The assessment of efficacy of Diascorea alata for menopausal symptom treatment in Taiwanese women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of Diascorea alata for treatment of menopausal symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical investigation on 50 menopausal women randomly assigned to two groups, treated for 12 months with either placebo or two sachets daily of Diascorea extracts containing 12 mg/sachet. Primary outcome measures were changes in the Greene Climacteric Scale caused by Diascorea compared with placebo; secondary outcomes were changes in plasma hormone profiles. One-way ANCOVA test was performed to investigate the significance. RESULTS: At 6 months and at the end of treatment, those women who received Diascorea showed general improvement in almost all the clinical symptoms investigated. A significant reduction was noted in the total Greene scores in the Diascorea group assessed at the end of 12 months' treatment (p < 0.01). This phenomenon was more significant for the psychological parameters of anxiety than for other parameters. Apparent improvements were noted in the parameters 'feeling tense or nervous' (p = 0.007), 'insomnia' (p = 0.004), 'excitable' (p = 0.047) and 'musculoskeletal pain' (p = 0.019) among those receiving Diascorea. Diascorea consumption also resulted in positive effects on blood hormone profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with placebo, Diascorea alata improves symptoms, particularly the psychological parameters in menopausal women. Safety monitoring indicated that standardized extracts of Diascorea alata were safe during daily administration over a period of 12 months.

The Association between health-related quality of life and prosthetic status and prosthetic needs in Taiwanese adults.

The objective of this study was to describe aspects of prosthetic statuses and needs and to evaluate their relationship with health-related quality of life in Taiwan. The study participants, aged 18 years and above, were recruited from a community survey, and each of the total 2469 participants received a dental examination and completed a questionnaire. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the adjusted means of health-related quality of life (SF-36) in both prosthetic status and need. The results showed that 12.6% of those aged 65 years and above were edentulous. The proportion of prosthetic need increased as age increased (39.7% to 61.3%). Multivariate analysis revealed that participants with 'removable prosthesis' had higher physical health scores than those with 'non-removable prosthesis'. The scores of mental health measurement decreased in people with need for full prostheses in relation to people without need for any prosthesis. Therefore, fulfilling prosthetic needs is not only about recovering oral masticatory function, but also concerns improvement of both physical and mental health-related quality of life.

Ureteroscopic treatment of lower ureteral calculi in the era of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: from a developing country point of view.

In a series of 229 lower ureteral calculi manipulated with either extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) or ureteroscopy the stone clearance rate 7 days after treatment was 40.6% and 90%, respectively. Only 17 of 32 patients (53.1%) treated with ESWL were rendered stone-free at 4-week followup. In addition to concern about stone clearance, other medical and social factors, and the availability of health insurance coverage must be considered. Since the differences of living standards between highly developed and developing countries are great, the selection of ESWL or ureteroscopy as primary treatment of lower ureteral calculi must be based on the socioeconomical status of a specific country. Because ESWL devices are not readily available in most developing countries and ureteroscopy is cost-effective, highly efficacious (greater than 92%) and involves minimal morbidity (less than 10%) for calculi removal in experienced hands, we recommend ureteroscopy as the treatment of choice for lower ureteral stones, with ESWL as the alternative, in developing countries.