BackgroundRheumatic diseases are a major health and financial burden for societies. The prevalence of rheumatic diseases may change over time, and therefore, we sought to estimate the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in an adult population of central Greece.MethodsIn this prospective cross-sectional population survey, a random sample of adult population was drawn from poll catalogues of a region in central Greece. A postal questionnaire was sent to 3,528 people for the presence of any rheumatic disease. All positive cases were further confirmed by clinical examination using the American College of Rheumatoloy criteria. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess risk factors for rheumatic diseases.ResultsThe response rate was 48.3% (1,705 answers). Four hundred and twenty individuals (24.6%) had a rheumatic disease. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was 0.58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.87), of psoriatic arthritis was 0.35% (95% CI, 0.33-1.13), of ankylosing spondylitis was 0.29% (95% CI, 0.28-0.94), of primary Sjögren's syndrome was 0.23% (95% CI, 0.22-0.75) and of systemic lupus erythematosus was 0.11% (95% CI, 0.11-0.37). One individual had systemic sclerosis (prevalence, 0.058%), 1 individual had dermatomyositis (prevalence, 0.058%; 95% CI, 0.05-0.18), 2 individuals had vasculitis (prevalence 0.11%; 95% CI, 0.11-0.37), 81 individuals had gout (prevalence, 4.75%; 95% CI, 4.41-5.13), and 304 individuals had osteoarthritis (OA) (prevalence 17.82%; 95% CI, 16.50-19.34). Gout was associated with male gender, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, and OA was associated with age, female gender, and hypertension.ConclusionsRheumatic diseases are common in central Greece, affecting nearly a quarter of adult population. OA and gout are the most common joint disorders.

Prior to disease onset, patients with pSS experience high psychological stress following major negative life events, without developing satisfactory adaptive coping strategies to confront their stressful life changes. Lack of social support may contribute to the relative risk of disease development.

Overall agreement between the QFT-G 'In Tube' assay and the TST in this unselected hospital population was low, mainly due to discordant TST-positive/QFT-negative results.

Purpose Diabetic retinopathy is a sight thratening chronic complication of diabetes and the leading cause of acquired blindness in adults.Population and family studies showed that pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy depends upon the interaction of several environmental and genetic factors. Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 and 2 is the major inhibitor of fibrinolysis and gene polymorphism has been related to hypofibrinolysis. Methods A case control study was carried out.Assesment of diabetic retinopathy was performed by ophthalmoscopy and fluoroangiography when indicated.The comparison of the groups of patients was performed according to the presence or absence of diabetic retinopathy.In each patient the genotype of pai‐1 and pai‐2 was determined using PCR and RFLP techniques. Results 246 controls & 352 cases observed SERPINB2 Statistical significance of the observed linkage disequilibrium: rs2070682 rs1050813 rs2227690 rs2227692 rs2227667 1.55e‐15 3.55e‐15 1.11e‐16 2.22e‐16 rs2070682 ‐ 2.22e‐16 1.78e‐15 0 rs1050813 ‐ ‐ 2.04e‐12 2.17e‐7 rs2227690 ‐ ‐ ‐ 3.02e‐8 Global result: Fisher's p value is 0.573984 Pearson's p value is 0.573939 SERPINE1 Statistical significance of the observed linkage disequilibrium: rs2070682 rs1050813 rs2227690 rs2227692 rs2227667 1.55e‐15 3.55e‐15 1.11e‐16 2.22e‐16 rs2070682 ‐ 2.22e‐16 1.78e‐15 0 rs1050813 ‐ ‐ 2.04e‐12 2.17e‐7 rs2227690 ‐ ‐ ‐ 3.02e‐8 Global result: Fisher's p value is 0.573984 Pearson's p value is 0.573939 Conclusion Based on the primary analysis derived some important relationship between gene polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy that even last the bonferroni correction.