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M V Hernandez

Publications and source records attributed to M V Hernandez.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

The effect of an educational program to improve health-related quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis on waiting list for total knee replacement: a randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of therapeutic education and functional readaptation (TEFR) on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis on a waiting list for total knee replacement (TKR). METHODS: Randomized controlled trial of 9 months duration was conducted. One hundred consecutive outpatients (71 females, mean age 71 years (range 50-86), mean disease duration 11.84+/-10.52 months) were included. Patients were randomized in two groups. The intervention group received TEFR added to conventional (pharmacological) treatment (n=51). The control group received conventional (pharmacological) treatment only (n=49). The main outcome variable was self-reported HRQL measured by the Spanish version of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Secondary outcomes were general HRQL measured by Short Form Health Survey general questionnaire (SF-36), number of visits to general physicians and their cost. Assessments were done at baseline and at 9 months. MAIN RESULTS: Eighty patients completed the study. Significant improvement in the WOMAC function was found at 9 months in the TERF group with respect to the control group (P=0.035). Consumption of analgesics increased significantly in the TERF group compared with controls (P=0.036). Significant improvements in pain (P=0.027) measured by WOMAC and in bodily pain (P=0.043) and physical function (P=0.031), measured by SF-36, were observed in the intervention group with respect to baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The function dimension measured by WOMAC of patients who received both pharmacological treatment and TERF improved with respect to the control group receiving only pharmacological treatment. This suggests that a program of TEFR during the period on the waiting list for TKR may reduce the negative impact of this situation.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Primary sources of phosphorus and phosphates in chemical evolution.

In this work we consider the role of phosphorus in chemical evolution from an interdisciplinary approach. First we briefly review the presence of this element in different cosmic sites, such as massive stellar cores, circumstellar and interstellar clouds, meteorites, lunar and Martian samples, interplanetary dust particles, cometary dust and planetary atmospheres. Thus we illustrate the fact that phosphorus seems to be, at the same time, scarce and ubiquitous in the solar system. Afterwards, by comparing the phosphorus content of our planet's main reservoirs with the amount of cometary and meteoritic matter captured by the primitive Earth, we conclude that comets may have provided a primary source for phosphorus compounds of prebiotic interest. Finally, we make a number of proposals aimed to gain observational supporting evidence to the above conclusion and other suggestions made in the article.

Cosmic Dust↗
PubMed1995

Aetiology and presenting symptoms in male osteoporosis.

In order to analyse the clinical characteristics and the principal causes of osteoporosis in men, 81 osteoporotic males from an out-patient rheumatology department were studied. Bone mass assessment, automated biochemical profile and biochemical markers of bone turnover were performed in all patients, and hormonal measurements were taken when a specific aetiology was not readily apparent. Sixty-three men (78%) had secondary osteoporosis and 18 (22%) primary osteoporosis. Secondary causes of osteoporosis included hypogonadism (12 patients), corticosteroid therapy (10 patients) and alcoholism (10 patients); the remaining patients had various causes of osteoporosis. Eighteen patients had primary osteoporosis, eight of them with associated hypercalciuria. Normocalciuric patients showed lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1-25-hydroxyvitamin D levels than the control group, whereas hypercalciuric patients had lower parathyroid hormone and renal threshold for phosphate excretion. In 69 patients (85%), back pain was the chief complaint. Forty-five of these 69 patients (65%) had chronic back pain and 24 (35%) had subacute episodes. Fifty per cent of the patients with chronic back pain had vertebral fractures. Both patients with and without chronic back pain were found to have a similar number of vertebral fractures. In conclusion, male osteoporosis is frequently associated with major risk factors. Patients with primary osteoporosis may have associated hypercalciuria or decreased vitamin D levels. However, not all the patients for whom back pain was the chief complaint were found to have vertebral fractures.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

When does amyloidosis complicate systemic lupus erythematosus?

Secondary amyloidosis is a well recognised complication of rheumatic diseases, but the association with systemic lupus erythematosus is very unusual. We report the case of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed proteinuria due to renal amyloidosis. We also review the cases previously reported and the hypothesis on the pathogenic mechanisms.

Adult↗