Fortification and health: challenges and opportunities.

Fortification is the process of adding nutrients or non-nutrient bioactive components to edible products (e.g., food, food constituents, or supplements). Fortification can be used to correct or prevent widespread nutrient intake shortfalls and associated deficiencies, to balance the total nutrient profile of a diet, to restore nutrients lost in processing, or to appeal to consumers looking to supplement their diet. Food fortification could be considered as a public health strategy to enhance nutrient intakes of a population. Over the past century, fortification has been effective at reducing the risk of nutrient deficiency diseases such as beriberi, goiter, pellagra, and rickets. However, the world today is very different from when fortification emerged in the 1920s. Although early fortification programs were designed to eliminate deficiency diseases, current fortification programs are based on low dietary intakes rather than a diagnosable condition. Moving forward, we must be diligent in our approach to achieving effective and responsible fortification practices and policies, including responsible marketing of fortified products. Fortification must be applied prudently, its effects monitored diligently, and the public informed effectively about its benefits through consumer education efforts. Clear lines of authority for establishing fortification guidelines should be developed and should take into account changing population demographics, changes in the food supply, and advances in technology. This article is a summary of a symposium presented at the ASN Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2014 on current issues involving fortification focusing primarily on the United States and Canada and recommendations for the development of responsible fortification practices to ensure their safety and effectiveness

Encadrement normatif et contractuel des pratiques de téléconsultation en clinique de première ligne

Jusqu'à la pandémie de la COVID-19, les services de téléconsultation offerts par des médecins omnipraticiens au Québec étaient fortement limités essentiellement parce qu'ils n'étaient pas rémunérés puisque non reconnus comme des actes médicaux assurables. Le décret du 16 mars 2020 , adopté dans le contexte d'urgence sanitaire, permet maintenant cette rémunération au même titre que la rémunération associée à la visite du patient en clinique. De nombreux avantages sont reconnus et associés à la téléconsultation en première ligne si cette téléconsultation est bien encadrée. Le présent projet vise à examiner les bonnes pratiques d'encadrement de la téléconsultation et à proposer des recommandations avant que ne soit négocié la prochaine entente de rémunération avec les médecins omnipraticiens. Nous recommandons notamment une formation obligatoire, une clarification législative quant au droit des assureurs privés de rembourser la téléconsultation et des modalités de rémunération variées en fonction du type de téléconsultation. Il nous appert enfin impératif de rapidement commander une étude détaillée sur les bénéfices et les coûts de la téléconsultation au Québec

Systematic review of metrics used to characterise dietary nutrient supply from household consumption and expenditure surveys.

OBJECTIVE: To review existing publications using Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply to (1) describe scope of available literature, (2) identify the metrics reported and parameters used to construct these metrics, (3) summarise comparisons between estimates derived from HCES and individual dietary assessment data and (4) explore the demographic and socio-economic sub-groups used to characterise risks of nutrient inadequacy. DESIGN: This study is a systematic review of publications identified from online databases published between 2000 to 2019 that used HCES food consumption data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply. Further publications were identified by 'snowballing' the references of included database-identified publications. SETTING: Publications using data from low- and lower-middle income countries. RESULTS: In total, fifty-eight publications were included. Three metrics were reported that characterised household dietary nutrient supply: apparent nutrient intake per adult-male equivalent per day (n 35), apparent nutrient intake per capita per day (n 24) and nutrient density (n 5). Nutrient intakes were generally overestimated using HCES food consumption data, with several studies finding sizeable discrepancies compared with intake estimates based on individual dietary assessment methods. Sub-group analyses predominantly focused on measuring variation in household dietary nutrient supply according to socio-economic position and geography. CONCLUSION: HCES data are increasingly being used to assess diets across populations. More research is needed to inform the development of a framework to guide the use of and qualified interpretation of dietary assessments based on these data

Reduced costs with bisoprolol treatment for heart failure - An economic analysis of the second Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Study (CIBIS-II)

Background Beta-blockers, used as an adjunctive to diuretics, digoxin and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, improve survival in chronic heart failure. We report a prospectively planned economic analysis of the cost of adjunctive beta-blocker therapy in the second Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study (CIBIS II). Methods Resource utilization data (drug therapy, number of hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, ward type) were collected prospectively in all patients in CIBIS . These data were used to determine the additional direct costs incurred, and savings made, with bisoprolol therapy. As well as the cost of the drug, additional costs related to bisoprolol therapy were added to cover the supervision of treatment initiation and titration (four outpatient clinic/office visits). Per them (hospital bed day) costings were carried out for France, Germany and the U.K. Diagnosis related group costings were performed for France and the U.K. Our analyses took the perspective of a third party payer in France and Germany and the National Health Service in the U.K. Results Overall, fewer patients were hospitalized in the bisoprolol group, there were fewer hospital admissions perpatient hospitalized, fewer hospital admissions overall, fewer days spent in hospital and fewer days spent in the most expensive type of ward. As a consequence the cost of care in the bisoprolol group was 5-10% less in all three countries, in the per them analysis, even taking into account the cost of bisoprolol and the extra initiation/up-titration visits. The cost per patient treated in the placebo and bisoprolol groups was FF35 009 vs FF31 762 in France, DM11 563 vs DM10 784 in Germany and pound 4987 vs pound 4722 in the U.K. The diagnosis related group analysis gave similar results. Interpretation Not only did bisoprolol increase survival and reduce hospital admissions in CIBIS II, it also cut the cost of care in so doing. This `win-win' situation of positive health benefits associated with cost savings is Favourable from the point of view of both the patient and health care systems. These findings add further support for the use of beta-blockers in chronic heart failure

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Prise en charge des accidents d'exposition au VIH (évaluation et amélioration des pratiques professionnelles aux urgences adultes du CHU de Nantes)

Introduction : En 2003, des recommandations nationales ont fixé les modalités de prise en charge des personnes exposées à un risque de transmission du VIH. Jusqu'en 2006, aucune évaluation de cette prise en charge n'avait été menée aux urgences du CHU de Nantes. Objectif : Evaluer et améliorer la qualité de la prise en charge aux urgences adultes du CHU de Nantes des personnes consultant pour un accident d exposition au VIH. Matériel et méthode : Selon la méthode de l audit clinique ciblé, une évaluation de la prise en charge des personnes exposées au VIH a été menée en 2006 (12 mois) à l aide de 5 critères principaux (décision thérapeutique évaluable, conformité de la prescription aux recommandations, traçabilité de la prescription, traçabilité de l information délivrée au patient et consultation spécialisée dans un délai recommandé de 3 jours). Après la mise en place d un plan d amélioration, une deuxième évaluation réalisée en 2007 (7 mois) a été comparée à la première. Résultats : En 2007, l ensemble des critères principaux d évaluation définis progressent et atteignent ou approchent 100% de satisfaction. Conclusion : La réalisation d un audit clinique ciblé aux urgences adultes a permis d améliorer la prise en charge des personnes exposées à un risque de transmission du VIH. Une étude similaire à un an devrait permettre de s assurer de la constance de ces bons résultats.NANTES-BU Médecine pharmacie (441092101) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Variabilité naturelle du gène de la protéase du VIH-1 (quelle implication thérapeutique ?)

La variabilité naturelle du gène de la protéase du VIH-1 implique la présence, avant tout traitement, d'acides aminés non conformes au consensus B, dont le rôle dans la survenue d'un échec de traitement est inconnu. Nous avons étudié ce gène chez 261 patients suivis au sein de la cohorte APROCO pendant la première année de traitement. Par une analyse statistique multivariée, nous avons recherché les facteurs associés à l'échec virologique, parmi les caractéristiques des patients, les traitements, l'observance, et les substitutions d'acides aminés présentes avant traitement. Nous confirmons la présence naturelle très fréquente de certaines mutations secondaires de résistance aux inhibiteurs de protéase, qui n'apparaît pas liée à un risque d'échec plus élevé. Les substitutions des codons 16 et 72 sont associées à la survenue d'un échec virologique, mais la pertinence clinique de cette association reste à établir.NANTES-BU Médecine pharmacie (441092101) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Survey regarding the 0.05 blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in the United States

<p><b>Background</b>: On May 14, 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proposed that states lower the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) illegal limit from 0.08 to 0.05 g/dL (also referred to as the 0.08 law and the 0.05 limit, respectively). In March 2017, this recommendation was signed into law in the State of Utah.</p> <p><b>Objective</b>: The objective of this survey is to investigate perceptions regarding enforcement of the 0.05 g/dL BAC limit.</p> <p><b>Method</b>: Opinions of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and defense attorneys were obtained through a series of questionnaires and focus groups.</p> <p><b>Results</b>: Survey data were collected from 32 law enforcement officers, 20 prosecutors, and 4 defense attorneys. The participants rated the usefulness of the NHTSA's driving while intoxicated (DWI) driving cues lower for the 0.05 limit than for the 0.08 law. Some of the participants believed that training would be needed in regard to sobriety testing under the 0.05 limit. Participants also stated that adequately preparing for prosecution of drunk drivers would be more difficult under the 0.05 limit. In addition, it was believed that drunk driving cases are more likely to be withdrawn and fewer plea agreements and guilty pleas are likely under the 0.05 limit. Prosecutors were concerned that the 0.05 limit would result in poorly investigated cases and overburden the court system. Defense attorneys were concerned about the social and economic costs of a 0.05 limit.</p> <p><b>Discussion</b>: Overall, it appears that the 0.05 limit is viewed as enforceable and it will save lives; however, the usefulness of the NHTSA DWI Detection Guide and of the standardized field sobriety tests need to be established for lower BACs, and efforts must be made to educate people regarding the relationship between BAC and impairment and impairment and driving with the risk of injury and death.</p> <p><b>Conclusion</b>: Though the 0.05 limit offers promise in saving lives, the following issues associated with changing the limit to 0.05 need to be resolved prior to implementation: Validating the sobriety tests for the 0.05 limit; if needed, modifying the sobriety tests to make them effective and valid at the 0.05 limit; and training law enforcement personnel and educating the public regarding the 0.05 limit.</p