The effect of a strict, low-salt, uncooked vegan diet rich in lactobacteria on symptoms in 18 fibromyalgia patients during and after a 3-month intervention period in an open, non-randomized controlled study was evaluated. As control 15 patients continued their omnivorous diet. The groups did not differ significantly from each other in the beginning of the study in any other parameters except in...

Objective: To compare the efficacy of phonophoresis (PH) versus ultrasound (US) in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and Methods: Forty patients were divided into two groups as PH and US. Acoustic gel containing no pharmacological agent was applied in the US group, whereas a gel containing 1.16% diclofenac diethylamonium was applied in the PH group for 10 sessions. The W...

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important inflammatory mediator in nonhuman animal models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of the present study was to determine whether blood mononuclear cells from patients with active RA (as compared to control subjects) have higher levels of NO synthase type 2 (NOS2) and produce more NO in vitro. Leukocytes from 25 RA patients and 20 normal subjects were exa...

BACKGROUND Glucocorticoids (GCs) are used in ~ 60% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although disease-modifying, they also have significant adverse effects. Understanding factors associated with GC use may help minimise exposure. The aims of the present study were to describe oral GC use in RA; determine any change in use over time; and determine factors associated with oral GC use, c...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the current needs for joint surgery in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). METHODS The patient database at the Rheumatology Department of the University Hospitals Leuven, was cross-sectionally analysed using demographic, medical, laboratory, radiological and surgical data of 269 patients with PsA. Patients were grouped by the presence or absence of orthopaedic surg...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to compare classification of pressure ulcers from administrative data with a gold standard assessment, specifically; pressure ulcers confirmed by an independent physical assessment performed by trained nurse surveyors. SETTING A retrospective analysis of pooled cross-sectional samples of inpatients assessed across 3 consecutive prevalence surveys in a large academic...

OBJECTIVE Illness perceptions are key determinants of behavior directed at managing disease. Although suboptimal disease management has been reported in patients with gout, patients' perceptions of illness have not been systematically studied. The aim of this study was to examine illness perceptions in patients with gout. METHODS A total of 142 patients with gout for <10 years were recruited ...