ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic pain can be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy delivered in multidisciplinary settings. However, relapse is likely, and there is a need for cost-effective secondary interventions for persons with residual problems after rehabilitation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a guided Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural intervention for patients who had completed multidisciplinary treatment at a pain management unit. METHODS: A total of 72 persons with residual pain problems were included in the study and were randomized to either treatment for 8 weeks or to a control group who were invited to participate in a moderated online discussion forum. The participants had different chronic pain conditions, and a majority were women (72%). Twenty-two percent of the participants dropped out of the study before the post-treatment assessment. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated differences on the catastrophizing subscale of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Cohen's d = 0.70), in favour of the treatment group but a small within-group effect. Differences were also found on other measures of pain-related distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. A 6-month follow-up exhibited maintenance of improvements. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that Internet-delivered treatment can be partly effective for persons with residual problems after completed pain rehabilitation.
Subject(s)
Chronic Pain/therapy , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Adult , Anxiety/therapy , Anxiety Disorders/rehabilitation , Anxiety Disorders/therapy , Chronic Pain/rehabilitation , Female , Humans , Internet , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Therapy, Computer-Assisted/methods , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The risk of severe complications arising from primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is increased during pregnancy. Gestational pHPT often goes undiagnosed, and by the time it is diagnosed, a majority of women have endured one or more failed pregnancies. During pregnancy, active transport of calcium ions from the mother to the fetus leads to suppression of the fetal parathyroids. When the prenatal pool of calcium is depleted, the newborn may develop neonatal hypocalcemic tetany. The mother, in turn, may suffer from worsening hypercalcemia and a hypercalcemic crisis after delivery. Awareness and confirmation of the diagnosis may be crucial for the outcome. The only definitive treatment of pHPT is parathyroidectomy, which should be recommended in most cases. Our two cases illustrate both the importance of and the difficulty in detecting pHPT during pregnancy, as well as some of the serious complications that may occur during pregnancy and after delivery.
Subject(s)
Hyperparathyroidism, Primary/diagnosis , Pregnancy Complications/diagnosis , Adenoma/complications , Adenoma/diagnosis , Adult , Female , Humans , Hyperparathyroidism, Primary/complications , Hyperparathyroidism, Primary/surgery , Hypocalcemia/etiology , Infant, Newborn , Male , Parathyroid Neoplasms/complications , Parathyroid Neoplasms/diagnosis , Parathyroidectomy , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications/surgeryABSTRACT
State of the art lightscanning of the breast was tested against mammography in 2568 women in a Swedish multicenter study. The study was in two parts. One was in women with symptoms from the breasts (the clinical study) comprising 3178 examined breasts with 198 cancers; the other in asymptomatic women (the screening study) comprising 1909 examined breasts with 126 cancers. In women with symptoms from the breasts, lightscanning did not contribute to clinical examination and mammography. In the screening situation, it was poor to pick up small cancers. Mammography alone falsely diagnosed cancer in 6.9% of the patients whereas lightscan falsely diagnosed cancer in 19.1%. Lightscan was not better than mammography in young women. The study shows that lightscanning in its current form is inferior to standard mammography.
