Panminerva medica
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The Lady Prelox® and placebo control groups were comparable at inclusion with regard to the total Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score, as well as for the six individual FSFI domains, with 40 women (50.1±3.1 years) and 43 women (51.2±2.3 years), respectively. RESULTS:At baseline the women in the verum group presented with a mean total FSFI score of 44.6±24.1 which increased significantly already after four weeks treatment with Lady Prelox® to 70.9±18.5 and further increased to 71.7±23.9 after completion of the eight-week trial period. In the control group the mean total FSFI was 44.1±22.8 at inclusion and non-significantly increased to 45±21.4 after four weeks and 47.4±21.8 after eight weeks, respectively. The treatment with Lady Prelox® was comparatively significantly more effective than placebo after both four and eight weeks of treatment (P<0.05). The individual six FSFI domains related to desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain did all respond favourably to treatment with Lady Prelox®; however, with only marginable higher scores in the placebo group. Four women in each group dropped out because of inabilities to attend scheduled check-ups. No adverse effects were reported. ⋯ This study opens an interesting perspective for women experiencing moderate sexual function impairment and suggests a promising new treatment option. Further studies with larger numbers of women, including also premenopausal and perimenopausal women are warranted.
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Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are frequent findings in MRI scans of elderly subjects. Depending on the MRI protocols applied 4.7% to 24.4% of community-based subjects show incidental CMBs. The rates reported for various types of ischemic strokes and intracerebral hemorrhages vary between 19.4% and 68.5%. ⋯ They do not provide enough evidence to consider CMBs as a contraindication for antithrombotic agents in primary and secondary stroke prevention. CMBs are likely to unfavourably affect cognitive functioning. It remains to be determined if direct lesion-related effects are responsible for this finding or if CMBs are sole markers of more extensive tissue damage in the wake of cerebral small vessel disease leading to widespread visible but also non-visible tissue destruction with a high likelihood for cognitive consequences.
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Herein, we review evidence that systemic insulin-resistance diseases linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis promote neurodegeneration. Insulin-resistance dysregulates lipid metabolism, which promotes ceramide accumulation with attendant inflammation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. ⋯ These abnormalities establish or help propagate a cascade of neurodegeneration associated with increased ER stress and ceramide generation, which exacerbate brain insulin-resistance, cell death, myelin degeneration, and neuro-inflammation. The data suggest that a mal-signaling network mediated by toxic ceramides, ER stress, and insulin-resistance should be targeted to disrupt positive feedback loops that drive the AD neurodegeneration cascade.
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Comparative Study
Time course of proadrenomedullin in the early phase of septic shock. A comparative study with other proinflammatory proteins.
It has been shown that pro-adrenomedullin is a good marker of the severity of septic shock but there are no data on the early changes in serum pro-adrenomedullin concentrations in patients with shock. ⋯ Proadrenomedullin is a reliable prognostic marker in patients with shock; further studies on a more consistent number of septic patients will definitively assess whether proadrenomedullin may replace the current prognostic markers in critically ill patients with shock due to sepsis.
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Hyaluronic acid (HA), an endogenous substance whose concentration increases during the process of wound repair, can be manufactured in order to use it as an exogenous intervention able to reduce the time to wound repair and improve the quality of the scar. The role of HA as a key component of the extracellular matrix structure has been recognized for many decades, while its actions on cells involved in the process of tissue repair has been partly clarified only in the last few years. ⋯ The molecular patterns leading to cell activation have been substantially clarified and it is now widely accepted that cellular actions of hyaluronic acid are mediated by specific surface receptors, including CD44, RHAMM and toll like receptors. Elucidation of the mechanisms of cellular activation will allow an optimal use of exogenous hyaluronan and its derivatives in the wound care setting.