Single dose dexamethasone prophylaxis of postembolisation syndrome after chemoembolisation in hepatocellular carcinoma patient:A randomised,double-blind,placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND Even in the immuno-oncology era,transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation(TACE)is the most effective way to treat intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Postembolisation syndrome(PES)is the most common side effect from TACE and there is still no standard prevention guideline.AIM To evaluate the efficacy of single dose intravenous dexamethasone regimen to prevent PES after TACE among patients with HCC.METHODS This study enrolled patients with HCC who had eligible indication for TACE without macrovascular invasion/extrahepatic metastasis.Patients were randomly assigned to either an intravenous single dose of dexamethasone 8 mg or placebo one hour before TACE.The primary outcome was a negative result of PES at 48 h after TACE,which was defined as score<2 of Southwest Oncology Group toxicity coding criteria using fever,nausea,vomiting and pain to calculated.And the secondary end point was duration of admission between two groups.RESULTS One hundred patients were randomly assigned 1:1.Under intention-to-treat analysis,49 patients were randomly assigned to the dexamethasone and 51 to the placebo groups.Both groups were similar for baseline characteristics.The negative PES rate was significantly higher in the dexamethasone group than in the placebo group(63.3%vs 29.4%;P=0.005).Mean Southwest Oncology Group toxicity coding PES was 2.14(95%CI:1.41-2.8)vs 3.71(95%CI:2.97-4.45)between the dexamethasone and placebo groups,respectively.Cumulative incidence of fever was significantly lower in dexamethasone group with P<0.001,pain,nausea and vomiting were also lower in the dexamethasone group compared with the placebo group(P=0.16,P=0.11,and P=0.49).The dexamethasone regimen was generally well tolerated by patients with HCC patients including those with hepatitis B virus infection and well-controlled diabetes mellitus.CONCLUSION Single dose dexamethasone was effective at preventing PES among patients with HCC treated with TACE.The study showed no adverse events of special interest related to dexamethasone.

Energy Drinks Do Not Improve Le Parkour Performance: A Randomized Controlled Study

Le Parkour is a sport where the athletes transpose common day-to-day obstacles in the best possible way. This sport demands elements like strength, focus and decision making;elements supposedly affected by energy drinks, with performance improvement. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of energy drink ingestion on Le Parkour athlete’s performance. Twelve male amateur athletes, mean age of 23.5 ± 2.74, took part in this randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled study. Subjects were randomly assigned to drink: 250 ml of energy drink, 500 ml of energy drink or placebo. Forty minutes after the beverage consumption, they were evaluated in a specific circuit performance test (time to complete the circuit) followed by a perceived exertion and a circuit technical difficulty evaluation. We also evaluated heart rate in 3 different moments: rest, pre-circuit and post-circuit. All variables were collected in 3 different experimental days. Time, perceived exertion and technical difficulty were higher in the first day compared to the others. Heart rate did not show a difference when we compared the days. Drinking one or two cans of an energy drink did not improve performance of Le Parkour athletes in a sport specific test. It also did not change heart rate or perceived exertion.

The difference of Park and Streitberger singleblind needles from Takakura double-blind needle

In a recent study aimed at validating the Park sham needle for use as a double-blind control intervention,To and Alexander concluded that the practitioner who was performing acupuncture recognized the type of needle[1].This paper may lead the reader to misunderstand the design and purpose of placebo/sham acupuncture[2–6]which have been developed in recent decades for the purpose of acupuncture research.

Efficacy and safety of Shenyankangfu Tablet,a Chinese patent medicine,for primary glomerulonephritis:A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background:Shenyankangfu Tablet(SYKFT)is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease.Objective:This trial compared the efficacy and safety of SYKFT,for the control of proteinuria in primary glomerulonephritis patients,against the standard drug,losartan potassium.Design,setting,participants and intervention:This was a multicenter,double-blind,randomized,controlled clinical trial.Primary glomerulonephritis patients,aged 18-70 years,with blood pressure≤140/90 mmHg,estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR)>45 mL/min per 1.73 ㎡,and 24-hour proteinuria level of 0.5-3.0 g,were recruited in 41 hospitals across 19 provinces in China and were randomly divided into five groups:SYKFT,losartan potassium 50 mg or 100 mg,SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg or 100 mg.Main outcome measu res:The primary outcome was change in the 24-hour proteinuria level,after 48 weeks of treatment.Results:A total of 735 participants were enrolled.The percent decline of urine protein quantification in the SYKFT group after 48 weeks was 8.78%±2.56%(P=0.006)more than that in the losartan 50 mg group,which was 0.51%±2.54%(P=1.000)less than that in the losartan 100 mg group.Compared with the losartan potassium 50 mg group,the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg group had a 13.39%±2.49%(P<0.001)greater reduction in urine protein level.Compared with the losartan potassium 100 mg group,the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 100 mg group had a 9.77%±2.52%(P=0.001)greater reduction in urine protein.With a superiority threshold of 15%,neither was statistically significant.eGFR,serum creatinine and serum albumin from the baseline did not change statistically significant.The average change in TCM syndrome score between the patients who took SYKFT(-3.00[-6.00,-2.00])and who did not take SYKFT(-2.00[-5.00,0])was statistically significant(P=0.003).No obvious adverse reactions were observed in any group.Conclusion:SYKFT decreased the proteinuria and improved the TCM syndrome scores of primary glomerulonephritis patients,with no change in the rate of decrease in the eGFR.SYKFT plus losartan potassium therapy decreased proteinuria more than losartan potassium therapy alone.Trial registration number:NCT02063100 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

An intervention study to prevent gastric cancer by micro-selenium and large dose of allitridum

Background People have more and more concerned about allitridum as studies have shown that taking more raw garlic associated with a lower risk for cancers of the alimentary system In the present study, we tried to examine whether a large dose of allitridum and a microdose of selenium prevent gastric cancer Methods A double-blind intervention study was performed on the participants aged (35-74) years, who had matched at least one of the following criteria: (1) a medical history of stomach disorder, (2) a family history of tumour, or (3) smoking and/or alcohol consumption A total of 2526 and 2507 persons were randomly enrolled into intervention group and control group respectively from 288 natural villages of seven communities in Qixia County, Shandong Province, China Each person of the intervention group orally took 200 mg synthetic allitridum every day and 100 μg selenium every other day for one month of each year during November 1989 to December 1991. At the same time, people in control group were given 2 placebo capsules containing corn oid with the identical appearance to that in the intervention group Results For all subjects the large dose of allitridum was accepted and no harmful side effects were found during the study In the first follow-up five years (1992-1997) after stopping the intervention, the morbidity rates of malignant tumours in the intervention group declined by 22%, in contrast to the control group, declined by 47 3% After adjusting for age, gender, and other potential confounders, relative risks (RRs) for all tumours and gastric cancer of the whole population were 0 67 (95%CL: 0 43-1 03) and 0 48 (95%CL: 0 21-1 06), respectively, and for male group they were 0 51 (95%CL: 0 30-0 85) and 0 36 (95%CL: 0 14-0 92), respectively. No signigicantly protective effect was found for the female subgroup DConclusion The present study proves that large doses of allitridum and microdorse of selenium may effectively prevent gastric cancer ,especially in men.

Clinical Evidence on the Effects of Saffron(Crocus Sativus L.)in Anxiety and Depression

Crocus sativus L.,a member of the Iridaceae family,commonly known as saffron has very much popular as both medicine and spice.Earlier saffron was used as one of the important constituents in opioid preparations for pain relief.Its uses in the treatment of mild-to-moderate depression are well documented.Depression can affect the quality of life of individuals by causing headaches,difficulty in thinking,and loss of interest.Many clinical trials have been conducted for evaluating the efficacy of saffron in depression cases.Almost fifty constituents of C.sativus L are well known.Few of the major constituents include crocin,picrocrocin,and safranal.In the present review,the main focus is on the antidepressant effects of saffron and its major constituents,in which it was found that saffron has substantial effects on depression and anxiety because of double-blind study the data can be trusted.