Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Brief Overview of the Treatment.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, systemic autoimmune disease, affecting the joints with varying severity among patients. The risk factors include age, gender, genetics, and environmental exposure (cigarette smoking, air pollutants, and occupational). Many complications can follow, such as permanent joint damage requiring arthroplasty, rheumatoid vasculitis, and Felty syndrome requiring splenectomy if it remains unaddressed. As there is no cure for RA, the treatment goals are to reduce the pain and stop/slow further damage. Here, we present a brief summary of various past and present treatment modalities to address the complications associated with RA.

In vivo myocardial cell pH in the dog. Response to ischemia and infusion of alkali.

Myocardial cell pH has been measured with 5,5-dimethyl-2,4-oxazolidinedione (DMO) in intact anesthetized dogs by a transient indicator dilution technique. Bolus injections of labeled DMO, vascular, extracellular, and water indicators were made into the anterior descending coronary artery, and blood samples were collected from the great cardiac vein. The steady-state distribution of DMO between cells and plasma was calculated from the indicator mean transit times, and the plasma pH. Myocardial cell pH was determined from the distribution value and plasma pH. Normal myocardial cell pH averaged 6.94. Changes in myocardial cell pH after infusions of acid or alkali. Myocardial ischemia induced by inflation of a coronary artery balloon resulted in progressive decreases in cellular pH to average values of 6.83 within the initial 15 min and to 6.59 within the interval between 20 and 70 min. Infusions of Na2CO3 tended to diminish intracellular acidosis although these infusions had little effect on the difference in pH between the myocardial cell and extracellular fluid.

Neurocysticercosis: A case report and brief review.

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is one of the seven neglected endemic zoonoses targeted by the World Health Organization. It is considered a common infection of the nervous system caused by the Taenia solium and is known to be the primary cause of preventable epilepsy in many developing countries. NCC is commonly resulted by the ingestion of Taenia solium eggs after consuming undercooked pork, or contaminated water. The parasite can grow in the brain and spinal cord within the nervous system, causing severe headache and seizures beside other pathological manifestations. Immigration and international travel to endemic countries has made this disease common in the United States. NCC can be diagnosed with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. The treatment of the NCC including cysticidal drugs (e.g., albendazole and praziquantel), and neurosurgical procedure, depending upon the situation. A patient of Asian origin came to our clinic with complaints of dizziness, headaches and episodes seizures for the past twelve years without proper diagnosis. The computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans indicated multilobulated cystic mass in the brain with the suspicion of neurocysticercosis.