scholarly journals Maternal and Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendations of a French Multidisciplinary Working Group

Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Peyron ◽  
Coralie L’ollivier ◽  
Laurent Mandelbrot ◽  
Martine Wallon ◽  
Renaud Piarroux ◽  
...  

Women infected with toxoplasmosis during pregnancy do not present symptoms in most cases, but the consequences of the congenital infection may be severe for the unborn child. Fetal damage can range from asymptomatic to severe neurological alterations to retinal lesions prone to potential flare up and relapses lifelong. Despite the possible severity of outcome, congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) is a neglected disease. There is no consensus regarding screening during pregnancy, prenatal/postnatal treatment or short or medium term follow-up. Since 1992, France has offered systematic serological testing to non-immune pregnant women, monthly until delivery. Any maternal infection is thus detected; moreover, diagnosis of congenital infection can be made at birth and follow-up can be provided. “Guidelines” drawn up by a multidisciplinary group are presented here, concerning treatment, before and after birth. The recommendations are based on the regular analysis of the literature and the results of the working group. The evaluation of the recommendations takes into account the robustness of the recommendation and the quality of the evidence.

Author(s):  
Dheeraj Kumar Tyagi ◽  
Shivakumar .

Lifestyle disorders are one of the biggest threats for the population living unhealthy lifestyle. Sthoulya (Obesity) is one such disorder which creates lot of physical as well as mental disorder to the sufferer. Due to changing lifestyle, comforts and dietary habit lots of individuals changed their life totally. Obesity is a growing disease in developed and developing countries. Prevalence is drastically hike in past few years. Ayurveda, the science of life with which we can manage and control lots of lifestyle disorders. Focusing on dietary and lifestyle management along with treatment, we can overcome the hazards of obesity which is growing in a uncontrolled manner. The available data is based on the clinical findings only. Aim and objective: To assess the effect of “Guru Cha Atarpanam Chikitsa” in the management of Sthoulya. Setting: Swastharakshana evam Yoga, OPD and IPD, SDMCAH, Hassan. Method: Udwarthana, Parisheka, Shamana Aushadhis, Ahara, and Vihara was followed within the treatment duration and effect of treatment was assessed before and after treatment, advised for follow up. Results: The treatment adopted is effective in the management of Sthoulya and to improve the quality of life.


Author(s):  
Shaya MacDonald ◽  
Susan Korol ◽  
Todd Vassallo ◽  
Cathy MacDougall

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a novel three-hour Guided Mindfulness Program on participants’ management of depression, anxiety and stress. The intervention included an educational component emphasizing the psychological value of mindfulness practice combined with a practical training component in mindfulness techniques. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale was administered at three points in time before and after participation in the program. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore perceived quality of life, happiness, and stress 4 to 8 weeks following the program. All participants reported improvements in overall well-being and reported significant decreases in negative affect when comparing pre-program scores (baseline) to follow-up scores. Notably, qualitative interview results indicated that participants attributed most positive post-program results to informal mindfulness practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J Vreeman ◽  
John Hook ◽  
Brian E Dixon

Abstract Objective To describe the perspectives of Regenstrief LOINC Mapping Assistant (RELMA) users before and after the deployment of Community Mapping features, characterize the usage of these new features, and analyze the quality of mappings submitted to the community mapping repository. Methods We evaluated Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) community members’ perceptions about new “wisdom of the crowd” information and how they used the new RELMA features. We conducted a pre-launch survey to capture users’ perceptions of the proposed functionality of these new features; monitored how the new features and data available via those features were accessed; conducted a follow-up survey about the use of RELMA with the Community Mapping features; and analyzed community mappings using automated methods to detect potential errors. Results Despite general satisfaction with RELMA, nearly 80% of 155 respondents to our pre-launch survey indicated that having information on how often other users had mapped to a particular LOINC term would be helpful. During the study period, 200 participants logged into the RELMA Community Mapping features an average of 610 times per month and viewed the mapping detail pages a total of 6686 times. Fifty respondents (25%) completed our post-launch survey, and those who accessed the Community Mapping features unanimously indicated that they were useful. Overall, 95.3% of the submitted mappings passed our automated validation checks. Conclusion When information about other institutions’ mappings was made available, study participants who accessed it agreed that it was useful and informed their mapping choices. Our findings suggest that a crowd-sourced repository of mappings is valuable to users who are mapping local terms to LOINC terms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Correale ◽  
Cosme Franklim Buzzachera ◽  
Giulia Liberali ◽  
Erwan Codrons ◽  
Giulia Mallucci ◽  
...  

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that combined resistance and endurance training would improve muscle strength, fatigue, depression, and quality of life in persons with MS.Methods: Twenty-seven women with MS were randomly assigned to either control (CON, n = 13) or the experimental (EXP, n = 14) group. The participants in the EXP group trained twice a week for 12 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of detraining. Both CON and EXP groups were tested before and after 12 weeks of the intervention period, as well as 12 weeks after training cessation (follow-up), where measures of muscle strength, fatigue, depression, and quality of life were evaluated.Results: There were significant changes in maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), 1RM leg extension, and 1RM chest press following the intervention period in the EXP group (P < 0.05), but not in the CON group (P > 0.05). These changes persisted after 12 weeks of detraining. Similar findings were found for fatigue, depression, and physical and mental composites of quality of life.Conclusion: These results suggest that combined exercise training, at a minimum, prevents the disease-related deterioration of muscular performance and quality of life and well-being in persons with MS.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhbir Randhawa ◽  
Navkiran Randhawa ◽  
Es-Haq Hassanin ◽  
Joyce Yi-Frazier ◽  
Kathaleen Briggs Early

Abstract Youth health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was measured before and after a 12-week family and community-based intervention using the obesity-specific HRQOL tool, Sizing Me Up©. This project enrolled 68 youth (10.88 years ± 2 years; 54% male; 50% non-Hispanic white). In addition to total QOL, we used paired t-tests to examine the Sizing Me Up sub-scales: Emotion Physical, Social Avoidance, Positive Attributes and Teasing. A greater reduction in change score indicated a larger increase in quality of life sub-scale. Significant improvements from baseline to follow-up were found in the total HRQOL (mean change = -5.27, SD 10.76, p=0.00) and for the sub-scores of: emotion (mean change = -8.06, SD 16.85, p≤0.000) and teasing-related QOL (mean change = -5.65, SD16.79, p = 0.01). Social avoidance attributes improved between baseline and follow-up (mean change = -3.92, SD11.21, p=0.007). The Sizing Me Up© instrument detected significant and positive changes in quality of life after the intervention. Sizing Me Up© could provide a clinically meaningful tracking of quality of life among youth with obesity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Acharya ◽  
Kundan Nivangune ◽  
Snehal Muchhala ◽  
Rishi Jain

Background: Recurrent respiratory infections (RRIs) are common in children especially in age 1 to 6 years. Pidotimod, an immunostimulant has been found to lower the recurrences of RRIs and improve the quality of life. The Objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of pidotimod in children with recurrent respiratory infections (RRIs).Methods: In this single-centre, prospective, observational study, children aged 2 to 15 years diagnosed with RRIs were included. RRIs were defined as occurrence of 3 or more episodes of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) or more than 15 days of respiratory symptoms in the past 3 months. These children were treated with pidotimod in addition to standard care treatment. Treatment duration was two months and the follow-up continued for three months. Number of RRIs and severity of RRIs, antibiotic courses and rate of hospitalization before and after treatment were compared.Results: In total 25 children included in the study, mean age was 7.34±3.63 years. Among them, 68% were males. After treatment with pidotimod, there was significant reduction in mean number of ARI episodes (3.84±0.85 at baseline to 0.48±0.51 at follow-up, p<0.0001). Also, there was significant reduction in the duration of acute infectious episodes (p<0.0001), need of antibiotic courses (p<0.0001) and rates of hospitalization (p<0.0001). No safety concerns were identified and pidotimod was well tolerated.Conclusions: Addition of pidotimod to the standard treatment in children with RRIs significantly reduces the recurrence, duration of repeat infectious episodes, need of antibiotic treatments and future rates of hospitalizations. These findings support previous data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Eva Maria Heiman ◽  
Aron Onerup ◽  
David Bock ◽  
Eva Haglind ◽  
Roger Olofsson Bagge

Abstract PurposeWe conducted a randomised controlled trial (PhysSURG-B) to assess the short- and long-term effects of a non-supervised physical activity intervention at the time of breast cancer surgery. Here we report a secondary outcome, quality of life (QoL).MethodsFemale patients planned for surgery were randomly assigned to either an intervention of 30 minutes of self-administered physical aerobic activity daily 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after surgery, or control. QoL was assessed with questionnaires at baseline, 4 weeks and 12 months postop using the instruments FACT-B, RAND-36 and EQ-VAS.ResultsOut of 354 included participants at 12 months follow-up after surgery, 287 were available for QoL analysis. Comparing intervention to control, the results for the FACT- B score at 4 weeks showed an odds ratio (OR) of 0.975 (95% CI 0.636-1.495) and at 12 months an OR of 0.883 (95% CI 0.581-1.342). The subgroup of patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy had significantly lower FACT-B at 12 months compared to no chemotherapy (OR 0.475, 95% CI 0.300-0.735). EQ-VAS showed OR 1.163 (95% CI 0.760-1.779) and 0.817 (95% CI 0.536-1.244) at 4 weeks and 12 months, respectively. RAND-36 domains “role limitations due to physical health” and “pain” showed a decrease at 4 weeks in both groups, returning towards baseline at 12 months follow-up.ConclusionAn intervention of non-supervised physical activity before and after surgery for breast cancer had no effect on QoL. Patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy had significantly lower QoL, regardless of study group.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT 02560662. Registered 25 September, 2015.


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