Blood Sedimentation

As the elderly population is increasing rapidly, there is a lot of scientific interest in clarifying the differential life-style, genetic, biochemical and molecular factors contributing to mortality or exceptional longevity. Within the framework of the ZINCAGE project, 249 old (60-85 years) and nonagenarian Greek subjects (>/=85 years old) were recruited and anthropometrical, blood and biochemical indices as well as blood pressure measurements were obtained.

BACKGROUND: Aging is associated with low-grade elevation of circulating inflammatory markers, leading to increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The Mediterranean diet has been suggested as a determinant of longevity. In the current study, we investigated the impact of the Mediterranean diet on inflammatory status in old subjects. METHODS: Within the ZINCAGE study, 957 healthy old subjects (>or=60 years old) from five European countries were recruited.

The gum resin of Boswellia serrata, known in Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine as Salai guggal, contains boswellic acids, which have been shown to inhibit leukotriene biosynthesis. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study forty patients, 23 males and 17 females in the age range of 18 - 75 years having mean duration of illness, bronchial asthma, of 9.58 +/- 6.07 years were treated with a preparation of gum resin of 300 mg thrice daily for a period of 6 weeks.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that homeopathy is effective in reducing the symptoms of joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHOD: This was a 6-month randomized, cross-over, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centre study set in a teaching hospital rheumatology out-patient clinic.

Low-energy diets and fasting have suppressive effects on rheumatoid arthritis. It was reported recently that urine levels of pentosidine (i.e., an advanced glycation end product formed by glycosylation) is associated with the activity of rheumatoid arthritis. We conducted a regimen of caloric restriction combined with fasting in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and then evaluated urinary pentosidine levels. Ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis underwent a 54-day caloric restriction program.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease with unknown aetiology that causes the immune system to attack the joints (synoviums), leading to chronic inflammation. According to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), RA falls into the category of Impediment disease ("Bi" syndrome), that is, poor circulation of qi and blood (stasis). Tongue diagnosis is an important method of TCM to detect blood stasis.

AIM: Chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction. The objective was to study the efficacy and safety of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) inhibitor (benfotiamine 50 mg + pyridoxamine 50 mg + methylcobalamin 500 μg, Vonder(®) (ACME Lifescience, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, India)) on endothelial function in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Chronic inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction which leads to accelerated atherosclerosis. Accelerated atherosclerosis contributes to premature cardiovascular disease and increased cardiovascular mortality in AS. Spironolactone inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines and improves endothelial dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis. This study aimed to determine the effect of spironolactone in antitumor necrosis factor (TNF)-naive AS patients.