Characterisation of Aqueous Ultra-high Homeopathic Potencies: Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis.

Background And Objectives:  Over the past decade, research using various methods has claimed the material nature, including nanoparticles (NPs), of high homeopathic potencies. The current study aims to verify these findings using NP tracking analysis (NTA).

Methods:  Six independent serial dilutions of commonly used homeopathic medicines-either soluble (, , ) or insoluble (, , )-were prepared according to European Pharmacopoeia standards.

Verification of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Characterization of Traditional Homeopathically Manufactured Metal (Cuprum metallicum) and Plant (Gelsemium sempervirens) Medicines and Controls.

Background:  Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) proton relaxation is sensitive to the dynamics of the water molecule, HO, through the interaction of the spin of the proton (H) with external magnetic and electromagnetic fields. NMR relaxation times describe how quickly the spin of H, forced in a direction by an external electromagnetic field, returns to a normal resting position. As a result, such measurements allow us potentially to describe higher structuring of water in homeopathic medicines.

Nanoparticle Characterisation of Traditional Homeopathically Manufactured Cuprum metallicum and Gelsemium sempervirens Medicines and Controls.

Background:  Homeopathy is controversial due to its use of very highly diluted medicines (high potencies/dynamisations).

Methods:  We used a multi-technology approach to examine dilutions of two commonly used homeopathic medicines: an insoluble metal, and a soluble plant tincture, , for the presence of nanoparticles (NPs) of original substance. The homeopathic medicines tested were specially prepared, according to the European pharmacopoeia standards.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance characterization of traditional homeopathically manufactured copper (Cuprum metallicum) and plant (Gelsemium sempervirens) medicines and controls.

Background: NMR proton relaxation is sensitive to the dynamics of the water molecule HO, through the interaction of the spin of the proton (H) with external magnetic and electromagnetic fields.

Methods: We measured dilution and potentization processes through measurements of H spin-lattice T and spin-spin T relaxation times. In order to interpret the recorded fluctuations in T- or T-values, experimental data were linearized by investigating how the area under a fluctuating time = f(dilution) curve (dilution integral or DI) changes with dilution.

Pediatric pre-hospital emergencies in Belgium: a 2-year national descriptive study.

Unlabelled: This study aims to describe the pediatric physician-staffed EMS missions at a national level and to compare the pediatric and the adult EMS missions. Using a national database, we analyzed 254,812 interventions including 15,294 (6 %) pediatric emergencies. Less children than adults received an intravenous infusion (52.

Which factors influence glycemic control in the intensive care unit?

Purpose Of Review: Intensive insulin therapy titrated to restore and maintain blood glucose between 80 and 110 mg/dl (4.4-6.1 mmol/l) was found to improve survival of critically ill patients in one pioneering proof-of-concept study performed in a surgical intensive care unit.

A prospective randomised multi-centre controlled trial on tight glucose control by intensive insulin therapy in adult intensive care units: the Glucontrol study.

Purpose: An optimal target for glucose control in ICU patients remains unclear. This prospective randomized controlled trial compared the effects on ICU mortality of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) with an intermediate glucose control.

Methods: Adult patients admitted to the 21 participating medico-surgical ICUs were randomized to group 1 (target BG 7.

Current status of tight blood sugar control.

This review describes the current status and the clinical data related to the effects of tight glucose control in critically ill patients. In contrast to decreases in mortality and morbidity reported in one study in which insulin rate was titrated to keep blood glucose between 80 and 110 mg/dL, the benefits were not confirmed in multicenter prospective studies. Retrospective data found an association between a mean blood glucose level below 140 to 150 mg/dL and improved outcome.

Clinical experience with tight glucose control by intensive insulin therapy.

Objective: To describe the current status and the clinical data related to the effects of tight glucose control by intensive insulin therapy in critically ill patients.

Design: Review article.

Setting: University hospital.

Current controversies around tight glucose control in critically ill patients.

Purpose Of Review: This review updates our knowledge on the benefits and risks of tight glucose control by intensive insulin therapy in critically ill patients, as well as discussing unanswered questions related to the subject.

Recent Findings: At the cellular level, the toxic effects of elevated and highly variable glucose concentration are related to an increase in oxidative stress and to several toxic intracellular derivates generated as by-products of the glycolytic pathway. Clinically, several recent studies have suggested that the optimal target for blood glucose may be higher than the 'normal' values of 4.

Is it time for implementation of tight glycaemia control by intensive insulin therapy in every ICU?

The second study on tight glycaemia control by intensive insulin therapy (IIT) confirmed in medical intensive care unit patients the decrease in hospital mortality reported by the same team in the first IIT trial in surgical patients. However, methodological concerns, the high rate of hypoglycaemia in spite of the infusion of large doses of parenteral glucose and the frequent use of steroids presently preclude considering these results as recommendations in other intensive care units, but rather argue for the need for large-scale assessment of the IIT approach by multi-centre studies to confirm the efficacy and safety of this therapeutic modality.

Glucose, insulin and myocardial ischaemia.

Purpose Of Review: The importance of glucose metabolism and insulin therapy during myocardial ischaemia is increasingly being investigated. Insulin is used to achieve a tight glucose control or as part of glucose-insulin-potassium therapy. We have reviewed (1) the physiological and physiopathological consequences of hyperglycaemia focusing on potential machanisms of myocardial ischaemia, (2) the effects of insulin on vascular tone, on the release of free fatty acids, on inflammatory pathways, on the switch of energy source and on apoptosis, and (3) clinical data reporting the effects of intensive insulin therapy and glucose-insulin-potassium solutions during myocardial ischaemia and ischaemic heart failure.

Tight blood glucose control: a recommendation applicable to any critically ill patient?

The issue of tight glucose control with intensive insulin therapy in critically ill patients remains controversial. Although compelling evidence supports this strategy in postoperative patients who have undergone cardiac surgery, the use of tight glucose control has been challenged in other situations, including in medical critically ill patients and in those who have undergone non-cardiac surgery. Similarly, the mechanisms that underlie the effects of high-dose insulin are not fully elucidated.

Tight control of glycaemia in critically ill patients.

Purpose Of Review: This manuscript attempts to review the effects associated with hyperglycaemia in critically ill patients and the effects of various insulin regimens. The available clinical findings and pertinent experimental data are examined.

Recent Findings: Intensive insulin therapy titrated to maintain blood glucose level between 4.