chondroectodermal dysplasia (ellis-van creveld syndrome) is a rare autosomal recessive congenital abnormality. this syndrome is characterized by a spectrum of clinical findings, among which chondrodystrophy, polydactyly, ectodermal dysplasia, and congenital cardiac anomalies are the most common. it is imperative to not overlook the cardiac complications in patients with this syndrome during den...

BACKGROUND People's trust in health care and health care professionals is essential for the effectiveness of health care, especially for chronically ill people, since chronic diseases are by definition (partly) incurable. Therefore, it may be understandable that chronically ill people turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), often in addition to regular care. Chronically ill people...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection among health care professionals. METHODS The study was carried out at a university hospital in the municipality of São José do Rio Preto, Southeastern Brazil, between January 1994 and December 1999. There were included 1,433 health care professionals, 872 administrative workers, and 2,583 blood donor candida...

Nutrition and physical activity are key risk factors for a host of today's most prevalent and costly chronic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes; yet, health care providers are not adequately trained to educate patients on the components of a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this article is to underscore the need for improved nutrition and physical activity training among health care prof...

BACKGROUND In Germany, patients severely affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) do not routinely come into contact with palliative care, even if possibly beneficial. This study was aimed at investigating how severely affected MS patients and their health professionals perceive palliative care to determine how to better approach these patients in Germany about this topic. METHODS 15 patients feel...

Oncologic pain, in some situations, happens quickly. The transition for a process of advanced disease may occur during the state of diagnosis, state of treatment, because of the ineffectiveness of the treatment, or afterwards in a case of relapse. The pain is defined by International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with act...

BACKGROUND Introducing new technology in health care is inevitably a challenge. More knowledge is needed to better plan future telemedicine interventions. Our aim was therefore to explore health care professionals' experience in the initial phase of introducing telemedicine technology in caring for people with diabetic foot ulcers. METHODS Our methodological strategy was Interpretive Descript...

More than 60 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, and obese persons are more likely to be ill than those who are not. Obesity presents challenges to physicians and patients and also has a negative impact on health status. Some patients who are obese may delay medical care because of concerns about disparagement by physicians and health care staff, or fear of being wei...

This comment on Professor Fotaki's Editorial agrees with her arguments that training health professionals in more compassionate, caring and ethically sound care will have little value unless the system in which they work changes. It argues that for system change to occur, senior management, government members and civil servants themselves need training so that they learn to understand the effec...