International journal of clinical practice
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Feb 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Pragmatic Clinical TrialOn-demand treatment with alverine citrate/simeticone compared with standard treatments for irritable bowel syndrome: results of a randomised pragmatic study.
In routine practice, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms are often difficult to be relieved and impair significantly patients' quality of life (QoL). A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study has shown the efficacy of alverine citrate/simeticone (ACS) combination for IBS symptom relief. ⋯ After 6 months, on-demand ACS treatment led to a greater improvement of QoL, reduced the burden of the disease and was more effective for IBS symptom relief than usual treatments.
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Feb 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEffect of tamsulosin on stone expulsion in proximal ureteral calculi: an open-label randomized controlled trial.
Medical expulsive therapy (MET) using alpha-blockers is effective for distal ureteral calculi (UC). We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of tamsulosin for proximal UC expulsion. ⋯ Tamsulosin was associated with significantly higher stone expulsion rate and shorter expulsion time in proximal UC ≤ 6 mm compared with conservative managements only. Our results indicate that similar to patients with distal UC, MET using tamsulosin is a reasonable treatment option for patients with proximal UC.
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Feb 2014
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPrevalence of persistent lipid abnormalities in statin-treated patients: Belgian results of the Dyslipidaemia International Study (DYSIS).
A substantial number of cardiovascular events are not prevented by statin therapy, which is still regarded as the first-line therapy for hyperlipidaemia. Insights into the prevalence of lipid abnormalities of statin-treated patients in Belgium are lacking and may shed light on an unmet medical need for optimal use of current lipid-lowering therapies. This study aims to assess the prevalence and types of persistent lipid abnormalities in patients receiving statin therapy in a real-life primary care setting in Belgium. ⋯ In Belgium, lipid abnormalities remained highly prevalent despite statin treatment, with more than half of all patients not reaching their LDL-C treatment goal. This finding clearly indicates that more aggressive lipid-lowering treatment is required in clinical daily practice to achieve the goals of the current guidelines.