Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 5 Articles
Although ginseng has long been broadly used in clinical settings around the world, few clinical trials on ginseng have been\nconducted. The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the characteristics of ginseng clinical trials\nregistered in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) as of December 2017 regarding their frequency,\ndesign, type of ginseng, dosage, duration, condition, funding sources, and publication status. A total of 134 ginseng clinical studies\nwere registered from2002 to 2017, of which 60.4% were completed and 23.1% are actively recruiting participants. A large number of\ntrials were associated with aspects of high-quality trial design. Overall, 94% of the trials employed randomized allocation to study\narms, 78.4% were double-blind studies using placebo as one of the control groups, and 71% were published as completed trials.\nTrials whose sample size was restricted to fewer than 100 participants accounted for 74.7% of the total. Of the primary funding\nsources for ginseng studies, 67.2% were nonindustry organizations. The ginseng clinical trials were heterogeneous with respect\nto ginseng species and variety, indications, dose, duration, and participant characteristics. Clearly, stricter and methodologically\nsuitable studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of ginseng....
Objective. To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and risk factors in patients with lung cancer and COPD. Materials\nandMethods.We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 282 patients with lung cancer, including 174 and 108 patients with and\nwithout COPD, respectively. Information on age, sex, smoking status, and histologic type was obtained from medical records.\nResults. Lung cancer patients with COPD and those with the chronic bronchitis (CB) phenotype had higher smoking indices\ncompared to those without COPD (723.95 �± 631.48 and 920.95 �± 712.93 versus 418.40 �± 506.84; ...
Purpose. To analyze and compare the clinical registration information about acupuncture and moxibustion for intervention\ncharacteristics. Methods. Clinical trials fromthe International Clinical Trials Registry Platformof theWorldHealth Organization in\nacupuncture and moxibustion were comprehensively collected from 2013 to 2015; data were independently screened and extracted\nby two retrievers, and relevant data involving either basic descriptions or intervention characteristics were analyzed. Results. 425\nacupuncture andmoxibustion registered clinical trials were included; 88.00% (374/425) were designed as controlled studies, among\nwhich 38.59% (164/425) had shamacupuncture as the control group.Themost common diseaseswere pain-related at approximately\n19.29% (82/425) of trials. Reports on the intervention information in these acupuncture and moxibustion clinical studies were not\nsufficiently presented; these reports included the reporting of names of points (39.8%), the method of needle stimulation (32.5%),\nneedle type (29.6%), needle retention time (34.1%), the number of treatment sessions (22.4%), and the frequency and duration of\ntreatment sessions (38.1%). Conclusion. The registration information for the clinical trials of acupuncture and moxibustion was\nquite low according to this investigational study. Steps should be taken to improve the quality of acupuncture and moxibustion\nregistration information....
Background. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) are two norm-referenced scales\ncommonly used to identify the presence of depression and anxiety in clinical research. Unfortunately, several researchers have\nmistakenly applied index score criteria to rawscores when assigning clinical significance and symptom severity ratings.This study\nexamined the extent of this problem. Method. 102 papers published over the six-year period from2010 to 2015 were used to establish\ntwo convenience samples of 60 usages of each Zung scale. Results. In those papers where cut-off scores were used (i.e., 45/60\nfor SDS and 40/60 for SAS), up to 51% of SDS and 45% of SAS papers involved the incorrect application of index score criteria\nto raw scores. Inconsistencies were also noted in the severity ranges and cut-off scores used. Conclusions. A large percentage\nof publications involving the Zung SDS and SAS scales are using incorrect criteria for the classification of clinically significant\nsymptoms of depression and anxiety.Themost common errorââ?¬â?applying index score criteria to raw scoresââ?¬â?produces a substantial\nelevation of the cut-off points for significance. Given the continuing usage of these scales, it is important that these inconsistencies\nbe highlighted and resolved....
Primary Ewing sarcoma (ES) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET)\nare considered as Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT), characterized by\nchromosomal translocation t(11; 22) (q24; q12) leading to a chimeric transcript\nEWS-FLI1 in 85% of cases. It typically involves the soft tissues of the\nchest wall, pelvis, paravertebral region, abdominal wall, retroperitoneal region\nand extremities in children, adolescents and young adults. It rarely occurs in\nthe female genital tract. We report an extremely rare case of advanced vulvar\nEwing sarcoma/PNET of the vulva confirmed by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization\n(FISH) in a 30-year-old woman. The patient was treated by 6 cycles\nof chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy with favourable outcome....
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