NICE’s recent guidelines on “the size of your waist” unfairly penalizes shorter people

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just released its latest guidelines to assess and predict health risk, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Their latest advice is “Keep the size of your waist to less than half of your height”. We believe this advice is flawed and will seriously and unfairly penalize shorter people and lull taller people into a false sense of security. In this short communication, we provide this evidence. We consider this a serious oversight by NICE and feel strongly that this evidence needs to be made available in the public domain.     

揿针疗法分经论治神经根型颈椎病的临床研究

目的:观察揿针疗法分经论治神经根型颈椎病的临床疗效及可行性.方法:将70例神经根型颈椎病患者随机分为观察组与对照组,每组35例.对照组采用常规取穴的揿针疗法,观察组采用分经辨证取穴的揿针疗法.在治疗前后对两组患者的视觉模拟量表(VAS)评分及临床症状评分进行评价,并观察两组治疗方案的临床疗效.结果:治疗后,两组患者的VAS评分均较治疗前降低(均P<0.01),且观察组患者VAS评分低于对照组(P<0.01);两组患者的临床症状评分均较治疗前降低(均P<0.01),且观察组患者的临床症状评分低于对照组(P<0.01);观察组的临床总有效率高于对照组(P<0.05).结论:分经辨证取穴的揿针疗法能够降低神经根型颈椎病患者的疼痛评分,改善患者的临床症状,疗效优于常规揿针疗法.     

中药补气活血方离子导入配合穴位按摩治疗糖尿病周围神经病变效果观察

目的:探讨中药离子导入联合穴位按摩应用在糖尿病周围神经病变的临床疗效及应用价值。方法:选取2016年1月至2018年10月西宁市城北区中医院收治的糖尿病周围神经病变210例作为研究对象,按照治疗方案不同分为对照组和观察组,每组105例,对照组给予西医基础治疗,观察组在对照组基础上联合中药离子导入与穴位按摩治疗,比较2组治疗效果。结果:观察组患者治疗总有效率为97.14%显著高于对照组的86.67%,组间比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。观察组治疗后肢体麻木评分(1.53±0.11)分,肢体疼痛评分(1.34±0.12)分,倦怠乏力评分(1.23±0.14)分,手足畏寒评分(1.33±0.14)分;对照组疗后肢体麻木评分(2.06±0.38)分,肢体疼痛评分(1.96±0.34)分,倦怠乏力评分(1.84±0.37)分,手足畏寒评分(1.85±0.32)分,组间比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。观察组治疗后尺神经传导速度(51.68±3.75)m/s,胫神经传导速度(39.96±2.98)m/s,腓总神经传导速度(38.43±2.88)m/s;对照组治疗后尺神经传导速度(45.32±2.86)m/s,胫神经传导速度(37.04±2.41)m/s,腓总神经传导速度(35.06±2.19)m/s,组间比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:中药离子导入联合穴位按摩应用在糖尿病周围神经病变可以提升临床疗效,改善神经传导素,减轻临床症状评分,值得在临床推广应用。     

Contribution of Vision,Touch, and Hearing to the Use of Sham Devices in Acupuncture-Related Studies

This study investigates whether visual deprivation influences participants' accuracy in differentiating between real and sham acupuncture needles. It also evaluates the relative contributions of tactile, visual, and auditory cues that participants use in their decision-making processes. In addition, a simple sensory decision-making model for research using acupuncture sham devices as comparative controls is proposed. Forty healthy individuals underwent two conditions (blindfolded and sighted) in random sequence. Four sham and four real needles were randomly applied to the participants' lower limb acupoints (ST32 to ST39). Participants responded which needle type was applied. Participants then verbally answered a questionnaire on which sensory cues influenced their decision-making. The proportion of correct judgments, P(C), was calculated to indicate the participants' accuracy in distinguishing between the needle types. Visual deprivation did not significantly influence the participants' discrimination accuracy. Tactile cues were the dominant sensory modality used in decision-making, followed by visual and auditory cues. Sharp and blunt sensations were associated with the real and sham needles, respectively, for both conditions. This study confirmed that tactile cues were the main sensory modalities used in participant decision-making during acupuncture administration. Also, short-term blindfolding of participants during procedures will unlikely influence blinding effectiveness.Clinical trial registration numberNot applicable. This study does not fall under the definition of a clinical trial under the ICMJE guidelines.     

至阳八阵穴隔附子饼灸治疗糖尿病胃轻瘫临床研究

目的观察至阳八阵穴隔附子饼灸治疗脾胃气虚型糖尿病胃轻瘫的疗效及对胃泌素(GAS)、胃动素(MTL)和血管活性肠肽(VIP)水平的影响。方法86例脾胃气虚型糖尿病胃轻瘫患者随机分为对照组和治疗组,每组43例。治疗组给予至阳八阵穴隔附子饼灸;对照组口服枸橼酸莫沙必利片。治疗12周后观察胃轻瘫主要症状指数量表症状积分改善情况、胃排空率及血清GAS、MTL、VIP水平。结果治疗组治疗后在胃轻瘫主要症状指数量表症状积分及胃排空率方面明显高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组治疗后血清GAS、MTL水平明显高于对照组,血清VIP水平明显低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组总有效率为90.7%,明显高于对照组的72.1%(P<0.05)。结论采用至阳八阵穴隔附子饼灸能快速促进糖尿病胃轻瘫患者胃功能的恢复,改善症状和体征,其作用机制可能与升高患者血清GAS和MTL水平,降低VIP水平有关。     

隔药灸神阙八阵穴对术后粘连性肠梗阻患者疗效及炎性反应因子的影响

目的：探讨隔药灸神阙八阵穴对术后粘连性肠梗阻（AIO）患者疗效及血清白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、肿瘤坏死因子（TNF-α）水平的影响。方法：选取2013年1月至2017年4月唐山市人民医院收治的行腹腔手术患者280例作为研究对象，按照随机数字表法随机分为对照组和观察组，每组140例，对照组采用常规治疗；观察组在对照组基础上给予隔药灸神阙八阵穴，均治疗1周。比较2组患者临床疗效、治疗后肠功能评分、治疗前后胃动素（MOT）水平、IL-6、TNF-α水平。结果：观察组总有效率为91.43%，显著高于对照组77.14%（P<0.05）；治疗后，观察组恢复排气时间、腹部症状缓解时间、肠鸣音恢复时间均短于对照组（P<0.05）、2组患者MOT水平均低于治疗前，且观察组的MOT水平低于对照组（P<0.05）、2组患者的血清IL-6、TNF-α水平均显著低于治疗前，且观察组的血清IL-6、TNF-α水平均低于对照组（P<0.05）。结论：隔药灸神阙八阵穴治疗AIO疗效显著，能改善患者胃肠功能，降低MOT水平，有效调节血清IL-6、TNF-α水平。     

雷火灸联合搐鼻疗法治疗脾肾阳虚型乙肝肝硬化腹水的疗效观察

[目的]观察雷火灸联合搐鼻疗法治疗脾肾阳虚型乙肝肝硬化腹水的临床疗效。[方法]将中医辨证为脾肾阳虚型乙肝肝硬化腹水患者随机分为对照1组、对照2组及观察组,每组42例,3组均接受西医常规治疗,对照1组采用雷火灸治水四穴;对照2组采用中草药搐鼻疗法;观察组采用雷火灸治水四穴联合搐鼻疗法。疗程为4周,治疗后对各项指标进行观察。[结果]观察组分别与2个对照组临床总有效率比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗后,3组患者的中医症状评分、丙氨酸转氨酶、总胆红素、体重、腹围、脾厚、门静脉内径显著降低,且观察组显著低于对照1组、对照2组,均差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);治疗后白蛋白、凝血酶原活动度、平均24 h尿量显著升高,且观察组显著高于对照1组、对照2组,均差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。[结论]雷火灸治水四穴联合搐鼻疗法可以明显改善乙肝肝硬化腹水患者的肝功能、凝血功能及临床症状,降低门静脉压力、提高血浆胶体渗透压,临床疗效显著。     

Bayesian bent‐cable growth mixture tobit models for longitudinal data with skewness and detection limit: application to AIDS studies

This paper presents a new Bayesian methodology for identifying a transition period for the development of drug resistance to antiretroviral drug or therapy in HIV/AIDS studies or other related fields. Estimation of such a transition period requires an availability of longitudinal data where growth trajectories of a response variable tend to exhibit a gradual change from a declining trend to an increasing trend rather than an abrupt change. We assess this clinically important feature of the longitudinal HIV/AIDS data using the bent‐cable framework within a growth mixture Tobit model. To account for heterogeneity of drug resistance among subjects, the parameters of the bent‐cable growth mixture Tobit model are also allowed to differ by subgroups (subpopulations) of patients classified into latent classes on the basis of trajectories of observed viral load data with skewness and left‐censoring. The proposed methods are illustrated using real data from an AIDS clinical study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.