The relationship between dietary total antioxidant capacity, clinical parameters, and oxidative stress in fibromyalgia syndrome: A novel point of view

Dietary total antioxidant capacity of Moroccan Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients

AIMS

A new approach to a healthy diet is the assessment of dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC). The aim of this study was to assess the dietary TAC among Moroccan Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients and identify the main food sources contributing to the total antioxidant capacity intake.

METHODS

A total of 254 patients with T2DM was included in the study. The usual dietary intakes were assessed by means of a validated food frequency questionnaire. The dietary TAC was estimated using published databases of the antioxidant content of foods measured by the FRAP (ferric ion reducing antioxidant potential) method.

RESULTS

The mean (SD) dietary TAC of the studied type 2 diabetes patients was 10.86 (3.42) mmol/day. Correlation analyses showed a positive association between dietary TAC and the consumption of healthy food groups, such as fruits and vegetables. Tea and coffee beverages (38.6%), vegetables (21.9%), cereals and pulses (18.8%), fruits and fruit juices (12.4%) were major food sources of dietary antioxidant intake. The relatively short list of twenty food items that contributed most to dietary TAC presented an important explanation of roughly 94%. These included tea, coffee, broad beans, artichoke, pepper, beetroot, sweet potatoes, pomegranate, mandarin, figs, strawberry, orange juice, olives, cashew nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, dchicha and white beans.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supplies baseline dietary TAC data for Moroccan T2DM patients that may help to elucidate which aspects of the eating habits and behaviours require improvement and provide the opportunity to develop dietary guidelines as part of the nutritional diabetes management.

Nutrition and Chronobiology as Key Components of Multidisciplinary Therapeutic Interventions for Fibromyalgia and Associated Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Narrative and Critical Review

Fibromyalgia (FM) is often accompanied by chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is a poorly understood disorder that mainly affects women and leads to chronic pain, fatigue, and insomnia, among other symptoms, which decrease quality of life. Due to the inefficiency of current pharmacological treatments, increasing interest is being directed towards non-pharmacological multicomponent therapies. However, nutrition and chronobiology are often overlooked when developing multicomponent therapies. This narrative and critical review explore the relevance of nutritional and chronobiological strategies in the therapeutic management of FM and the often-associated CFS. Reviewed literature offers scientific evidence for the association of dietary habits, nutrient levels, body composition, gut microbiota imbalance, chronobiological alterations, and their interrelation with the development and severity of symptoms. This review highlights the key role of nutrition and chronobiology as relevant and indispensable components in a multidisciplinary approach to FM and CFS.

What Concept of Manual Therapy Is More Effective to Improve Health Status in Women with Fibromyalgia Syndrome? A Study Protocol with Preliminary Results

BACKGROUND

Fibromyalgia (FM) is defined as a chronic syndrome characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain, associated with characteristic signs and symptoms such as fatigue and/or sleep and mood disorders, and whose etiology, pathogenesis and prognosis may or may not be known. There is growing evidence of manual therapy as a treatment for pain in the short and medium term, also in patients affected by FM. However, the heterogeneity of the manual therapy treatments administered are a very common clinical practice, as they are based more on the judgment or tendency of the physiotherapist, rather than on clear scientific evidence. Therefore, the aim of the present study protocol will be to determine which manual therapy approach is more effective in addressing health status by improving symptoms (sensory, cognitive, emotional and social) in patients with FM.

METHODS

a randomized controlled clinical trial with a 3-month follow-up will be carried out with 52 female patients affected by rheumatologist-diagnosed FM will be recruited and evaluated at the Asociación de Fibromialgia y Síndrome de Fatiga Crónica (AFINSYFACRO) in Móstoles, Madrid, Spain. For more details on the protocol, a pilot study was carried out using a non-probability method of judgmental or purposive sampling. Thirteen patients were also evaluated, treated and reevaluated; eight patients were assigned to the myofascial techniques approach (MTA) group and five to the Maitland's mobilization approach (MMA) group.

RESULTS

the preliminary results presented here are intended to show how the planned randomized controlled clinical trial will develop. Patients who received MTA had significantly improved pain and health status outcomes after treatment and at 1-month follow-up, with no significant change in those who received MMA.

CONCLUSIONS

the exact details of the study protocol on which the manual therapy approach is more effective in addressing health status by improving symptoms (sensory, cognitive, emotional, and social) in patients with FM are presented. Preliminary results show that manual therapy is effective in improving pain and health status in patients with fibromyalgia at short and medium term, with significant results in those who received MTA.