genetics and disease susceptibility, as well as provide a wealth of sequence information for other conservation and genomics studies. We sequenced pools of Cape buffalo DNA from a total of 9 animals, on an ABI SOLiD4 sequencer. The resulting short reads were mapped to the UMD3.1 Bos taurus genome assembly using both BWA and Bowtie software packages. A mean depth of 2.76 coverage over the mapped regions was obtained. Btau4 gene annotation was added to all SNPs identified within gene regions. Bowtie and BWA identified a maximum of 2,222,665 and 276,847 SNPs within the buffalo respectively, depending on analysis method. A panel of 173 SNPs was validated by fluorescent genotyping in 87 individuals. 27 SNPs failed to amplify, and of the remaining 146 SNPs, 43–54 % of the Bowtie SNPs and 57–58 % of the BWA SNPs were confirmed as polymorphic. dN/dS ratios found no evidence of positive selection, and although there were genes that appeared to be under negative selection, these were more likely to be slowl
Obstructive sleep apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects millions of Americans and is estimated to be as prevalent as asthma and diabetes. Given the fact that obesity is a major risk factor for OSA, and given the current global rise in obesity, the prevalence of OSA will increase in the future. Individuals with sleep apnea are often unaware of their sleep disorder. It is usually first recognized as a problem by family members who witness the apneic episodes or is suspected by their primary care doctor because of the individual’s risk factors and symptoms. The vast majority remain undiagnosed and untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences. Individuals with untreated OSA can stop breathing hundreds of times a night during their sleep. These apneic events can lead to fragmented sleep that is of poor quality, as the brain arouses briefly in order for the body to resume breathing. Untreated, sleep apnea can have dire health consequences and can increase the risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and heart failure. OSA management has also become important in a number of comorbid neurological conditions, including epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and headache. Diagnosis typically involves use of screening questionnaires, physical exam, and an overnight polysomnography or a portable home study. Treatment options include changes in lifestyle, positive airway pressure, surgery, and dental appliances
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