Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonly used to treat back pain, but little is known about factors associated with improvement.Methods: We used data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey to examine the associations between the perceived helpfulness of various CAM therapies for back pain.Results: Approximately 6% of the US population used CAM to treat their back pain in 2002. Sixty percent of respondents who used CAM for back pain perceived a "great deal" of benefit. Using multivariable logistic regression, the factor associated with perceived benefit from CAM modalities was reporting that a reason for using CAM was that "conventional medical treatment would not help" (odds ratio [
Background
Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), also known as Gut Fermentation Syndrome and Endogenous Ethanol Fermentation, is afflicting people worldwide, but little is known about ABS patients’ demographics, health history, lifestyle factors, and diet.
Method
We conducted a broad-based case–control survey study on 52 patients known to have a diagnosis of ABS and their household members. The research compares the symptomatic group (N = 28) to the asymptomatic group (N = 18) regarding lifestyle and health, diet, and medical history.
Results
With a response rate of 88% and using rank-sum tests, the data demonstrate that patients with ABS have significant differences compared to people without ABS in lower quality bowel movements (
P
= .048), more frequent bowel movements (
P
= .038), more reports of malodorous breath (
P
= .0001), and self-classify as having poorer health (
P
= .009). Furthermore, participants with ABS consume more water (
P
= .038), consume less tea and coffee (
P
= .033), eat fewer dairy products (
P
= .0185), eat less candy (
P
= .032), eat out less and rely on food prepared at home (
P
= .043), have more aversion to starch (
P
= .008), and have more food sensitivities (
P
= .043) than the group without ABS. The ABS group also reports more diarrhea (
P
= .048), higher amounts of yeast in their gastrointestinal tract (
P
= .015), and using acne medication for a longer time (
P
= .037) than the control group.
Conclusion
Patients with ABS have significant differences in their lifestyle and health, diet, and medical history compared to non-ABS participants and these differences warrant further research.
Background:We were interested to know if our older female patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) might have differing pathogens or rates of Escherichia coli antibiotic sensitivity and if our physicians managed them in a manner similar or dissimilar to the care provided to younger patients with no complications.Methods: This was a secondary analysis from patients excluded from a previous retrospective study regarding uncomplicated UTIs.Results: Twenty-six percent of total patients with UTIs were older than 65 and otherwise medically uncomplicated whereas 21% were older patients who did have complicating factors. E. coli was a pathogen in 81% of uncomplicated elders' and 54% of complicated elders' cultures. E. coli sensitivity rate to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMX/TMP) in both groups was 86%. Physicians were significantly less likely to prescribe SMX/TMP for complicated older patients with complications than for young patients with an uncomplicated UTI (P ؍ .017); there was a significant trend of physicians to be less likely to prescribe SMX/TMP with advancing age in a patient and complications across all 3 groups (P ؍ .011). Antibiotics rarely needed to be changed after cultures.Conclusions: The presence of E. coli on culture in patients with a UTI changes based on medical complications, not age. Being medically complex did not result in reduced sensitivity of E. coli to SMX/ TMP but was associated with increased rates of the presence of other pathogens. In our setting, treatment employed with SMX/TMP and without the use of culture and sensitivity may be effective for appropriately selected older women. Prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal approach to management.
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