This study revealed that short-period application of LLLT is effective in pain relief and in the improvement of functional ability and QoL in patients with MPS.

Our study demonstrated that applications of LPLT in different dose and duration have not affected results and both therapy regimes were a safe and effective method in treatment of knee OA.

Low power laser therapy seemed to be an effective method in reducing pain and functional disability in the therapy of chronic LBP.

JOAS and AOAS had distinctive courses and Turkish patients with AS had similar features compared to other Caucasian patient populations.

Objectives: To investigate abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and cortisol concentrations in young women with primary fibromyalgia (FM); and to determine whether depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbance affect these hormones. Methods: Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestradiol, progesterone, prolactin, and cortisol concentrations in 63 women with FM were compared with those in 38 matched healthy controls; all subjects aged ,35 years. The depression rate was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and patients with high and low BDI scores were compared. Additionally, patients were divided according to sleep disturbance and fatigue and compared both with healthy controls and within the group. Results: No significant differences in FSH, LH, oestradiol, prolactin, and progesterone levels were found between patients with FM and controls, but cortisol levels were significantly lower in patients than in controls (p,0.05). Cortisol levels in patients with high BDI scores, fatigue, and sleep disturbance were significantly lower than in controls (p,0.05). Correlation between cortisol levels and number of tender points in all patients was significant (r = 20.32, p,0.05). Conclusion: Despite low cortisol concentrations in young women with FM, there is no abnormality in HPG axis hormones. Because fatigue, depression rate, sleep disturbance, and mean age of patients affect cortisol levels, these variables should be taken into account in future investigations.F ibromyalgia (FM) is a clinical entity of unknown aetiology. Although several mechanisms have been proposed for the aetiopathogenesis, these are still obscure. Some current aetiological hypotheses suggest that FM is a rheumatoid-like disease or a disorder of muscular abnormality or repair; that it results from aberrant mechanisms of peripheral pain; that it is a psychoneuroendocrineimmune disorder; a psychomatic disorder; or a psychiatric disorder related to major depression. 1 Additionally, a few studies have examined the inflammatory response system in FM. [2][3][4] Although most patients with FM are women, only a few investigations have paid attention to the changes of sex hormones in FM. [5][6][7] Riedel et al investigated female patients with FM and controls who were all in their follicular phase. Stress has been shown to inhibit gonadotrophic releasing hormone and LH pulsatile secretion.8 FM is often viewed as a stress related disorder, and abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been found in FM. The central stress axis, the HPA axis, seems to have an important role in FM. Some studies have suggested that patients with FM have decreased function of the HPA. Reduced 24 hour urine free cortisol levels have been reported in subjects with FM compared with healthy controls or subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. In previous studies of FM both axes were not examined in the same patients. As far as we know, this is the first study of both the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG...