Implementation of a virtual community of practice to promote the empowerment of middle-aged people with multimorbidity: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Empowering people living with multimorbidity (multiple chronic conditions) to gain greater confidence in managing their health can enhance their quality of life. Education focused on self-management is a key tool for fostering patient empowerment and is mostly provided on an individual basis. Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) present a unique opportunity for online education in chronic condition self-management within a social context.

Multimorbidity patterns in chronic older patients, potentially inappropriate prescribing and adverse drug reactions: protocol of the multicentre prospective cohort study MoPIM.

Introduction: Multimorbidity is a major challenge for current healthcare systems and professionals. From the different approaches that have been proposed to analyse this issue, the hypothesis of the existence of association patterns of different chronic conditions is gaining visibility. In addition, multimorbidity can be associated to polypharmacy, which can lead to a higher risk of potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) and consequently to adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

The Error of Estimated GFR in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus represents 30-50% of the cases of end stage renal disease worldwide. Thus, a correct evaluation of renal function in patients with diabetes is crucial to prevent or ameliorate diabetes-associated kidney disease. The reliability of formulas to estimate renal function is still unclear, in particular, those new equations based on cystatin-C or the combination of creatinine and cystatin-C.

Correction: Two Variants of the C-Reactive Protein Gene Are Associated with Risk of Pre-Eclampsia in an American Indian Population.

[This corrects the article on p. e71231 in vol. 8.

IBC CARe microarray allelic population prevalences in an American Indian population.

Background: The prevalence of variant alleles among single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is not well known for many minority populations. These population allele frequencies (PAFs) are necessary to guide genetic epidemiology studies and to understand the population specific contribution of these variants to disease risk. Large differences in PAF among certain functional groups of genes could also indicate possible selection pressure or founder effects of interest.

Two variants of the C-reactive protein gene are associated with risk of pre-eclampsia in an American Indian population.

Background: The etiology of pre-eclampsia (PE) is unknown; but it is accepted that normal pregnancy represents a distinctive challenge to the maternal immune system. C-reactive protein is a prominent component of the innate immune system; and we previously reported an association between PE and the CRP polymorphism, rs1205. Our aim was to explore the effects of additional CRP variants.

Anaerobic spondylodiscitis: case series and systematic review.

Background: Bacterial spondylodiscitis is rarely caused by anaerobic organisms. We describe two patients with lumbar vertebral osteomyelitis and discitis caused by anaerobic bacteria, including an unusual occurrence after an endodontic procedure, and review the salient clinical features and outcomes of 31 previously reported cases.

Methods: Case reports and review of the literature.

[Pulmonary function and quality of life in relation to bronchial colonization in adults with bronchiectasis not caused by cystic fibrosis].

Background: We aimed at assessing the pulmonary function and life quality of patients with bronchiectasis not caused by cystic fibrosis (CF) on the basis of the presence or absence of colonization (with Pseudomonas or other microorganisms).

Patients And Method: Prospective, randomised control-case study of patients with bronchiectasis who came to the Pneumology area of the Hospital Universitario de Canarias between January 1999 and December 2000 in a stable clinic situation. Patients must had no antibiotic therapy over last six weeks before the study.