Cancer Pain Management: Is It Still Problematic?

Pathology: is it still necessary?

One may wonder what may be the reasons to ask this apparently odd question. Undoubtedly, the main concern is that we are still far away from being able to precisely identify the target population of patients for tailored interventions. It has been repeatedly shown by the results of large clinical trials that the benefit of new therapeutic approaches is relatively small, and that it is most like...

Fever in myocardial infarction: is it still common, is it still predictive?

BACKGROUND Before introduction of reperfusion therapy, fever was frequently observed in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Little is known about this symptom during the widespread use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). The aim of this study was to assess, whether body temperature is a predictor of impaired left ventricular systolic function in patients with AMI....

Community Water Fluoridation: is it Still Worthwhile?

Fatal asthma; is it still an epidemic?

BACKGROUND Asthma mortality has declined since the 1980s. Nevertheless the World Health Organization (WHO) identified asthma as responsible for 225.000 deaths worldwide in 2005, and 430.000 fatal cases are expected by 2030. Some unexpected and concentrated fatal asthma events all occurred between 2013 and 2015 in Veneto, a North Eastern region of Italy, which prompted a more in-depth investigat...

Breakthrough cancer pain – still a challenge

Breakthrough cancer pain is defined as transient pain exacerbation in patients with stable and controlled basal pain. Although variable, the prevalence of breakthrough cancer pain is high (33%-95%). According to the American Pain Foundation, breakthrough pain is observed in 50%-90% of all hospitalized cancer patients, in 89% of all patients admitted to homes for the elderly and terminal-patient...