Irish journal of medical science
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Determining whether nailfold capillary involvement is present in patients with Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and whether there are different nailfold capillaroscopy findings between wet and dry types. ⋯ Nailfold capillaroscopy can detect microvascular changes in the nailfold capillary, in early and late stages of AMD. There were morphological changes in the nailfold capillaries of AMD patients, suggesting that there are systemic superficial microvascular changes that may be due to the systemic nature of the disease.
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To describe the impact of a nurse-led telephone self-management support (SMS) service for people with asthma and COPD in Ireland. ⋯ Roll-out of SMS should include staff training to promote positive service user experience and should include routine monitoring and evaluation to assure equitable reach and quality of key evidence-based care processes.
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Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are associated with an increased risk of lower limb amputation and death. Reported mortality rates for patients with DFU are as high as 50% after 5 years. ⋯ Diabetic foot disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in clinical practice. It remains to be seen whether implementation of the national model of foot care in 2011 will improve outcomes for patients with high-risk diabetic foot disease.
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A feature of contemporary obstetrics in wealthy countries has been both the continuing increase in caesarean section (CS) rates and the emergence of high levels of maternal obesity. ⋯ The study found that although the prevalence of being overweight or obese changed little over the period, the odds of having a CS if a woman is obese have increased for multiparas. For nulliparas, increasing CS rates were found to be strongly associated with an increase in maternal age over the period which is important because of the evidence that Irish women are choosing to defer having their first baby until later in life.
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The main somatic symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are chronic musculoskeletal pain, stiffness, and fatigue, all of which are related to the muscle system and its functioning. ⋯ Whether in newly diagnosed or established disease, muscle measurement values and quality of life parameters were significantly decreased in patients with FMS compared with healthy controls.