Comparative study between aquatic therapy and land-based exercises in hemiplegic patients after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects of aquatic therapy in individuals with hemiplegia compared to those of a conventional land-based exercise program.

Design: This was a blinded, randomized controlled study of chronic stroke patients with hemiplegia. The participants were randomized in to aquatic therapy (experimental) or conventional therapy (control) groups.

Association between clinical and laboratory factors and response to sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective observational study.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between clinical and laboratory parameters and response to therapy with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of people with T2D in whom SGLT2i was started. Clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded before, 3 and 6 months after starting treatment.

The Mediterranean diet, but not time-restricted eating, mediates the effects of nesfatin on beta cell function among overweight, metabolically healthy individuals.

Nesfatin concentrations are positively correlated with beta cell function. However, it is unclear whether diet composition mediates this relationship. We recruited 27 overweight individuals who practiced Orthodox fasting (OF), a subset of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), for 7 weeks.

Adaptation and validation of the Greek version of the Communication and Language Assessment questionnaire for persons with Multiple Sclerosis (CLAMS).

Objective: The aim of the present study was to validate the Communication and Language Assessment questionnaire for persons with Multiple Sclerosis (CLAMS) into the Greek language.

Method: 106 Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) and 51 healthy controls (HCs) participated in this study. We evaluated patients' cognitive abilities with the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS).

Application of Machine Learning Techniques in the HELIAD Study Data for the Development of Diagnostic Models in MCI and Dementia.

The increase in the population's life expectancy leads to an increase in the incidence of dementia and, therefore, in diseases such as Alzheimer's. Towards this direction, the HELIAD study is the first large-scale epidemiological study aimed at assessing epidemiological data on dementia, mild mental decline, and other neuropsychiatric disorders associated with old age. This is a huge study with several computational challenges, most of which can be addressed by machine learning processes.

Down regulation of the inverse relationship between parathyroid hormone and irisin in male vitamin D-sufficient HIV patients.

Purpose: Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) predisposes to endocrine disorders, manifesting as a metabolic phenotype that affects the entire adipose-musculoskeletal unit (AMS). The present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate differences in irisin and adiponectin concentrations between people living with HIV and healthy controls, as well as to explore potential correlations between the levels of the aforementioned adipokines and markers of calcium homeostasis.

Methods: 46 HIV-infected individuals and 39 healthy controls (all men) were included in the study.

Different patterns of changes in free 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations during intermittent fasting among meat eaters and non-meat eaters and correlations with amino acid intake.

We prospectively assessed changes in free 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) among overweight adults who followed a pescatarian Orthodox intermittent fasting regimen ( = 59) and controls who followed a low-fat 12:12 diet ( = 46). Total and free 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone, VDBP, anthropometric data, and amino acid intake were evaluated in both groups at three time points: at baseline, 7 weeks after diet implementation, and 5 weeks after participants returned to their usual eating habits (12 weeks from baseline). An increase in amino acid intake between baseline and 12 weeks was independently correlated with higher free 25(OH)D values at 12 weeks for both groups.

Changes in dietary intake of aspartic acid during and after intermittent fasting correlate with an improvement in fasting glucose in overweight individuals.

We investigated a potential correlation between amino acid intake and glycemic markers among individuals who practiced intermittent fasting and controls. Reduced aspartic acid intake during and after intermittent fasting presented a positive correlation with fasting glucose. The positive effects of intermittent fasting on glucose metabolism could be partially related to a decrease in the ingestion of specific amino acids.

The effect of disability and gender mediated by depression on health-related quality of life of Greek stroke patients in the subacute rehabilitation phase: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Stroke has been associated with compromised patient outcomes, such as a decreased quality of life. We aimed in the present study to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQοL) of hospitalized Greek stroke patients during the sub-acute rehabilitation period and assess the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics mediated by depressive symptom severity on HRQοL.

Methods: In a prospective study, a cohort of adult patients hospitalized in the sub-acute phase of their first stroke episode were assessed in the Rehabilitation Clinic of the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece.

Vitamin D Alleviates Anxiety and Depression in Elderly People with Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Older people are prone to frailness, present poor adherence to pharmacotherapy, and often have adverse drug effects. Therefore, it is important to develop effective and safe interventions to mitigate the burden of anxiety and depression disorders in this population. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the anxiety and depression status of elderly people with prediabetes.

Generalizability of randomized controlled trials in primary health care: Applying the PRECIS-2 tool on published protocols.

Rationale: Pragmatic design may facilitate the generalizability of effectiveness of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in primary health care (PHC).

Aims And Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether published protocols in PHC were designed pragmatically and to explore whether specific trial characteristics may be related to a pragmatic design.

Methods: Using the Pragmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary-2 (PRECIS-2), we assessed pragmatism for 123 published RCT protocols.

Role of Kinesiotherapy in the Prevention of Heterotopic Ossification: A Systematic Review.

Objective: The role of kinesiotherapy in heterotopic ossification remains unclear. The goal of this study was to revisit the literature on the preventive role of kinesiotherapy against heterotopic ossification formation and maturation.

Design: A systematic review was performed in MEDLINE, OVID, Scopus, and Cochrane databases.

The effectiveness of botulinum toxin on spasticity and gait of hemiplegic patients after stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the evidence supporting the efficacy of botulinum toxin type A (BTA) injections in lower limb of hemiplegic patients, after stroke or cerebrovascular accident, and their gait analysis. This study included: randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized or controlled clinical trials (CCTs) or cluster trials, clinical trials of various phases (I-III), interrupted time series (ITS) studies with at least three data points before and after the intervention, controlled before and after (CBA) studies, prospective and retrospective comparative cohort studies, case-control and multicentred studies. The patients included in these studies had similar characteristics: age over 18 years, history of stroke and following hemiplegia, minimum modified Ashworth scale (MAS) score of 2 and duration since stroke over 6 months.

Implementation of Christian Orthodox fasting improves plasma adiponectin concentrations compared with time-restricted eating in overweight premenopausal women.

The exact mechanisms mediating the metabolic effects of Orthodox fasting remain unclear. Plasma adiponectin, biochemical and anthropometrical data were evaluated in 55 Orthodox fasters (OF) and 42 time-restricted eating controls (all women, mean age 47.8 years) at three time points: baseline, end of the dietary intervention (7 weeks) and 5 weeks after participants returned to their typical dietary habits (12 weeks from baseline).

Vitamin D equilibrium affects sex-specific changes in lipid concentrations during Christian Orthodox fasting.

We aimed to evaluate sex differences in changes of lipid profiles in a cohort of metabolically healthy adults following Orthodox fasting (OF), as well as to assess a potential role of vitamin D status in mediating these variations. 45 individuals (24 premenopausal females, 53.3 %) with mean age 48.

Effects of Christian Orthodox Fasting Versus Time-Restricted Eating on Plasma Irisin Concentrations Among Overweight Metabolically Healthy Individuals.

Irisin has been recently identified as an adipomyokine produced during physical activity and involved in the browning of adipose tissue. Despite the emerging evidence suggesting an inverse relationship between irisin plasma concentrations and adverse metabolic outcomes, the exact impact of diet on irisin levels remains obscure. Thus, we aimed to assess the effects of two dietary patterns, Christian Orthodox fasting (OF) and 16:8 time-restricted eating (TRE), on circulating irisin levels among overweight, metabolically healthy, adults.

Predictive value of a novel pragmatic tool for post-stroke aspiration risk: The Functional Bedside Aspiration Screen.

Background: There is still a strong need for an optimal clinician-friendly screening tool for the identification of aspiration risk in stroke patients. In this study, we present the development of a novel, context-specific screening tool for the prediction of aspiration risk on recent stroke survivors, the Functional Bedside Aspiration Screen (FBAS), and examine its construct validity, reliability with the predictive values toward pragmatic patients' outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a prospective validation study of 104 acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to clinical wards in a tertiary university hospital.

Vascular endothelial growth factor for the treatment of femoral head osteonecrosis: An experimental study in canines.

Aim: To evaluate the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) with the use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

Methods: In 30 mature beagles (6 groups of 5 beagles) ONFH was induced cryosurgically and one of the following solutions was administered locally in the femoral head (FH) in each group: Single injection of 500 μg VEGF (t-VEGFμ group); single injection of 500 ng VEGF (t-VEGFn group); continuous delivery of 500 μg VEGF through osmotic micropump (t-VEGFpump-μ group); continuous delivery of 500 ng VEGF through osmotic micropump (t-VEGFpump-n group); single injection of 0.9% sodium chloride (t-NS group), while one group that served as control group did not receive any local solution (No-t group).

Primary High-Grade Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: High NFκB Expression in Tumor Specimens Distinguishes Patients Who are at Risk for Disease Progression.

To investigate the potential prognostic role of NFκB expression in primary high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Patients with primary high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who received induction and maintenance BCG therapy were retrospectively included. Recurrence and progression were histologically proven.