Chronic disease management for patients with respiratory disease

National and international awareness of the heavy burden of chronic disease has led to the development of new strategies for managing care. Elisabeth Bryant explains how self-care, education and support for more patients with complex needs should be built into planned care delivery, and emphasises that the patient is the key member of the care team.     

Living with lung disease

Pauline Adam is a 42-year-old former nurse and mother of one. She has a genetic lung condition called Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Deficiency (A1AD). This condition is rare, affecting about one in 3,000 people in the UK. Ms Adam lives in Edinburgh and is a long-time supporter of the British Lung Foundation (BLF). She is a former organiser of her local BLF Breathe Easy support group, but is currently not well enough to attend group meetings. She is mostly confined to a wheelchair and is reliant on constant oxygen therapy.     

Digestive disease with anemia

Anemia is often observed in digestive diseases such as gastroduodenal ulcers, esophageal varices, atrophic gastritis, malignant neoplasms, inflammatory bowel diseases, gastrectomy, malabsorption syndrome, and liver diseases. Anemia in these digestive diseases is caused by bleeding, iron deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency including pernicious anemia, chronic inflammation (anemia of chronic disorders), malnutrition, hypersplenism. Especially in case of gastrointestinal bleeding, double balloon enteroscopy has been recently introduced to contribute to the diagnosis and treatment as well as gastroendoscopy and colonoscopy. In the treatment of digestive disease with anemia, it is important to treat digestive diseases appropriately. In treatment of patients with anemia of unknown origin, examinations about digestive diseases should be considered.     

帕金森病与阿尔茨海默病患者的经颅超声图像分析

目的 对比分析帕金森病（PD）和阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者的经颅超声（TCS）图像变化特点。方法 对38例PD、28例AD及26名健康志愿者行TCS检查,分析其黑质回声、3脑室宽度及大脑中动脉血流参数变化特点。结果 黑质异常强回声比例PD组（31/38,81.58%）高于AD组（8/28,28.57%）和对照组（3/26,11.54%）,差异均有统计学意义（χ²=18.74、30.41,P均<0.001）,而AD组和对照组间无明显差异（χ²=2.41,P=0.120）;3脑室宽度AD组[（0.82±0.14）cm]大于PD组[（0.63±0.16）cm]和对照组[（0.56±0.16）cm],差异均有统计学意义（P均<0.001）,而PD组和对照组间差异无统计学意义（P=0.098）;双侧大脑中动脉平均流速AD组均低于PD组和对照组,右侧大脑中动脉搏动指数AD组高于PD组和对照组,差异均有统计学意义（P均<0.05）。结论 通过TCS检查,联合黑质回声、3脑室宽度及大脑中动脉血流变化,可为PD及AD的诊断提供有价值的神经影像学信息。     

Arthritis associated with systemic disease

The so-called variants of rheumatoid arthritis—Marie-Strumpell disease, Reiter's syndrome, colitic arthritis, psoriatic arthropathy—have certain features in common. Conditions frequently associated with these diseases include prostatitis, urethritis, ileitis, colitis, sacroiliitis, spondylitis, and ocular involvement. The anatomic basis of the overlap of certain of these diseases may be a venous circulation that drains the urethra and prostate and communicates with venous drainage of the sacroiliac and spinal joints.