Standardized Medical Treatment Research Articles

The combination of medical treatment plus multicomponent behavioral therapy is superior to medical treatment alone in the therapy of irritable bowel syndrome

OBJECTIVE: Although the standard treatments for the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are medical, growing evidence indicates the substantial therapeutic value of psychological therapy. However, it has not been investigated whether the combination of multicomponent behavioral therapy plus medical treatment is more effective than medical treatment alone. The aim of this study was to investigate this question in patients consulting a tertiary gastrointestinal (GI) referral center. METHODS: Twenty-four IBS outpatients were randomly assigned to the combination of standardized multicomponent behavioral therapy plus standard medical treatment (SMBT) or standard medical treatment alone (SMT). SMBT included IBS information and education, progressive muscle relaxation, training in illness-related cognitive coping strategies, problem-solving, and assertiveness training in 10 sessions over 10 wk. SMT included standardized symptom-oriented medical treatment and regular visits to a gastroenterologist every second week. Posttreatment outcome measures consisted of quantification of GI, vegetative, and psychological symptoms by means of daily symptom diaries and the assessment of changes in rectovisceral perception thresholds, as well as of questionnaire measures on psychological distress, overall well-being, illness-related coping abilities, and quality of life. Follow-ups were conducted at 3- and 6-month intervals. RESULTS: Pre- and posttreatment evaluations showed significantly ( p < 0.01) greater IBS symptom reduction as measured by daily symptom diaries for the SMBT group than for the SMT group. Rectovisceral perception remained unchanged by either treatment. Overall well-being significantly improved in the SMBT group but remained unchanged in the SMT group. Subjects in the SMBT group, unlike those in the SMT group, felt significantly more in control of their health, and quality of life was significantly improved in the SMBT group but remained unchanged in the SMT group. CONCLUSIONS: The data provide evidence that the combination of medical treatment plus multicomponent behavioral treatment is superior to medical treatment alone in the therapy of IBS.

Variability of atrial natriuretic peptide plasma levels in ascitic cirrhotics: pathophysiological and clinical implications.

Ascitic cirrhotic patients are a heterogenous population with respect to factors that may affect plasma human atrial natriuretic peptide levels (such as degree of plasma volume and plasma levels of angiotensin II, vasopressin and norepinephrine). Thus the proven variability of plasma human atrial natriuretic peptide values in ascitic cirrhotic patients may be due also to the selection of patients, not only to the study conditions. The response to standardized stepped-care medical treatment of ascites makes it possible to characterize ascitic cirrhotic patients with different patterns of renal sodium excretion, intrarenal sodium handling, plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone and thus, probably, effective circulating volume. Consequently, we evaluated human atrial natriuretic peptide plasma levels in controls (n = 23), in ascitic cirrhotic patients who underwent spontaneous diuresis (group A, n = 7) and in cirrhotic patients who required diuretic treatment (group B, n = 44). The last group was then divided into two subgroups. Subgroup B-R (n = 25) included patients who responded to spironolactone alone, whereas subgroup B-NR (n = 19) included patients who did not respond to 500 mg/day spironolactone. All patients were maintained on identical normocaloric restricted sodium intake (80 mEq/day) throughout the study. Ascitic cirrhotic patients, as a whole, had higher values of human atrial natriuretic peptide than did controls (70.8 +/- 46.6 pg/ml vs. 41.7 +/- 16.3 pg/ml, p < 0.025). No difference was found in human atrial natriuretic peptide/plasma renin activity between the two groups (87 +/- 160 pg/ng/hr vs. 44 +/- 73 pg/ng/hr, p = NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)