Evaluation of anxiety and depression in asthma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aim: To determine the frequency of the development of anxiety and depression in asthma patients who attended an outpatient clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether these rates were higher than those of the healthy population, and whether there is a possible relationship between asthma control levels, anxiety, and depression. Method: A total of 112 patients with asthma and 81controls, whose mean ages and genders were matched, were included in the study. Demographic data of the two groups and general information about their asthmatic conditions were recorded. Asthma control tests (ACTs) were performed to determine the level of asthma control. The Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory were administered to the asthma patients and controls. The groups were compared in terms of their Beck depression and anxiety scores and asthma control. We investigated whether there is a relationship between asthma control level and anxiety and depression scores. Results: Of the asthma patients, 78.6% were found to have anxiety, and 48.2% reported depression, while 32.1% anxiety and 12.3% depression were found in the control group. Depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in asthma patients than in the control group. It was observed that 59% of the patients had very poorly controlled asthma, and as the ACT levels of the patients worsened, depression and anxiety scores increased. Conclusions: To reduce the frequency of anxiety and depression in asthma patients, it is essential to provide accurate information about COVID-19 and to effectively control asthma. Therefore, asthma patients should be informed about COVID-19 and advised to engage in regular outpatient examinations

Ocena zależności między ciśnieniem centralnym w aorcie a zesztywniającym zapaleniem stawów kręgosłupa

Introduction. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease with an unknown etiology that belongs to the group of spondyloarthropathies. Patients with AS have an increased cardiovascular mortality but the reason is controversial. Central aortic pressure (CAP) is defined as the blood pressure in the aortic root and can be measured non-invasively via arteriography. Inflammation in the aortic root, which also causes aortic regurgitation in late sta ges of AS, possibly causes increased levels of central aortic pressure and this may explain the increased mortality rates from cardiovascular events in patients with AS. We investigated the CAP levels in patients with AS compared to healthy age- and sex-matched control group in this novel study. Material and methods. This is an observational case-control study composed of 30 patients with ankylosing spondylitis without conventional cardiovascular risk factors (such as known diabetes, hypertension, and smoking) or heart failure, peripheral or coronary artery disease. The peripheral blood pressures and CAP measurements were obtained with ‘arteriograph’ (TensioMed, Budapest, Hungary).Pulse wave velocity (PWV), peripheral and central augmentation index (pAIx and cAIx) and systolic central aortic pressure (sCAP) of both the AS and control group were compared. Results. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups for pAIx, cAIx, PWV or PP. Patient with AS had higher sCAP values but there wasn’t any statistically significant difference for sCAP. Conclusion. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between the AS and sCAP. There was an increase in sCAP in AS group compared to controls. But this was not statistically significant. This result can be due to the small population size and should be verified in larger population.Wstęp. Zesztywniające zapalenie stawów kręgosłupa (AS) to przewlekła choroba zapalna o nieznanej etiologii należąca do spondyloartropatii. U chorych z AS obserwuje się zwiększoną śmiertelność sercowo-naczyniową, jednak przyczyny tego zjawiska nie są znane. Ciśnienie centralne w aorcie (CAP) jest definiowane jako ciśnienie krwi w korzeniu aorty. Możliwy jest nieinwazyjny pomiar CAP metodą arteriografii. Zapalenie w obrębie korzenia aorty, będące również przyczyną niedomykalności w późnym stadium AS, może powodować wzrost ciśnienia centralnego w aorcie, co może tłumaczyć zwiększoną śmiertelność z powodu zdarzeń sercowo-naczyniowych w grupie chorych z AS. Autorzy zbadali wartości CAP u chorych z AS w porównaniu z wartościami uzyskanymi w grupie kontrolnej złożonej ze zdrowych osób dobranych pod względem wieku i płci. Materiał i metody. Tym obserwacyjnym badaniem kliniczno-kontrolnym objęto 30 chorych z AS, u których nie występowały tradycyjne czynniki ryzyka sercowo-naczyniowego (rozpoznana cukrzyca, nadciśnienie tętnicze, palenie tytoniu), niewydolność serca, choroba tętnic obwodowych ani choroba wieńcowa. Wartości obwodowego ciśnienia tętniczego i pomiary CAP uzyskano metodą arteriografii (TensioMed, Budapeszt, Węgry). Porównano wartości następujących parametrów w grupie AS i grupie kontrolnej: szybkość fali tętna (PWV), wskaźnik wzmocnienia ciśnienia obwodowego i centralnego (pAIx, cAIx) i skurczowe ciśnienie centralne w aorcie (sCAP). Wyniki. Nie stwierdzono statystycznie istotnych różnic między grupami pod względem wartości pAIx, cAIx, PWV ani PP. U chorych z AS zaobserwowano wyższe wartości sCAP, jednak różnice nie osiągnęły poziomu istotności statystycznej. Wnioski. Badanie przeprowadzono w celu zbadania zależności między AS a sCAP. W grupie chorych na AS wartości sCAP były wyższe niż w grupie kontrolnej. Jednak różnice nie były istotne statystycznie. Wyniki te mogą być spowodowane niewielką liczebnością badanej populacji i powinny zostać zweryfikowane w badaniu z większą liczbą uczestników

Evaluation of smoking behaviour according to gender, symptoms and diagnoses at a pulmonology outpatient visit

Smoking during the hours prior to an examination in a pulmonology outpatient clinic may provide valuable information regarding patients' smoking behaviour. The objective of our study was to examine the association of gender, symptoms, and current diagnoses with active smoking status and smoking on the day of outpatient visits. This was a retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study. A total of 1863 patients were included. Symptoms, diagnoses, smoking history, and the last smoking time prior to the outpatient clinic visit were recorded. Males were more likely to be active or ex-smokers, while females were more likely to be non-smokers (p [Med-Science 2022; 11(4.000): 1461-6

Rattus norvegicus acting as reservoir of Leptospira interrogans in the Middle Black Sea region of Turkey, as evidenced by PCR and presence of serum antibodies to Leptospira strain

Leptospirosis, a common form of zoonosis, especially in rainy, countries, is caused by Leptospira interrogans. In our region of Turkey this type of disease has often been encountered in connection with rice harvesting and we therefore attempted to evaluate the prevalence of L. interrogans in wild rats in our region. Fifty-nine Rattus norvegicus rats were trapped alive in different areas of an approximate to100 km stretch of seashore in the Middle Black Sea region of Turkey. L. interrogans was determined by PCR in sera, kidney and brain tissue. Sixteen (27.1%) kidney samples and 10 brain tissue samples (16.9%) were positive for L. interrogans. No PCR positivity was seen in sera samples. Five sera were positive by microagglutination test. A large proportion of wild rats in our region were found to be carriers of L. interrogans. We conclude that people who are exposed to rat urine in their daily life are at risk of acquiring L. interrogans

Bacterial flora of Hirudo medicinalis and their antibiotic sensitivities in the middle Black Sea region, Turkey

The rate of infectious complications of leech therapy is almost 20% because Hirudo medicinalis has endosymbiotic bacteria. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial flora of H. medicinalis and their antibiotic sensitivities in a region in Turkey. Sixteen adult leeches were collected in Middle Black Sea region, Turkey. They were rubbed onto blood agar plates directly under ether anesthesia to obtain surface cultures. They were then killed to obtain mouth and gut cultures. Culture swabs were applied to blood agar, eosin methylene blue agar, and ampicillin blood agar plates. Gut contents were applied to blood culture medium as well. Bacteria were isolated in 15 of 16 leech surfaces, in 7 of 16 mouths, and in 15 of 16 guts. Isolated bacteria were identified with Analytical Profile Index 32 E and Analytical Profile Index 20 NE (fermentative and nonfermentative respectively). Most common types of cultured bacteria were Aeromonas hydrophila (N = 25), Ochrobacter anthropi (N = 23), nonfermenting Gram-negative rods (N = 12), Acinetobacter Iwoffi (N = 3), and A. sobria (N = 2) in 73 isolates. A standard disk diffusion test was performed on isolated bacteria. All isolates were 100% susceptible to ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, gentamicin, and tri-methoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Because leeches are carriers of Aeromonas and other bacteria, appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis should be administrated to the patient who needs leech therapy. Antibacterial agents can be determined by the resistance pattern of the bacterial flora of regional H. medicinalis

The phenotypic and molecular genetic spectrum of Alstrom syndrome in 44 Turkish kindreds and a literature review of Alstrom syndrome in Turkey

Alstrom syndrome (ALMS) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by multiple organ involvement, including neurosensory vision and hearing loss, childhood obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiomyopathy, hypogonadism, and pulmonary, hepatic, renal failure and systemic fibrosis. Alstrom Syndrome is caused by mutations in ALMS1, and ALMS1 protein is thought to have a role in microtubule organization, intraflagellar transport, endosome recycling and cell cycle regulation. Here, we report extensive phenotypic and genetic analysis of a large cohort of Turkish patients with ALMS. We evaluated 61 Turkish patients, including 11 previously reported, for both clinical spectrum and mutations in ALMS1. To reveal the molecular diagnosis of the patients, different approaches were used in combination, a cohort of patients were screened by the gene array to detect the common mutations in ALMS1 gene, then in patients having any of the common ALMS1 mutations were subjected to direct DNA sequencing or next-generation sequencing for the screening of mutations in all coding regions of the gene. In total, 20 distinct disease-causing nucleotide changes in ALMS1 have been identified, eight of which are novel, thereby increasing the reported ALMS1 mutations by 6% (8/120). Five disease-causing variants were identified in more than one kindred, but most of the alleles were unique to each single patient and identified only once (16/20). So far, 16 mutations identified were specific to the Turkish population, and four have also been reported in other ethnicities. In addition, 49 variants of uncertain pathogenicity were noted, and four of these were very rare and probably or likely deleterious according to in silico mutation prediction analyses. ALMS has a relatively high incidence in Turkey and the present study shows that the ALMS1 mutations are largely heterogeneous; thus, these data from a particular population may provide a unique source for the identification of additional mutations underlying Alstrom Syndrome and contribute to genotype-phenotype correlation studies

Quality of life and related factors among chronic hepatitis B-infected patients: a multi-center study, Turkey

Background: The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in Turkey and to study related factors

Quality of life and related factors among chronic hepatitis B-infected patients: a multi-center study, Turkey

balkan, ilker inanc/0000-0002-8977-5931; Altindis, Mustafa/0000-0003-0411-9669; Sahin, Ahmet Ziyaettin/0000-0003-1060-6746; atilla, aynur/0000-0001-8027-1991WOS: 000386954300001PubMed: 27809934Background: The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in Turkey and to study related factors. Methods: This multicenter study was carried out between January 01 and April 15, 2015 in Turkey in 57 centers. Adults were enrolled and studied in three groups. Group 1: Inactive HBsAg carriers, Group 2: CHB patients receiving antiviral therapy, Group 3: CHB patients who were neither receiving antiviral therapy nor were inactive HBsAg carriers. Study data was collected by face-to-face interviews using a standardized questionnaire, Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Hepatitis B Quality of Life (HBQOL). Values equivalent to p < 0.05 in analyses were accepted as statistically significant. Results: Four thousand two hundred fifty-seven patients with CHB were included in the study. Two thousand five hundred fifty-nine (60.1 %) of the patients were males. Groups 1, 2 and 3, consisted of 1529 (35.9 %), 1721 (40.4 %) and 1007 (23.7 %) patients, respectively. The highest value of HRQOL was found in inactive HBsAg carriers. We found that total HBQOL score increased when antiviral treatment was used. However, HRQOL of CHB patients varied according to their socio-demographic properties. Regarding total HBQOL score, a higher significant level of HRQOL was determined in inactive HBV patients when matched controls with the associated factors were provided. Conclusions: The HRQOL score of CHB patients was higher than expected and it can be worsen when the disease becomes active. Use of an antiviral therapy can contribute to increasing HRQOL of patients