Diagnostic Criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder

Cannabis use induces a variety of acute psychological and physiological effects that vary in intensity and duration according to the dose, the route of administration, and the degree of tolerance in the user. Acute psychological effects include euphoria (“high”), relaxation, and sedation (usually desired by persons who use cannabis recreationally), increased appetite (“munchies”) and impaired short-term memory, concentration, and psychomotor coordination. Some people experience increased anxiety, panic attacks, or paranoia, especially at higher doses. Psychotic symptoms, such as perceptual alterations, hallucinations, and delusions, are less common. Acute physical effects include impaired motor coordination, slurred speech, dry mouth, conjunctival injection (“red eye”), tachycardia, orthostatic hypotension, and horizontal nystagmus. Smoked cannabis induces cough, wheezing, and dyspnea; increases sputum production; and exacerbates asthma.

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DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Opioid Use Disorder

Opioid analgesics (termed opioids in this report) are a class of drugs commonly prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain. Opioids include drugs available by prescription such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl. Opioids also include illicit substances such as heroin and fentanyl. Although often prescribed to control pain, opioids may also produce feelings of euphoria and sedation which may lead to misuse of opioids resulting in opioid use disorder.

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Guidelines for the Use of Erythropoietic Proteins in Anaemic Patients with Cancer

Anaemia is a frequent finding in cancer patients and should be carefully assessed. Additional causes of anaemia such as iron deficiency, bleeding, nutritional defects or haemolysis should be corrected prior to erythropoietic protein therapy. The following recommendations are related to adult cancer patients with solid tumours or haematological malignancies:

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Guidelines for the Clinical Use of Red Cell Transfusions

The red blood cell transfusions should not be dictated by a single hemoglobin “trigger” but instead should be based on the patient’s risks of developing complications of inadequate oxygenation. Red blood cell transfusion is rarely indicated when the hemoglobin concentration is greater than 10 g/dL and is almost always indicated when it is less than 6 g/dL.

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Current Indications for Use of the Swan-Ganz Catheter

The Swan-Ganz balloon flotation catheter was introduced  in clinical use by H. J. C. Swan and William Ganz in 1970. Since then, the catheter has been used in many kinds of clinical fields, such as critical care medicine, cardiovascular surgery, anesthesia, and cardiology, because of its useful functions.

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Recommendations for the Use of Ambulatory Blood-Pressure Monitoring

In addition to the prediction of cardiovascular risk, ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring, when used in conjunction with clinic blood-pressure assessments, is of potential value in a variety of other clinical conditions. Some of these conditions are:

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