ABSTRACT
Hypertension affects approximately one-third of Americans. An additional 30% are unaware that they harbor the disease. Significantly increased blood pressure constitutes a hypertensive emergency that could lead to end-organ damage. When organs such as the brain, heart, or kidney are affected, an intervention that will lower the blood pressure in several hours is indicated. Several pharmacologic options are available for treatment, with intravenous antihypertensive therapy being the cornerstone, but there is no standard of care. Careful consideration of each patient's specific complaint, history, and physical examination guides the emergency physician through the treatment algorithm.
Subject(s)
Emergency Service, Hospital , Hypertension/complications , Aortic Dissection/drug therapy , Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use , Comorbidity , Emergencies , Female , Humans , Hypertension/diagnosis , Hypertension/etiology , Hypertension/therapy , Hypertensive Encephalopathy/drug therapy , Myocardial Ischemia/drug therapy , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular/drug therapy , Pulmonary Edema/drug therapyABSTRACT
So much has changed in the field of diabetes diagnosis and management in the United States. Unhealthy lifestyle choices have hastened an epidemic of childhood obesity, causing a paradigm shift in how childhood diabetes is conceptualized. Once thought a consequence of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and genetics, diabetes with onset in adults has been found to have a variant with autoimmunity. As the lines among adult-onset, child-onset, and type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus become more blurred, best practices in management and prevention become more complicated. This article highlights key points regarding 2 variants, juvenile-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus and latent autoimmune diabetes of adults.
