scholarly journals Selection process for botulinum toxin injections in patients with chronic-stage hemiplegic stroke: a qualitative study

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawako Arai ◽  
Yuko Fukase ◽  
Akira Okii ◽  
Yoshimi Suzukamo ◽  
Toshimitsu Suga
Keyword(s):  
Botulinum Toxin ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
The Status ◽  
New Treatment

Abstract Background Botulinum toxin (BT) injection is a new treatment for spasticity with hemiplegia after stroke. How a patient decides to receive BT injections after becoming aware of the treatment remains unclear. In this exploratory qualitative study, we aimed to investigate patients’ decision-making about treatment strategies in collaboration with family and health professionals and to identify conflicts in patients’ feelings about BT treatment. Methods The study included six patients with stroke sequelae. Data were collected using comprehensive interviews and were analyzed using the grounded theory approach and trajectory equifinality modeling. Results After patients learned about BT treatment, they clearly exhibited the following two concurrent perceptions: “the restriction of one’s life due to disabilities” and “the ability to do certain things despite one’s disabilities.” Some patients reported a “fear of not being able to maintain the status quo owing to the side effects of BT.” To alleviate this fear, timely support from family members was offered, and patients overcame anxiety through creative thinking. However, there were also expressions that revealed patients’ difficulties dealing with negative events. These factors influenced the patients’ development of “expectations of BT” or “hesitations about BT.” Conclusions To establish treatment strategies in collaboration with patients, healthcare professionals should show supportive attitudes and have discussions with patients and their family members to help patients resolve their conflicts and should establish treatment strategies that maintain the positive aspects of patients’ lives.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Kinesiophobia in Relation to Physical Activity and Exercise After Myocardial Infarction: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (12) ◽  
pp. 2110-2119
Author(s):  
Maria Bäck ◽  
Victoria Caldenius ◽  
Leif Svensson ◽  
Mari Lundberg
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Cardiac Rehabilitation ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Internal Process ◽  
Fear Of Movement ◽  
External Process ◽  
Physical Activity And Exercise ◽  
New Treatment

Abstract Objective Physical activity and exercise are central components in rehabilitation after a myocardial infarction. Kinesiophobia (fear of movement) is a well-known barrier for a good rehabilitation outcome in these patients; however, there is a lack of studies focusing on the patient perspective. The aim of this study was to explore patients’ perceptions of kinesiophobia in relation to physical activity and exercise 2 to 3 months after an acute myocardial infarction. Methods This qualitative study design used individual semi-structured interviews. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 21 patients post-myocardial infarction who were screened for kinesiophobia (≥32 on the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia Heart). The interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to an inductive content analysis. Results An overarching theme was defined as “coping with fear of movement after a myocardial infarction—a dynamic process over time” comprising 2 subthemes and explaining how coping with kinesiophobia runs in parallel processes integrating the patient’s internal process and a contextual external process. The 2 processes are described in a total of 8 categories. The internal process was an iterative process governed by a combination of factors: ambivalence, hypervigilance, insecurity about progression, and avoidance behavior. The external process contains the categories of relatives’ anxiety, prerequisites for feeling safe, information, and the exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program. Conclusion Coping with fear of movement after a myocardial infarction is a dynamic process that requires internal and external support. To further improve cardiac rehabilitation programs, person-centered strategies that support the process of each person—as well as new treatment strategies to reduce kinesiophobia—need to be elaborated. Impact Patients with a myocardial infarction were found to be ambivalent about how they expressed their fear of movement; therefore, it is crucial for physical therapists to acknowledge signs of fear by listening carefully to the patient’s full story in addition to using adequate self-reports and tests of physical fitness. These results will inform the design, development, and evaluation of new treatment strategies, with the overall aim of reducing kinesiophobia and increasing physical activity and participation in exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation.

Humoral Immunity in Heart Failure

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrita Sarkar ◽  
Khadija Rafiq
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Humoral Immunity ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Pathophysiological Mechanism ◽  
Peripheral Vascular ◽  
Cardiac Inflammation ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Humoral Immune System ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Immunity Function

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve disorders of heart and blood vessels, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, which finally lead to Heart Failure (HF). There are several treatments available all over the world, but still, CVD and heart failure became the number one problem causing death every year worldwide. Both experimental and clinical studies have shown a role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of heart failure. This seems related to an imbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Cardiac inflammation is a major pathophysiological mechanism operating in the failing heart, regardless of HF aetiology. Disturbances of the cellular and humoral immune system are frequently observed in heart failure. This review describes how B-cells play a specific role in the heart failure states. There is an urgent need to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop advanced therapeutic strategies to combat the syndrome of HF. Understanding and describing the elements of the humoral immunity function are essential and may suggest potential new treatment strategies.

Slave Women and Their Descendants among the Upper Classes in Tetouan, Morocco (1859–1956): Between Recognition and Conflict

2020 ◽  
pp. 036319902096739
Author(s):  
Josep Lluís Mateo Dieste
Keyword(s):  
Skin Color ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Slave Women ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Determinant Factor

In the Arab world, the recognized children of elite men and slave women could adopt the status of their father, ignoring the slave origin of the mother, owing to a system of patrilineal transmission. This regime co-existed with negative stereotypes toward slaves and blackness, despite the very fact that—as this study of notable families in Tetouan between 1859 and 1956 demonstrates—skin color was not the determinant factor to form part of this group. Rather, it was based on the social definition of filiation, leading to legal disputes between family members to delineate the boundaries of kinship.

scholarly journals Emerging Natural-Product-Based Treatments for the Management of Osteoarthritis

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Maria-Luisa Pérez-Lozano ◽  
Annabelle Cesaro ◽  
Marija Mazor ◽  
Eric Esteve ◽  
Sabine Berteina-Raboin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bone Resorption ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Cartilage Degradation ◽  
Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
Clinical Models ◽  
Osteoarthritic Joint ◽  
Dietary Components ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Review Current

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex degenerative disease in which joint homeostasis is disrupted, leading to synovial inflammation, cartilage degradation, subchondral bone remodeling, and resulting in pain and joint disability. Yet, the development of new treatment strategies to restore the equilibrium of the osteoarthritic joint remains a challenge. Numerous studies have revealed that dietary components and/or natural products have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-bone-resorption, and anabolic potential and have received much attention toward the development of new therapeutic strategies for OA treatment. In the present review, we provide an overview of current and emerging natural-product-based research treatments for OA management by drawing attention to experimental, pre-clinical, and clinical models. Herein, we review current and emerging natural-product-based research treatments for OA management.

scholarly journals The Optimal First-Line Therapy ofHelicobacter pyloriInfection in Year 2012

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao-Hung Kuo ◽  
Fu-Chen Kuo ◽  
Huang-Ming Hu ◽  
Chung-Jung Liu ◽  
Sophie S. W. Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rescue Therapy ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Sequential Therapy ◽  
Antibiotics Resistance ◽  
First Line ◽  
First Line Therapy ◽  
Metronidazole Resistance ◽  
Rescue Treatment ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
H Pylori

This paper reviews the literature about first-line therapies forH. pyloriinfection in recent years. First-line therapies are facing a challenge because of increasing treatment failure due to elevated antibiotics resistance. Several new treatment strategies that recently emerged to overcome antibiotic resistance have been surveyed. Alternative first-line therapies include bismuth-containing quadruple therapy, sequential therapy, concomitant therapy, and hybrid therapy. Levofloxacin-based therapy shows impressive efficacy but might be employed as rescue treatment due to rapidly raising resistance. Rifabutin-based therapy is also regarded as a rescue therapy. Several factors including antibiotics resistance, patient compliance, and CYP 2C19 genotypes could influence the outcome. Clinicians should use antibiotics according to local reports. It is recommended that triple therapy should not be used in areas with high clarithromycin resistance or dual clarithromycin and metronidazole resistance.

scholarly journals “Empowering” Cardiac Cells via Stem Cell Derived Mitochondrial Transplantation- Does Age Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1824
Author(s):  
Matthias Mietsch ◽  
Rabea Hinkel
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Cardiac Cells ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Micro Rnas ◽  
New Treatment

With cardiovascular diseases affecting millions of patients, new treatment strategies are urgently needed. The use of stem cell based approaches has been investigated during the last decades and promising effects have been achieved. However, the beneficial effect of stem cells has been found to being partly due to paracrine functions by alterations of their microenvironment and so an interesting field of research, the “stem- less” approaches has emerged over the last years using or altering the microenvironment, for example, via deletion of senescent cells, application of micro RNAs or by modifying the cellular energy metabolism via targeting mitochondria. Using autologous muscle-derived mitochondria for transplantations into the affected tissues has resulted in promising reports of improvements of cardiac functions in vitro and in vivo. However, since the targeted treatment group represents mainly elderly or otherwise sick patients, it is unclear whether and to what extent autologous mitochondria would exert their beneficial effects in these cases. Stem cells might represent better sources for mitochondria and could enhance the effect of mitochondrial transplantations. Therefore in this review we aim to provide an overview on aging effects of stem cells and mitochondria which might be important for mitochondrial transplantation and to give an overview on the current state in this field together with considerations worthwhile for further investigations.

scholarly journals Silencing of MEG3 attenuated the role of lipopolysaccharides by modulating the miR-93-5p/PTEN pathway in Leydig cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Zhou ◽  
Jingliang He ◽  
Jinbo Chen ◽  
Yu Cui ◽  
Zhenyu Ou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Viability ◽  
Cell Apoptosis ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Pten Expression ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Western Blots ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Lps Treatment

Abstract Background Leydig cells reflect the activation of inflammation, decrease of androgen production, inhibition of cell growth and promotion of cell apoptosis under orchitis. Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) exerts a crucial role in various human diseases, but under orchitis, the role and underlying molecular mechanism of MEG3 in Leydig cells remain unclear. Methods Lipofectamine 2000 was used for the cell transfections. qPCR and western blots assay were applied to assess the gene expression. ELISA assay was used to measure the TNFα, IL6 and testosterone secretion. CCK8 and EdU assay was employ to test the cell viability and proliferation respectively. Luciferase reporter and RIP assay were introduced to detect the binding of miR-93-5p with MEG3 and PTEN. Results Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced TNFα and IL6 secretion, lowered testosterone production, inhibited cell viability and proliferation, and induced cell apoptosis in Leydig cells. MEG3 was upregulated in Leydig cells treated with LPS and that knockdown of MEG3 inhibited the role of LPS in Leydig cells. MEG3 absorbed miR-93-5p and that suppression of miR-93-5p restored the role of silenced MEG3 in Leydig cells under LPS treatment. miR-93-5p inhibited PTEN expression and that over-expressed PTEN alleviated the effect of miR-93-5p in Leydig cells treated with LPS. LPS activated the MEG3/miR-93-5p/PTEN signalling pathway in Leydig cells. Conclusions This study revealed that MEG3 serves as a molecular sponge to absorb miR-93-5p, thus leading to elevation of PTEN expression in Leydig cells under LPS treatment, offering a theoretical basis on which to establish potential new treatment strategies for orchitis.

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