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Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of traditional Chinese spinal orthopedic manipulation (TCSOM) in treating patients with functional abdominal pain syndrome (FAPS) in comparison with Pinaverium Bromide (Dicetel, PBD), and to assess a possible cause for FAPS. Methods: Eighty patients with FAPS were randomly and equally assigned to the TCSOM group and PBD group according to the random number table. All patients in the TCSOM group were treated with a maximum of 5 times of spinal manipulations. Patients in the PBD group were instructed to take 50 mg 3 times a day, consistently for 2 weeks. The symptoms of pre- and post-treatment were assessed on a visual analog scale (VAS) pain score. A symptom improvement rating (SIR) was implemented to evaluate the effects of the treatments. Results: The symptoms of 27 cases of the TCSOM group were relieved soon after the first TCSOM treatment and 9 cases were significantly improved. The VAS pain scores in the TCSOM group were significantly lower than those in the PBD group after 2 weeks treatment. According to the SIR based on VAS, the TCSOM group included 30 cases with excellent results, 7 cases with good, and 3 cases with poor. Adverse events to the treatment were not reported. Based on VAS, the PBD group reported 8 cases with excellent results, 10 cases with good and 22 cases with poor. There was a significant difference between the two groups ( P<0.01). Conclusions: The displacement of intervertebral discs and/or vertebra in the thoracic or lumbar region seems to be a contributing factor in the symptoms of FAPS. TCSOM is an effective treatment for FAPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have evaluated the prognostic value of total tumor volume (TTV), which reflects both the primary tumor volume and nodal tumor volume, in NPC. Furthermore, the relationship between TTV and survival remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of TTV in patients with NPC treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).Methods: TTV was retrospectively assessed in 455 patients with newly diagnosed, non-metastatic NPC. All patients were treated using IMRT; 91.1% (288/316) of patients with stage III-IVb also received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify the optimal TTV cut-off point and examine the prognostic value of combined TTV with current clinical stage.Results: Mean TTV was 11.1 cm3 (range, 0.3-27.9 cm3) in stage I, 22.5 cm3 (1.3-92.4 cm3) in stage II, 40.6 cm3 in stage III (3.2-129.2 cm3), and 77.5 cm3 in stage IVa-b (7.1-284.1 cm3). For all patients, the 4-year estimated FFS, OS, DMFS, and LRRFS rates for patients with a TTV ≤ 28 vs. > 28 cm3 were 93 vs. 71.4% (P < 0.001), 95.1 vs. 75.4% (P < 0.001), 94.5 vs. 79.4% (P < 0.001), and 96.2 vs. 88% (P = 0.001). TTV was an independent prognostic factor for FFS, OS, DMFS and LRRFS in all patients. In stage III-IVb, 4-year estimated FFS, OS, DMFS, and LRRFS for a TTV ≤28 vs. >28 cm3 were 88.9 vs. 70.5% (P = 0.001), 96.2 vs. 72.7% (P < 0.001), 91.2 vs. 78.3% (P = 0.008), and 93.8 vs. 87.6% (P = 0.063). TTV was an independent prognostic factor for FFS, OS and DMFS in stage III-IVb. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis curves revealed adding TTV to clinical stage had superior prognostic value for treatment failure compared to clinical stage alone (P = 0.016).Conclusions: TTV is an important prognosticator for treatment outcome and significantly improves the prognostic value of the current staging system for patients with NPC treated with IMRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemoglobin (HGB) in the blood carries oxygen from the lungs to other organs to produce energy. Calorie restriction has been shown to slow aging and extend lifespan. Thus, we hypothesized that HGB may be associated with human longevity as a link to energy metabolism. To test this hypothesis, HGB levels in the blood of 60 centenarian (CEN) families were measured and its association with age (20-80 and 20-100 years) was studied, as well as the associations of CEN HGB with levels in first generation offspring (F1) and their spouses (F1SP). The results showed no association of HGB with age between 20 and 80 years (r=-0.097, p=0.160); however a strikingly inverse relationship with age between 20 and 100 years (r=-0.526, p<0.001) was revealed. After dividing the samples into four age groups (20-39, 40-59, 60-80 and ≥100 years), the HGB in CEN were significantly lower than that of F1SP (p<0.001). Interestingly, the HGB levels of CEN were significantly associated with that of F1 (r=0.379, p=0.015) but not with F1SP (r=0.022, p=0.451), suggesting that HGB could be a heritable phenotype. Furthermore, the genes methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), nuclear receptor subfamily 2, group C, member 1 (NR2C1) and NR2C2 were differentially expressed in CEN when compared to F1SP, which may likely be responsible for the changes in HGB levels. In conclusion, our results suggest that HGB is a heritable phenotype which associates with familial longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]