A randomized controlled trial of rehabilitation after hospitalization in frail older women: effects on strength, balance and mobility.

When frail older people become acutely ill, they are at increased risk of further functional deterioration and rehabilitation is needed to restore functioning. The effects of an out-patient multicomponent training program including strength training after hospitalization were studied in a randomized controlled trial. Sixty-eight women (mean age 83.

Ruling out myocardial infarction with troponin T and creatine kinase MB mass: diagnostic and prognostic aspects.

Objective: To investigate the time window for ruling out myocardial infarction (MI) with troponin T (TnT) and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB mass (CK-MBm) and the prognosis of patients with ruled-out MI diagnosis.

Design: The study was based on 397 patients admitted with a suspected acute coronary syndrome but with relief of symptoms within 24 h.

Results: MI diagnosis was confirmed with elevated TnT (>0.

Differences in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction by troponin T compared with clinical and epidemiologic criteria.

We investigated the difference in the number of myocardial infarction (MI) diagnoses based on troponin T compared with clinical and epidemiologic (modified FINnish Multinational MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular diseases) diagnoses, and the prognosis of patients with discordant diagnoses. Five hundred fifty-nine consecutive patients (315 men and 244 women, median age 69 years) were admitted to the hospital with a suspected acute coronary syndrome. Median follow-up time was 17 months.

Kinetics of phototoxicity in trioxysalen bath psoralen plus ultraviolet A photochemotherapy.

A trioxysalen bath is a safe alternative to systemic 8-methoxypsoralen in long-term psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) treatment. The kinetics of its main side-effect, the strong phototoxicity, has not been thoroughly studied. This study determined the degree and persistence of phototoxicity after a single 10 min bath at a trioxysalen concentration of 0.

Clinical significance of esophageal histologic findings after antireflux surgery.

Hypothesis: Only limited and controversial information exists regarding the histologic effect of successful antireflux surgery on esophageal mucosa and its clinical significance.

Design And Settings: A randomized, blinded follow-up study conducted in a university hospital between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 1997, with a mean follow-up of 8 months.

Patients: Forty patients with severe symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (24 men and 16 women; mean age, 50 years).

A multicenter study of patch test reactions with dental screening series.

Background: Dental products contain many allergens, and may cause problems both for patients undergoing dental treatment and for dental personnel because of occupational exposure. Individual patch test clinics may not study sufficient numbers of patients to collect reliable data on uncommon allergens.

Objective: To collect information on dental allergens based on a multicenter study.

C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in the prognostic classification of unstable angina pectoris.

Background: Inflammatory process has been found to play an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD) and in the prognosis of CHD patients. AIM. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, interleukin (IL)-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP), including factor analysis to assess their joint effects.

Concentration-dependent phototoxicity in trimethylpsoralen bath psoralen ultraviolet A.

Background: Long-term use of topical trimethylpsoralen (TMP) psoralen bath plus ultraviolet A (bath PUVA) is considered safe with regard to the risk of skin cancer. However, the potential for severe phototoxicity limits its use.

Objectives: To study the effect of dilution of the TMP bath on the minimal phototoxic dose (MPD).

Expression of six peptidases from Lactobacillus helveticus in Lactococcus lactis.

For development of novel starter strains with improved proteolytic properties, the ability of Lactococcus lactis to produce Lactobacillus helveticus aminopeptidase N (PepN), aminopeptidase C (PepC), X-prolyl dipeptidyl aminopeptidase (PepX), proline iminopeptidase (PepI), prolinase (PepR), and dipeptidase (PepD) was studied by introducing the genes encoding these enzymes into L. lactis MG1363 and its derivatives. According to Northern analyses and enzyme activity measurements, the L.

Coimpairments as predictors of severe walking disability in older women.

Objective: Severe disabilities are common among older people who have impairments in a range of physiologic systems. It is not known, however, whether the presence of multiple impairments, or coimpairments, is associated with increased risk of developing new disability. The aim of this study was to determine the combined effects of two impairments, decreased knee-extension strength and poor standing balance, on the risk of developing severe walking disability among older, moderately-to-severely disabled women who did not have severe walking disability at baseline.

Severity of upper and lower extremity functional limitation: scale development and validation with self-report and performance-based measures of physical function. WHAS Research Group. Women's Health and Aging Study.

Objectives: To better understand disablement and transitions from impairment to disability, discrete valid measures of functional limitation are needed. This study reports the development and criterion-related validity of scales that quantify severity of upper and lower extremity functional limitation.

Methods: Data are from 3,635 cognitively intact community-dwelling women aged 65 years and older and 1,002 moderately to severely disabled participants in the Women's Health and Aging Study.

Ingredients and safety of cellulite creams.

There is virtually no knowledge of the ingredients of cellulite creams in the dermatological literature. In the present study, the ingredients of cellulite creams, the frequency of their use and whether the ingredients have been reported to cause allergy were investigated. In the 32 products tested, 263 ingredients were used.

Lower extremity performance in nondisabled older persons as a predictor of subsequent hospitalization.

Background: This study examines, in initially nondisabled older persons, the impact of reduced lower extremity performance on subsequent hospitalizations.

Methods: A 4-year prospective cohort study was conducted among 3381 persons, aged 71 years and older, who initially reported no disability. At baseline, lower extremity performance was measured by an assessment of standing balance, a timed 2.

Cumulative UV radiation dose and outcome in clinical practice: effectiveness of trioxsalen bath PUVA with minimal UVA exposure.

Background: The cumulative artificial ultraviolet (UV) exposure dose of dermatological patients was prospectively monitored in clinical conditions for a total of 2 years (August 1997 - July 1999). We focused on whole body UV treatments, i.e.

Laboratory diagnosis of patients with acute chest pain.

The enzyme activities of creatine kinase (CK), its isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) and of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 1 (LD-1) have been used for years in diagnosing patients with chest pain in order to differentiate patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) from non-AMI patients. These methods are easy to perform as automated analyses, but they are not specific for cardiac muscle damage. During the early 90's the situation changed.

Depressed mood and body mass index as predictors of muscle strength decline in old men.

Objective: To study depressed mood as a predictor of strength decline within body weight categories over a 3-year follow-up period.

Design: A prospective cohort study over 3 years.

Setting: Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mobility difficulties and physical activity as predictors of mortality and loss of independence in the community-living older population.

Objective: In older people, mobility impairments and physical inactivity are risk factors for further disability and death. We studied the interaction of physical activity and mobility impairment as a predictor of dependence and mortality.

Design: A population-based, prospective study.

Muscle strength and body mass index as long-term predictors of mortality in initially healthy men.

Background: Muscle weakness, low body weight, and chronic diseases are often observed in the same people; however, the association of muscle strength with mortality, independent of disease status and body weight, has not been elucidated. The aim was to assess hand grip strength as a predictor of all-cause mortality within different levels of body mass index (BMI) in initially disease-free men.

Methods: Mortality was followed prospectively over 30 years.

L.I.ON. Study: efficacy and tolerability of continuous terbinafine (Lamisil) compared to intermittent itraconazole in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis. Lamisil vs. Itraconazole in Onychomycosis.

We undertook a prospective, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, multicentre, parallel-group study to compare the efficacy and tolerability of continuous terbinafine (Lamisil) with intermittent itraconazole (Sporanox) in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis. A total of 496 patients (age range 18-75 years) with a clinical diagnosis of dermatophyte toenail onychomycosis, confirmed by positive mycological culture and microscopy (KOH), were recruited from 35 centres in six European countries. They were randomly divided into four parallel groups to receive either terbinafine 250 mg/day for 12 or 16 weeks (groups T12 and T16), or itraconazole 400 mg/day for 1 week in every 4 weeks for 12 or 16 weeks (groups I3 and I4).

The continuity of physical activity--a retrospective and prospective study among older people.

This study investigated the continuity of life-span physical activity by examining the predictors of the maintenance of a high level of physical activity over 8 years among subjects aged 65-84 years at the baseline, in 1988, in Jyväskylä, Finland. Age, education, marital status and chronic conditions and past physical activity were studied at the baseline. In men and women, self-reported competitive sport participation from as early as 10-19 years of age was a significant predictor for maintaining activity in old age.

A double-blind, randomized study to compare the efficacy and safety of terbinafine (Lamisil) with fluconazole (Diflucan) in the treatment of onychomycosis.

In a randomized, double-blind, double-placebo, multicentre study, terbinafine 250 mg daily for 12 weeks was compared with fluconazole 150 mg once weekly for 12 or 24 weeks in the treatment of onychomycosis. A total of 137 patients with culture-confirmed onychomycosis was divided into three groups: group A received terbinafine for 12 weeks, group B received fluconazole for 12 weeks, while group C received fluconazole for 24 weeks. At completion of the study (week 60), the mycological cure rate was higher in the terbinafine group than in the fluconazole groups: 89% vs.

Severity of hand osteoarthritis and its association with upper extremity impairment in a population of disabled older women: the Women's Health and Aging Study.

Most severity indices of osteoarthritis (OA) include measures of physical function which render them unsuitable for assessing the impact of OA on disability. Data from 1002 moderate to severely disabled community-dwelling women > or = 65 years were used to develop hand OA severity indices which are independent of functional status. Baseline exams and strength tests were conducted by trained nurse examiners.

Fatal and life-threatening complications in antireflux surgery: analysis of 5,502 operations.

Background: There have been few comprehensive studies relating to the life-threatening or fatal complications of antireflux surgery.

Methods: Some 5502 antireflux operations were performed in Finland between January 1987 and January 1996 (population approximately 5 million); 3993 procedures (72.6 per cent) were open fundoplications, 1162 (21.