Frailty and comorbidity in older adults with and without diabetes and chronic leg ulcer: A cross-sectional study.

This descriptive, cross-sectional study aimed to identify whether having a chronic leg ulcer (CLU), in addition to diabetes, contributed to frailty in individuals ≥65 years old. It also explored the associations between frailty, pre-frailty and other factors. 125 participants aged ≥65 attending outpatient clinics in Ireland were categorised into three groups: (1) diabetes-only and no CLU, (2) CLU-only and no diabetes, and (3) diabetes and CLU.

Berberine for prevention of dementia associated with diabetes and its comorbidities: A systematic review.

Background: A growing number of epidemiological studies indicate that metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its associated features play a key role in the development of certain degenerative brain disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Produced by several different medicinal plants, berberine is a bioactive alkaloid with a wide range of pharmacological effects, including antidiabetic effects. However, it is not clear whether berberine could prevent the development of dementia in association with diabetes.

Examination of a group entry model into alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment: Improvements in attendance, retention, and clinical capacity.

Nonattendance in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment has been a persistent issue for service provision. The study reports on the outcomes of implementing a group intervention, titled Getting Ready for Change (GRFC), as the default entry pathway into an AOD counseling service that aimed to improve initial attendance and retention through reduced wait days and improved clinical capacity. Clients of the service ( = 274) were offered either an individual appointment (baseline) between September 2015 and February 2016 or a group-based appointment (intervention) between September 2016 and February 2017.

Seventeen steroids from the pith of Tetrapanax papyriferus.

Two new steroidal ketones (1, 2), together with 10 known steroids (3-12) and five known steroidal saponins (13-17), have been obtained from the pitch of Tetrapanax papyrierus. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated as 3β-hydroxystigmast-8, 22-diene-7,11-dione and 3β-hydroxystigmast-8-ene-7,11-dione by IR, HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR techniques. Except for 4, 14, 15, 16, 13 compounds reported in this paper were isolated from Tetrapanax papyriferus for the first time.

A more systemic management of subdural hematoma with the aid of CT scan.

Computerized tomography (CT) allows an easy evaluation of the current methods of treatment of chronic subdural hematoma. In a prospective study of 20 consecutive patients, burr-hole evacuation or conservative management monitored by CT proved effective invariably. All patients had returned to normal when discharged from hospital.

Routine preoperative chest radiography in non-cardiopulmonary surgery.

Preoperative radiography was performed on 667 consecutive patients undergoing elective non-cardiopulmonary surgery in a large hospital in Wales. Of all significant findings reported 54% were due to cardiomegaly and 19% to chronic respiratory disease, and no appreciable abnormality was found in any patient under 30. Out of a subsample of 152 examined prospectively, 38% had received a chest radiograph within the last year, and the maximum marrow dose had been exceeded in 12-5%.

Evaluation of radiography and isotopic scintigraphy for detecting skeletal metastases in breast cancer.

Experience with technetium-phosphate compounds for skeletal scintigraphy in patients with breast cancer was analysed. When tumours were 5 cm or less in diameter (T1-2N0-1M0) metastases were demonstrated by radiographs in 1-7% (2/114). However, when radiography did not demonstrate metastases, lesions were found by scintigraphy in 41-3% (19/46).

Isotope encephalography in the management of acute herpesvirus encephalitis.

Two patients with Herpesvirus hominis (herpes simplex) encephalitis were investigated by serial isotope encephalograms using technetium-99m pertechnetate. In the first case the diagnosis was made by brain biopsy, and by successful tissue culture, and was confirmed by a significant rise in antibody titre, but in the second the laboratory evidence was exclusively serological. Necrotizing encephalitis was presumed in both cases because the illness was grave and focal signs developed in conjunction with radiological and electroencephalographic evidence of circumscribed lesions of the hemisphere.