Current medical research and opinion
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol via a dry powder inhaler in Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of budesonide (BUD)/formoterol (FORM) compared with BUD, both administered by way of a dry powder inhaler (Turbuhaler * ). * Turbuhaler is a registered trade name of AstraZeneca, Södertälje, Sweden. ⋯ In Chinese patients with moderate to very severe COPD, fixed combination treatment with BUD/FORM resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in lung function, health-related quality-of-life, COPD symptoms and a reduction in reliever use, compared with BUD alone and both treatments were well tolerated. Treatment of BUD/FORM for milder patients with COPD and head to head comparison of Chinese and Caucasians in future studies will be helpful to expand upon the findings of the current clinical trial.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and safety of oral strontium ranelate for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: rationale and design of randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
The osteoporosis drug strontium ranelate dissociates bone remodelling processes. It also inhibits subchondral bone resorption and stimulates cartilage matrix formation in vitro. Exploratory studies in the osteoporosis trials report that strontium ranelate reduces biomarkers of cartilage degradation, and attenuates the progression and clinical symptoms of spinal osteoarthritis, suggesting symptom- and structure-modifying activity in osteoarthritis. We describe the rationale and design of a randomised trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of strontium ranelate in knee osteoarthritis. ⋯ This randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study will establish the potential of strontium ranelate in improving structure and symptoms in patients with knee osteoarthritis.