scholarly journals Body Reprogramming: Reframing the Fibromyalgia narrative and providing an integrative therapeutic model

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205510292097149
Author(s):  
Anthony Fitzdonald Davies ◽  
Patrick Hill ◽  
Daniel Fay ◽  
Annily Dee ◽  
Cosima Locher
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Illness Narrative ◽  
System A ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Therapeutic Model

We propose a theory known as the Hyland model to help conceptualise Fibromyalgia within a complex adaptive control system. A fundamental assumption is that symptom generating mechanisms are causally connected, forming a network that has emergent properties. An illness narrative has been developed which has a ‘goodness of fit’ with the lived experience of those with Fibromyalgia. The theory guides management within the clinical setting and incorporates current evidence-based therapeutic strategies, within a multi-modal intervention described as ‘Body Reprogramming’. This intervention focuses on non-pharmacological and lifestyle-based considerations. The theoretical framework also helps explain why modest therapeutic effects are gained from current pharmacological options.

Therapeutic Aspects of Squill; An Evidence-Based Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadije Saket ◽  
Jalil T. Afshari ◽  
Ehsan Saburi ◽  
Mahdi Yousefi ◽  
Roshanak Salari
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Helminthic Infections ◽  
Traditional Persian Medicine ◽  
Healing Of Wounds ◽  
Bioactive Agents

From ancient times, medicinal plants have been usually utilized to treat many disorders, but today, interest in these herbs is again aroused, because of their fewer side effects and low-cost. In traditional medicine, for many diseases, various medicinal herbs have been suggested so far. Drimia maritime, also named squill, is an important medicinal plant for the treatment of many diseases, especially respiratory diseases. In the current evidence-based study, we conducted a review of the general characteristics, ingredients, administration form, and side effects of squill in traditional medicine. For this purpose, traditional Persian medicine literatures and electronic databases were examined including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Many compounds are isolated from D.maritima, including scillaren, scillirubroside, scillarenin, and bufadienolide glycosides. Oxymel is the most commonly used form of squill for various diseases, especially respiratory diseases. Besides, squill has been used in the treatment of cardiovascular, digestive, and dermatological disorders, it is also used against various cancer cells for its antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Moreover, there is relatively reliable evidence of its benefits for bacterial and helminthic infections, rheumatism, edema, gout, abortion induction, healing of wounds and urine induction. It seems that supplementary studies are required to explore the bioactive agents and their effective mechanisms.

An engagement-facilitation intervention (EFI) for increasing uptake and engagement for self-guided online mental health interventions: Consumer-guided development (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Gulliver ◽  
Alison L Calear ◽  
Matthew Sunderland ◽  
Frances Kay-Lambkin ◽  
Louise M Farrer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Health Program ◽  
Mental Health Program ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Mental Health Interventions ◽  
Mental Health Programs

BACKGROUND Self-guided online mental health programs are effective in treating and preventing mental health problems. However, both the uptake and engagement with these programs in the community is suboptimal, and there is limited current evidence indicating how to increase the use of existing evidence-based programs. OBJECTIVE The current study aims to investigate the views of people with lived experience of depression and anxiety on the barriers and facilitators to using e-mental health interventions and to use these perspectives to help develop an engagement-facilitation intervention (EFI) to increase uptake and engagement with self-guided online mental health programs. METHODS A total of 24 community members (female = 21; male = 3) with lived experience of depression and/or anxiety participated in four focus groups that discussed: 1) barriers and facilitators to self-guided e-mental health programs, 2) specific details needed to help them decide to use an online program, and 3) the appearance, delivery mode, and functionality of content for the proposed EFI. A total of 14 of the focus group attendees participated in a subsequent follow-up survey to evaluate the resultant draft EFI. Data were thematically analysed using both inductive and deductive methods. RESULTS Participants suggested that the critical component of an EFI was information that would challenge personal barriers to engagement with psychosocial interventions. These were providing personalised feedback about symptoms, information about the content and effectiveness of the e-mental health program, normalisation of participation in e-mental health programs including testimonials, and brief information on data security. Reminders, rewards, feedback about their progress, and coaching were all mentioned as being useful in assisting people to continue to engage with a program once they had started. Feedback on the developed EFI was positive; with participants reporting satisfaction with the content of the EFI and that it would likely positively affect their use of an e-mental health program. CONCLUSIONS EFIs have the potential to improve the uptake of e-mental health programs in the community and should focus on providing information on the content and effectiveness of e-mental health programs, as well as normalising their use. There is strong value in involving people with a lived experience in the design and development of EFIs to maximise their effectiveness.

scholarly journals Using Benford’s law to assess the quality of COVID-19 register data in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Silva ◽  
Dalson Figueiredo Filho
Keyword(s):  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mean Absolute Deviation ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Absolute Deviation ◽  
Distortion Factor ◽  
Benford Law ◽  
Official Data

Abstract We employ Newcomb–Benford law (NBL) to evaluate the reliability of COVID-19 figures in Brazil. Using official data from February 25 to September 15, we apply a first digit test for a national aggregate dataset of total cases and cumulative deaths. We find strong evidence that Brazilian reports do not conform to the NBL theoretical expectations. These results are robust to different goodness of fit (chi-square, mean absolute deviation and distortion factor) and data sources (John Hopkins University and Our World in Data). Despite the growing appreciation for evidence-based-policymaking, which requires valid and reliable data, we show that the Brazilian epidemiological surveillance system fails to provide trustful data under the NBL assumption on the COVID-19 epidemic.

scholarly journals Therapeutic Role of Tocilizumab in SARS-CoV-2-Induced Cytokine Storm: Rationale and Current Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 3059
Author(s):  
Corrado Pelaia ◽  
Cecilia Calabrese ◽  
Eugenio Garofalo ◽  
Andrea Bruni ◽  
Alessandro Vatrella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Review Article ◽  
Lung Damage ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Cytokine Storm ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
Pathogenic Role ◽  
Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Life Threatening

Among patients suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome, one of the worst possible scenarios is represented by the critical lung damage caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced cytokine storm, responsible for a potentially very dangerous hyperinflammatory condition. Within such a context, interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a key pathogenic role, thus being a suitable therapeutic target. Indeed, the IL-6-receptor antagonist tocilizumab, already approved for treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis, is often used to treat patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms and lung involvement. Therefore, the aim of this review article is to focus on the rationale of tocilizumab utilization in the SARS-CoV-2-triggered cytokine storm, as well as to discuss current evidence and future perspectives, especially with regard to ongoing trials referring to the evaluation of tocilizumab’s therapeutic effects in patients with life-threatening SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Against evidence-based oppression: Marginalized youth and the politics of risk-based assessment and intervention

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Goddard ◽  
Randolph R Myers
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Marginalized Youth ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Actuarial Risk ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Causes Of Crime

Actuarial risk/needs assessments exert a formidable influence over the policy and practice of youth offender intervention. Risk-prediction instruments and the programming they inspire are thought not only to link scholarship to practice, but are deemed evidence-based. However, risk-based assessments and programs display a number of troubling characteristics: they reduce the lived experience of racialized inequality into an elevated risk score; they prioritize a very limited set of hyper-individualistic interventions, at the expense of others; and they privilege narrow individual-level outcomes as proof of overall success. As currently practiced, actuarial youth justice replicates earlier interventions that ask young people to navigate structural causes of crime at the individual level, while laundering various racialized inequalities at the root of violence and criminalization. This iteration of actuarial youth justice is not inevitable, and we discuss alternatives to actuarial youth justice as currently practiced.

scholarly journals From Prejudice to Evidence: The Case of Rhizoma Coptidis in Singapore

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Ee Ho ◽  
You Li Goh ◽  
Chang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
G6pd Deficiency ◽  
Neonatal Jaundice ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Rhizoma Coptidis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hepatoprotective Effects ◽  
Glucose 6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase

Rhizoma Coptidis (RC), commonly known ashuanglian, is a herb frequently used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prescriptions. Known to have “clearing damp-heat, quenching fire and counteracting poison” properties, it was widely used in the Chinese community in Singapore. Berberine, an alkaloid isolated from RC, is known to have a wide array of therapeutic effects including antimicrobial, antineoplastic, and hepatoprotective effects. In 1978, RC was implicated in causing neonatal jaundice (NNJ) and kernicterus in neonates suffering from glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, leading to the banning of RC and berberine in Singapore. More than three decades later, accumulating evidence-based studies pointing to the safety of RC for general public and better understanding of G6PD deficiency, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in Singapore reviewed and lifted the prohibition on RC and berberine, turning a brand new chapter in the history of TCM in Singapore. This paper aims to review the safety of RC and berberine, using the prohibition of use and subsequent lifting of ban on RC and berberine in Singapore as an illustration to highlight the importance of evidence-based studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

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