British Journal of Healthcare and Medical Research

Initial Evidence for a Telehealth Behavioral Intervention to Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Men

2025-04-24T18:37:22+01:00

Millions of American men suffer from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) with a prevalence of 30% at age of 60 and older, mainly due to enlarged prostate gland—benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). LUTS (e.g., urgency, nocturia, weak stream, and post-void dribbles) diminish men’s quality of life significantly in later years. Medical treatments are effective, but inadequate due to poor patient compliance. A widely used behavioral approach comprising lifestyle changes through regulating fluid intake and bladder retraining (e.g., voiding schedule and pelvic floor muscle exercise) has generated promising results, but is delivered through in-person sessions, either individual or in a group setting. This delivery modality restricts intervention access by patients with diverse socioeconomic and disease conditions. Hence, we have developed a telehealth-based behavioral intervention to LUTS and tested it among 8 older men. In this pilot study, the participants received the behavioral intervention over 6 monthly group meetings via Zoom and were assessed on the severity of LUTS, symptom bother and QOL before and after the intervention. T-test showed that LUTS severity measured on the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) had reduced remarkably in 6 months (mean difference=5.44, one-sided p=.0499), with a large effect size (Cohen’s d=0.865). Disease-specific and health-related quality of life assessed on IPSS-8, Visual Analogue Scale and SF20 measures indicated medium effects (Cohen’s d >0.5). Further, at the 6 months, self-efficacy (r=.86, p=.013) and adherence to voiding schedule over a 3-hour interval (r=.76, p=.047) significantly and positively correlated with mental health measured on SF-20. The findings suggest that telehealth-delivered behavioral intervention is effective in reducing LUTS and the mediating effect of behavioral change and self-efficacy requires further investigation. The study provided initial evidence to support men’s utilization of online behavioral intervention to LUTS.

Cell Kinetics and siSTEAP4 Responses

2025-04-22T20:03:21+01:00

STAMP family genes STAMP1/STEAP2 and STAMP2/STEAP4 have only expressed in androgen receptor-positive cells, the role of AR in STAMP family gene expression is an important question.

A Conversation About the Two Most Misunderstood Subjects in Dentistry

2025-04-30T19:37:36+01:00

Economic and Financial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Private Dental Clinics in Yaoundé Cameroon

2025-04-28T17:05:46+01:00

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant economic and financial repercussions on private dental clinics worldwide, particularly in low-income African countries where few studies have been conducted on the subject. Objective: To assess the economic and financial impact on private dental clinics in the city of Yaoundé before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in 20 private dental clinics in the city of Yaoundé. Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 26.0 and Microsoft Excel 2016. Results were presented as frequencies, percentages, and means in tables and graphs. Fisher's exact test was used at a fixed significance level of 5%. Results: The study sampled 20 private dental clinics. While the average annual volume of services dropped substantially in 2020 by 43.7% and 40.9% in comparison of 2018 and 2019 respectively, they slightly improved from 2021. The average annual revenues dropped by 50.4% and 45.3% as compared to the years 2018 and 2019 respectively. The overall financial revenues were lower in 2020 representing 15.8% of cumulative overall total five years’ total revenues compared to 21.5% in 2018 and 20.5% in 2019, while the financial revenues increase to 19.7% in 2021 and 22.5% in 2022. Conclusion: The economic and financial impacts were mainly due to declines in business volume, reduced revenue due to lower attendance, the need for new investments, and adaptation strategies to address the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Public authorities should provide financial support to dental practices during health crises.

Endotracheal Intubation Using a Video Laryngoscope in Patients Expected to Present Difficult Airway Management

2025-04-25T10:13:47+01:00

When surgery is scheduled under general anesthesia in patients with anticipated difficult airway, anesthesiologists consider various methods for safe anesthesia management. It is highly variable and will depend on several factors including the patient’s current status and vital signs. Algorithms for the management of difficult airways are already known is American Society of Anesthesiology and the Difficult Airway Society. However, even problems that occurred at the same stage may not be solved in the same way depending on the situation. Therefore, it is important to simulate possible situations in advance and to manage patients by preparing various options. In this case series, we report airway management using video laryngoscopy in three patients with respiratory tract masses causing dyspnea.

Bangladesh Experience of Radiofrequency Ablation for Management of Hepatic Haemangioma

2025-04-24T17:17:27+01:00

Introduction: Hepatic haemangiomas are most common benign tumors of the liver. These are vascular malformations, which are usually asymptomatic. However, these may be potential cause of life-threatening complications at times. Methods: There are several treatment options for hepatic haemangiomas. Here we discuss radiofrequency ablation for management of this condition. Results: We included 15 patients with hepatic haemangiomas in this single arm, single Centre study. We ablated their haemangiomas with radiofrequency ablation. None had any major adverse event. At 6-month follow-up, the size of hepatic haemangioma was reduced in all patients. Conclusion: The study suggests radiofrequency ablation for management of hepatic haemangiomas is safe and effective.

Two Anti-sense Non-coding RNAs Regulate their Sense Gene mRNAs: OXCT1–SCOT for Ketolysis and FGF 14 an Anti-Proliferation Factor, in Cancer

2025-04-02T14:39:07+01:00

In spite of an increased uptake of glucose by tumour cells, the last steps of glycolysis and entry in oxidative glycolysis are blocked in tumours, impairing the glycolytic supply of mitochondrial Acetyl- CoA. Since mitotic cells have to synthetize fatty acid to form new membranes, the degradation of fatty acids automatically stops, which interrupts the fatty acid Acetyl-CoA supply. Hence, tumour cells become dependent on ketone bodies and SCOT, the specific ketolytic enzyme, transcribed from the sense OXCT1 gene, for synthetizing their mitochondrial Acetyl-CoA. A non-coding Anti-sense RNA is also transcribed from the OXCT1 gene (OXCT1-AS). It activates gene promoters supporting regenerative processes, cell proliferation, anti-apoptotic effects and induces a ketolytic metabolism as for “embryonic cell”. OXCT1-AS was studied in heart recovery after an infarct, the anti-sense transcript is also named SARRAH. In tumour cells, the OXCT1-AS “sponges” micro RNAs, which interrupts their inhibitory effects on cell cycle pro-mitotic proteins, or neutralizes micro RNAs inhibiting proliferation. Thus the OXCT1-AS regulation will aggravate tumour progression, while the OXCT1 sense gene product SCOT provides Acetyl-CoA supporting tumour cell growth. In parallel, we discuss the situation for another gene: FGF14, which codes for an anti-proliferation factor: FGF14. The non–coding anti-sense FGF 14-AS transcript for this gene is able to “sponge”, a micro RNA inhibiting FGF14 expression, which restores FGF14, thereby inhibiting tumour proliferation. FGF14-AS also sponges another micro RNA inhibiting a transcription factor: E2F1. In this case, the effect of FGF14-AS sponging, depends on the concentration reached for E2F1, only high levels blocking the tumour.

Clinical Outcome Review: A Retrospective Assessment of 171 Patients Referred for Physiotherapy Treatment after Whiplash Injury by Medical Insurance Intermediaries

2025-04-30T19:35:57+01:00

The purpose of this review is to share outcomes from 171 patients of acute and chronic grade 0-2 whiplash injury referred for physiotherapy treatment by nine insurance intermediaries after a road traffic accident. An unorthodox method of treatment and assessment was used and the review is retrospective. After assessment, a prediction of outcome including proposed method, number of treatments and improvement measured in percentages was delivered to the insurance intermediaries for approval prior to commencing treatment. In effect, the insurance intermediaries became external assessors in all cases with the author acting as the sole physiotherapist carrying out the assessment and treatment. Adapted Reflextherapy was used as the method to assess and treat all patients. Nine patients did not start or complete the treatment leaving 162 patients included in the review. The mean number of treatments per patient was 5.02. Pain levels varied between 0 and 10 on the VAS scale with 65% (106) of patients reporting pain levels between 5 and 10 before treatment, dropping to below 2 after treatment. In 41% (66), fewer treatments were required to achieve the expected outcome. In 30% of patients (48), the prediction of outcome was completely correct. 30% (52) of patients required a few more treatments than predicted requiring approval from the insurance companies.

Endodontists on Instagram and YouTube: Content Strategies and Engagement

2025-04-28T13:53:49+01:00

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the content shared by endodontists with a high number of followers on Instagram and YouTube platforms to identify which types of content generate higher audience engagement and whether there is a significant relationship between follower count and content type. Materials and Methods: Endodontists with at least 20,000 Instagram followers and 5,000 YouTube subscribers were identified through AI-assisted screening. All posts shared by these accounts were examined, and the top ten posts with the highest likes for each account were selected. The posts were classified into four categories: educational content, clinical case presentations, technology/product promotions, and others. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS v19.0, with a significance level set at p<0.05. Results: Clinical case presentations achieved the highest average number of likes on both the Instagram and YouTube platforms. Educational content ranked second, while technology and product promotions exhibited the lowest engagement rates. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was found between academic content and the number of followers on YouTube (r=0.948; p=0.050). Conclusion: Clinical case presentations and educational content are the most effective engagement tools for endodontists on social media. It is recommended that endodontists prioritize these types of content when developing effective social media strategies.