Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialImpact of fibromyalgia pain on health-related quality of life before and after treatment with tramadol/acetaminophen.
To assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with moderate-to-severe fibromyalgia pain compared with the general population, and to assess the relationship between pain severity and HRQOL before and after treatment with an analgesic. ⋯ Moderate-to-severe fibromyalgia pain significantly impairs HRQOL, and effective pain relief in these patients significantly increases HRQOL.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2005
Comparative StudyComparison of disease progression and mortality of connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease and idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.
To compare disease progression and mortality between idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) due to connective tissue diseases (CTD) including scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, Sjögren's syndrome, and mixed CTD. ⋯ Contrary to expectation, CTD-ILD compared with IIP appears to be associated with a worse prognosis when adjusted for age. A higher fibrotic score is suggestive of decreased survival.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2005
Need for common internal controls when assessing the relative efficacy of pharmacologic agents using a meta-analytic approach: case study of cyclooxygenase 2-selective inhibitors for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
To evaluate the role of common internal controls in a meta-analysis of the relative efficacy of cyclooxygenase 2-selective inhibitors (coxibs) in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). ⋯ Coxibs and common active internal controls showed larger effect sizes versus placebo in the rofecoxib/etoricoxib trials than in the celecoxib/valdecoxib trials. These findings suggest systematic differences among published coxib trials and emphasize the need for direct-comparison trials. In the absence of such trials, common internal controls should be assessed when performing indirect meta-analytic comparisons.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2005
Glucocorticoid use and serum lipid levels in US adults: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
It has been generally perceived that glucocorticoids adversely affect serum lipid levels, although results of prospective studies have suggested the contrary. In this study, we sought to examine the relationship between glucocorticoid use and lipid profiles in a nationally representative sample of subjects. ⋯ Our results suggest that glucocorticoid use is not associated with an adverse lipid profile in the US population and may be associated with a favorable lipid profile among persons ages 60 years or older, in concordance with previous prospective studies.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pramipexole, a dopamine agonist, in patients with fibromyalgia receiving concomitant medications.
To assess the efficacy and safety of pramipexole, a dopamine 3 receptor agonist, in patients with fibromyalgia. ⋯ In a subset of patients with fibromyalgia, approximately 50% of whom required narcotic analgesia and/or were disabled, treatment with pramipexole improved scores on assessments of pain, fatigue, function, and global status, and was safe and well-tolerated.