Rare neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) encompass various disorders of the nervous system and skeletal muscles, and present intricate challenges in diagnosis, treatment, and research due to their low prevalence and often diverse multisystemic manifestations. Leveraging collected patient data for secondary use and analysis holds promise for advancing medical understanding in this field. However, a certain level of data quality is a prerequisite for the methods that can be used to analyze data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: autoimmune encephalitis associated with neurexin-3α antibodies is a seldom reported disease entity often accompanied by a severe clinical neuropsychiatric syndrome. (2) Method: we report on the case of a 58-year-old man diagnosed with neurexin-3α-associated autoimmune encephalitis revealing cognitive decline and depression before the proof of neurexin-3α antibodies. He underwent neuropsychological testing, peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, neuroimaging and electroencephalography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Although diagnosed arterial hypertension and antihypertensive medication usually have an adverse impact on quality of life, recent studies suggest that actual blood pressure may be positively related to better well-being. However, data in older patients with cardiovascular risk factors are lacking, for whom such an association may be of particular relevance.
Methods: In 1300 adults aged 50 to 85 years with cardiovascular risk factors (51.
Background: Alemtuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the cell surface glycoprotein CD52, is licensed in Europe since October 2013 as treatment for adult patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In three randomized, rater-blinded active comparator clinical trials studies, alemtuzumab administered in two annual courses, had superior efficacy as compared to subcutaneous interferon beta-1a, and durable efficacy over 5 years in an extension study with a manageable safety profile in RRMS patients. Data on the utilization and the outcomes of alemtuzumab under clinical practice conditions are limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Using data from the nationwide German DEGS1 study, we assessed whether resting blood pressure (BP) and transient changes in BP are associated with symptoms of depression and quality of life (QoL).
Methods: The study included n=4852 adult participants not taking antihypertensives, who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for assessment of depressive symptoms and the SF-36 for assessment of QoL. Resting BP was defined as the mean of the second and third reading taken at 3-min intervals.
Objective: The magnitude of the contribution of psychosocial stressors to the development of hypertension remains controversial. Using data from the population-based, nationwide German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults, we investigated the relationship between objectively measured and subjectively perceived stressors and blood pressure (BP).
Methods: The study sample comprised 3352 participants not taking antihypertensive medication, for whom data on stress exposure and resting BP measurements were available.