STUDY DESIGN Randomized Clinical Trial. INTRODUCTION Hand exercises have been recommended as treatment for hand osteoarthritis (OA) but research evidence is sparse. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To investigate effects of daily 16-week home-based hand exercise among persons with hand OA. METHODS Forty-six older adults completed a crossover trial with washout between exercise and sham treatments. Th...

BACKGROUND A Polypill is proposed for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people judged to be at risk on account of their age alone. Its efficacy in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure is uncertain. METHODS We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of a Polypill among individuals aged 50+ without a history of cardiovascular disease and compa...

BACKGROUND Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in the US. Approximately 70-90% of the TBI cases are classified as mild, and up to 25% of them will not recover and suffer chronic neurocognitive impairments. The main pathology in these cases involves diffuse brain injuries, which are hard to detect by anatomical imaging yet noticeable in metabolic imaging. Th...

In the Indian subcontinent, Leishmania donovani, the parasite causing visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is transmitted by the sand fly vector Phlebotomus argentipes. Long lasting insecticide treated nets (LN) have been postulated as alternative or complement to Indoor Residual Spraying but there are few field studies evaluating the entomological efficacy of different nets against this vector. We cond...

AIMS To analyse the clinical significance and related factors of thirst and xerostomia and to find methods to alleviate thirst and xerostomia in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. METHODS Forty-two MHD patients were included for observational study and eleven patients were enrolled for crossover trial. Thirst was assessed by 100-mm visual analog scales (VAS) and dialysis thirst inventor...

OBJECTIVE To assess in a randomized crossover trial the efficacy of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in improving glycemic control and health-related quality of life in type 1 diabetic patients with long-standing poor glycemic control. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 79 patients in 11 Dutch centers were randomized to 16 weeks of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion followed...