Archive for month: December, 2024

A recent multi-center study conducted at 2 tertiary care hospitals found that over half of women with endometriosis with undiagnosed iron deficiency by raising concerns about the impact of this condition on overall health and quality of life. The findings were published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.

This research included a total of 251 non-pregnant women aged 18 to 50 who were either clinically or surgically diagnosed with symptomatic endometriosis. The participants underwent blood tests, including complete blood count, ferritin levels, and transferrin saturation. This study also completed comprehensive surveys detailing their medical and surgical history, demographics, and specific symptoms of iron deficiency and endometriosis.

The outcomes of this study found 53.4% of participants to have iron deficiency, and 13.5% had progressed to iron deficiency anemia. Many women with iron deficiency reported experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), a common symptom of endometriosis. This study found that HMB was not always a definitive indicator of iron deficiency. While 49.6% of women with iron deficiency reported HMB, 47% of women with iron deficiency did not experience HMB at all.

The findings emphasized the importance of transferrin saturation as a diagnostic marker. In cases where ferritin levels appeared normal (≥30 ng/mL), transferrin saturation was instrumental in diagnosing iron deficiency by accounting for 35.7% of such cases. This underlined the necessity of comprehensive screening beyond routine ferritin tests for identifying iron deficiency in this population.

The study also highlighted the broader impact of iron deficiency on well-being. The patients with iron deficiency had significantly lower scores on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Subscale which indicated more severe fatigue when compared to the ones without iron deficiency. Fatigue is a particularly debilitating symptom for women with endometriosis, affecting their daily functioning and quality of life.

This research suggests that undiagnosed iron deficiency is highly prevalent among women with endometriosis, even in the absence of classic symptoms like HMB. Further, the study calls for future research to assess the potential benefits of iron supplementation in managing symptoms and improving quality of life for these patients. This study highlights on an often-overlooked area of endometriosis care and reminds the need for targeted interventions to address iron deficiency in affected women.

Reference:

Goldberg, H. R., McCaffrey, C., Solnik, J., Lemos, N., Sobel, M., Kives, S., Malinowski, A. K., Shehata, N., Matelski, J., Szczech, K., & Murji, A. (2024). High prevalence of undiagnosed iron deficiency in endometriosis patients: A cross‐sectional study. In International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.15994

A new study published in the Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that in stroke patients with previous instances of falls and balance issues, bone mineral density (BMD) may vary on the paretic and nonparetic sides. 90% of stroke survivors have some functional difficulties, such as muscular weakness, discomfort, stiffness, cognitive dysfunction, poor balance, and frequent falls. Stroke is one of the primary causes of long-term disability. Reduced exercise and sedentary lifestyles brought on by these impairments may result in subsequent reductions in function and disability status.

It is generally recognized that stroke patients have a higher risk of fractures from unintentional falls and post-stroke osteoporosis, especially of the hip. Bone mineral density (BMD) measures are frequently taken unilaterally, and only a small number of the most recent stroke recommendations advise doing so throughout follow-up in this cohort. Tugba Atan and colleagues undertook this study to compare the femoral hip BMD of stroke patients who fall vs those who do not, as well as to evaluate variations in balance, mobility, and fear of falling, and to investigate differences between paretic and nonparetic sides within each group.

The inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit of a tertiary university hospital was the subject of this cross-sectional investigation. The primary subjects of the study were hospitalized stroke patients with unilateral hemiplegia. The femoral neck BMD measurement was the main result. BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Functional ambulation classification (FAC), timed up-and-go test (TUGT), Berg balance scale (BBS), and falls efficacy scale-international (FES-I) were examples of secondary outcomes.

A total of 44 patients were enrolled. 50% of the volunteers, or 22, reported falling. The BMD and T-scores of the paretic, nonparetic femoral neck, and lumbar spine did not differ statistically significantly between fallers and non-fallers. Among the fallers, the BBS was considerably lower (p =.033, 95% CI 0.17-19.05). Statistically, the fallers had a considerably greater FES-I.

In the non-fallers (n = 22), there was no significant difference in the BMD and T-scores of the femoral neck between the paretic and nonparetic limbs (p =.908, 95% CI -0.03-0.03; p =.886, 95% CI -0.27-0.24), but there was a difference in the fallers. Overall, this study highlights that hip BMD can vary between paretic and nonparetic sides, particularly in stroke patients who have experienced falls and balance issues in the past. 

Reference:

Atan, T., Ekinci, U., Uran San, A., Demir, Y., Guzelkucuk, U., Kesikburun, S., Uyar Koylu, S., & Tan, A. K. (2024). The relationship between falls and hip bone mineral density of paretic and nonparetic limbs after stroke. In PM&R. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmrj.13290

New Delhi- The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has finally announced the DNB PDCET 2024 counselling dates on its official website. As per the schedule, the DNB PDCET Round 2 choice filling and locking process has already started from December 16, 2024, in online mode. The DNB PDCET Counselling 2024 choice filling and locking link is active on the official website of NBE Counselling.