Medicine
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The World Health Organization states prevention of chronic diseases should be based on good lifestyle behaviors and healthy diets as they can reduce the risk of chronic diseases by 80%. The theory of traditional Chinese medicine constitution (TCMC) emphasizes the congenital differences of TCMC stem from the genes of parents, while acquired differences in TCMC are caused by factors as living environments, lifestyle behaviors, and dietary habits. From the perspective of preventive medicine, this study explores the correlation between dietary habits and lifestyle behaviors as potential risk factors for different types of TCMC-balanced constitution, Yang deficiency, Yin deficiency, and Phlegm stasis. ⋯ Variables that affected TCMC were smoking, midnight snack consumption, consumption of gravy-soaked or lard-soaked rice/noodles, deep-fried soybean products, bread spread, pickled vegetables as side dishes for the main course of a meal, and the dietary habit of vegetables or fruits instead of high-fat desserts. Poor dietary habits and lifestyle behaviors are the cause of unbalanced TCMCs. Understanding the specific TCMC of individual can provide useful information and predictions to maintain physical health and achieve early disease prevention to meet the goal of preventive medicine.
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Apolipoprotein E alleles have been associated with both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In addition, ICH is associated with a markedly high risk of subsequent dementia compared to other subtypes of stroke. We sought to evaluate if other genetic markers for AD were also associated with ICH. ⋯ The 51 most significant 2-SNP haplotypes associated with lobar ICH were identified within the Clusterin (CLU) gene. We identified that variation within CR1 and CLU, previously identified risk factors for AD, and are associated with an increased risk for ICH driven primarily by lobar ICH. Previous work implicated CR1 and CLU in cerebral amyloid clearance, the innate immune system, and cellular stress response.
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To explore the curative effect of antibiotic combined with mucosolvan perfusion under fiber bronchoscope in treatment of pneumonia after severe cerebral hemorrhage. The clinical data of 120 patients with pneumonia after severe cerebral hemorrhage admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to December 2019 were collected. All patients were divided into the lavage group and perfusion group by random number method, with 60 patients in each group. ⋯ In the perfusion group, the duration of cough, adequacy of fever, disappearance of rhonchus in the lungs, and the length of hospital stay were less than those in the lavage group (P < .05). The hospitalization costs of perfusion group were lower than that of lavage group (P < .05). The combination of antibiotics and mucosolvan infusion therapy under fiber bronchoscope can effectively improve the clinical efficacy, reduce the hospitalization cost, and improve the prognosis of patients with pneumonia after severe cerebral hemorrhage.
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The authors observed good clinical courses in patients with lower limb ulcers and extensive skin inflammation who showed early venous enhancement at contrast-enhanced lower extremity computed tomographic angiography. The author hypothesized that these early venous enhancements tend to occur in conditions of healthier vascular status. A total of 145 patients who met the inclusion criteria were classified based on the degree of arterial occlusion and early venous enhancement according to lower extremity angiography. ⋯ However, in this study, veins that show early enhancement are suspected of being healthier and more responsive to inflammation than those that do not show early enhancement. These findings may help to predict the clinical course and to determine therapeutic planning without additional studies. Also, it can be easily reproduced in other facilities.
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This study aims to compare the 2 methods of upper esophageal sphincter (UES) relaxation measurement and determine which method has better diagnostic value in UES relaxation impairment The study included 140 patients with pharyngeal dysphagia who underwent both videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) and high-resolution manometry (HRM). Feeding method was determined to oral or non-oral feeding based on the severity of dysphagia; 103 patients were in oral feeding group and 37 were in non-oral feeding group. UES relaxation duration was measured using VFSS and HRM, respectively. ⋯ Receiver-operating characteristic analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff value of UES relaxation duration to determine feeding method (oral or non-oral feeding) was 0.42 seconds on VFSS and 0.44 seconds on HRM. The sensitivity for feeding method was higher in VFSS than HRM (83.5% vs 70.9%), while the specificity was higher in HRM than VFSS (48.6% vs 54.1%). VFSS and HRM have complementary ability in evaluating UES relaxation duration in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia.