The pandemic of obesity in adolescents is one of the challenges of public health.
The aim of this study was to examine the association of overweight with demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle ...factors among Serbian adolescents.
A cross-sectional study of 2139 adolescents aged 10 to 19 years was carried out. Data used in this study were from the 2006 Health Survey. In accordance with the international sex- and age-specific Body Mass Index cut-off points, all participants were classified as being normal weight or overweight, including obese. The association between the risk factors and overweight were examined using a multivariate logistic regression model.
The study showed that 28.9% of boys and 17.0% of girls were overweight, while 14.5% of boys and 8.1% of girls were obese. Boys were more likely to be overweight/obese, compared with girls. Being younger (p< 0.01 for 14 to 15 years) and (p< 0.01, for 16 to 19 years), engaging in physical activities that last less than 7 hours a week, in such a manner that they breathe quickly and become sweaty, (p< 0.01) and skipping breakfast (p< 0.05) were risk factors significantly associated with overweight among adolescents. No significant association was found with wealth index.
These findings should be an integral part of further preventive interventions, especially oriented towards younger adolescents, who are physically inactive, have a habit of skipping breakfast and are boys.
Background: In 2009, Belgrade nephrologists and general practitioners from thirteen health centers carried out screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Three years later, medical records of ...patients from four health centers participating in the screening study were retrospectively analyzed in order to check whether general practitioners had continued to control patients at risk for CKD in accordance with the recommendations provided.
Methods: The study included 460 patients who visited their doctor at least once in the three-year period. Data on blood pressure, ACEI use, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and comorbidities were taken from patients' medical records.
Results: Blood pressure was not recorded in any of the three years in 42.8% and eGFR in 36.7% of the patients, but blood pressure was registered every year in 7.8% and eGFR in 4.3% of them. Over the three years, the relative number of patients with recorded blood pressure decreased from 41.7% to 17.8%, and with recorded eGFR from 41.7% to 21.5%. Multivariate linear regression found that Health Center, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and presence of hypertension were negatively associated with number of years with recorded blood pressure. Health Center, systolic blood pressure and sum of years with recorded eGFR below 60 ml/min/1.73m
2
were associated with number of years with recorded eGFR.
Conclusions: Under-recording of blood pressure and eGFR in primary care health centers suggests lack of adherence to current guidelines and insufficient care of CKD patients. This implies the necessity for continuous education of physicians.
Summary
People with metabolic syndrome (MetSy) are about twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease and over four times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to subjects without ...metabolic syndrome. Waist circumferences (WC) and body mass index (BMI) are useful screening tools for making the diagnosis. MetSy has increased the health risk in primary care. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anthropometric indices for MetSy and determine which of simple anthropometric measurements is most closely associated with metabolic risk factors.
The research included 264 individuals, of which 132 men with mean age (±SD) of 44.73 ±9.37 years and 132 women with mean age (±SD) of 46.67±8.44 years. Antropometric indicators were measured using standard protocols, without shoes and outerwear. BMI was calculated as weight/height2(kg/m2) ratio, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Blood pressure measurements were obtained with the subject in a seated position by using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Blood samples were obtained after a minimum of 12-h fast; the metabolic parameters (high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose) were analyzed by standard procedures. Analysis of the examinees’ medical records was also performed. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. The analysis of the research results were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 10.0 (SPSS 10.0 for Windows).
The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 44.7% in men and 43.2% in women. Normal-weight subjects of both sexes were significantly younger and had significantly lower blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides than overweight and obese subjects. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were significantly increased in parallel with increasing of BMI. For the whole sample, both anthropometric indices had significant associations with the other five components of MetSy.
Waist circumference is a simple measure of adiposity most strongly associated with metabolic abnormalities. The results obtained in this study indicate that WC is a good indicator of health risk in women but not in men. Measurement of WC by BMI categories may indicate a person with an increased risk of development of chronic diseases.
As the existing data on the correlation of adiposity with adverse outcomes of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) are inconsistent, the aim of the present study is to examine the correlation of an increased ...body mass index with 30-day complications after carotid endarterectomy. The cohort study comprises 1586 CEAs, performed at the Clinic for Vascular Surgery in Belgrade, from 2012-2017. Out of them, 550 CEAs were performed in patients with normal body mass index (18.5-24.9), 750 in overweight (25.0-29.9), and 286 in obese (≥30) patients. The association of overweight and obesity with early outcomes of carotid endarterectomy was assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Overweight patients, in whom CEAs were performed, were significantly more frequently males, compared to normal weight patients-Odds Ratio (OR) 1.51 (95% confidence interval- 1.19-1.89). Moreover, overweight patients significantly more frequently had non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus-OR 1.44 (1.09-1.90), and more frequently used ACEI in hospital discharge therapy-OR 1.41 (1.07-1.84) than normal weight patients. Additionally, the CEAs in them were less frequently followed by bleedings-OR 0.37 (0.16-0.83). Compared to normal weight patients, obese patients were significantly younger-OR 0.98 (0.96-0.99), and with insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus-OR 1.83 (1.09-3.06) and OR 2.13 (1.50-3.01) respectively. They also more frequently had increased triglyceride levels-OR 1.36 (1.01-1.83), and more frequently used oral anticoagulants in therapy before the surgery-OR 2.16 (1.11-4.19). According to the results obtained, overweight and obesity were not associated with an increased death rate, transient ischemic attack (TIA), stroke, myocardial infarction, or with minor complications, and the need for reoperation after carotid endarterectomy. The only exception was bleeding, which was significantly less frequent after CEA in overweight compared to normal weight patients.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is commonly associated with hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, oxidative stress and inflammation which are well known cardiovascular risk factors. Pomegranate peel ...polyphenols have a proven hypolipemic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, there is a lack of clinical studies that would confirm its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in diabetic patients. The potential of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) to counteract inflammation and oxidative stress in T2DM patients was investigated. For this purpose, a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study involving adult T2DM patients treated with PoPEx or placebo for eight-weeks was conducted.
Patients were randomly divided into two groups: the first group (n = 30) received capsules containing PoPEx 250 mg twice daily, while the placebo group (n = 30) received placebo capsules twice daily. Plasma concentration of inflammatory factors (interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP)), oxidative stress biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitrites (NO2-), superoxide anion radical (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), total antioxidant capacity (TAC)), homocysteine and lipid profile were analyzed.
The PoPEx treatment showed a significant reduction of inflammatory factors (IL-6, TNF-α, hsCRP), oxidative stress biomarkers (TBARS, NO2-, O2-) and homocysteine, while the TAC was increased. Moreover, a significant improvement in lipid profile was observed in the PoPEx group. Additional analysis showed a significant inverse correlation between the decrements of all measured inflammatory markers and TAC in the PoPEx group.
The study demonstrated that eight-week-long PoPEx administration had favorable effects on inflammatory status and oxidative stress biomarkers in diabetic patients.
Exertional heat stress is common problem in military services. The aim was to exemine changes in serum concentrations of some enzymes in soldiers during exertional heat stress test (EHST) as well as ...the effects of 10-days passive or active acclimatization in climatic chamber.
Forty male soldiers with high aerobic capacity, performed EHST either in cool (20 degrees C, 16 degrees C Wet bulb globe temperature--WBGT), or hot (40 degrees C, 25 degrees C WBGT) environment, unacclimatized, or after 10 days of passive or active acclimation. Physiological strain was measured by tympanic temperatures (Tty) and heart rates (HR). Concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine-kinase (CK) were measured in blood samples collected before and immediately after EHST.
Exertional heat stress test in hot conditions induced physiological heat stress (increase in Tty and HR), with significant increase in concentrations of all enzymes in unacclimatized group: ALT (42.5 +/- 4.2 before vs 48.1 +/- 3.75 U/L after EHST, p < 0.01), AST (24.9 +/- 5.1 vs 33.4 +/- 4.48 U/L, p < 0.01), LDH (160.6 +/- 20.2 vs 195.7 +/- 22.6 U/L, p < 0.001) and CK (215.5 +/- 91.2 vs 279.1 +/- 117.5 U/L, p < 0.05). In acclimatized soldiers there were no significant changes in concentrations of ALT and AST, while concentration of CK was significantly higher. Concentrations of LDH were significantly higher in all investigated groups, regardless of temperature conditions.
In trained soldiers, 10-days passive or active acclimatization in climatic chamber can prevent increase in serum concentrations of ALT and AST, induced by exertional heat stress. Increase of serum concentrations of CK and LDH was induced by physical strain itself, with no additional effect of heat stress.
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•Pomegranate peel is a rich source of polyphenols.•Pomegranate peel extract ameliorates lipid status in diabetes mellitus type 2 patients.•Pomegranate peel extract reduce blood ...pressure.•Supplementation with PoPEx for 8 weeks significantly decrease lipid peroxidation index.
Pomegranate peel contains high levels of various phytochemicals. We evaluated the effects of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) consumption on plasma lipid profile, fatty acids (FA) level and blood pressure (BP) in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2). Thirty-seven subjects were recruited in this double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial. The study group (n = 19) received over 8 week’s capsules containing PoPEx twice a daily, while the placebo group received placebo. Treatment with PoPEx induced a significant lowering of both systolic and diastolic BP. The plasma levels of triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (LDL-C/HDL-C), and HbA1c were significantly decreased, while the level of HDL-C was significantly increased, compared with placebo intake. Moreover, the PoPEX treatment significantly improved the plasma lipids fatty acids content. It is concluded that consumption of PoPEx in DMT2 subject had favourable effects on some metabolic parameters, BP, lipid profile and plasma lipid FA composition.
Hepatitis C is a post-transfusion hepatitis which causes serious problems in blood transfusion. Blood testing requires highly sensitive and specific assays with high predictive value.
According to ...recommendations of International Association for the study of Liver Diseases etiological diagnosis of hepatitis is based on highly sensitive third generation assays: epitopes in the NS5 region comprising noncoding sequence UTR with 324-341 well conserved pair of homologous basis in 92% HCV genomes, therefore appropriate for virus RNA detection.
The first generation of immunoenzyme tests (IET) were based on detection of antibodies on antigen c 100-3, which is a part of the NS4 region of HCV genome. The second generation of tests with two recombinant proteins--c22-3 and c200, achieved higher sensitivity of assays. The third generation included epitopes from NS5 region, and removed the antigen c100-3.
Autoimmunity is a pathophysiological mechanism that's leads to chronic inflammatory diseases. Autoimunity is characterized by loss of tolerance towards self-antigens. Viral hepatitis C is associated with development of autoimmune phenomena.
Molecular mimicry, as a mechanism of autoimmunity, was investigated to establish cross-Reactive immune reactions between HCV antigen and human nitrogen-oxide synthase, Tyrosine kinase Lck and hepatic growth factor activator.
HCV capsid proteins initiate the autoimmune process in the liver because of cross reaction of antibodies with human Gor protein 19-27, which causes autoimmune chronic hepatitis. However, analysis of human protein from protein basis Swiss-prot shows homology between NS5 region and 3 human protein nitrogen oxide synthases, tyrosine kinase-Lck, proto-oncogene and hepatic growth factor activator. According to protein data analysis and competitive in vitro experiments, it was concluded that presence of auto-antibodies is probably the consequence of cross reactive immune response.
Homology of amino acid sequences in the NS5 region of the HCV genome with nitrogen-oxide synthase, tyrosine kinase-Lck, and hepatic growth factor activator, causes auto-immune phenomena in HC, and can be a model for researching autoimmunity and human virus-induced autoimmune diseases.
People with metabolic syndrome (MetSy) are about twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease and over four times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to subjects without metabolic ...syndrome. Waist circumferences (WC) and body mass index (BMI) are useful screening tools for making the diagnosis. MetSy has increased the health risk in primary care. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anthropometric indices for MetSy and determine which of simple anthropometric measurements is most closely associated with metabolic risk factors. The research included 264 individuals, of which 132 men with mean age (±SD) of 44.73 ±9.37 years and 132 women with mean age (±SD) of 46.67±8.44 years. Antropometric indicators were measured using standard protocols, without shoes and outerwear. BMI was calculated as weight/height2(kg/m2) ratio, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Blood pressure measurements were obtained with the subject in a seated position by using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Blood samples were obtained after a minimum of 12-h fast; the metabolic parameters (high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose) were analyzed by standard procedures. Analysis of the examinees' medical records was also performed. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. The analysis of the research results were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 10.0 (SPSS 10.0 for Windows). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 44.7% in men and 43.2% in women. Normal-weight subjects of both sexes were significantly younger and had significantly lower blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides than overweight and obese subjects. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were significantly increased in parallel with increasing of BMI. For the whole sample, both anthropometric indices had significant associations with the other five components of MetSy. Waist circumference is a simple measure of adiposity most strongly associated with metabolic abnormalities. The results obtained in this study indicate that WC is a good indicator of health risk in women but not in men. Measurement of WC by BMI categories may indicate a person with an increased risk of development of chronic diseases.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major and rising global health problem, affecting about 170 million people worldwide. The current standard of care treatment with interferon alpha and ribavirin ...in patients with the genotype 1 infection, the most frequent genotype in the USA and Western Europe, leads to a successful outcome in only about 50% of individuals. Accurate prediction of hepatitis C treatment response is of great benefit to patients and clinicians. The informational spectrum method, a virtual spectroscopy method for structure/function analysis of nucleotide and protein sequences, is applied here for the identification of the conserved information of the HCV proteins that correlate with the combination therapy outcome. Among the HCV proteins that we have analyzed the informational property of the p7 of HCV genotype 1b was best related to the therapy outcome. On the basis of these results, a simple bioinformatics criterion that could be useful in assessment of the response of HCV-infected patients to the combination therapy has been proposed.
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