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The purpose of this article is to offer an alternative, more nuanced analysis of the labelling of frontline workers as heroes than originally proposed. Here, we argue that the hero narrative in itself need not be problematic, but highlight a number of wider factors that have led to the initial rise (and subsequent fall) in support for labelling frontline workers as heroes. Through our related work, we have gathered similar stories from frontline workers where they feel betrayed, let down or otherwise short-changed by the hero label, and we have sought to make sense of this through understanding more about how the hero label is used rather than what it means. In this article, we propose a way forward where there is greater discussion around the hero label in this context where individuals can be heroes but still struggle, still fail and still feel vulnerable, and where heroism is viewed as a state of interdependence between heroic actor and the wider group. It is true that heroes can inspire, lead, guide and build morale and camaraderie, but collective responsibility is held with us all. We can draw hope and energy from our heroes, but we must dig deep and be proactive, particularly in the face of adversity. In doing so, we support the heroes to lead from the front and ensure that even though we cannot physically help; we are not making their situation worse.Duty of candour legislation was introduced in Scotland in 2018. However, literature and experience of duty of candour when applied to infection control incidents/outbreaks is scarce. We describe clinician and parental perspectives with regard to duty of candour and communication during a significant infection control incident in a haemato-oncology ward of a children's hospital. Based on the learning from this incident, we make recommendations for duty of candour and communication to patients and families during future infection control incidents. These include the need to consider a crisis management approach, the importance of not underestimating psychological harm in incidents of a prolonged duration and embedding the existing legislation pertaining to the rights of the child.Gender dysphoria (GD) is a clinically significant incongruence between expressed gender and assigned gender, with rapidly growing prevalence among children. The UK High Court recently conducted a judicial review regarding the service provision at a youth-focussed gender identity clinic in Tavistock. The high court adjudged it 'highly unlikely' that under-13s, and 'doubtful' that 14-15 years old, can be competent to consent to puberty blocker therapy for GD. They based their reasoning on the limited evidence regarding efficacy, the likelihood of progressing to cross-sex hormone therapy and the 'life-changing consequences' of puberty blockers. In this article, I offer two concurrent arguments to dispute their reasoning. First, I argue that minors can be competent to consent to puberty blockers for GD, because the decision to undergo puberty blocker therapy is no more complex or far-reaching than other medical decisions that we accept a child should be able to make. Second, I argue that-irrespective of competence-such legal restriction for all children fundamentally contradicts the central ethical tenet of child healthcare best interests. For these two reasons, the high court should not restrict access to puberty blockers for competent GD children.The UK Government's Code of Conduct for data-driven health and care technologies, specifically artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies, comprises 10 principles that outline a gold-standard of ethical conduct for AI developers and implementers within the National Health Service. Considering the importance of trust in medicine, in this essay I aim to evaluate the conceptualisation of trust within this piece of ethical governance. I examine the Code of Conduct, specifically Principle 7, and extract two positions a principle of rationally justified trust that posits trust should be made on sound epistemological bases and a principle of value-based trust that views trust in an all-things-considered manner. I argue rationally justified trust is largely infeasible in trusting AI due to AI's complexity and inexplicability. Contrarily, I show how value-based trust is more feasible as it is intuitively used by individuals. Furthermore, it better complies with Principle 1. I therefore conclude this essay by suggesting the Code of Conduct to hold the principle of value-based trust more explicitly.This paper is a response to a recent paper by Bobier and Omelianchuk in which they argue that the critics of Giubilini and Minerva's defence of infanticide fail to adequately justify a moral difference at birth. They argue that such arguments would lead to an intuitively less plausible position that late-term abortions are permissible, thus creating a dilemma for those who seek to argue that birth matters. I argue that the only way to resolve this dilemma, is to bite the naturalist bullet and accept that the intuitively plausible idea that birth constitutes a morally relevant event is simply mistaken and biologically misinformed.A 62-year-old man with metastatic duodenal cancer was admitted to a hospice for a trial of ketamine to manage complex neuropathic abdominal pain. The patient was incrementally established on a dose of 150 mg orally four times day with no adverse effects. Following treatment of hypomagnesaemia intravenously, the patient experienced marked symptoms of ketamine toxicity, known as a 'K-hole' amongst recreational users, following the next dose of ketamine. Ketamine and magnesium are both antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, which plays a part in central sensitisation to pain. There is some evidence that correction of hypomagnesaemia may improve analgesia and that there is synergism between ketamine and magnesium in analgesia, but this relationship is poorly understood. This is the first report suggesting that blood magnesium levels may affect the side effects of a stable dose of ketamine.
To develop and validate a prognostic model to assess mortality risk at 24 months in patients with advanced chronic conditions.
Retrospective design based on a previous population cohort study with 789 adults who were identified with the surprise question and NECPAL tool from primary and intermediate care centres, nursing homes and one acute hospital of Spain. A Cox regression model was used to derive a mortality predictive model based on patients' age and six previously selected NECPAL prognostic factors (palliative care need identified by healthcare professionals, functional decline, nutritional decline, multimorbidity, use of resources, disease-specific criteria of severity/progression). Patients were split into derivation/validation cohorts, and four steps were followed descriptive analysis, predictors' assessment, model estimation and model assessment.
All predictive variables were independently associated with increased risk of mortality at 24 months. Performance model including age was good; discrimination power by area under the curve (AUC) was 0.72/0.67 in the derivation/validation cohorts, and correlation between expected and observed (E/O) mortality ratio was 0.74/0.70. The model showed similar performance across settings (AUC 0.65-0.74, E/O 1.00-1.01), the best performance in oncological patients (AUC 0.78, E/O 0.76) and the worst in dementia patients (AUC 0.58, E/O 0.85). Based on the number of factors affected, three prognostic stages with significant differences and a median survival of 38, 17.2 and 3.6 months (p<0.001) were defined.
The NECPAL prognostic tool is accurate and eventually useful at the clinical practice. Stratification in risk groups may enable early intervention and enhance policy-making and service planning.
The NECPAL prognostic tool is accurate and eventually useful at the clinical practice. Stratification in risk groups may enable early intervention and enhance policy-making and service planning.
The objective of this study was to explore the extent of IV immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment-related fluctuations (TRFs) by using home collection of daily grip strength in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and to use that information to develop evidence-based treatment optimization strategies.
This prospective observational study included 25 patients with well-defined CIDP. Participants recorded grip strength daily for 6 months. Disability and gait metrics were collected weekly. Serum immunoglobulin G levels were obtained at peak, trough, and midcycle IVIG intervals. Day-to-day grip strength changes <10% were considered random. To identify patients with TRFs, 3-day averaged grip strength was calculated on each consecutive day after an IVIG infusion. TRFs were defined as ≥10% 3-day averaged grip strength difference compared to the pre-IVIG baseline.
Participants successfully recorded grip strength on all but 9% of recordable days. Twelve patients (48%) were classified as low/no fluctuaters and 13 (52%) as frequent fluctuaters. In the frequent fluctuating group, grip strength improved over 1 week and thereafter was relatively stable until the third week after infusion. Grip strength was significantly correlated with measures of disability.
Grip strength collection by patients at home is reliable, valid, and feasible. A change in grip strength by ≥10% is a useful, practical, and evidence-based approach that may be used to identify clinically meaningful TRFs. From these data, we propose a treatment optimization strategy for patients with CIDP on chronic IVIG that may be applied to routine clinic care during both face-to-face and virtual video or telephone patient encounters.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02414490.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02414490.
To determine whether patients with Lewy body dementia (LBD) with likely Alzheimer disease (AD)-type copathology are more impaired on confrontation naming than those without likely AD-type copathology.
We selected 57 patients with LBD (dementia with Lewy bodies [DLB], n = 38; Parkinson disease dementia [PDD], n = 19) with available AD CSF biomarkers and neuropsychological data. CSF β-amyloid
(Aβ
), phosphorylated-tau (p-tau), and total-tau (t-tau) concentrations were measured. We used an autopsy-validated CSF cut point (t-tauAβ
ratio > 0.3, n = 43), or autopsy data when available (n = 14), to categorize patients as having LBD with (LBD + AD, n = 26) and without (LBD - AD, n = 31) likely AD-type copathology. Analysis of covariance tested between-group comparisons across biologically defined groups (LBD + AD, LBD - AD) and clinical phenotypes (DLB, PDD) on confrontation naming (30-item Boston Naming Test [BNT]), executive abilities (letter fluency [LF], reverse digit span [RDS]), and global cognitionification of LBD may be advantageous over clinically defined syndromes to elucidate clinical heterogeneity.The selection of patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) for deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery rests on 5 fundamental pillars. However, the operationalization of the multidisciplinary screening process to evaluate these pillars remains highly diverse, especially across sites. High tic severity and tic-related impact on quality of life (first 2 pillars) require confirmation from objective, validated measures, but malignant features of TS should per se suffice to fulfill this pillar. Failure of behavioral and pharmacologic therapies (third pillar) should be assessed taking into account refractoriness through objective and subjective measures supporting lack of efficacy of all interventions of proven efficacy, as well as true lack of tolerability, adherence, or access. Educational interventions and use of remote delivery formats (for behavioral therapies) play a role in preventing misjudgment of treatment failure. Stability of comorbid psychiatric disorders for 6 months (fourth pillar) is needed to confirm the predominant impact of tics on quality of life, to prevent pseudo-refractoriness, and to maximize the future DBS response.
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