Internal Medicine Alert – February 29, 2024

Are You Sitting Down to Read This? You May Want to Stand Up

A large prospective cohort study demonstrated that prolonged sitting at work increases the risk for all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, but even short periods of physical activity throughout the day may help mitigate the negative effects.

Cumulative Number of Head Strikes Contributes to the Development of CTE

A recent study evaluated the connection between head impact and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in male athletes and found that the total number and severity of head impacts throughout life better predicted CTE than the number of symptomatic concussions.

Long-Term Follow-Up Confirms Efficacy of Invasive Strategy in Very Old Patients with Non-ST-Elevation ACS

In this long-term analysis of patients in the After Eighty Study, with a mean age of 85 years and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, an invasive strategy showed a reduction in a composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events and was associated with a significant improvement in event-free survival compared with a conservative approach.

Buprenorphine May Be an Effective Alternative to Full Opioids for Pain in the ICU

In a small, single-center, retrospective, propensity-matched cohort study examining enteral oxycodone vs. sublingual buprenorphine in a critically ill population, pain control was equivalent, indicating that sublingual buprenorphine may be an effective and appropriate alternative.

Birch Triterpenes Topical Gel (Oleogel-S10) (Filsuvez)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a treatment for wounds associated with junctional epidermolysis bullosa and dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa not specific to a particular mutation. Birch triterpene is a botanical drug substance composed of a mixture of pentacyclic triterpenes (e.g., botulin, lupeol, betulinic acid, erythrodiol, and oleanolic acid) formulated as a topical gel.