A comparison of budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy versus conventional best practice in asthma management in Spain.

Objective: To study the effectiveness and safety in a real-life setting of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort) Maintenance And Reliever Therapy® (Symbicort SMART®), a simplified management approach with one inhaler, compared with conventional best practice (CBP) with multiple inhalers in patients with persistent asthma.

Design: Open-label randomized controlled parallel-group trial, 6-month treatment.

Participants: A total of 654 adult patients, with persistent asthma receiving treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), either alone or in conjunction with long-acting β(2)-agonist.

Study of the burden on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Health-related quality of life measures are widely used in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, they are extremely limited when used to evaluate patients outside the clinical trials. The aim of this study was to analyse the burden of the disease using a simple, validated, self-administered questionnaire specifically developed for patients in daily clinical practice.

Control of persistent asthma in Spain: associated factors.

Introduction: The main objective of asthma treatment is tailored control for each patient. However, despite the excellent therapeutic arsenal currently available, many patients remain unable to achieve adequate control of this disease.

Objective: The main objective this study was to evaluate the degree of control and the determinants of asthma in patients with persistent asthma in Spain in usual clinical practice.

A multicenter double-blind study comparing lovastatin and gemfibrozil in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia.

The efficacy and tolerability of lovastatin and gemfibrozil were compared in a randomized double-blind 12-week study including 182 patients with primary hypercholesterolemia, from 7 hospitals in Spain. Inclusion criteria were total-cholesterol of at least 250 mg/dl and triglycerides less than 350 mg/dl. Patients were stratified in two groups: group 1, cholesterol less than 300 mg/dl, and group II, cholesterol equal to or more than 300 mg/dl.

[The comparative treatment with lovastatin and bezafibrate of primary hypercholesterolemia. A randomized and double-blind trial].

The efficacy and tolerability of lovostatin (L) and bezafibrate (B) were compared in a total of 39 patients, 24 males and 15 females, 59 +/- 9 years old. Showing a total serum cholesterol superior to 250 mg/dl and total serum triglycerides inferior to 350 mg/dl, after 1 month on a low cholesterol diet and another on placebo, were eligible for participation. After randomization 19 treated with L started with 20 or 40 mg at night according to baseline cholesterol under or above 300 respectively and 20 with B received 200 mg tid.