Search results for "harm"

Multicentre randomized placebo-controlled trial of ursodeoxycholic acid with or without colchicine in symptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis

2000

Aim: To establish the efficacy of combination therapy with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and colchicine in patients with symptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), defined by the presence of liver cirrhosis, pruritus or bilirubin exceeding 2 mg/mL. Methods: A total of 90 patients were randomly assigned to ursodeoxycholic acid 500 mg/daily plus placebo (UDCA group, n=44), or ursodeoxycholic acid at the same dosage plus colchicine, 1 mg/daily (UDCA/C group, n=46). The two groups were comparable for age, sex, stage of disease, severity of pruritus, bilirubin, and Mayo score. All patients underwent clinical, ultrasonographic, and biochemical examinations at entry and then every 6 months up to 3…

Pegylated-interferon-α(2a) in clinical practice: how to manage patients suffering from side effects

2011

Introduction: The goal of antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C is to slow or halt the progression of fibrosis and prevent the development of cirrhosis. Accordingly, antiviral treatment is proposed for a large population of patients with chronic hepatitis. Areas covered: The standard-of-care for chronic hepatitis C is the combination of pegylated IFN (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin. The use of these drugs has been correlated with a range of adverse effects, including influenza-like symptoms, hematological changes and neuropsychiatric disturbances. The effects of these adverse events associated with PEG-IFN therapy are manifold and are a major reason why patients decline or stop the…

Subclinical cardiovascular damage in patients with HCV cirrhosis before and after treatment with direct antiviral agents: a prospective study

2018

BACKGROUND Cirrhosis is associated with morpho-functional cardiovascular alterations. AIMS To detect early features of cardiovascular damage in HCV-compensated cirrhotic patients using myocardial deformation indices and carotid arterial stiffness, and, further, to evaluate their short-term behaviour after HCV eradication with direct antiviral agents (DAAs). METHODS Thirty-nine consecutive patients with HCV cirrhosis, without previous cardiovascular events, were studied and matched for age, gender and cardiovascular risk factors to 39 controls without liver or cardiovascular disease. Patients and controls underwent a baseline echocardiographic evaluation including global longitudinal strain …

Predictors of advanced fibrosis in non-cirrhotic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Germany

2018

BACKGROUND Advanced fibrosis has been established as the most important predictor of overall mortality in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In contrast to cirrhosis, advanced, non-cirrhotic NAFLD is difficult to identify and data from Germany are lacking. AIM To identify clinical factors associated with advanced, non-cirrhotic fibrosis. METHODS Patients were recruited in the prospectively enrolling European NAFLD Registry. Clinical characteristics and the performance of non-invasive surrogate scores compared with vibration-controlled transient elastography are reported. RESULTS Two hundred and sixty-one patients with non-cirrhotic NAFLD on liver biopsy (mean age 51 ye…

What should be the patient's preference regarding the choice of hospital in the case of radical cystectomy? Evaluation of early complications…

2016

Jens Mani,1 Stefan Vallo,1 Maximilian P Brandt,1 Kilian M Gust,1 Claudia Bartsch,1 Johannes Daechert,1 Igor Tsaur,1 Georg Bartsch,2,* Axel Haferkamp1,* 1Department of Urology, Goethe University Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, 2Department of Urology, Johannes Gutenberg University Hospital Mainz, Mainz, Germany *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: This study compares early complications after cystectomy and urinary diversion (UD) stratified by the surgical focus and case load of two different department chairpersons in a single institution in two time periods. Creating clear data about complications that can affect the quality of life is an important tool for patient…

Atherosclerosis, degenerative aortic stenosis and statins

2009

Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease among adult subjects in western countries The current treatment for aortic stenosis is aortic valve replacement. The possibility of a medical treatment that can slow the progression of aortic stenosis is very fascinating and statins have been tested to reduce the progression of degenerative aortic stenosis (DAS). The rationale for statin treatment in DAS has a deep pathophysiological substrate, in fact inflammation and lipid infiltration constitute the same histopathological pattern of both aortic stenosis and atherosclerosis and these two conditions have the same risk factors. Whether retrospective studies have shown some efficacy o…

Recent advances on stearoyl-Coa desaturase regulation in fatty liver diseases.

2012

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD-1) is a delta-9 fatty acid desaturase that catalyzes the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids. Indeed, SCD-1 is the critical control point regulating hepatic lipogenesis and lipid oxidation. Due to its central role in lipid metabolism in the liver, recent studies have focused on the involvement of SCD-1 in the development of fatty liver during obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, excessive alcohol consumption, and in subjects with high triglyceride blood concentrations. The accumulation of fat in liver cells can be a sign that harmful conditions are developing, possibly associated with or leading to inflammation of the liver. This review evaluates the…

The necessity of placebo application in psychotropic drug trials.

1990

International prescribing practices in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

2016

Objectives To assess rates of psychotropic medication use in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in seven different countries on five continents and to compare these with international treatment guidelines. Methods Researchers in the field of OCD were invited to contribute summary statistics on the characteristics of their patients with OCD and on their incidence of psychotropic use. Consistency of summary statistics across countries was evaluated. Results The data came from Brazil (n = 955), Italy (n = 750), South Africa (n = 555), Japan (n = 382), Australia (n = 213), India (n = 202) and Spain (n = 82). The majority (77.9%; n = 2445) of the total sample of 3139 participants …

Pharmacological investigation into the effects of histamine and histamine analogues on guinea-pig and rat colon in vitro.

1986

The effects of histamine and specific histamine agonists has been examined on isolated longitudinal colon strips of guinea-pig and rat. Histamine and 2-pyridyl-ethylamine but not 4 methylhistamine produced a concentration-related contractile response in the guinea-pig colon. The H1-antagonist clemizole antagonized competitively the effect of histamine but the H2-antagonist ranitidine did not modify the dose-response curve to histamine in the guinea-pig colon. Atropine, hexamethonium, prazosin and propranolol failed to modify the contractile response to histamine. Tone induced with KCl in guinea-pig isolated colon was not modified by histamine agonists even in tissues pretreated with clemizo…