J Rheumatol
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effect of spa therapy in Tiberias on patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Forty-one patients with rheumatoid arthritis were treated for 2 weeks at a Tiberias spa hotel. Randomized into 2 groups, Group 1 received a combination of mineral baths and mud packs, and Group 2 had tap water baths only. Both groups had a significant but temporary improvement in Ritchie index. ⋯ No improvement was noticed in morning stiffness, 15 meter walk time and laboratory variables of disease activity in either group. Twelve patients with osteoarthritis (OA) received 2 weeks of treatment with mineral baths and mud packs. Statistically significant improvement for a period of 6 months was noticed in night pain, pain on passive motion, tenderness on palpation and in the index of severity of OA of the knee.
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The description of psychological aspects of fibromyalgia are similar to those of other patients with chronic pain. Three groups, a chronic pain group (n = 99), a nonchronic pain group (n = 34) and a fibromyalgia group (n = 36) were compared, using a standardized interview and psychological questionnaires (SCL-90R, IBQ and CIPI). ⋯ The scores of the fibromyalgia group and the chronic pain group were very similar. This leads to the conclusion that many psychological aspects of fibromyalgia can be considered as psychological aspects of chronic pain.
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The presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), von Willebrand factor activity and platelet function was studied in 35 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) scleroderma and 22 healthy controls. aCL positivity was observed in no patient with SSc or controls, whereas beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 levels were significantly higher in patients with SSc (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.002, respectively). Furthermore, plasma from patients with SSc had a greater degree of aggregation to adenosine diphosphate 1 microM (p less than 0.05) but not to collagen or arachidonic acid. The plasma of patients with scleroderma also had increased von Willebrand factor activity compared with controls (p less than 0.001). We conclude that aCL appears not to play a central role in the pathogenesis of vascular and hemostatic alterations in SSc.