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The aim of this study was to establish whether a splint programme is effective in preventing the deterioration of already evident swan neck and boutonniere deformities in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A randomised clinical trial was done on 34 RA patients with swan neck and 34 RA patients with boutonniere deformities. The literature revealed that several factors such as age, gender, socio-economic status, time after onset of the illness and lifestyle could influence results. Care was taken to allocate, as far as possible equal numbers of patients with these attributes to the experimental and control groups. It became clear from the literature that swan neck and boutonniere deformities could manifest themselves in different forms and stages or grades of deterioration. Various splints to halt the downward spiral of the deformity were recommended, without proper scientific verification, by the authors. No specifications as to which splint was recommended for which form or grade of deformity or instructions for wearing of the splints were included. For the study the PIP hyperextension splint and the three-point-PIP extension splint was chosen for the swan neck and boutonniere deformities respectively. Patients were followed up for one year. Results were marginally positive for the prevent ion of swan neck deformities by the hyperextension splint programme, but results for the three-point PIP extension splint programmes were negative for grade I boutonniere deformities. Loss of flexor muscle strength was evident in almost all the groups (experimental and control) but more so for grade I swan neck and grade I boutonniere deformities. The variability of measurements were found to be large. Many possible sources of variation were identified, which included biological differences between people, different courses the illness could take and a weak test-retest reliability of some goniometer measurements. This fact and the relatively small sample subgroups caused some results to be not significant on the 5% level. From the significant findings, and other not significant tendencies that were too persistent to ignore, linked to the different manifestations and grades of swan neck and boutonniere deformities, recommendations were made. These suggestions will have to be tested by experimentation.

Ngan, Kit Shan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-187). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Investigar a eficácia da lama negra brasileira como tratamento para inflamação em modelos experimentais de artrite. O efeito antiinflamatório de aplicações de lama foi comparado ao tratamento com água aquecida e ausência de tratamento em modelos experimentais de artrite e osteoartrite induzidas em coelhos e em ratos, visando parâmetros inflamatórios e cartilagem. O tratamento com lama melhorou a infiltração de leucócitos e exerceu um efeito protetor parcial na sinóvia e cartilagem. Nossos resultados sugerem que a lama brasileira apresenta efeito antiinflamatório e pode ser útil como um método complementar ao tratamento de pacientes com doenças articulares crônicas / Investigate the effectiveness of a Brazilian black mud as treatment for inflammation in experimental models of arthritis. Effects of mud applications was compared with warm water and no treatment in experimental models of arthritis and osteoarthritis induced in rabbits and in rats, regarding inflammatory parameters and cartilage. Treatment with mud impaired leukocyte infiltration which was followed by a partial protective effect on synovium and cartilage. Our results show that Brazilian mud presents an anti-inflammatory effect and can be useful as a complementary approach to treat patients with chronicle articular diseases

Eighty-two patients with breast cancer, twenty-seven patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and sixty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis in this study were selected based on voluntary, randomization and double blind grouping criteria. / In nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, the decrease in percentage and the absolute count of T lymphocytes in the TCM group was significantly lower than those in the placebo group. Besides, the decrease of the absolute count of T helper and T suppressor in the TCM group was significantly lower than that in the placebo group (all p < 0.05). The decrease may be due to radiotherapy. However, there was no significant difference in plasma sIL-2R and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (sTNFR2) between the TCM group and the placebo group. / In rheumatoid arthritis patients, there was no significant difference in plasma. C-reactive protein (CRP), in the percentage, absolute count, and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+/NK/B lymphocytes between the TCM group and the placebo group. / Results showed that the absolute count of T helper lymphocytes (CD4+), the ratio of T helper lymphocytes (CD4+)/T suppressor and cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+), and the percentage and the absolute count of B lymphocytes were significantly elevated in the patients with breast cancer after taking Yunzhi-Danshen capsules, while plasma soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) concentration was significantly decreased (all p < 0.05). / This study shows that the selected traditional Chinese medicine have determinable immunomodulatory effects in patients with cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat chronic diseases and tumor allegedly by immunomodulatory mechanisms. Breast cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer are prevalent carcinoma diseases in Hong Kong. The immune system of such patients could be adversely affected during the course of conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the joints. The aim of this study was to assess the immunomodulatory effects of TCM Yunzhi-Danshen in auxiliary treatment of both kinds of cancer patients, and Lingzhi (Ganoderma Lucidum)-San Miao San ( Atractylodes lancea, Phellodendron amurense and Achyranthes bidentata B1) in supplementation treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. / by Bao Yixi. / "July 2005." / Adviser: Wai-Kei Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: B, page: 0166. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-167). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Investigar a eficácia da lama negra brasileira como tratamento para inflamação em modelos experimentais de artrite. O efeito antiinflamatório de aplicações de lama foi comparado ao tratamento com água aquecida e ausência de tratamento em modelos experimentais de artrite e osteoartrite induzidas em coelhos e em ratos, visando parâmetros inflamatórios e cartilagem. O tratamento com lama melhorou a infiltração de leucócitos e exerceu um efeito protetor parcial na sinóvia e cartilagem. Nossos resultados sugerem que a lama brasileira apresenta efeito antiinflamatório e pode ser útil como um método complementar ao tratamento de pacientes com doenças articulares crônicas / Investigate the effectiveness of a Brazilian black mud as treatment for inflammation in experimental models of arthritis. Effects of mud applications was compared with warm water and no treatment in experimental models of arthritis and osteoarthritis induced in rabbits and in rats, regarding inflammatory parameters and cartilage. Treatment with mud impaired leukocyte infiltration which was followed by a partial protective effect on synovium and cartilage. Our results show that Brazilian mud presents an anti-inflammatory effect and can be useful as a complementary approach to treat patients with chronicle articular diseases