The "Statinth" wonder of the world: a panacea for all illnesses or a bubble about to burst

After the introduction of statins in the market as effective lipid lowering agents, they were shown to have effects other than lipid lowering. These actions were collectively referred to as 'pleiotropic actions of statins.' Pleiotropism of statins formed the basis for evaluating statins for several indications other than lipid lowering. Evidence both in favour and against is available for several of these indications. The current review attempts to critically summarise the available data for each of these indications

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

Physical inactivity and smoking increase risk for serious infections in older women

OBJECTIVE: This study examined health and behavioral risk factors for infections that required hospitalization in postmenopausal women who were enrollees of a large health maintenance organization (HMO). METHODS: Participants were 1365 generally healthy women aged 55 to 80 years who were followed for up to 6 years. Infection diagnoses listed first in the automated hospital discharge records were used to identify hospitalizations for which infections were the primary cause of admission. Potential risk factors for these serious infections were identified from baseline questionnaire information and automated HMO records from before baseline and during follow‐up. Risks for infections associated with hospital admission were examined using multivariate logistic regression methods. RESULTS: Seventy‐three women had a total of 90 hospital admissions in which infection was the primary discharge diagnosis. Behaviors that were independent predictors of infection were physical inactivity (adj. odds ratio = 4.08; 95% CI, 1.73–9.63) and smoking (adj. odds ratio = 2.64; 95% CI, 1.11–6.26). Incident cancer and lung disease were also associated with increased risk of infection. These associations were independent of age, body mass index, functional status, and other measures of health. CONCLUSIONS: Modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity and smoking may place older women at risk for serious infections although the causal link is yet to be explained. Further research in this area may lead to new strategies aimed at reducing the serious burden of infections in the older population

Physical inactivity and smoking increase risk for serious infections in older women

OBJECTIVE: This study examined health and behavioral risk factors for infections that required hospitalization in postmenopausal women who were enrollees of a large health maintenance organization (HMO). METHODS: Participants were 1365 generally healthy women aged 55 to 80 years who were followed for up to 6 years. Infection diagnoses listed first in the automated hospital discharge records were used to identify hospitalizations for which infections were the primary cause of admission. Potential risk factors for these serious infections were identified from baseline questionnaire information and automated HMO records from before baseline and during follow‐up. Risks for infections associated with hospital admission were examined using multivariate logistic regression methods. RESULTS: Seventy‐three women had a total of 90 hospital admissions in which infection was the primary discharge diagnosis. Behaviors that were independent predictors of infection were physical inactivity (adj. odds ratio = 4.08; 95% CI, 1.73–9.63) and smoking (adj. odds ratio = 2.64; 95% CI, 1.11–6.26). Incident cancer and lung disease were also associated with increased risk of infection. These associations were independent of age, body mass index, functional status, and other measures of health. CONCLUSIONS: Modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity and smoking may place older women at risk for serious infections although the causal link is yet to be explained. Further research in this area may lead to new strategies aimed at reducing the serious burden of infections in the older population

Autonomy-supportive decision-making in maternity care during prenatal consultations: a qualitative interaction analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify mechanisms of autonomy-supportive consultation (ASC) that maternity care professionals use during decision-making in prenatal consultations. DESIGN: This study was a descriptive, qualitative analysis of professional–patient interactions in maternity care, using concepts and analytic procedures of conversation analysis. SETTING: The prenatal consultations took place in hospitals and midwifery practices in the Netherlands. This study was part of a larger project. For the current study, we selected prenatal consultations concerning three topics in which patients make their own choices. PARTICIPANTS: The first author invited the patient who was waiting in the waiting room. Participants were not selected a priori. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were mechanisms of ASC. RESULTS: We selected 20 consultations which were conducted by 20 different professionals. We found eight mechanisms in the professional–patient interaction which were categorised into three overarching themes. The first theme, ‘Lightheartedness’, comprises the interactional mechanisms ‘minimising language’ and ‘humour’. The theme ‘Orientation to agreement’ describes how professionals and patients seem to be oriented towards demonstrating agreement and mutual understanding. The last theme, ‘Offering information and options’, describes the professional formally giving factual information almost completely without verbal interaction between the professional and the patient. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the model of ASC can be enriched by adding minimising language and humour to the mechanisms that can be used to fulfil the psychological need ‘relatedness’. Second, our results show that professionals use only few mechanisms to meet the patients’ psychological needs ‘competence’ and ‘autonomy’. They mainly use information giving to meet patients’ need competence. To meet patients’ need for autonomy, the professionals keep all options open. This suggests that professionals could pay more attention to other mechanisms to meet patients’ needs for ‘competence’ and ‘autonomy’