Every eleventh adult has diabetes, and every third has prediabetes. Over 95% of diabetics are of type 2. It is well established that diabetes doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke apart from increasing the risk of microvascular complications. Hence, strict glycemic control is necessary. However, it increases the risk of hypoglycemia, especially in patients with longstanding diabetes. Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) use a sensor to continuously measure the glucose levels in the interstitial fluid every 10 seconds and gives out mean values every five minutes. CGMs are emerging tools in the management of type 2 diabetes. The prime objective of this review is to find out if there is enough supporting evidence, suggesting that continuous glucose monitoring is more effective than self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in type 2 diabetes. We conducted a systematic literature search in Medline (PubMed) looking for any studies addressing our objective. It is observed that there is a varying level of evidence supporting that employing a CGM can reduce glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), hypoglycemic events, and increase patient satisfaction. However, some studies reported no significant benefits. This systematic review with meta-analysis concludes that the use of CGM in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is beneficial, as it significantly reduces HbA1c compared to the usual method of SMBG. The pooled mean difference in HbA1c was -0.25 (-0.45, -0.06) and statistically significant (at p = 0.01) when comparing CGM to SMBG.
Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a malignant widespread metastatic disease without an identifiable primary site after extensive clinical investigation. Recently, a decline is observed in the diagnosis of CUP, mainly due to improvement in detection of the primary tumors, thus decreasing the unknown primaries. Worldwide, CUP is the sixth to eighth most common malignancy, accounting for 2.3% to 5% of a new cancer diagnosis. CUP is third to fourth most common cause of death due to cancer-related mortality. The prognosis of CUP is depressing with the median survival of three to six months in the previous studies, but according to recent studies, median survival is less than one year. High risk for developing CUP is seen in heavy smokers (26 or more cigarettes/day) and individuals with the lowest quartiles of waist circumference. A weak association is observed with the use of alcohol consumption and low level of education. Human papillomavirus DNA plays a role in those with squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primaries in head and neck regions. In the diagnosis of CUP, comprehensive medical history, complete physical examination (including genitourinary, rectal exam, and breast examination in women) and necessary laboratory tests are crucial.Whole-body positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) is the investigation of choice to assess the entire body for CUP. Multiparametric 3T-MRI (MP-MRI) is used to examine the local soft tissue status, helps in the staging of the tumor, and to determine the extent of involvement of tissue for medical as well as prognostic purposes. Immunohistochemistry outlines the specific markers, including caudal-related homeobox protein (CDX2), homeobox protein Nkx-3.1 (NKX3-1), paired box gene 8 (PAX8), special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 2 (SATB2), thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), and splicing factor 1 (SF1) with the focus on the effectiveness of lineage-restricted transcription factors. Patients response to treatment can be evaluated by the gene expression profiling (GEP) test that also predicts tissue of origin (TOO). Tumor identified through gene profiling is sensitive to platinum/taxane therapy, others that are not TOO tumors are resistant to platinum/taxane. The new therapeutic method based on molecular profiling is associated with higher treatment response. In comprehensive genomic profiling, it is observed that there is at least one clinically appropriate genomic alteration in CUP that can influence the targeted therapy. The targeted therapeutic approach will not only improve the disease outcome but will also be cost-effective and save time from finding the primary site.
Problem Suicide incidences among adolescents and youths during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19) lockdowns have been reported across the world. However, no studies have been carried out to investigate cumulative nature, patterns, and causative factors of such suicide incidences. Methods A purposive sampling of Google news between 15 February and 6 July was performed. After excluding duplicate reports, the final list comprised a total of 37‐suicide cases across 11 countries. Findings More male suicides were reported (21‐cases, i.e., 56.76%), and the mean age of the total victims was 16.6 ± 2.7 years (out of a total of 29 cases). About two‐thirds of the suicides were from three countries named India (11‐cases), UK (8‐cases), and the USA (6‐cases). Out of 23‐student victims, 14 were school‐going students. Hanging was the most common suicide method accounting in 51.4% of cases. The most common suicide causalities were related to mental sufferings such as depression, loneliness, psychological distress, and so forth, whereas either online schooling or overwhelming academic distress was placed as the second most suicide stressors followed by TikTok addiction‐related psychological distress, and tested with the COVID‐19. Conclusions The finding of the temporal distribution of suicides concerning lockdowns may help in exploring and evolving public measures to prevent/decrease pandemic‐related suicides in young people.
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