What are the perspectives of adults aged 18-40 living with type 2 diabetes in urban settings towards barriers and opportunities for better health and well-being: a mixed-methods study.

Objectives: Delivered as part of the global assessment of diabetes in urban settings, this study explores different aspects of living with type 2 diabetes, for adults aged 18-40. Primary questions were as follows: (1) can we identify subgroups of adults under 40 years old sharing specific perspectives towards health, well-being and living with type 2 diabetes and (2) do these perspectives reveal specific barriers to and opportunities for better type 2 diabetes prevention and management and improved well-being?

Design: The study employed a mixed-method design with data collected through demographic questionnaires, Q-sort statement sorting exercises, focus groups discussions and individual interviews.

Setting: Primary care across Greater Manchester, UK.

Barriers and facilitators to use of compression therapy by people with venous leg ulcers: A qualitative exploration.

Aims: To explore barriers to, and facilitators of, adherence to compression therapy, from the perspective of people with venous leg ulcers.

Design: An interpretive, qualitative, descriptive study involving interviews with patients.

Methods: Participants were purposively sampled from respondents to a survey exploring attitudes to compression therapy in people with venous leg ulcers.

Water for wound cleansing.

Background: Although various solutions have been recommended for cleansing wounds, normal saline is favoured as it is an isotonic solution and is not thought to interfere with the normal healing process. Tap water is commonly used in community settings for cleansing wounds because it is easily accessible, efficient and cost-effective; however, there is an unresolved debate about its use.

Objectives: To assess the effects of water for wound cleansing.

What promotes or prevents greater use of appropriate compression in people with venous leg ulcers? A qualitative interview study with nurses in the north of England using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Objectives: To investigate factors that promote and prevent the use of compression therapy in people with venous leg ulcers.

Design: Qualitative interview study with nurses using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).

Setting: Three National Health Service Trusts in England.

Opportunities for better value wound care: a multiservice, cross-sectional survey of complex wounds and their care in a UK community population.

Background: Complex wounds impose a substantial health economic burden worldwide. As wound care is managed across multiple settings by a range of healthcare professionals with varying levels of expertise, the actual care delivered can vary considerably and result in the underuse of evidence-based interventions, the overuse of interventions supported by limited evidence and low value healthcare.

Objectives: To quantify the number, type and management of complex wounds being treated over a two-week period and to explore variations in care by comparing current practices in wound assessment, prevention and treatment.

Interventions for pressure ulcers: a summary of evidence for prevention and treatment.

Study Design: Narrative review.

Objectives: Pressure ulcers are a common complication in people with reduced sensation and limited mobility, occurring frequently in those who have sustained spinal cord injury. This narrative review summarises the evidence relating to interventions for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers, in particular from Cochrane systematic reviews.

Intracavity lavage and wound irrigation for prevention of surgical site infection.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are wound infections that occur after an operative procedure. A preventable complication, they are costly and associated with poorer patient outcomes, increased mortality, morbidity and reoperation rates. Surgical wound irrigation is an intraoperative technique, which may reduce the rate of SSIs through removal of dead or damaged tissue, metabolic waste, and wound exudate.

Notochordal and nucleus pulposus marker expression is maintained by sub-populations of adult human nucleus pulposus cells through aging and degeneration.

The nucleus pulposus (NP) of the intervertebral disc (IVD) demonstrates substantial changes in cell and matrix composition with both ageing and degeneration. While recent transcriptomic profiling studies have helped define human NP cell phenotype, it remains unclear how expression of these markers is influenced by ageing or degeneration. Furthermore, cells of the NP are thought to derive from the notochord, although adult NP lacks identifiable notochordal (NC) cells.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for spinal wounds: a systematic review.

Background Context: The management of postoperative spinal wound complication remains a challenge, with surgical site infection (SSI) incidence rates ranging from 0.4% to 20% after spinal surgery. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been highlighted as an intervention that may stimulate healing and prevent SSI.

Sex hormones and skeletal muscle weakness.

Human ageing is accompanied with deterioration in endocrine functions the most notable and well characterized of which being the decrease in the production of sex hormones. Current research literature suggests that low sex hormone concentration may be among the key mechanism for sarcopenia and muscle weakness. Within the European large scale MYOAGE project, the role of sex hormones, estrogens and testosterone, in causing the aging-related loss of muscle mass and function was further investigated.

Effects of testosterone on skeletal muscle architecture in intermediate-frail and frail elderly men.

Background: Testosterone increases lean mass and may help to counter the changes in muscle architecture associated with sarcopenia. This study was designed to investigate the effects of testosterone replacement therapy on skeletal muscle architecture in intermediate-frail and frail elderly men.

Methods: A subgroup of 30 intermediate-frail and frail elderly men (65-89 years) with low to borderline-low testosterone levels were enrolled from a single-center randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial.