ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral and pharmacologic treatment of depression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Subjects (n = 54) with confirmed diagnoses of both major depression and RA were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 1) cognitive-behavioral/pharmacologic group (CB-PHARM), 2) attention-control/pharmacologic group, or 3) pharmacologic control group. Measures of depression, psychosocial status, health status, pain, and disease activity were collected at baseline, posttreatment (10 weeks), 6-month followup, and 15-month followup. Data were analyzed to compare the treatment effectiveness of the groups; data also were aggregated to examine the effects of antidepressive medication over time. Lastly, a no-treatment control group was defined from a cohort of persons who declined participation. RESULTS: Baseline comparisons on demographic and dependent measures revealed a need to assess covariates on age and education; baseline scores on dependent measures also were entered as covariates. Analyses of covariance revealed no statistically significant group differences at postintervention, 6-month followup, or 15-month followup, except higher state and trait anxiety scores for the CB-PHARM group at the 15-month followup. In the longitudinal analyses of the effects of antidepressive medication, significant improvement in psychological status and health status were found at posttreatment, 6-month followup, and 15-month followup, but no significant improvements were shown for pain or disease activity. In addition, the comparison of the aggregated pharmacologic group with a no-treatment group revealed a statistically significant benefit for the 3 groups that received the antidepressive medication. CONCLUSION: In persons with RA, cognitive-behavioral approaches to the management of depression were not found to be additive to antidepressant medication alone, but antidepressant intervention was superior to no treatment.
Subject(s)
Antidepressive Agents/therapeutic use , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Depressive Disorder, Major/etiology , Depressive Disorder, Major/therapy , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/physiopathology , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/psychology , Combined Modality Therapy , Female , Health Status , Humans , Male , Mental Health , Middle Aged , Pain Management , Prospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APLAS), though an uncommon entity involves multiple organs in the body. The antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) refer to several groups of autoantibodies against negatively charged phospholipids occurring independently or in association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and related autoimmune disorders. Several studies to date found those patients with APLA, predominantly IgG and to lesser extent IgM isotype and lupus anticoagulant (LAC) are associated with arterial and venous thrombosis, recurrent fetal loss, thrombocytopenia, and livedo reticularis. We have described two cases of APLAS, one primary and the other secondary, their management and cardiac manifestations. Cardiac manifestations of the syndrome include coronary artery thrombosis and valvular heart disease. These can be serious and difficult to treat. Although the exact treatment of the cardiac manifestations of APLAS is not clear, anticoagulation is the currently recommended therapy.
