Heart failure (HF) represents a serious public health concern, characterized by substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in pharmacological management, a gap persists in understanding and accounting for sex-related differences in HF treatment. This review was performed to clarify the impact of sex on the clinical outcomes of HF medications. Insights from various clinical trials and studies have highlighted differences between men and women in drug responses and adverse effects, indicating the need for a more nuanced approach to HF management. Promoting greater representation of women in clinical trials and the development of research methodologies that consider sex differences are crucial steps in advancing precision medicine. Such efforts ensure that therapeutic strategies are optimally tailored to the unique biological and genetic profiles of each person. Ultimately, this review emphasizes the vital need for a more inclusive and personalized approach to HF pharmacotherapy, underscoring the critical role of sex-related differences in shaping effective and individualized treatment pathways.
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Small cell lung cancer is primarily treated with chemotherapy. For patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), systemic chemotherapy is often challenging since renal excretion of chemotherapeutic agents might be decreased due to impaired renal function, leading to increased toxicity. No consensus is made so far regarding appropriate dosage and combination of chemotherapeutic agents for patients on hemodialysis. We report two cases of chemotherapy without significant toxicity in small cell lung cancer patients who were on hemodialysis for ESRD.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in Korean women and its mortality rate has increased steadily. Although breast cancer is heterogeneous tumor, hormone receptor-positive tumors comprise about 75 percent of all breast cancers. Therefore endocrine therapy that works by targeting estrogen receptor is a pivotal treatment for breast cancers. There are selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as tamoxifen and raloxifene, aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole, letrozole and exemestane, fulvestrant and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists used in endocrine therapy. Endocrine therapy is effective in treating early breast cancer as an adjuvant therapy and metastatic breast cancer as a palliative therapy. Also in women who are at high risk for breast cancer, tamoxifen or raloxifene can prevent breast cancer. Studies for neoadjuvant endocrine therapy are emerging. Considering side effects of each drug and overcoming drug resistance are needed to maximize effectiveness of treatment and advance endocrine therapy.
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Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders, which is leading to significant clinical distress and impairment of daytime functioning and decreasing quality of life. This article reviews the current clinical treatment options of insomnia. Non-pharmacological treatment including stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive therapy, relaxation training, and education of sleep hygiene should be considered first for treatment of insomnia. Psychological and behavioral interventions tend to have longer-lasting treatment benefits, while drugs show immediate improvement of sleep disturbance. In pharmacotherapy, benzodiazepine receptor agonist, melatonin receptor antagonist, and 'off-label' drugs to treat insomnia are reviewed.
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