"At least someone thinks I'm doing well": a real-world evaluation of the quit-smoking app StopCoach for lower socio-economic status smokers.

Background: Smoking is more prevalent and persistent among lower socio-economic status (SES) compared with higher-SES groups, and contributes greatly to SES-based health inequities. Few interventions exist that effectively help lower-SES smokers quit. This study evaluated "De StopCoach", a mobile phone delivered eHealth intervention targeted at lower-SES smokers based on the evidence-based StopAdvisor, in a real-world setting (five municipalities) in The Netherlands in 2019-2020.

Function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with fibromyalgia and low back pain.

Objective: We suggested fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder associated with an altered functioning of the stress-response system. This was concluded from hyperreactive pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release in response to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and to insulin induced hypoglycemia in patients with FM. In this study, we tested the validity and specificity of this observation compared to another painful condition, low back pain.

[Pieter van Foreest: physician on the threshold of a new era].

In a variety of ways attention is being drawn nowadays to the fact that Pieter van Foreest (1521-1597) died four hundred years ago. The question arises, however, whether such a comprehensive commemoration is justified by Van Foreest's contribution to the development of medical science. Medical history certainly does not attribute concrete substantial new findings to his name.

Interleukin-1 reversibly inhibits the synthesis of biglycan and decorin in intact articular cartilage in culture.

Objective: To study the effect of interleukin-1 (IL-1) on the synthesis of proteoglycans biglycan (DSPG-I) and decorin (DSPG-II) in intact bovine articular cartilage.

Methods: Cartilage bearing sesamoid bones from the metacarpophalangeal joint were cultured with 10 ng/ml IL-1 for 2 days and labelled with [35S] sulfate. One sesamoid bone from each animal had been labelled ex vivo.

Quality of life assessment: a comparison of four questionnaires: for measuring improvements after total hip replacement.

Three experimental questionnaires were compared with the Influence of Rheumatic Diseases on Health and Lifestyle (IRGL) questionnaire, a Dutch version of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales. Sixty-two patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and 35 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), all of whom underwent hip arthroplasty, completed the study. Results showed that visual analogue scales for pain, stiffness, fatigue, and anxiety were strongly correlated with a number of the IRGL scales.

Transforming growth factor-beta stimulates retinoic acid-induced proteoglycan depletion in intact articular cartilage.

Cartilage-bearing sesamoid bones from the metacarpophalangeal joints of adult cows were cultured with retinoic acid for 1 week and allowed to recover in control medium for another 2 weeks. Retinoic acid decreased the proteoglycan synthesis of the cartilage to 33% of control values, and induced 26% loss of proteoglycans from the matrix. During recovery, the synthesis of proteoglycans returned to the control level but their content remained reduced.

Effects of total hip replacement on quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis and in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The effects of total hip replacement (THR) on quality of life were investigated in 62 patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) and 35 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients eligible for a first hip joint replacement were enrolled consecutively and examined at home before the operation and 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. The IRGL (Influence of Rheumatic Diseases on Health and Lifestyle), a Dutch version of the AIMS (Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales), was used to operationalize quality of life in a questionnaire.

Extra-articular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis: risk factors for serious gastrointestinal events.

Objectives: Serious upper gastrointestinal events are an important threat to patients with arthritis who are treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In this study risk factors for serious upper gastrointestinal events are identified in patients with possible or definite rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of factors that might contribute to the risk of serious upper gastrointestinal events was performed in a cohort of 2315 consecutive patients with possible or definite RA.

Components of health: an analysis in rheumatoid arthritis using quality of life questionnaires and clinical and laboratory variables.

Objective: To gain insight into the overlap between additional information supplied by recently developed health status instruments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and traditional clinical and laboratory tests.

Methods: A cross sectional study of 282 outpatients with RA was made. From each patient, variables of clinical and laboratory measurements were obtained and the modified health assessment questionnaire (MHAQ) and a Dutch quality of life questionnaire, the IRGL, were completed.

Proteoglycan depletion of intact articular cartilage by retinoic acid is irreversible and involves loss of hyaluronate.

Intact sesamoid bones from bovine metacarpophalangeal joints were cultured with retinoic acid for 9 days and allowed to recover in control medium for up to 17 days. Retinoic acid (300 ng/ml) induced 91.8% inhibition of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis and 50.

Kinetics of proteoglycan turnover in bovine articular cartilage explants.

The turnover of proteoglycans was studied in explant cultures of mature bovine articular cartilage. The aim of the study was to compare the in vitro turnover rates of newly synthesized proteoglycans and endogenous proteoglycans. Cartilage was maintained in the presence of various serum concentrations in order to determine the conditions of steady-state proteoglycan metabolism.

['Anatomia actuosa et apta'. The mechanist 'proto'-physiology of B.S. Albinus].

Already during his tenure as professor of anatomy and surgery (1721-1746) and before he became a professor of physiology and medicine at the University of Leiden, Bernard Siegfried Albinus held private lecture courses on physiology. In these lectures he pleaded for a separation of physiology from theoretical medicine, which was still its customary place in the medical curriculum of the first half of the eighteenth century. According to Albinus, physiology was a science in its own right and should be solely based on the careful observation of forms and structures of the human body.

Effects of loading on the synthesis of proteoglycans in different layers of anatomically intact articular cartilage in vitro.

The anatomically intact articular cartilage (approximately equal to 2.5 cm2) of whole bovine sesamoid bones was cultured on its bone support. A load of 5 kg was applied intermittently at 0.

Food intolerance in rheumatoid arthritis. II. Clinical and histological aspects.

Six patients with rheumatoid factor positive rheumatoid arthritis who had shown a marked symptomatic improvement during four weeks of hypoallergic, artificial diet were studied in greater detail. Placebo controlled rechallenges showed intolerance for specific foodstuffs in four patients. In three of these patients biopsies of both the synovial membrane and of the proximal small intestine were carried out before and during allergen free feeding.

Food intolerance in rheumatoid arthritis. I. A double blind, controlled trial of the clinical effects of elimination of milk allergens and azo dyes.

The hypothetically negative influence of food on the clinical activity of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis was studied using two types of artificial elementary food. One diet was allergen free, the other allergen restricted, containing only lactoproteins and yellow dyes. Ninety four patients entered the study, which lasted 12 weeks.

Comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of the 1958 and 1987 criteria for rheumatoid arthritis.

The 2 variations of the new criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) proposed by a subcommittee of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1987 were evaluated and compared with the earlier (1958) criteria in 2 patients data collections from a Dutch rheumatological outpatient clinic. One group comprised 1,570 newly referred, consecutive patients, including 93 patients with RA. The other consisted of 1,338 patients with a clinical diagnosis of RA, whose charts were reviewed retrospectively.

Development and validation of a computer program using Bayes's theorem to support diagnosis of rheumatic disorders.

A computer program has been developed to support the differential diagnosis of major rheumatic disease categories. Knowledge for the program was derived from the sensitivity and specificity of findings in a group of 1052 consecutive patients of a rheumatological outpatient clinic. Computer predictions based on two variations of Bayes's theorem were compared with 'gold standard' diagnoses in 570 test cases from the same clinic.

Assessment of inflammatory joint activity in rheumatoid arthritis and changes in atmospheric conditions.

Seventy-nine patients suffering from rheumatoid factor positive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were included in this study. In each patient disease activity was assessed three times at two-week intervals during a four-week period. All factors that might possibly influence RA, except atmospheric conditions (AC) were held constant as far as possible.

Computer-assisted diagnosis of rheumatic disorders.

A review of the literature regarding computer-assisted diagnosis of rheumatic diseases is presented. After a general outline of the history and goals of computer programs intended to support physicians in the diagnostic process, 14 systems or projects are described. The scope of seven of these is general internal medicine, and the other seven are intended exclusively for rheumatic problems.

Rheumatoid arthritis, food, and allergy.

One of the most promising lines of research on the etiology and pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is its association with the genetically determined MHC class II antigens. The function of these macromolecules, presentation of antigens to the T-helper cells, supports the possibility that external antigens influence RA. We review available literature concerning the relationship between RA and food.

Comparison of rheumatological diagnoses by a Bayesian program and by physicians.

A Bayesian decision support system was developed for the diagnosis of rheumatic disorders. Knowledge in this system is represented as evidential weights of findings. Simple weights were calculated as the logarithm of likelihood ratios on the basis of 1,000 consecutive patients from a rheumatological clinic.

Age related changes in the turnover of proteoglycans from explants of bovine articular cartilage.

Articular cartilage in explant culture synthesized 2 proteoglycan types of different size. The proportion of 35S-sulfate incorporated into the small proteoglycan was higher in mature (17%) than in immature cartilage (11%). The chondroitin sulfate chains of both proteoglycans, synthesized by mature cartilage were shorter than those of immature cartilage, with a higher ratio of 6-sulfated over 4-sulfated disaccharides.

Effect of temperature on the metabolism of proteoglycans in explants of bovine articular cartilage.

The turnover of proteoglycans in bovine articular cartilage was determined in explant cultures, maintained at 32 degrees C or 37 degrees C. Both the rate of proteoglycan synthesis and the release of newly synthesized proteoglycans were decreased in cultures incubated at 32 degrees C compared to 37 degrees C. At both temperatures the newly synthesized proteoglycans were similar in hydrodynamic size and chain length of the glycosaminoglycans.

Nutritional habits of patients suffering from seropositive rheumatoid arthritis: a screening of 93 Dutch patients.

Although the nutritional status of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be poor and inversely related to disease activity, information on nutritional habits of these patients is scanty. Dietary habits of 93 patients suffering from active seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, functional class 2 or 3, confirmed by an interview with a dietician (dietary history method), revealed a significant gap between energy, carbohydrate, and fat intakes and recommended amounts, adjusted for age, sex, body weight and physical activity.