Medicina
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Background and objectives: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has a particularly poor prognosis, and most IPF-related deaths are due to acute exacerbation (AE) of this condition. Few reports about biomarkers to predict prognosis of AE-IPF have been published since the release of the new AE-IPF criteria in 2016. The present study investigated relationships between serological markers and in-hospital mortality after the onset of AE-IPF. ⋯ Cox hazard analysis of factors predicting mortality, corrected for age, sex and BMI, revealed the following: CRP (hazard ratio (HR) 1.080 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.022-1.141); p = 0.006), LDH (HR 1.003 (95% CI 1.000-1.006); p = 0.037), and total cholesterol (HR 0.985 (95% CI 0.972-0.997); p = 0.018). Conclusions: Our data suggest that CRP, LDH, and total cholesterol may be biomarkers predicting mortality in patients with AE-IPF. However, only prospective controlled studies can confirm or not our observation as a generalizable one.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for the majority of deaths worldwide. Radiation-induced heart diseases (RIHD) is one of the side effects following exposure to ionizing radiation (IR). Exposure could be from various forms such as diagnostic imaging, radiotherapy for cancer treatment, as well as nuclear disasters and nuclear accidents. ⋯ Due to its dose-limiting consequence, RIHD has a negative effect on the therapeutic efficacy of radiotherapy. Several methods have been proposed for protection against RIHD. In this paper, we review the use of natural products, which have shown promising results for protection against RIHD.
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Background and objective: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are new readily available inflammatory markers that have been analyzed in pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders such as preeclampsia. Studies on the NLR/PLR ratio in hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low-platelet count (HELLP) syndrome are limited in the current literature. We compared NLR/PLR and other complete blood count (CBC) components between women with HELLP syndrome and women with healthy pregnancies. ⋯ Conclusions: NLR was higher, and PLR was lower in women with HELLP syndrome. These inflammatory markers can be incorporated into the diagnostic algorithm for HELLP syndrome. Future studies are needed to evaluate their ability to predict HELLP syndrome.
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Food allergies are an increasingly public health problem, affecting up to 10% of children and causing a significant burden on affected patients, resulting in dietary restrictions, fear of accidental ingestion and related risk of severe reactions, as well as a reduced quality of life. Currently, there is no specific cure for a food allergy, so the only available management is limited to strict dietary avoidance, education on prompt recognition of symptoms, and emergency treatment of adverse reactions. Several allergen specific- and nonspecific-therapies, aiming to acquire a persistent food tolerance, are under investigation as potential treatments; however, to date, only immunotherapy has been identified as the most promising therapeutic approach for food allergy treatment. The aim of this review is to provide an updated overview on changes in the treatment landscape for food allergies.
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Objective: The aim of this meta-analytic review was to quantitatively examine the effects of traditional Chinese exercises (TCE) on pain intensity and back disability in individuals with low back pain (LBP). Methods: Potential articles were retrieved using seven electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Web of Science, Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang). The searched period was from inception to 1 March 2019. ⋯ Moderator analyses demonstrated that Tai Chi practice (Hedge's g = -0.87, 95% CI -1.38 to -0.36, p < 0.001) and Qigong (Hedge's g = -0.54, 95% CI -0.86 to -0.23, p < 0.001) reduced VAS scores. Interventions with a frequency of 1-2 times/week (Hedge's g = -0.53, 95% CI -0.98 to -0.07, p = 0.02) and 3-4 times/week (Hedge's g = -0.78, 95% CI -1.15 to -0.42, p < 0.001) were associated with reduced VAS scores, but this significant reduction on this outcome was not observed in the weekly training frequency of ≥5 times (Hedge's g = -0.54, 95% CI -1.16 to 0.08, p = 0.09). Conclusions: TCE may have beneficial effects for reducing pain intensity for individuals with LBP, regardless of their pain status.