scholarly journals Elagolix in the treatment of endometriosis: impact beyond pain symptoms

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 263349412096451
Author(s):  
David F. Archer ◽  
Ahmed M. Soliman ◽  
Sanjay K. Agarwal ◽  
Hugh S. Taylor

While the most common symptom associated with endometriosis is pelvic pain, the systemic manifestations of the disease and the accompanying adverse psychological, emotional, social, familial, sexual, educational and workplace effects are increasingly recognized. Elagolix is an oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist that is approved for the management of moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis. However, the benefits of elagolix extend beyond reducing pain symptoms. This article reviews the non-pain systemic manifestations associated with endometriosis and summarizes the beneficial effects of elagolix on non-pain outcomes. This includes improvements in quality of life, reductions in fatigue and improvements in workplace and household productivity. These results indicate that elagolix provides non-pain benefits in women with endometriosis and improves outcomes that are clinically meaningful to patients.

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Oliver Neuhaus ◽  
Wolfgang Köhler ◽  
Florian Then Bergh ◽  
Wolfgang Kristoferitsch ◽  
Jürgen Faiss ◽  
...  

Although fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS), its pathomechanisms are incompletely understood. Glatiramer acetate (GA), an immunomodulatory agent approved for treatment of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), possesses unique mechanisms of action and has been shown to exhibit beneficial effects on MS fatigue. The objective of this study was to correlate clinical, neuropsychological, and immunological parameters in RRMS patients with fatigue before and during treatment with GA. In a prospective, open-label, multicenter trial, 30 patients with RRMS and fatigue were treated with GA for 12 months. Inclusion criterion was the presence of fatigue as one of the most frequent and disabling symptoms. Before and during treatment, fatigue was assessed using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the MS-FSS, and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). In addition, fatigue and quality of life were assessed using the Visual Analog Scales (VAS). Laboratory assessments included screening of 188 parameters using real-time PCR microarrays followed by further analysis of several cytokines, chemokines, and neurotrophic factors. Fatigue self-assessments were completed in 25 patients. After 12 months of treatment with GA, 13 of these patients improved in all three scales (with the most prominent effects on the MFIS), whereas 5 patients had deteriorated. The remaining 7 patients exhibited inconsistent effects within the three scales. Fatigue and overall quality of life had improved, as assessed via VAS. Laboratory assessments revealed heterogeneous mRNA levels of cytokines, chemokines, and neurotrophic factors. In conclusion, we were not able to correlate clinical and molecular effects of GA in patients with RRMS and fatigue.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-532
Author(s):  
Juliana de Paiva Tosato ◽  
Fabiano Politti ◽  
Marilia Barbosa Santos Garcia ◽  
Tabajara de Oliveira Gonzalez ◽  
Daniela Aparecida Biasotto-Gonzalez

Abstract Introduction: Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) is caused by multiple factors and exhibits various symptoms. Its most common symptom is pain, a factor that can influence the quality of an individual's sleep. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between TMD and sleep. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 60 women, aged between 18 and 40 years, who had been diagnosed with TMD based on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD). Fonseca's anamnestic index (FAI) was used to classify the severity of the dysfunction. To complete the assessment, each volunteer was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. They also responded to two questions related to their quality of sleep and the average hours of sleep per night. Results: The more severe the TMD, the fewer hours of sleep per night (r = -0.5663). In total, 63.33% of the volunteers reported not sleeping well. Concerning pain, the greater the VAS score, the less hours of sleep (r = -0.516) and the more severe the TMD. Conclusion: It was found that the severityof TMD was correlated with pain symptoms and the number of hours of sleep per night.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1124
Author(s):  
Dipesh Goel ◽  
Verinderjit Singh Virdi ◽  
Money Gupta ◽  
Sandesh Deolekar

Background: Chronic pancreatitis is a heterogeneous disease. More research efforts are needed to clarify further whether individuals with chronic pain due to pancreatitis report a poor quality of life that necessitates intervention services. In this study, we sought to ascertain the clinical profile of subjects with chronic pancreatitis in India, especially with regard to risk factors, clinical features and therapeutic modalities.Methods: 50 patients of chronic pancreatitis were studied, both prospectively and retrospective. Investigations and interventions details were noted. Questionnaire for pain scoring was prepared. Persistent pain or recurrent episodes of acute pain interfering with normal lifestyle were the criteria for intervention.Results: The most common symptom of chronic pancreatitis is long-standing pain in the middle of the abdomen. 25 patients underwent intervention in view of severe pain. In our study improvement in endocrine function after intervention was observed in 27% of patients and improvement in exocrine function was seen in 60% patients after intervention at 2 yearly follow up.Conclusions: Surgical method and ERCP guided intervention gives superior results as compared to conservative method in management of chronic pancreatitis.


Author(s):  
Anton Yarikov ◽  
Maxim Shpagin ◽  
Iliya Nazmeev ◽  
Sergey Gorelov ◽  
Olga Perlmutter

The immediate and long-term results of treatment of 30 patients with severe pain syndrome of the lumbar region, who underwent operations on denervation of DOS, were studied. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of minimally invasive technologies for the treatment of pain in the lumbar region (denervation of DOS), to study the near and distant results of these treatment methods. Denervation DOS is an effective minimally invasive method for the treatment of facet syndrome caused by spondylarthrosis. It allows in the early and distant postoperative periods to significantly reduce the pain syndrome and improve the quality of life of patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-688
Author(s):  
Shamsi Abbasalizadeh ◽  
Behzad Ebrahimi ◽  
Aslan Azizi ◽  
Rogaye Dargahi ◽  
Maryam Tayebali ◽  
...  

Constipation is a common public health concern experienced by all individuals during their life affecting the quality of life. In this paper, we aimed to provide an overview of the existing evidence regarding the role of food ingredients, including bran, prune, fig, kiwifruit, and flax-seed in constipation treatment. We searched Scopus, Pub Med, and Science Direct by using the keywords, “laxative foods” and “constipation”, for searching studies assessing laxative food ingredients and their beneficial effects on constipation treatment and/or control. Lifestyle modifications such as increasing dietary fiber and fluid intake and daily exercise are the proposed first line treatments for constipation. Optimizing ‘diet’ as an efficient lifestyle factor may contribute to the well-being of patients. The use of laxative food ingredients including bran, prune, fig, kiwifruit, flax-seed, probiotics, and prebiotics is a convenient alternative to cope with constipation. According to previous findings, laxative food ingredients could be considered as effective treatments for subjects suffering from constipation. Many studies have assessed the pharmacological and non-pharmacological roles of these ingredients in treating constipation, however, their importance has not been thoroughly investigated.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynda Grine ◽  
Niels Hilhorst ◽  
Nathalie Michels ◽  
Souheila Abbedou ◽  
Stefaan De Henauw ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Psoriasis is a complex disease associated with multiple comorbidities, including metabolic syndrome and leaky gut syndrome. Dietary lifestyle interventions have been reported to affect the disease in terms of lesional severity. It remains unclear how diets affect these comorbidities and the general health in psoriasis patients. Modified Intermittent Fasting (MIF) on 2 non-consecutive days has shown beneficial effects on metabolic parameters. A significant advantage of MIF over the currently investigated dietary changes is its feasibility. OBJECTIVE Here, we aim to study the effects of MIF on skin, gut and metabolic health in psoriasis patients. METHODS A two-arm pilot prospective cross-over randomized control trial (RCT) will be performed in 20 patients with psoriasis as a pilot study. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to either start with MIF and subsequent regular diet for 12 weeks each or to start with regular diet and subsequent MIF for 12 weeks each. The following parameters will be assessed: demographics, disease phenotype, medical and familial history, psoriasis severity, dermatology-specific and general quality of life, nutritional and physical habits, mental and intestinal health, intestinal and cutaneous integrity, inflammatory and metabolic markers, and satisfaction. RESULTS The aim is to uncover the effects of MIF on psoriasis severity and gut health integrity through clinical and molecular investigation. More precisely, we want to map the evolution of the different markers in response to MIF as compared to the regular diet, such as psoriasis severity, permeability and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS Understanding how dietary lifestyles can affect epithelial lineages such as the skin and gut, will greatly improve our understanding on the development of psoriasis and may pose a non-pharmacological venue for treatments. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04418791. Registered June 5 2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04418791. Current protocol date/version: May 20 2020


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Frödin ◽  
Margareta Warrén Stomberg

Pain management is an integral challenge in nursing and includes the responsibility of managing patients’ pain, evaluating pain therapy and ensuring the quality of care. The aims of this study were to explore patients’ experiences of pain after lung surgery and evaluate their satisfaction with the postoperative pain management. A descriptive design was used which studied 51 participants undergoing lung surgery. The incidence of moderate postoperative pain varied from 36- 58% among the participants and severe pain from 11-26%, during their hospital stay. Thirty-nine percent had more pain than expected. After three months, 20% experienced moderate pain and 4% experienced severe pain, while after six months, 16% experienced moderate pain. The desired quality of care goal was not fully achieved. We conclude that a large number of patients experienced moderate and severe postoperative pain and more than one third had more pain than expected. However, 88% were satisfied with the pain management. The findings confirm the severity of pain experienced after lung surgery and facilitate the apparent need for the continued improvement of postoperative pain management following this procedure.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070
Author(s):  
Maike Wolters ◽  
Annkathrin von der Haar ◽  
Ann-Kristin Baalmann ◽  
Maike Wellbrock ◽  
Thomas L. Heise ◽  
...  

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been suggested to affect depressive disorders. This review aims to determine the effect of n-3 PUFAs on depressive symptoms in people with or without diagnosed depression. Medline, PsycINFO, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the association between n-3 PUFAs and depressive symptoms or disorders as outcomes. A random-effects meta-analysis of standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was performed. Twenty-five studies (7682 participants) were included. Our meta-analysis (20 studies) indicated that n-3 PUFA supplementation lowered depressive symptomology as compared with placebo: SMD = −0.34, 95% CI: −0.55, −0.12, I2 = 86%, n = 5836, but a possible publication bias cannot be ruled out. Subgroup analyses indicated no statistically significant difference by treatment duration of <12 vs. ≥12 weeks, presence of comorbidity, or severity of depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, beneficial effects were seen in the subgroups of studies with longer treatment duration and with no depression and mild to moderate depression. Subgroup analysis by eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) dosage revealed differences in favor of the lower EPA dosage. Sensitivity analysis including studies with low risk of bias seems to confirm the overall result. Supplementation of n-3 PUFA appears to have a modest beneficial effect on depressive symptomology, although the quality of evidence is still insufficient.


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