Management of COVID-19-related respiratory failure differs from what is necessary for ARDS. Rather than having alveolar edema, COVID-19 patients have pulmonary vascular dysregulation. Gas exchange is severely compromised with little reduction in lung compliance. Ventilatory support for COVID-19 patients requires higher than normal tidal volumes with minimal PEEP and allowance for higher than usual serum CO2 levels. How the unique pathophysiology of respiratory failure should be treated is discussed by John J. Marini, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.
More than 6 million people worldwide have Parkinson disease. Even though it is classically associated with tremors, the disease has many manifestations and is very treatable for most patients. Michael S. Okun, MD, from the Department of Neurology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, discusses the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of Parkinson disease.
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Shortages of face masks and N95 respirators have forced clinicians and hospitals to reuse these normally disposable items. Ron Shaffer, PhD, former CDC PPE Research Branch Chief, discusses effective sterilization techniques and how to test that the equipment stays protective after sterilization.
Eczema is extremely common in children. Most the time it is easily treated with topical steroids but on occasion it requires systemic therapies. JAMA Pediatrics Editor Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, and JAMA Network Open Editor Frederick Rivara, MD, MPH, discuss the results of a clinical trial of a new monoclonal antibody intended to improve eczema in children that was published in the January 2020 issue of JAMA Pediatrics.
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Persistence of Childhood Eczema Into Adulthood
Association Between Eczema and Stature in 9 US Population-Based Studies
Management of Atopic Dermatitis
Anti-IgE Medication Lessens Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis Severity
Food and medicine shopping is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, but requires getting out and standing close to strangers at a time when social distancing and sheltering-in-place are recommended to slow spread of disease. David Aronoff, MD, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, explains how to minimize COVID-19 risk while shopping.