Nutrient Composition of Popularly Consumed African and Caribbean Foods in The UK.

(1) Background: Traditional foods are important in the diets of Black Africans and Caribbeans and, more widely, influence UK food culture. However, little is known about the nutritional status of these ethnic groups and the nutrient composition of their traditional foods. The aim was to identify and analyse African and Caribbean dishes, snacks and beverages popularly consumed in the UK for energy, macronutrients and micronutrients.

A cross-sectional study to estimate the point prevalence of painful diabetic neuropathy in Eastern Libya.

Background: Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) is a complication that affects up to one third of people living with diabetes. There is limited data on the prevalence of PDN from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The aim of this study was to estimate the point prevalence of PDN in adults in Eastern Libya using the self-report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) pain scale.

Translation and cultural adaptation of the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) pain scale into Arabic for use with patients with diabetes in Libya.

In Libya neuropathic pain is rarely assessed in patients with diabetes. The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) pain scale is used worldwide to screen for neuropathic pain. There is no Arabic version of LANSS for use in Libya.

Psychometric Properties of an Arabic Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-20 (PASS-20) in Healthy Volunteers and Patients Attending a Physiotherapy Clinic.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the PASS-20 questionnaire for use in Libya.

Methods: Participants were 71 patients (42 women) attending the physiotherapy clinic, Ibn Sina Hospital, Sirt, Libya for management of persistent pain and 137 healthy unpaid undergraduate students (52 women) from the University of Sirt, Libya. The English PASS-20 was translated into Arabic.

The epidemiology of chronic pain in Libya: a cross-sectional telephone survey.

Background: Chronic pain is a public health problem although there is a paucity of prevalence data from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain and neuropathic pain in a sample of the general adult population in Libya.

Methods: A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted before the onset of the Libyan Civil War (February 2011) on a sample of self-declared Libyans who had a landline telephone and were at least 18 years of age.

Acupuncture for cancer pain in adults.

Background: Forty per cent of individuals with early or intermediate stage cancer and 90% with advanced cancer have moderate to severe pain and up to 70% of patients with cancer pain do not receive adequate pain relief. It has been claimed that acupuncture has a role in management of cancer pain and guidelines exist for treatment of cancer pain with acupuncture. This is an updated version of a Cochrane Review published in Issue 1, 2011, on acupuncture for cancer pain in adults.

Quality of systematic reviews: an example of studies comparing artificial disc replacement with fusion in the cervical spine.

Cervical artificial disc replacement (C-ADR) is now an alternative to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Many studies have evaluated the efficacy of C-ADR compared with ACDF. This led to a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to evaluate the evidence of the superiority of one intervention against the other.

Argument for the need of investigation of the relationship between body fatness and experimental pain sensitivity.

In this communication, we argue about the need for an extensive investigation of the relationship between body fatness and fat distribution and experimental pain to explore the factors that might contribute to the increased prevalence of pain conditions in obese individuals.

Prevalence of chronic pain among Libyan adults in Derna City: a pilot study to assess the reliability, linguistic validity, and feasibility of using an Arabic version of the structured telephone interviews questionnaire on chronic pain.

There are few studies estimating the prevalence of chronic pain in countries from the Middle East. We translated the Structured Telephone Interviews Questionnaire on Chronic Pain from English into Arabic and assessed its reliability and linguistic validity before using it in a telephone survey in Libya to gather preliminary prevalence data for chronic pain. Intraclass correlations for scaled items were high, and there were no differences in answers to nominal items between the first and second completions of the questionnaire.

Translation and linguistic validation of the self-completed Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) scale for use in a Libyan population.

Background: The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) pain scale is used to identify pain of neuropathic origin and has been validated as a self-completed tool (S-LANSS). We translated the S-LANSS into Arabic and evaluated its reliability and linguistic validity for use by Libyan people.

Methods: Thirteen of 45 Libyan nationals living in the UK were identified as having chronic pain and completed an English and Arabic S-LANSS 1 week apart.

The prevalence of chronic pain with an analysis of countries with a Human Development Index less than 0.9: a systematic review without meta-analysis.

Background: To date, there are no systematic reviews of epidemiological studies of chronic pain in the developing world.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of chronic pain worldwide paying particular attention to data from countries with a Human Development Index (HDI) of less than 0.9.

A Cochrane systematic review of acupuncture for cancer pain in adults.

Background: Cancer-related pain is a significant and debilitating problem. Non-pharmacological treatments such as acupuncture may have an adjunctive role in controlling pain without the undesirable side effects of drug regimens and yet the evidence base remains limited.

Objectives: The main objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of cancer-related pain in adults.

Acupuncture for cancer pain in adults.

Background: Forty percent of individuals with early or intermediate stage cancer and 90% with advanced cancer have moderate to severe pain and up to 70% of patients with cancer pain do not receive adequate pain relief. It has been claimed that acupuncture has a role in management of cancer pain and guidelines exist for treatment of cancer pain with acupuncture.

Objectives: To evaluate efficacy of acupuncture for relief of cancer-related pain in adults.

Cold pressor pain responses in healthy Libyans: effect of sex/gender, anxiety, and body size.

Background: Studies have suggested that sex/gender, ethnicity, and anxiety toward pain affect pain sensitivity response. However, most studies have been conducted in a developed (Western) country, where the "ethnic" comparison group was in the minority.

Objectives: This study measured the responses of Libyan men and women to cold pressor pain, and also examined the effect of anxiety about pain and of body characteristics such as height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) on pain responses.

Avicenna's concept of pain.

Ibn Sina (Latin name - Avicenna, 980-1037) is a famous Muslim physician who wrote The Canon of Medicine. Pain-related writings within The Canon were identified and analysed and compared to Galen and Modern Pain Theory. We found evidence in The Canon that Avicenna challenged Galen's concept of pain.