Irish journal of medical science
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The human body consists of water, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and minerals that build cells, tissues, and organs. In healthy people, the content of these molecules remains nearly constant. The body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to classify abnormal body composition among adults. According to the WHO, a high BMI is a major risk factor for many diseases. Bioelectrical impedance analysis is a commonly used method for assessing body composition in clinical practice and medical research. ⋯ The BMI is useful to provide a warning of excessive fat content in overweight and obese women, whereas among normal weight and underweight women, it may mask various types of body composition defects.
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a rheumatic disease characterized by erosive synovitis and polyarthritis. Exercise is known to improve many symptoms in RA patients. ⋯ Pilates exercises may have similar effects to aerobic exercises in patients with RA. Addition of clinical pilates exercises to the routine treatment of RA may enhance the success of rehabilitation. Trial registration NCT03836820.
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Osteoarthritis is a significant cause of chronic pain in the elderly population with hip osteoarthritis as one of the main causes of functional disability and joint pain in adults older than 55 years. Recently, platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections have been introduced for treatment of osteoarthritis. The aim of this systematic review is to assess its effectiveness in the management of hip osteoarthritis. ⋯ PRP was shown to improve patient outcome scores at follow-up at 6 and 12 months; however, there was no significant difference seen between patients treated with PRP or hyaluronic acid alone. Following this systematic review, we cannot currently recommend the use of intra-articular injections of PRP for the treatment of hip OA. Given that intra-articular steroid injections are the only such injection recommended by international guidelines for the treatment of hip OA, further studies comparing PRP to steroid would be of benefit to determine the value of PRP injections in hip OA.
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Ireland has the highest rates of overnight hospitalisations for COPD in the OECD, yet lacks estimates of the prevalence of this disease or its pharmacological management. We aimed to estimate the age and sex-specific prevalence of symptomatic COPD and to identify patterns of respiratory medication use to inform interventions to improve pharmacotherapy in this condition. ⋯ The prevalence of medication use consistent with the management of symptomatic COPD mirrors international prevalence estimates. Several patterns raise concern: high ICS use in older adults, under use of LAMA therapy and poor persistence of those newly initiated. We recommend the development of an intervention to assist in the implementation of new national prescribing guidelines for the management of COPD.