Emotional Eating Sustainability in Romania—A Questionnaire-Based Study

Background: In Romania, there is little information regarding emotional eating and risk profile for obesity in eating disorders. Therefore, our purpose was to estimate the relationship between demographic, anthropometric, and emotional eating profiles among the Romanian adult population. Methods: The present study is descriptive and cross-sectional, involving 674 Romanian participants who answered the online questionnaire, which was developed and validated in 2019 through a European project. SPSS Statistics v.25 was used for statistical analyses, the Spearman test for linear regression, and Cronbach’s alpha for the evaluation of the internal consistency of the scales. Results: The mean age of the studied population (mostly women, 67.95%) was 38.13 ± 13.41 years old, and the mean BMI (calculated based on self-declared weight and height) was 24.63 ± 4.39 kg/m2; both measures are significantly higher in men than in women. BMI was also significantly higher in participants using food as an escape from situations such as stress, loneliness, feeling depressed, or as an emotional consolation. This behavior was observed especially in the elderly, similar to other European countries. Conclusion: Our data contribute to a better understanding of emotional eating in Romania, and we hope to improve public health policies, with the goal of preventing obesity and chronic related disorders.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Placental Growth Factor, Soluble fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 1, Soluble Endoglin, IL-6, and IL-16 as Biomarkers in Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE), an important cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, is a pregnancy-related disease characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The aim of our study was to find a practical panel of biomarkers useful in early diagnosis of PE. This study was carried out at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in Tîrgu Mureș University Hospital, Romania, between January 2014 and July 2015 and included 68 pregnant women (47 preeclamptic women and 21 controls) with gestational age between 16 and 20 weeks at enrollment. The biomarkers PlGF, sFlt-1, sEng, IL-6, and IL-16 were determined by ELISA test. We compared the serum levels of soluble markers analysed in preeclamptic women and controls during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and we found that the best predictor for PE was PlGF with a sensitivity of 100% at a concentration threshold of 120.16 pg/mL, a diagnosis accuracy of 70.8%, and AUC of 0.684 (p=0.005). We also estimated the risk for PE according to BMI and we found that pregnant women with weight >90 kg had 7 times higher risk for PE. Second-trimester PlGF serum level may serve as an early biomarker for the diagnosis of PE

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Insertion/Deletion gene polymorphism in patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic peripheral polyneuropathy

Scopul acestei lucrări constă în studierea pentru prima dată în România a polimorfismului I/D al genei VEGF la un grup de pacienți cu diabet zaharat tip 2 și polineuropatie diabetică periferică comparativ cu un grup de control

Emotional Eating Sustainability in Romania—A Questionnaire-Based Study

Background: In Romania, there is little information regarding emotional eating and risk profile for obesity in eating disorders. Therefore, our purpose was to estimate the relationship between demographic, anthropometric, and emotional eating profiles among the Romanian adult population. Methods: The present study is descriptive and cross-sectional, involving 674 Romanian participants who answered the online questionnaire, which was developed and validated in 2019 through a European project. SPSS Statistics v.25 was used for statistical analyses, the Spearman test for linear regression, and Cronbach’s alpha for the evaluation of the internal consistency of the scales. Results: The mean age of the studied population (mostly women, 67.95%) was 38.13 ± 13.41 years old, and the mean BMI (calculated based on self-declared weight and height) was 24.63 ± 4.39 kg/m2; both measures are significantly higher in men than in women. BMI was also significantly higher in participants using food as an escape from situations such as stress, loneliness, feeling depressed, or as an emotional consolation. This behavior was observed especially in the elderly, similar to other European countries. Conclusion: Our data contribute to a better understanding of emotional eating in Romania, and we hope to improve public health policies, with the goal of preventing obesity and chronic related disorders

Web Based Video Educational Resources for Surgeons

During the last years, video files showing different surgical procedures have become extremely available and popular on the internet. They are available on both free and unrestricted sites, as well as on dedicated sites which control the medical quality of the information. Honest presentation and a minimal video-editing to include information about the procedure are mandatory to achieve a product with a true educational value. The integration of the web-based video educational resources in the continuing medical information system seems to be limited and the true educational impact very difficult to assess. A review of the available literature dedicated on this subject shows that the main challenge is related to the human factor and not to the available technology

Serum erythropoietin level in anemia of chronic kidney disease - experience of a Romanian medical centre / Nivelul eritropoietinei serice în anemia din boala renală cronică - experiența unui centru medical românesc

În acest studiu au fost surprinse aspecte ale anemiei din afecţiunile renale cronice, pornind de la faptul că severitatea anemiei se asociază cu gradul disfuncţiei renale, principala cauză fiind deficienţa eritropoietinei, care este sintetizată în cea mai mare parte de rinichi. Au fost implicate în studiu 58 de persoane, 19 pacienţi cu boală31 renală cronică nedependentă de dializă, 18 pacienţi cu boală renală cronică care au beneficiat de transplant renal şi 21 de persoane aparent sănătoase. Au fost evaluate nivelul eritropoietinei serice, proteinuria, creatinina serică, rata de filtrare glomerulară, parametrii eritrocitari şi au fost studiate corelaţiile existente între acestea. Prevalenţa anemiei la pacienţii cu boală renală cronică a fost de 51.35%. Concentraţia hemoglobinei pacienţilor cu transplant renal (12.4 ± 2.7 g/dL) şi a celor nedependenţi de dializă (11.7 ± 1.4 g/dL) diferă semnificativ de cea a persoanelor aparent sănătoase (14.6 ± 0.8 g/dL) (p < 0.05). La pacienţii nedependenţi de dializă, netrataţi cu agenţi de stimulare a eritropoiezei, am găsit asocieri pozitive între rata de filtrare glomerulară şi numărul de eritrocite (r = 0.71), hemoglobină (r = 0.65) şi hematocrit (r = 0.73), precum şi asocieri negative ale creatininei cu numărul eritrocitelor (r = -0.72), hemoglobina (r = -0.86) şi hematocritul (r = -0.88). La pacienţii cu transplant renal şi anemie au fost evidenţiate corelaţii pozitive ale eritropoietinei cu numărul eritrocitelor (r = 0.69), ale ratei de filtrare glomerulară cu numărul eritrocitelor (r = 0.78) şi eritropoietina (r = 0.97), precum şi corelaţii negative ale proteinuriei cu numărul eritrocitelor (r = -0.89), hemoglobina (r = -0.72), hematocritul (r = -0.72), eritropoietina (r = -0.67), şi ale creatininei cu numărul eritrocitelor (r = -0.75) şi eritropoietina (r = -0.86)

Placental Growth Factor, Soluble fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 1, Soluble Endoglin, IL-6, and IL-16 as Biomarkers in Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE), an important cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, is a pregnancy-related disease characterized by hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The aim of our study was to find a practical panel of biomarkers useful in early diagnosis of PE. This study was carried out at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in Tîrgu Mureș University Hospital, Romania, between January 2014 and July 2015 and included 68 pregnant women (47 preeclamptic women and 21 controls) with gestational age between 16 and 20 weeks at enrollment. The biomarkers PlGF, sFlt-1, sEng, IL-6, and IL-16 were determined by ELISA test. We compared the serum levels of soluble markers analysed in preeclamptic women and controls during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and we found that the best predictor for PE was PlGF with a sensitivity of 100% at a concentration threshold of 120.16 pg/mL, a diagnosis accuracy of 70.8%, and AUC of 0.684 (p=0.005). We also estimated the risk for PE according to BMI and we found that pregnant women with weight >90 kg had 7 times higher risk for PE. Second-trimester PlGF serum level may serve as an early biomarker for the diagnosis of PE

Software Application for Data Collection and Analysis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Aim: It is important in the context of the informatics development and also of medical research, that new software technology to be integrated in order to achieve easier research. The aim of this study was to develop a software application that uses few resources, and that enable data collection, their primary processing in statistical terms (e.g. mean, median, etc.), drawing of survival curves and survival Log Rank statistic testing according to the collected parameters. Material and Method: For this purpose, a database in SQLite3 was developed. Because the database engine is embedded in the Database Management System (DBMS) this program allows absolute portability. Graphical interface was made in wxWidgets. Statistical calculations were obtained using R software (the `addons` E1071 was used for descriptive statistics and the `Survival `for testing survival and Northest for Kaplan Meier survival curve). Patients were cases admitted and treated in the Hematology Department of County Emergency Hospital Tîrgu Mureş hospitalized and treated during 2007-2010. Results: We created a GUI in wxWidgets to collect the desired medical data: age, date of diagnosis, date of death, blood count values, and the CD leukocyte markers detected by flow cytometry. Entwining of medical data collection and processing statistics (for acute myeloid leukemia - survival, prognostic factors evaluation) is a further step in medical research. Conclusion: The tool presented is a useful for research. Application in acute myeloid leukemia derives from the author's interest in the subject; development of this tool in other directions is possible and desirable

Demographic, Anthropometric and Food Behavior Data towards Healthy Eating in Romania

Background: Each country has specific social, cultural, and economic characteristics regarding the motivations for improving health. The aim of this study was to evaluate demographic characteristics, anthropometric data, and elements related to food behavior and health, as well as Romanians’ motivations towards healthy eating. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire based study enrolling 751 Romanian participants, which was carried out in in 2017–2018. Results: We obtained a positive correlation between age and Body Mass Index, and this was maintained also when we analyzed the two genders separately, being, however, even stronger for women. The number of hours/day spent watching TV or in front of the computer was positively correlated with both age and BMI. In general, with aging, there is an increasing concern regarding the practice of a healthy diet. The higher education level was significantly associated with healthier choices. Conclusions: The study of the three dietary dimensions, food properties, health attitudes, and dietary behavior, vis-à-vis various disorders revealed that the group most concerned of their diet was those who suffered from cardiovascular disorders