Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes knee malalignment mediate the effects of quadriceps strengthening on knee adduction moment, pain, and function in medial knee osteoarthritis? A randomized controlled trial.
To examine whether the effects of 12 weeks of quadriceps strengthening on the knee adduction moment, pain, and function in people with medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) differ in those with and without varus malalignment. ⋯ Quadriceps strengthening did not have any significant effect on the knee adduction moment in participants with either more varus or more neutral alignment. The benefits of quadriceps strengthening on pain were more evident in those with more neutral alignment. Knee alignment thus represents a local mechanical factor that can mediate symptomatic outcome from exercise interventions in knee OA.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA randomized, double-blind, multicenter, controlled clinical trial of chicken type II collagen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
To assess the efficacy and safety of chicken type II collagen (CCII) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with methotrexate (MTX). ⋯ CCII is effective in the treatment of RA. CCII is well tolerated, and the incidence of adverse events of CCII is lower than that of MTX.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialThe internet-based arthritis self-management program: a one-year randomized trial for patients with arthritis or fibromyalgia.
To determine the efficacy of an Internet-based Arthritis Self-Management Program (ASMP) as a resource for arthritis patients unable or unwilling to attend small-group ASMPs, which have proven effective in changing health-related behaviors and improving health status measures. ⋯ The Internet-based ASMP proved effective in improving health status measures at 1 year and is a viable alternative to the small-group ASMP.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2008
Sleep disturbances in fibromyalgia syndrome: relationship to pain and depression.
This study is an examination of sleep, pain, depression, and physical functioning at baseline and 1-year followup among patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Although it is clear that these symptoms are prevalent among FMS patients and that they are related, the direction of the relationship is unclear. We sought to identify and report sleep problems in this population and to examine their relationship to pain, depression, and physical functioning. ⋯ These findings highlight the high prevalence of sleep problems in this population and suggest that they play a critical role in exacerbating FMS symptoms. Furthermore, they support limited existing findings that sleep predicts subsequent pain in this population, but also extend the literature, suggesting that sleep may be related to depression through pain and physical functioning.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2008
Comparative StudyDifferential expression of GADD45beta in normal and osteoarthritic cartilage: potential role in homeostasis of articular chondrocytes.
Our previous study suggested that growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible protein 45beta (GADD45beta) prolonged the survival of hypertrophic chondrocytes in the developing mouse embryo. This study was undertaken, therefore, to investigate whether GADD45beta plays a role in adult articular cartilage. ⋯ These observations suggest that GADD45beta might play an important role in regulating chondrocyte homeostasis by modulating collagen gene expression and promoting cell survival in normal adult cartilage and in early OA.