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McDonald and Lee present several facts about nirmatrelvir-ritonavir. Ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir is a Health Canada-approved oral antiviral medication with activity against SARS-CoV-2 Treatment is indicated for adult (≥ 18 yr) outpatients with nonhypoxic COVID-19 who are at high risk of severe disease progression.

ObjectivesTo describe the prescribing trends of antihypertensive drugs in primary care patients and assess the trajectory of antihypertensive drug prescriptions, from first-line to third-line, in patients with hypertension according to changes to the United Kingdom (UK) hypertension management guidelines.DesignPopulation-based cohort study.Setting and participantsWe used the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, an electronic primary care database representative of the UK population. Between 1988 and 2018, we identified all adult patients with at least one prescription for a thiazide diuretic, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, angiotensin receptor blocker, beta-blocker or calcium channel blocker (CCB).Primary and secondary outcome measuresWe estimated the period prevalence of patients with antihypertensive drug prescriptions for each calendar year over a 31-year period. Treatment trajectory was assessed by identifying patients with hypertension newly initiating an antihypertensive drug, and treatment changes were defined by a switch or add-on of a new class. This cohort was stratified before and after 2007, the year following important changes to UK hypertension management guidelines.ResultsThe cohort included 2 709 241 patients. The prevalence of primary care patients with antihypertensive drug prescriptions increased from 7.8% (1988) to 21.9% (2018) and was observed for all major classes except thiazide diuretics. Patients with hypertension initiated thiazide diuretics (36.8%) and beta-blockers (23.6%) as first-line drugs before 2007, and ACE inhibitors (39.9%) and CCBs (31.8%) after 2007. After 2007, 17.3% were not prescribed guideline-recommended first-line agents. Overall, patients were prescribed a median of 2 classes (IQR 1–2) after first-line treatment.ConclusionNearly one-quarter of primary care patients were prescribed antihypertensive drugs by the end of the study period. Most patients with hypertension initiated guideline-recommended first-line agents. Not all patients, particularly females, were prescribed recommended agents however, potentially leading to suboptimal cardiovascular outcomes. Future research should aim to better understand the implication of this finding.

Treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes is defined by the onset of neuropathy after aggressive glycemic control. Previously known as \"insulin neuritis,\" it has been linked to any pharmacologic or lifestyle intervention that leads to an overly rapid correction of hemoglobin A1c. Here, Stainforth-Dubois and McDonald examine the case of a 20-year-old woman with diabetes.

To the Editor: The review article on Clostridium difficile infection by Leffler and Lamont (April 16 issue) 1 updates previous reviews and will serve as a valuable reference. The authors address the association between acid suppression and the risk factors for C. difficile infection. We would suggest that evidence of the association of the use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) with C. difficile infection is more compelling than posited. In addition to biologic plausibility, a large, prospective, observational study by Loo et al. 2 showed a strong association between PPI use and the development of infection due to C. difficile, and this association . . .

AbstractObjectiveTo determine if inhaled and intranasal ciclesonide are superior to placebo at decreasing respiratory symptoms in adult outpatients with covid-19.DesignRandomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial.SettingThree Canadian provinces (Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia).Participants203 adults aged 18 years and older with polymerase chain reaction confirmed covid-19, presenting with fever, cough, or dyspnoea.InterventionParticipants were randomised to receive either inhaled ciclesonide (600 μg twice daily) and intranasal ciclesonide (200 μg daily) or metered dose inhaler and nasal saline placebos for 14 days.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was symptom resolution at day 7. Analyses were conducted on the modified intention-to-treat population (participants who took at least one dose of study drug and completed one follow-up survey) and adjusted for stratified randomisation by sex.ResultsThe modified intention-to-treat population included 203 participants: 105 were randomly assigned to ciclesonide (excluding two dropouts and one loss to follow-up) and 98 to placebo (excluding three dropouts and six losses to follow-up). The median age was 35 years (interquartile range 27-47 years) and 54% were women. The proportion of participants with resolution of symptoms by day 7 did not differ significantly between the intervention group (42/105, 40%) and control group (34/98, 35%); absolute adjusted risk difference 5.5% (95% confidence interval −7.8% to 18.8%). Results might be limited to the population studied, which mainly included younger adults without comorbidities. The trial was stopped early, therefore could have been underpowered.ConclusionCompared with placebo, the combination of inhaled and intranasal ciclesonide did not show a statistically significant increase in resolution of symptoms among healthier young adults with covid-19 presenting with prominent respiratory symptoms. As evidence is insufficient to determine the benefit of inhaled and intranasal corticosteroids in the treatment of covid-19, further research is needed.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04435795.

Introduction There are conflicting reports on the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) on acute pancreatitis incidence. Objective The aim was to determine whether use of ACE inhibitors and ARBs is associated with the incidence of acute pancreatitis, compared with use of dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (dCCBs). Methods We assembled two population-based, new-user, active comparator cohorts using the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to the Hospital Episode Statistics repository and Office for National Statistics from 1998 to 2018, with follow-up until 2019. The first cohort included 304,083 ACE inhibitor initiators and 194,431 dCCB initiators. The second cohort included 29,160 ARB initiators and 203,610 dCCB initiators. Cox proportional hazards models were fit to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of acute pancreatitis, comparing ACE inhibitors and ARBs, separately, with dCCBs. Models were weighted using standardized mortality ratio weights generated from calendar time-specific propensity scores. Results ACE inhibitors were associated with an increased risk of acute pancreatitis, compared with dCCBs (64.3 vs 45.2 per 100,000 person-years, respectively; HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.15–1.83). The number needed to harm after 2 and 5 years of use was 2438 and 1019, respectively. In contrast, ARBs were not associated with an increased risk of acute pancreatitis, compared with dCCBs (40.1 vs 47.6 per 100,000 person-years, respectively; HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.60–1.31). Conclusions ACE inhibitors were associated with a modest increased risk of acute pancreatitis compared with dCCBs. This association should be balanced with the known clinical benefits of ACE inhibitors in hypertension management. In contrast, no association was observed with ARBs.