As with past illnesses, an approach has been taken to vaccinate the population and halt the spread of COVID-19. On 13 April 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration called for a halt in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine due to reports of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia being associated with vaccination. We present the case of a 43-year-old woman with a history of dyslipidaemia, depression, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and obesity presenting with dyspnoea, headache and light headedness of 3 days’ duration. Ten days prior, she had received the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. She was found to have thrombocytopenia, elevated D-dimers, pulmonary emboli and presented 1 day after discharge with an arterial clot despite being on apixaban. Six other US-based cases of venous thrombotic events are being reviewed at present. Patients should be informed of the possibility of such events to provide informed consent.
BackgroundDyslipidemia, a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), is a burden due to morbidity, mortality, and CHD-related costs. Patient-centered clinical interventions improve adherence to lifestyle modifications among adults with dyslipidemia.ObjectiveThe study's objectives were to (a) promote participants' safety through increased knowledge on the risks and prevention of CHD, (b) help participants identify their own barriers to lifestyle modifications, and (c) develop strategies with participants on individualized plans to adhere to healthy living.MethodsSeventeen participants with dyslipidemia enrolled in a quality improvement over 6 weeks. Participants were from one employee health clinic in Mississippi. Measures are Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire (HDFQ), Framingham Tool, pre- and poststudy lipid panels, and physiologic measurements. Interventions include motivational technique-led interviews as a tool for behavioral change.ResultsPre- and post-HDFQ responses indicated an 18% increase in knowledge attainment because of the patient-centered care interventions. Postinterventions, mean plasma lipid panels were 29% lower, weight loss ranged from 0 to 10.1 pounds, and body mass indexes were 0.4 to 1.2 less. Blood pressures (BPs) preintervention ranged from 120/70 to 159/89. Postinterventions BP ranged from 107/82 to 146/70.ConclusionsPatient-centered clinical interventions improve management of dyslipidemia through increased knowledge on risks and prevention of CHD and also through finding own barriers to healthy living.ImplicationsHealthcare providers can make a difference in people's lives through exploring the unhealthy behaviors and discovering ways for better health outcomes.
Malik et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.