Researchers at the University of Utah have designed a mathematical technique to help doctors when dealing with patients who have overdosed on acetaminophen.
Depending on how much the patient has taken, overdoses of drugs containing acetaminophen, like Tylenol, can result in extensive liver damage and even death. According to an article in Inside Science, the drug is the leading cause of acute liver damage in the United States.
Mathematician Fred Adler and Utah doctoral student Chris Remien worked with Norman Sussman (Baylor Medical College) to use computer modeling to make treatment and prognostic decisions.
According to Inside Science:
Depending on how much the patient has taken, overdoses of drugs containing acetaminophen, like Tylenol, can result in extensive liver damage and even death. According to an article in Inside Science, the drug is the leading cause of acute liver damage in the United States.
Mathematician Fred Adler and Utah doctoral student Chris Remien worked with Norman Sussman (Baylor Medical College) to use computer modeling to make treatment and prognostic decisions.
According to Inside Science:
They used the medical records of 53 patients at the Utah University hospital, taking the results of four common tests, and using eight differential equations produced a chart showing when the patient took the acetaminophen and how much. The equations predict who is likely to survive with treatment and who must have a transplant.
The study was what scientists call retrospective. The Utah researchers applied their model to data in the records of past patients to see what would have happened had they used the equations.
The equations would have predicted that 12 of the patients would die, including all eight that did die. The method correctly predicted 39 of the 43 patients who survived.
Original Article from MAA Digital Library
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