BACKGROUND Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the cornerstone of asthma therapy. The ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratios, calculated from claims data, indicate potentially risky disease management in asthma. Our aim was to assess the utility of ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratios from primary care electronic medical records (EMRs) in detecting patients at risk of asthma exacerbation, as appr...

In this paper we propose a new method for classification of subjects into schizophrenia and control groups using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. In the preprocessing step, the number of fMRI time points is reduced using principal component analysis (PCA). Then, independent component analysis (ICA) is used for further data analysis. It estimates independent components (ICs) of...

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common conditions that have substantial effects on daily functioning and medical resource utilisation. In elderly populations, the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) as a mainstay of treatment in asthma has long been accepted whereas the appropriateness and extent of use of ICS in COPD is not as clear. This paper reviews data associa...

BACKGROUND Patients face increasing insurance restrictions on prescription drugs, including generic-only coverage. There are no generic inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), which are a mainstay of asthma therapy, and patients pay the full price for these drugs under generic-only policies. We examined changes in ICS use following the introduction of generic-only coverage in a Medicare Advantage popula...

INTRODUCTION There is increasing evidence that autoantibodies and immune complexes (ICs) contribute to synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), yet the autoantigens incorporated in ICs in RA remain incompletely characterised. METHODS We used the C1q protein to capture ICs from plasma derived from human RA and control patients. Antibodies specific for immunoglobulin were used to detect ICs, and...

BACKGROUND Regular use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with obstructive lung diseases has been associated with a higher risk of pneumonia, particularly in COPD. The risk of pneumonia has not been previously evaluated in relation to ICS particle size and dose used. METHODS Historical cohort, UK database study of 23,013 patients with obstructive lung disease aged 12-80 years prescr...

INTRODUCTION Observational studies using case-control designs have showed an increased risk of pneumonia associated with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing medications in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). New-user observational cohort designs may minimize biases associated with previous case-control designs. OBJECTIVE To estimate the association between ICS and ...

BACKGROUND Management guidelines for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) recommend that inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are prescribed to patients with the most severe symptoms. However, these guidelines have not been widely implemented by physicians, leading to widespread use of ICS in patients with mild-to-moderate COPD. Of particular concern is the potential risk of worsening diabetic...

BACKGROUND Intracranial suppuration (ICS) is a life-threatening condition caused by various disease processes and consisting of brain abscess and extradural and subdural empyema. The major causes have changed over the decades. To the author's knowledge, the incidence of ICS in South Africa (SA) has not been established. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of ICS, overall and according to age...

BACKGROUND Intracranial stenosis (ICS) is a major determinant of ischemic stroke in Asians. We determined the clinical significance of different risk factors and the role of ICS in Taiwanese patients with varied distributions of cervicocerebral stenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS Presence of extracranial carotid stenosis (ECS, ≥70%) and ICS (>50%) was examined in 13 539 patients using ultrasonograp...