Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes a significant amount of morbidity and mortality. It’s the fourth leading cause of death in the world. COPD produces anatomical changes in the lungs that lead to narrowing of small airways, destruction of lung tissue, overproduction of mucous, reduced ciliary function, and airflow limitation. Smoking is the most common […]
Guideline Materials and Tips
COVID-19 mRNA EUA Vaccine FAQs
There have been a lot of questions about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. I thought I would put together an easy FAQ with some referenced answers. I’ll keep adding to it as I get more questions. I have a FAQ about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine too. Is it Going to Alter my DNA? If you […]
Asthma
Asthma is pretty common. Over 25 million people in the US have it, and over 3500 people died from it in 2017. Hispanics and blacks suffer disproportionately. It’s a disease of chronic airway inflammation causing expiratory limitations including wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough. It can be spontaneous or triggered by exercise, allergens […]
Clostridium/Clostridiodes Difficile
Clostridiodes difficile is a pretty big problem, causing quite a bit of morbidity and mortality every year, and it’s becoming more and more common. It can be pretty tricky to treat. C. diff is an anaerobic, spore-forming rod and it makes a toxin that contributes to the severity of the disease. It causes diarrhea and […]
Sinusitis
Sinusitis is usually viral. Only use antibiotics if signs and symptoms are greater than 10 days or purulent discharge with a fever greater than 102 degrees. Viral is quick, usually lasting less than a week. Bacterial often has double sickening and purulent discharge. Do not do imaging unless immunocompromised or orbital cranial involvement. Only symptomatic relief for […]
Study Guides/Notes
These notes are just meant as quick study guides and from my personal notes, some of the data is not up to date and should not be used for clinical purposes. I thought I would make it public because it might help someone out! All of these, with a few referenced exceptions, came from my […]
Gout
Caused by uric acid over-production or underexcretion Factors: DKA, myeloproliferative and lymphoproliferative disease, acute EtOH, hypothyroidism, acromegaly, hypo or hyperparathyroidism, chronic hemolytic anemia, obesity Medications: Decrease uric acid filtration: diuretics (thiazide and loop diuretics), nicotinic acid (Niaspan), salicylates (ASA), alcohol (EtOH), levodopa/carbidopa, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, ticagrelor Acute treatment: Colchicine, NSAIDs, corticosteroids (if NSAIDS contraindicated) Chronic treatment: Allopurinol or […]
Substance Abuse Disorders
Alcohol Withdrawal – Tremors start around 6 hours, seizures around 12 hours, but can occur 3-5 days later. Mortality can be as high as 35%. 3 Ts – Increase temp, tremor and tachycardia Treatment: correct electrolyte imbalances, benzos, can use propofol or barbiturates in refractory cases, magnesium, alpha 2 agonists, Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers Avoid: […]
Study Design
What Statistical Test To Use: I memorized this table and wrote it out on my noteboard during the test. It makes it easy to pick out which test without much mental effort Type of Data 2 Independent Samples“BETWEEN“ Related or Paired Samples“WITHIN“ 3 or More Independent Samples 3 or More Related Samples Measures of Correlation Prediction […]
Stages of Drug Development
Stages of Drug Development: 1 IND Animal tests 2 IND Review by FDA and local IRB Animal tests 3 Phase 1 Healthy volunteers, tests safety 4 Phase 2 Sick volunteers, tests effectiveness 5 Phase 3 Larger scale, test effectiveness and adverse effects 6 Post-marketing Review 7 NDA application 8 FDA Review and decision […]