Relationship between Abdominal Aortic Intima Media Thickness and Central Obesity in Children

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the important risk factors for early atherosclerosis. We aimed to evaluate the effect of obesity on abdominal aortic intima media thickness (aaIMT) in children. Methods: We consecutively recruited 60 obese and 28 healthy children from the outpatient clinic of pediatrics. In all patients, BMI, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured, and fasting serum lipid profile, plasma glucose and plasma insulin were studied. Homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated for the obese group. All children underwent ultrasonography to evaluate hepatosteatosis and to measure aaIMT. Results: There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of aaIMT, insulin, glucose, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride and hepatosteatosis. aaIMT was 1.12 +/- 0.25 and 0.61 +/- 0.18 mm in the obese and nonobese groups, respectively (p < 0.001). In the obese group, there was a positive correlation between aaIMT and WC, WC/height ratio, BMI, HC and hepatosteatosis (p < 0.05 for all), with the highest significance for WC. Conclusions: This study showed that aaIMT was significantly higher in obese children than in nonobese children, and that WC was a strong predictor for aaIMT. Early detection of an increased aaIMT in obese children may guide the follow-up of these patients in terms of developing atherosclerosis and its complications. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Base

Comparison of individuals consuming natural spring water and tap water in terms of urinary tract stone disease

Objectives: To compare individuals consuming natural spring water and tap water in terms of presence of urinary tract stone disease. Patients and methods: Patients were divided into two groups on the basis of the type of water: tap water (Group I) vs natural spring water consumers (Group II). The two groups were compared in terms of presence of urolithiasis. In addition to the type of water consumed, participants were investigated in terms of age, sex, occupation, body mass index (BMI) and presence of hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus in order to evaluate if they constituted a risk factor for urolithiasis. Results: Two hundred fifty-nine patients consuming tap water and 254 consuming natural spring water were included in this study. Presence of urinary stone disease was determined in 27% of patients in Group I and 26% of Group II (p = 0.794). At multivariate analysis involving all variables that might be correlated with the presence of urolithiasis; male gender, high BMI and presence of HT emerged as being significantly associated with urolithiasis. Conclusions: Although we showed that male gender, presence of HT and high BMI affect stone formation, no difference was demonstated in terms of presence of stone among patients consuming tap or natural spring water