OBJECTIVES: Recently the care of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease is important as much as that of cancer care in public health, so the control of diabetes mellitus(DM) which is a risk factor of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease has been also important consideration. This study was carried out to investigate the blood glucose change of the participants in diabetes mellitus class(DM class) of a health center. METHODS: Study subjects were 54 participants of DM class in a health center that had been held once a month, from January 2005 to March 2006. RESULTS: Among the DM class participants, 67.3% participated by 50% or over in the DM class. After DM class, the level of random blood sugar decreased from 176mg/dl to 156mg/dl in DM class participants(p<0.05). In a comparison between more than 50% participation group and less than 50% participation group, more than 50% participation group got decreased level of blood sugar from 182mg/dl to 155mg/dl and less than 50% participation group also got decreased level from 172mg/dl to 156mg/dl. But there was no statistically significant difference between two groups. CONCLUSION: DM class of health center was effective program to manage diabetes mellitus patients in community.
Blood Glucose ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Public Health ; Risk Factors

INTRODUCTIONAutologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) has been performed for severe multiple sclerosis (MS) refractory to standard therapy with increasing frequency worldwide. However, experience in Asia employing this modality in MS has been limited. In this review, we explored the pathophysiology of autoimmunity and the underlying rationale for auto-HSCT in treating autoimmune diseases including MS, as well as existing published pre-clinical and clinical data. We aimed thereby to better understand the utility of treating MS with auto-HSCT and the feasibility of this procedure in Singapore.

METHODSA Medline search was performed with the terms "haematopoietic stem cell transplantation", "multiple sclerosis" and "autoimmune diseases" from 1996 to 2005. Both original papers and review articles were considered.

MAIN FINDINGSThe majority of publications were from Europe or the United States and most clinical series from single centres had relatively small numbers of patients. Worldwide, the number of patients reported has been less than 300 since 1997. Existing data support the feasibility and promise of this procedure and ongoing Phase III trials may serve to confirm this initial experience.

CONCLUSIONPre-clinical and early clinical data support the rationale for immunoablative therapy for autoimmune disorders. Auto-HSCT for severe MS is a feasible procedure and can be safely performed in centres with experience managing HSCT patients.

Autoimmune Diseases ; surgery ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Multiple Sclerosis ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Singapore ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome