Comparison of Clonazepam and Tongue Protector in the Treatment of Burning Mouth Syndrome.

Background: BMS is a chronic pain syndrome affecting the oral mucosa. It consists of experiencing a burning or dysesthetic sensation. BMS prevalence varies, with up to 15% among women.

Fractal Dimension and Texture Analysis of Lesion Autofluorescence in the Evaluation of Oral Lichen Planus Treatment Effectiveness.

Background: Oral Lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease. Topical steroids are used as the treatment of choice. The alternative is photodynamic therapy (PDT).

A Comparison of Clinical Efficiency of Photodynamic Therapy and Topical Corticosteroid in Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus: A Split-Mouth Randomised Controlled Study.

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) to steroid therapy in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). Due to the lack of commercially available drug carriers, innovative proprietary solutions were used for both the photosensitiser and the steroid carrier-in the first case to shorten and in the second to extend the contact of the active substance with the mucosa.

Methods: A prospective, randomised, single-blind, 12-week full contralateral split-mouth clinical trial of 30 patients with bilateral oral lichen planus was conducted.

Polymer-Based Carriers in Dental Local Healing-Review and Future Challenges.

Polymers in drug formulation technology and the engineering of biomaterials for the treatment of oral diseases constitute a group of excipients that often possess additional properties in addition to their primary function, i.e., biological activity, sensitivity to stimuli, mucoadhesive properties, improved penetration of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) across biological barriers, and effects on wound healing or gingival and bone tissue regeneration.

In Vivo Evaluation of Periodontal Phenotypes Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography, Intraoral Scanning by Computer-Aided Design, and Prosthetic-Driven Implant Planning Technology.

BACKGROUND Two clinical parameters, the gingival thickness (GT) and the width of keratinized tissue (WKT), describe the gingival phenotype, which is defined as the 3-dimensional volume of the gingiva. The periodontal phenotype additionally includes the thickness of the labial plate of the alveolar crest (TLPAC). MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty patients with healthy periodontium on the upper canines and incisors underwent measurements for crestal, supracrestal, free gingival thickness (FGT), the alveolar crest-gingival margin (AC-GM), alveolar crest-cementoenamel junction distance, and the TLPAC at 2, 4, and 8 mm apically from the edge of the alveolar crest using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) with computer-aided design and prosthetic-driven implant planning technology.

E-cigarette use among young adults in Poland: Prevalence and characteristics of e-cigarette users.

Purpose: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is one of the most popular alternatives to conventional cigarette smoking. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of cigarette and e-cigarette use among university students from Poland, with particular emphasis on ever and current cigarette and e-cigarette use as well as smoking initiation age.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 2017 and 2018 in a group of university students in 5 academic centers in Poland.

Development and Evaluation of a Polyvinylalcohol -Cellulose Derivative-Based Film with Povidone-Iodine Predicted for Wound Treatment.

The aim of this study was to develop and assess a polyvinyl alcohol-cellulose derivatives-based film with incorporated povidone-iodine (PVP-I) predicted for applications in the treatment of periodontitis. Films were fabricated by solvent-casting, and their physical characteristics, such as their surface and structure morphology, mechanical properties, and disintegrating time, were evaluated. For in vitro iodine release studies and evaluation, the antimicrobial activity was tested using a modified disc diffusion method against five microbial strains.

Local drug delivery in periodontitis treatment: A review of contemporary literature.

Traditional methods of non-surgical treatment of periodontitis, including mechanical scaling/root planing (SRP), do not guarantee remission of the disease. Local delivery of antimicrobial agents in periodontitis entails antimicrobial therapy placed directly in periodontal pockets. The advantage of this form of treatment is that the concentration of the drug after application significantly exceeds the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and persists for up to several weeks.

A cardiovascular safety study of LibiGel (testosterone gel) in postmenopausal women with elevated cardiovascular risk and hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Evaluation of the safety of hormonal preparations for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction is important to assess the benefit-to-risk profile of these drugs and has been strongly encouraged by the Food and Drug Administration. LibiGel (Biosante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lincolnshire, IL), a low-dose testosterone gel, is under development for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in oophorectomized women.

PM10 air pollution exposure during pregnancy and term low birth weight in Allegheny County, PA, 1994-2000.

Purpose: Low birth weight has been associated with increased risks of mortality and/or morbidity in childhood and adulthood. Epidemiological studies suggest that maternal exposure to air pollution, especially particulate matter during pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk of delivering a low birth weight infant. The aim of this study is to explore the association between exposure to particulate matter (PM10) during pregnancy and term low birth weight (LBW: birth weight <2,500 g and gestation age ≥ 37 weeks).

Case-crossover analysis of air pollution and cardiorespiratory hospitalizations: using routinely collected health and environmental data for tracking: science and data.

Background: From the early 1900s until its closure in February 1998, a Steel coke oven in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a key source of air pollution. A case-crossover study was performed to assess the associations between daily air pollution and cardiorespiratory (International Classification of Disease Ninth Revision [ICD-9]: 390-519) hospitalizations before and after plant closure and to evaluate how closure influenced these associations.

Methods: Air pollution data, climatic data, and cardiorespiratory hospitalizations among residents ages 65 years and older were obtained for the period of 1996 through 2000 for the study area.

Is there an independent effect of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and menopause on the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in middle aged women?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common reproductive endocrine condition manifests at puberty, and is characterized by hyperandrogenism, chronic anovulation, and obesity. PCOS cases exhibit an adverse coronary heart disease (CHD) profile at an early age, including insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and increased central adiposity. It can be hypothesized that the menopausal transition, whether natural or surgical, may provide an additional "insult", resulting in greater cumulative risk to their vasculature.

Cigarette smoking and the risk of adult leukemia: results from the Three Mile Island cohort study.

Smoking is an unconfirmed risk factor for the development of leukemia. The authors examined the potential link using data from the Three Mile Island cohort for the period 1979-1995. Eligible for analysis were 24,539 individuals aged 14 years or older who were followed up over 16 years from the Three Mile Island cohort.

Connecting environmental health data to people and policy: integrating information and mobilizing communities for environmental public health tracking.

Evaluation of available data is a critical preliminary step in the assessment of local environmental health. As part of a multi-organizational initiative to improve environmental health in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) interviewed 70 experts in the academic, government, non-profit, and private sectors and reviewed print and electronic resources to characterize environmental and public health data available in the region. The objectives of this undertaking were: to provide a conceptual framework for categorizing data locally on environmental hazards, exposures and health endpoints, to describe and evaluate the types of environmental public health data available nationally and locally, to identify existing endeavors to gather and categorize such data, and to present case studies on the real-life relevance of the availability or lack of availability of environmental health data.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS): a significant contributor to the overall burden of type 2 diabetes in women.

Background: Given the high prevalence of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in the population, the increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes in these women, and the role of type 2 diabetes in mediating adverse long-term sequelae, the objective of this analysis was to quantify the contribution of this early-life exposure (e.g., PCOS) to the burden of type 2 diabetes in the total population of middle-aged women.

Low dose of transdermal estradiol gel for treatment of symptomatic postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate safety and efficacy and identify the lowest effective dose of a new transdermal estradiol (E2) gel for relief of menopausal symptoms in a population of postmenopausal women.

Methods: This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, parallel-group study. Postmenopausal women with at least 60 hot flushes per week applied 0.

Risk of cancer as a result of community exposure to gasoline vapors.

The Tranguch Gasoline Spill leaked 50,000-900,000 gallons of gasoline from underground storage tanks, potentially exposing an area of Hazle Township and Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to chronic low levels of benzene since at least 1990. A retrospective cohort study of 663 individuals representing 275 households assessed whether affected residents were at increased risk for cancer from 1990-2000 compared with the Pennsylvania populace. Age-adjusted standard incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated using Pennsylvania rates to determine expected numbers.

A retrospective investigation of PM10 in ambient air and cardiopulmonary hospital admissions in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: 1995-2000.

Objective: Air quality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has improved over the last decade, and we investigated whether the lower concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM10) are still associated with adverse health outcomes.

Methods: Daily cardiopulmonary hospital admissions in elderly residents of Allegheny County and countywide average PM10 measures were available from 1995 through 2000. Using generalized additive models (GAM), a Poisson regression model was fit to the number of daily admissions using predictor variables: lags of PM10, daily temperature and humidity, day of the week, and time.

The prevalence of benign breast disease in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a review of a 12-year follow-up.

A cross-sectional study of benign breast disease (BBD) was conducted to determine the actual prevalence and follow-up importance of BBD among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in conjunction with an ongoing prospective cohort study. The present study involved a subset of the original group of 244 women with a diagnosis of PCOS and 244 control women matched by age and race. A total of 240 women (116 cases and 124 controls) were included in the present analysis.

The relationship between C-reactive protein and carotid intima-media wall thickness in middle-aged women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with premature carotid atherosclerosis. C-Reactive protein (CRP) has been implicated as a vascular disease risk factor. The objective of this study was to determine whether elevated CRP is associated with increased carotid intima-media wall thickness (IMT) in PCOS women.

Evidence for an association between metabolic cardiovascular syndrome and coronary and aortic calcification among women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) exhibit an adverse cardiovascular risk profile, characteristic of the metabolic cardiovascular syndrome (MCS). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of coronary artery (CAC) and aortic (AC) calcification among middle-aged PCOS cases and controls and to explore the relationship among calcification, MCS, and other cardiovascular risk factors assessed 9 yr earlier. This was a prospective study of 61 PCOS cases and 85 similarly aged controls screened in 1993-1994 for risk factors and reevaluated in 2001-2002.

Dietary intake, physical activity, and obesity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To determine whether dietary intake and physical activity contribute to obesity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Case-control study.

Subjects: A total of 84 cases and 79 neighborhood controls of similar age.

Long-term follow-up of the residents of the Three Mile Island accident area: 1979-1998.

The Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant accident (1979) prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Health to initiate a cohort mortality study in the TMI accident area. This study is significant because of the long follow-up (1979-1998), large cohort size (32,135), and evidence from earlier reports indicating increased cancer risks. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated to assess the mortality experience of the cohort compared with a local population.

Assessment of the disturbances in metabolic homeostasis: a hypothesis of synergism.

Based on the hypothesis that a synergistic interaction between triiodothyronine (T(3)) and insulin contributes to abnormalities in glucose and other metabolic pathways, the mechanisms underlying the impairment of metabolic homeostasis (MH) and the development of type-2 diabetes (DM) were investigated via a proposed homeostatic model, [(FG*TG)/T3*FI)]. The MH model characterizes the relationship between T(3) and insulin and the levels of triglycerides (TG), fasting insulin (FI), and fasting glucose (FG) and is introduced as a clinical method to assess insulin sensitivity and the status of metabolic homeostasis in lieu of current screening models advocated by the by American Diabetic Association (ADA). The present study validated the hypothetical model in a sample of 110 African-American women.

Evidence for competing effects of body mass, hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and androgens on leptin levels among lean, overweight, and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between leptin, body composition, insulin resistance, androgens, and reproductive indices among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Matched case-control study.

Setting: Academic reproductive endocrine practice; school of public health.