scholarly journals Antidepressant drugs for older patients on polypharmacy: a systematic review reveals best evidence for sertraline

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matej Stuhec ◽  
Jordi Serra-Mestres

AbstractObjectivesThere is almost no data on antidepressant prescribing in older adults treated with polypharmacy, although this population represents approximately 50% of older patients. These patients are frequently excluded from double-blind randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses and existing treatment guidelines. The main aim of this paper was to identify data on antidepressant prescribing in depressed older adults on polypharmacy using a systematic review.MethodsRandomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) and other clinical trials in Medline/PubMed without language limitation (-2017) were searched to identify those with older depressed patients on polypharmacy. Only elderly patients (>65 years as mean) were included. Only approved antidepressants were included.ResultsThe systematic search identified 26 different clinical trials, although only one clinical open label trial with sertraline met the final inclusion criteria. This sertraline trial indicated the absence of clinically important drug-drug interactions and confirmed the effectiveness and safety of sertraline in routine clinical practice. Heterogeneity in this trial was high in almost all the categories except attrition and reporting bias.ConclusionsSertraline has the highest evidence level in older adults with depression on polypharmacy. According to the results of this review and due to a low number of appropriate trials, a basic understanding of psychopharmacology is the possible approach to avoid serious problematic drug combinations in these patients. Newer RCTs are also urgently needed. This is the first systematic review including patients treated with polypharmacy, and therefore, its results are important in the field of evidence-based medicine.

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 128-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Machado ◽  
Daniel Bonotto ◽  
Paulo Afonso Cunali

INTRODUCTION: In some cases, conservative treatment of internal derangements of the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is considered little responsive. Thus, it is necessary to accomplish treatments that aim at reducing pain and improve patients' functions who present arthrogenic temporomandibular disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study, by means of a systematic review of the literature, aimed to analyze the effectiveness of intra-articular injections with corticosteroids and sodium hyaluronate for treating internal derangements of the TMJ. METHODS: Carry out a research in the following databases: MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, Pubmed, Lilacs, and BBO, considering publications issued between 1966 and October of 2010, focusing on randomized or quasi-randomized controlled clinical trials, single or double-blind. RESULTS: After applying the inclusion criteria we collected 9 articles, 7 of which were randomized controlled double-blind clinical trials and 2 randomized controlled single-blind clinical trials. CONCLUSION: After analyzing the literature, it was found that intra-articular injection with corticosteroids and sodium hyaluronate seems to be an effective method for treating internal derangements of the TMJ. However, further randomized controlled clinical trials, with representative samples and longer follow-up time must be carried out in order to assess the real effectiveness of this technique.


Author(s):  
Seyed Reza Mirhafez ◽  
Mitra Hariri

Abstract. L-arginine is an important factor in several physiological and biochemical processes. Recently, scientists studied L-arginine effect on inflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). We conducted a systematic review on randomized controlled trials assessing L-arginine effect on inflammatory mediators. We searched data bases including Google scholar, ISI web of science, SCOPUS, and PubMed/Medline up to April 2019. Randomized clinical trials assessing the effect of L-arginine on inflammatory mediators in human adults were included. Our search retrieved eleven articles with 387 participants. Five articles were on patients with cancer and 6 articles were on adults without cancer. L-arginine was applied in enteral form in 5 articles and in oral form in 6 articles. Eight articles were on both genders, two articles were on women, and one article was on men. L-arginine could not reduce inflammatory mediators among patients with and without cancer except one article which indicated that taking L-arginine for 6 months decreased IL-6 among cardiopathic nondiabetic patients. Our results indicated that L-arginine might not be able to reduce selected inflammatory mediators, but for making a firm decision more studies are needed to be conducted with longer intervention duration, separately on male and female and with different doses of L-arginine.


Author(s):  
Zeinab Yazdanpanah ◽  
Mandana Amiri ◽  
Azadeh Nadjarzadeh ◽  
Hadis Hooshmandi ◽  
Maryam Azadi-Yazdi

Introduction: Hypertension is a chronic condition that might lead to renal and cardiovascular diseases. The previous trials examining the effect of cinnamon supplementation on blood pressure have led to conflicting results. The present systematic review aimed to summarize the effect of cinnamon supplementation on blood pressure using a meta-analysis of published randomized controlled clinical trials. Methods: To identify the eligible articles, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched from inception until September 2019 for relevant articles. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the Cochrane collaboration tool. A Random-effects model was applied to calculate the summary effects. Results: Totally, 11 trials with 686 participants were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The dose of cinnamon supplement consumption varied from 500 to 10000 mg/d. The meta-analysis revealed that cinnamon supplementation significantly decreases systolic blood pressure (SBP) [WMD (weighted mean difference)= -5.72 mmHg, 95% confidence interval (CI): -8.63 to -2.80; P<0.001, I2= 81.1)] and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD= -4.06 mmHg, 95% CI: -6.68 to -1.44; P= 0.002, I2 = 88.6). Subgroup analysis suggested no significant reduction of DBP in subjects with diabetes (WMD= -2.015 mmHg, 95% CI: -4.55 to 0.52; P= 0.12, I2 = 72.3) and prediabetes or metabolic syndrome (WMD= -4.8 mmHg, 95% CI: -10.06 to 0.44; P= 0.073, I2= 92.5). Conclusions: Cinnamon supplementation could be beneficial in lowering SBP and DBP in adults. Further studies with different doses are recommended to confirm the present findings.


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