Internal Medicine Alert – February 28, 2021
February 28, 2021
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Prior Metformin Use in Patients with Diabetes Hospitalized for COVID-19
Investigators found metformin use before COVID-19 hospitalization for patients with diabetes was associated with a lower risk of death.
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How to Record Reliable Blood Pressure Measurements
A small, community-based study to detect hypertension revealed one week of twice-daily home blood pressure (BP) measurements are more reliable and more accurately predict increased left ventricular mass than clinic or 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring.
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Cognitive Benefit of Rivastigmine in Parkinson’s Disease Dementia with Orthostatic Hypotension
Individuals with Parkinson’s disease dementia and orthostatic hypotension (OH) showed more robust cognitive improvement from rivastigmine vs. those without OH. The anti-OH effect of rivastigmine probably mediates this better response.
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Excess Deaths During COVID-19
Compared with death data for the same weeks from prior years, nearly 300,000 excess deaths occurred in the United States between the weeks ending Jan. 26 through Oct. 3, 2020. Two-thirds were attributed to COVID-19.
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Subclinical Influenza Infection in Healthcare Workers
Despite all precautions, influenza vaccination, handwashing campaigns, and messaging to staff not to come to work with respiratory symptoms, healthcare workers are an important source of nosocomial influenza and respiratory infection. Now, it is happening with COVID-19.
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Cabotegravir Extended-Release and Rilpivirine Injectable Suspension (Cabenuva) and Cabotegravir Tablets (Vocabria)
Cabotegravir/rilpivirine (CAB/RPV) should be prescribed to treat HIV-1-infected adults. This combination should replace the current antiretroviral (ARV) regimen in those who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/mL) on a stable regimen with no history of treatment failure and no known or suspected resistance to ether CAB or RPV.