Articles: function.
-
Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a serious complication of end-stage liver disease, occurring mainly in patients with advanced cirrhosis and ascites, who have marked circulatory dysfunction,1 as well as in patients with acute liver failure.2 In spite of its functional nature, HRS is associated with a poor prognosis,3 4 and the only effective treatment is liver transplantation. During the 56th Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the International Ascites Club held a Focused Study Group (FSG) on HRS for the purpose of reporting the results of an international workshop and to reach a consensus on a new definition, criteria for diagnosis and recommendations on HRS treatment. ⋯ The international workshop included four issues debated by four panels of experts (see Acknowledgements). The issues were: (1) evidence-based HRS pathogenesis; (2) treatment of HRS using vasoconstrictors; (3) other HRS treatments using transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent-shunt (TIPS) and extracorporeal albumin dialysis (ECAD); and (4) new definitions and diagnostic criteria for HRS and recommendations for its treatment.
-
Brain-gut axis represents a complex reflex circuit that integrates the communication between cortex and the digestive system. Disturbances of the neuromodulatory processes in the brain-gut axis generate functional digestive disorders mainly centered on the pain symptoms and motility disorders. ⋯ The efficacy of the methods using electrostimulation is dependent on the parameters of the physical system used: amplitude, frequency, burst time of the electrical current and also the positioning of the electrodes. While pharmacological interventions are largely used at the moment, neuromodulatory interventions involving electrical stimulation showed clinical efficacy in research trials and have promise.
-
Chronic congestive heart failure is a highly prevalent and progressive disorder associated with excess morbidity and mortality; it has huge economic impact. Left heart failure may be systolic or may occur as isolated diastolic dysfunction. The diastolic form predominates in older people. ⋯ For restless legs syndrome with or without periodic limb movements, pramipexole and ropinirole have been approved. Treatment of insomnia comorbid with heart failure depends on the cause. In the absence of any known cause, a trial of ramelteon is the first choice.
-
Severe and prolonged unmitigated SAS and SMS related symptoms have been thoroughly described in Astronauts during adaptation periods for orbital flight and post orbital flight. It has recently been shown that there is a strong correlation between these symptoms most often suffered by astronauts to that of the symptoms of patients suffering from Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) on Earth that have been successfully assessed, diagnosed and treated. International peer-reviewed literature identifies PDS as a trauma induced medical condition which originates from central neural dysregulation of sensory-motor and cognitive controls; these dysfunctions can be accurately identified, measured, and monitored via a specific ocular-vestibular-postural monitoring system along with relevant clinical data. ⋯ Central sensory-motor and cognitive controls dysfunction underlie symptoms that can adversely impact and reflect alteration of eye-hand coordination, fine tuned dexterity, body positioning in space, space projection and trajectory control, perception of environment/obstacles, orientation in space and time, sensory motor and cognitive aspects of decision making, sensory-motor/cognitive error proneness. All of these factors are necessary for Astronaut's mission capabilities, while both carrying out operations in Space and performing the tasks required during and after re-entry. The objective of this paper is to elucidate how PDS related medical conditions are currently assessed, identified and monitored, and how these methodologies and technologies translate into a potential for better understanding of astronauts' potential incapacitation during space flight operations.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2008
Supplemental plant sterols and stanols for serum cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.
This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To determine the effects of phytosterols, phytostanols or their esters, ingested in supplemented foods, on blood cholesterol concentrations and cardiovascular disease;To look for adverse effects e.g. on nutritional status or physiological function;To study/comment on, possible effects of cost.