New knowledge on the pathogenesis of the acute coronary syndromes provides the clinician with a better understanding of these important, often life-threatening, events and opens up new ways of managing them. The identification of the vulnerable plaque whilst important and possible pathologically still requires elaborate and often invasive methods. The central role of inflammation and the platel...

background: there is evidence that pulmonary function abnormalities are present in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (ibd). the aim of this case-control study was to assess the frequency of pulmonary dysfunction in patients with ibd. materials and methods: pulmonary function of 37 patients with ibd (8 with cd and 29 with uc) without any known pulmonary disease was tested by body-box plet...

Researchers have found that a variety of pain syndromes are related to a history of childhood abuse including chronic headaches and pelvic pain, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome. In one recent German study, “almost all” of the community sample of female sexual abuse survivors reported pain symptoms and other somatic complaints. In fact, pain was the most commonly occurring symptom (Te...

Bloating, abdominal discomfort or pain, disturbed bowel habits are very common symptoms, frequently reported by the patients soon after food ingestion. These symptoms may occur in different clinical conditions, such as functional bowel disorders, food adverse reactions, gluten-related syndromes, which frequently are interrelated. Consequently, in clinical practice, it is necessary to perform a ...

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in children is a common disorder, with prevalence estimates of approximately 1-2%. Furthermore, premature infants and children with other conditions including craniofacial disorders, obesity, neuromuscular disorders, Down syndrome, chronic lung disease, sickle cell anemia, central hypoventilation syndromes, and a number of other genetic and metabolic dise...

Thomas Kuhn’s landmark book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, postulated that scientific progress proceeds linearly until the accumulation of a sufficient weight of evidence that the current paradigm is unable to accommodate forces the reexamination of underlying assumptions, and a new paradigm must be established (1). Viewed through this framework, stunning advances of past decades in ...

The sleep-related breathing disorders have been categorized in various ways. The most basic schema divides them into obstructive or central apneic events. An American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Task Force Report published in 1999 defined four separate syndromes associated with abnormal respiratory events during sleep among adults, namely, obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS),...

AIM Aim of this study was to evaluate bowel function after colonic resection for diverticular disease and assess its impact on patients' quality of life. MATERIAL OF STUDY 47 patients who underwent urgent or elective surgery for diverticular disease were either personally contacted or interviewed by telephone and given a questionnaire. The Memorial Bowel functional index, the short form (36) ...

Use of helium-oxygen (He/O2) mixtures in critically ill patients is supported by a reliable and well understood theoretical rationale and by numerous experimental observations. Breathing He/O2 can benefit critically ill patients with severe respiratory compromise mainly by reducing airway resistance in obstructive syndromes such as acute asthma and decompensated chronic obstructive pulmonary di...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW It is now over 8 years since small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) was first introduced to the gastrointestinal community. The original capsule (Given Imaging, YoKneam, Israel) - a disposable 26 x 11 mm video capsule containing its own optical dome, light source, batteries, transmitter and antenna - is swallowed with water after a 12 h fast. The capsule is propelled via perista...