Low back pain under control - Bartzokas' maneuver: a case report

Low back pain (lumbago) is a common health problem globally. It is related to age, modern lifestyle (no exercise etc), and injuries. Its treatment includes a very broad spectrum of methods and its prevention is still unclear

Alleviation and prevention of severe allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis following long-term lemon juice use: a case report

Allergic rhinitis (often coexisting with allergic conjunctivitis) is a highly prevalent, chronic, inflammatory disease. Most cases are not extraordinary; however, they may result in significant impairment in quality of life of patients, as well as in economical damage for both health-care system and patients. This case report describes the experiences of a middle-aged woman with the illness, who managed to completely alleviate and prevent her symptoms, in terms of intensity and chronicity, by drinking natural lemon juice diluted with water. Lemon changed her life radically

Self-rated health, work characteristics and health related behaviours among nurses in Greece: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on self-rated health among nurses have indicated an association of low job satisfaction and stress in relation to poor self-rated health. The relationship between self rated health and the specific work characteristics and health related behaviours of nurses to our knowledge have not been adequately studied. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the health profile of nurses working in hospitals in North West Greece and to examine the associations between self rated health (SRH) and health related behaviours and work characteristics in this group of hospital employees. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 443 nurses working in all the hospitals in North West Greece. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship of health related behaviours and work characteristics with self rated health among the nurses. RESULTS: A total of 353 responded to the questionnaire (response rate 80%) of which 311 (88%) were female and 42 (12%) male. The mean age (standard deviation) of the respondents was 36 years (5.6) and their mean years of working as nurses were 13.5 years (5.9). Almost half of the nurses' smoked, and about one third were overweight or obese. About 58% (206) of the nurses reported having poor health while 42% (147) reported having good health. Self-rated health was independently associated with gender, effort to avoid fatty foods and physical activity, according to multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The population studied presented a relatively poor health profile, and a high proportion of poor SRH. Though female gender and effort to avoid fatty foods were associated with poor SRH, and exercise and white meat consumption with good SRH, specific work characteristics were not associated with SRH

“Empathize with me, Doctor!” Medical Undergraduates Training Project: Development, Application, Six-months Follow-up

The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of specially designed, empathy training for medical undergraduates, based on the principles of Person-Centered Approach.Within the context of the humanistic person-centered patient care, the experiential, 60-hour “Empathize with me, Doctor!” training program contains theory, personal development and skills development. Role plays, experiential exercises, self-awareness exercises, active listening practice and conduction of a person-centered interview constituted the training.Forty-two medical undergraduates (66% females; 29% fourth year of study, 40% fifth, 31% sixth) from the University of Ioannina in Greece applied and all of them completed the empathy training. Forty-five medical students comprised a similar according to age and year of studies control group.The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was used to assess the empathic performance, and Cohen’s d to assess the practical importance of any statistical difference.The JSPE mean score (and standard deviation) before, after and six months follow-up was 109.3(12.7), 121.1(9.0), 121.1(9.5), respectively. The before–after and before–follow-up difference was highly significant (CI95%, p<0.001 in both cases), and of great practical importance (d=1.072, d=1.052, respectively), while no decrease was observed six-months later (CI 95%, p=0.999, d<0.001). Control group reached a JSPE 108.7(10.5), similar to intervention group before training (CI95%, p=0.832), and highly different and important compared to after (CI 95%p<0.001; d=1.268) and follow-up (CI 95%, p<0.001; d=1.238) intervention scores.The “Empathize with me, Doctor!” improved significantly and importantly medical undergraduates’ empathic performance, which was maintained intact for at least six months

Self-rated health, work characteristics and health related behaviours among nurses in Greece: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on self-rated health among nurses have indicated an association of low job satisfaction and stress in relation to poor self-rated health. The relationship between self rated health and the specific work characteristics and health related behaviours of nurses to our knowledge have not been adequately studied. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the health profile of nurses working in hospitals in North West Greece and to examine the associations between self rated health (SRH) and health related behaviours and work characteristics in this group of hospital employees. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 443 nurses working in all the hospitals in North West Greece. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship of health related behaviours and work characteristics with self rated health among the nurses. RESULTS: A total of 353 responded to the questionnaire (response rate 80%) of which 311 (88%) were female and 42 (12%) male. The mean age (standard deviation) of the respondents was 36 years (5.6) and their mean years of working as nurses were 13.5 years (5.9). Almost half of the nurses' smoked, and about one third were overweight or obese. About 58% (206) of the nurses reported having poor health while 42% (147) reported having good health. Self-rated health was independently associated with gender, effort to avoid fatty foods and physical activity, according to multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The population studied presented a relatively poor health profile, and a high proportion of poor SRH. Though female gender and effort to avoid fatty foods were associated with poor SRH, and exercise and white meat consumption with good SRH, specific work characteristics were not associated with SRH