Int J Med Sci
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of acute administration of an herbal preparation on blood pressure and heart rate in humans.
Confusion and controversy exist regarding the cardiovascular effects of dietary supplements containing caffeine and Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) extract. The primary protoalkaloidal ingredient in bitter orange extract is p-synephrine which has some structural similarities to ephedrine and nor-epinephrine, but exhibits markedly different pharmacokinetic and receptor binding properties. The goal of this study was to investigate the cardiovascular effects of a product containing caffeine, bitter orange extract (p-synephrine) and green tea extract in mildly overweight individuals. ⋯ No between or within group differences were observed when data were analyzed for gender and caffeine usage. A small but significant decrease in resting respiratory exchange ratio was observed for the low caffeine user group in response to the product containing caffeine and p-synephrine. The results of this study indicate that ingestion of a product containing bitter orange extract, caffeine and green tea extract does not lead to increased cardiovascular stress and that fat oxidation may increase in certain populations.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
A comparative effectiveness study of bone density changes in women over 40 following three bone health plans containing variations of the same novel plant-sourced calcium.
The US Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health suggests America's bone-health is in jeopardy and issued a "call to action" to develop bone-health plans incorporating components of (1) improved nutrition, (2) increased health literacy, and (3) increased physical activity. ⋯ The increases in BMD found in all three treatment groups in this CER stand in marked contrast to previous studies reporting that interventions with calcium and vitamin D(3) reduce age-related losses of BMD, but do not increase BMD. Increased compliance resulted in increased BMD levels. No adverse effects were found in the blood chemistry tests, self-reported quality of life and daily tracking reports. The Plans tested suggest a significant improvement over the traditional calcium and vitamin D(3) standard of care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of the valsalva maneuver on needle projection pain and hemodynamic responses during spinal puncture.
This study evaluated the efficacy of the valsalva maneuver that can induce baroreceptor activation and nociception, on needle projection pain and hemodynamic responses associated with spinal puncture. Ninety adults, ASA physical status I and II undergoing elective surgeries were included. Patients were randomized into three equal groups. ⋯ Significant reduction in NRS was observed in the valsalva group compared with the control and the ball groups (p=0.001). There were statistical but no significant clinical differences in mean arterial blood pressure and heart rates between the study groups (P=0.008 and P=0.016 respectively). In conclusion valsalva maneuver can decrease the skin puncture pain associated with spinal needle projection while observing hemodynamic changes.
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The present investigation in Sprague-Dawley rats (SD) was designed to examine effects of astaxanthin (Asta) at different doses on elevated blood pressure (BP) and glucose-insulin perturbations produced by heavy sucrose ingestion. We also examined effects of Asta on BP during restraint stress. SD were divided into six groups each containing eight rats. ⋯ At the examined doses of each, captopril lowered BP in SD without influencing glucose-insulin metabolism, whereas pioglitazone favorably affected glucose-insulin metabolism while showing essentially no effects on BP. Accordingly, Asta beneficially affects both sucrose-induced elevations of BP and insulin resistance at relatively high doses in SD. Also, Asta at higher doses lessens restraint stress, whereas, captopril and pioglitazone did not at the doses examined, even though they influenced the BP and glucose-insulin systems respectively.
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We report a rare case of a spindle cell lipoma with atypical clinical course. ⋯ Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal lipomas are rare forms of benign laryngeal neoplasms. Their asymptomatic course makes diagnosis difficult. The patient is presented here with related clinical and pathological features.