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Autophagy is central to the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis across species. Accordingly, autophagy disorders are linked to a variety of diseases from the embryonic stage until death, and the role of autophagy as a therapeutic target has been widely recognized. However, autophagy‐associated therapy for human diseases is still in its infancy and is supported by limited evidence. In this review, we summarize the landscape of autophagy‐associated diseases and current autophagy modulators. Furthermore, we investigate the existing autophagy‐associated clinical trials, analyze the obstacles that limit their progress, offer tactics that may allow barriers to be overcome along the way and then discuss the therapeutic potential of autophagy modulators in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Herbal medicine plays an important role in health, particularly in remote parts of developing areas with few health facilities. According to WHO estimates, about three-quarters of the world's population currently use herbs or traditional medicines to treat various ailments, including liver diseases. Several studies have found that the use of medicinal plants was effective in the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases. Hepatitis and liver cirrhosis associated with many clinical manifestations can be treated with allopathic medicines, but reports of a number of side effects including immunosuppression, bone marrow suppression, and renal complications have motivated researchers to explore more natural herbal medicines with low or no side effects and with high efficacy in treating hepatic diseases. Methods: Databases including PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar were searched for findings on the hepatoprotective effects of plants. Results: Various medicinal plants are used for the treatment of liver disorders. The range of alternative therapies is huge, and they are used worldwide, either as part of primary health care or in combination with conventional medicine. Hepatoprotective plants contain a variety of chemical constituents including flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, carotenoids, coumarins, phenols, essential oil, organic acids, monoterpenes, xanthenes, lignans, and lipids. Conclusion: This review shows that numerous plants are found to contain hepatoprotective compounds. However, further studies are needed to determine their association with existing regimes of antiviral medicines and to develop evidence-based alternative medicine to cure different kinds of liver disease in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Very little is known about the relationship between spontaneous and treatment-induced motor syndromes in Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Objective: We investigated the association between spontaneous NSS and EPS, with treatment-induced EPS in a homogenous sample of Black Africans with first episode schizophrenia. Methods: We examined Xhosa (South Africa) and Yoruba (Nigeria) patients, using the Neurological Evaluation Scale and extrapyramidal symptoms scale before and at 3 months after exposure to low dose flupenthixol decanoate. Pearson's correlations and Linear regression models, controlling for duration of untreated psychosis (D.U.P) and premorbid adjustments, were used in examining associations. Results: Among 99 participants in the baseline sample, 91 (91.8%) and 20 (20.2%) had at least one definite NSS and EPS, respectively, before exposure to antipsychotics. Treatment-induced EPS were recorded in 34 (38.6%). Spontaneous EPS was associated with treatment-emergent Akathisia in participants with a longer D.U.P (r = 0.75, β = 0.70, p = 0.008). This association was specific for Parkinsonism(r = 0.75, β = 0.85, p = 0.008) and dyskinesia (r = 0.75, β = 1.70, p = 0.008). Conclusion: Similar to previous findings for tardive dyskinesia in studies implementing longer-term follow-up, spontaneous EPS may also predict short-term antipsychotic-induced EPS such as akathisia. These results may be important for early identification of patients at risk of treatment-induced Akathisia-linked psychomotor agitation in first episode schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cancer is today's burning healthcare issue. Disease itself as well as side effects from treatment has massive impact on patients' lives. Tragic disease consequences happen, further worsened by inevitable adverse reactions of treatment. This study attempts to measure the various impact of disease among Nepalese cancer patients and their caretakers. Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive cross sectional study conducted in Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital for two months on l98 adult cancer patients and 20 caretakers. Face to face interview was done with semi structured interview schedule, 0-10 Numeric Pain Intensity Scale, Kuppuswamy's Socioeconomic Status Scale and Beck's Depression Inventory. Data entry and analysis was done on IBM SPSS V20. Results: Disease was seen in advanced age group with no sex wise variations. Majority was married, literate, from rural area, of upper caste and upper lower socioeconomic status. Cancer of lung, rectum and bile duct were more frequent in male in contrary to that of breast, ovary and cervix in female. Majority suffered from various impact of disease and side effects of the treatment like pain, depression, fatigue, weight loss, diminished physical activity and financial burden. Family members were equally prone to depression. Conclusion: Patients and their families are cosufferers in the battle against cancer. To confront the mounting impact of cancer epidemic in Nepal, cancer should be given high priority in national health programs, and population based cancer registry should be immediately established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to assess self-reported adherence and associated factors to isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for latent tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at health centers in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia. Patients and methods: An institution-based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from March 10 to June 11, 2016. A total of 154 eligible participants were included in the study, using the simple random sampling method, from the available four health centers and one teaching referral hospital that provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS patients. Adherence was measured by self-report of isoniazid (INH) tablets taken for the preceding 7 days. Participants were recruited through in-depth interviews. The collected data were entered and analyzed using the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results: The adherence level to IPT was 90.3% for the last 7 days of the study. ART was initiated for 84.4%, and all of them were on a first-line regimen. Isoniazid-related side effects were reported by 48 (31.2%) participants, of which the most commonly identified were abdominal pain, vomiting, skin rash, jaundice, and numbness. Only 3 (2%) participants discontinued from the study. In the bivariate logistic regression analysis, respondents who had received an explanation about IPT were 83% times more likely to be adherent compared to those who had not received it (95% CI, AOR: 0.266 [0.23-3.127]). Respondents who had taken IPT for ⩾5 months were more likely to be adherent than those who had taken it for 1-2 months [95% CI, COR: 1.484]. On the other hand, respondents who experienced side effects were 36% less likely to be adherent compared to those who did not experience any.Conclusion: The level of adherence to IPT among PLWHA was high. Among the predictors reported, carelessness and/or forgetfulness, side effects, and absence from home were the major factors identified for being nonadherent. Health professionals and the Ministry of Health should design and deliver appropriate health education tips and messages. Moreover, counseling of patients who are in their first 2 months of therapy should be strengthened further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an efficient therapy to control movement disorders of Parkinson's tremor. Stimulation of one area of basal ganglia (BG) by DBS with no feedback is the prevalent opinion. Reduction of additional stimulatory signal delivered to the brain is the advantage of using feedback. This results in reduction of side effects caused by the excessive stimulation intensity. In fact, the stimulatory intensity of controllers is decreased proportional to reduction of hand tremor. The objective of this study is to design a new controller structure to decrease three indicators: (i) the hand tremor; (ii) the level of delivered stimulation in disease condition; and (iii) the ratio of the level of delivered stimulation in health condition to disease condition. For this purpose, the authors offer a new closed‐loop control structure to stimulate two areas of BG simultaneously. One area (STN: subthalamic nucleus) is stimulated by an adaptive controller with feedback error learning. The other area (GPi: globus pallidus internal) is stimulated by a partial state feedback (PSF) controller. Considering the three indicators, the results show that, stimulating two areas simultaneously leads to better performance compared with stimulating one area only. It is shown that both PSF and adaptive controllers are robust regarding system parameter uncertainties. In addition, a method is proposed to update the parameters of the BG model in real time. As a result, the parameters of the controllers can be updated based on the new parameters of the BG model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study investigates the association between somatosensory amplification and the reporting of side effects. It establishes a German version of the Somatosensory Amplification Scale and examines its psychometric properties in a representative sample of the German population.Methods: Sample size was 2.469, with 51% taking any medication. Participants answered the Somatosensory Amplification Scale, Generic Assessment of Side Effects Scale, and indicated whether they were taking any medication and the type of medication. Correlational analysis and binary logistic regression were performed.Results: When examining a subsample reporting both medication intake and general bodily symptoms, participants higher in somatosensory amplification rated more of their general bodily symptoms as medication-attributed side effects. However, somatosensory amplification scores were not associated with the intake of any type of medication. In the overall sample, higher somatosensory amplification scores were associated with an increased report of bodily symptoms. Additionally, participants with higher somatosensory amplification reported intake of a greater number of different medications. The psychometric properties of the translated scale were good, and previously established associations of somatosensory amplification with demographic variables (age, sex) were replicated.Conclusion: Results suggest a possible attributional bias concomitant to somatosensory amplification which in turn may increase the reporting of side effects after medication intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents and are among the most commonly used classes of medications worldwide. However, their use has been associated with potentially serious dose-dependent gastrointestinal (GI) complications such as upper GI bleeding. GI complications resulting from NSAID use are among the most common drug side effects in the United States, due to the widespread use of NSAIDs. The risk of upper GI complications can occur even with short-term NSAID use, and the rate of events is linear over time with continued use. Although gastroprotective therapies are available, they are underused, and patient and physician awareness and recognition of some of the factors influencing the development of NSAID-related upper GI complications are limited. Herein, we present a case report of a patient experiencing a gastric ulcer following NSAID use and examine some of the risk factors and potential strategies for prevention of upper GI mucosal injuries and associated bleeding following NSAID use. These risk factors include advanced age, previous history of GI injury, and concurrent use of medications such as anticoagulants, aspirin, corticosteroids, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Strategies for prevention of GI injuries include anti-secretory agents, gastroprotective agents, alternative NSAID formulations, and nonpharmacologic therapies. Greater awareness of the risk factors and potential therapies for GI complications resulting from NSAID use could help improve outcomes for patients requiring NSAID treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]