Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Observational StudyChronic kidney disease and the risk of incident gout among middle-aged men: a seven-year prospective observational study.
The kidney is the major organ that facilitates excretion of urate in humans. Surprisingly, few studies have assessed whether a reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and/or kidney damage is associated with a higher incidence of gout, and this study was undertaken to address this question. ⋯ Chronic kidney disease manifesting as reduced glomerular function or as presence of blood or protein in the urine increases the risk of incident gout.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2013
Overlapping structural and functional brain changes in patients with long-term exposure to fibromyalgia pain.
There is vast evidence to support the presence of brain aberrations in patients with fibromyalgia (FM), and it is possible that central plasticity is critical for the transition from acute to chronic pain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between brain structure and function in patients with FM. ⋯ The combined integration of structural and functional measures allowed for a unique characterization of the impact of FM pain on the brain. These data may lead to the identification of early structural and functional brain alterations in response to pain, which could be used to develop markers for predicting the development of FM and other pain disorders.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2013
Prevalence of the fibromyalgia phenotype in patients with spine pain presenting to a tertiary care pain clinic and the potential treatment implications.
Injections for spinal pain have high failure rates, emphasizing the importance of patient selection. It is possible that detecting the presence of a fibromyalgia (FM)-like phenotype could aid in prediction, because in these individuals a peripheral injection would not address pain due to alterations in central neurotransmission. We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that patients who have spine pain meeting survey criteria for FM would be phenotypically distinct from those who do not. ⋯ Using the FM criteria and severity scales, we demonstrated profound phenotypic differences in a population of patients with spine pain. Although centralized pain cannot be confirmed with a self-report instrument alone, the pathophysiology of FM may help explain a portion of the variability of responses to spine interventions.