MOESM1 of Bibliometric analysis of rheumatology research in the Arab countries

Additional file 1: Table S1A. Estimated disability adjusted life years (DALY) for non-communicable disease (2012) for all ages. Table S1B. Estimated disability adjusted life years (DALY) for non-communicable disease 560 (2012) for ages 30–59. Table S2. Raw data based on all paper type categories listed in Medline. Annex S1.All searches in the Web of Science Core Collection were restricted by Document Type=(Article) and Timespan=(1975–2014)

Smart wearable devices in cardiovascular care: where we are and how to move forward.

Technological innovations reach deeply into our daily lives and an emerging trend supports the use of commercial smart wearable devices to manage health. In the era of remote, decentralized and increasingly personalized patient care, catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the cardiovascular community must familiarize itself with the wearable technologies on the market and their wide range of clinical applications. In this Review, we highlight the basic engineering principles of common wearable sensors and where they can be error-prone. We also examine the role of these devices in the remote screening and diagnosis of common cardiovascular diseases, such as arrhythmias, and in the management of patients with established cardiovascular conditions, for example, heart failure. To date, challenges such as device accuracy, clinical validity, a lack of standardized regulatory policies and concerns for patient privacy are still hindering the widespread adoption of smart wearable technologies in clinical practice. We present several recommendations to navigate these challenges and propose a simple and practical 'ABCD' guide for clinicians, personalized to their specific practice needs, to accelerate the integration of these devices into the clinical workflow for optimal patient care

LDL-C Targets in Secondary Prevention: How Low Should We Go?

The benefits of lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), mainly using high-intensity statin therapy, and its impact on decreasing the recurrence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in secondary prevention has been well established. With the advent of non-statin medications, particularly PCSK-9 inhibitors, which can lower LDL-C to very low levels not seen before, it is important to answer some important questions regarding LDL-C lowering and the uses of these medications in clinical practice: how low should we go with LDL-C reduction? Is there a threshold beyond which lower LDL-C is not associated with any benefit and possibly harm? Does the benefit derived from more aggressive LDL-C lowering justify the cost of additional therapies? Our review has found overwhelming evidence to support the conclusion that lower achieved LDL-C levels correlate with a decreased burden of atherosclerosis and better clinical outcomes in secondary prevention. The concern for adverse effects with very low LDL-C levels is not backed by the literature, and side effects appear to be medication-specific. There still remains a question of the cost-effectiveness of some non-statin therapies particularly PCSK9 inhibitors, in spite of recent price decreases, and whether the benefit is worth the cost. It is prudent to always pursue an individualized patient-level approach to LDL-C lowering that considers the patient’s global cardiovascular risk, their side effect profile, and the cost-effectiveness of therapies in order to derive maximal benefit from aggressive lipid lowering.Other Information Published in: Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12170-019-0619-8</p

Smart wearable devices in cardiovascular care: where we are and how to move forward.

Technological innovations reach deeply into our daily lives and an emerging trend supports the use of commercial smart wearable devices to manage health. In the era of remote, decentralized and increasingly personalized patient care, catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the cardiovascular community must familiarize itself with the wearable technologies on the market and their wide range of clinical applications. In this Review, we highlight the basic engineering principles of common wearable sensors and where they can be error-prone. We also examine the role of these devices in the remote screening and diagnosis of common cardiovascular diseases, such as arrhythmias, and in the management of patients with established cardiovascular conditions, for example, heart failure. To date, challenges such as device accuracy, clinical validity, a lack of standardized regulatory policies and concerns for patient privacy are still hindering the widespread adoption of smart wearable technologies in clinical practice. We present several recommendations to navigate these challenges and propose a simple and practical 'ABCD' guide for clinicians, personalized to their specific practice needs, to accelerate the integration of these devices into the clinical workflow for optimal patient care

Large Scale Metabolic Profiling identifies Novel Steroids linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis

Recent metabolomics studies of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) reported few metabolites that were associated with the disease, either due to small cohort sizes or limited coverage of metabolic pathways. Our objective is to identify metabolites associated with RA and its cofounders using a new untargeted metabolomics platform. Moreover, to investigate the pathomechanism of RA by identifying correlations between RA-associated metabolites. 132 RA patients and 104 controls were analyzed for 927 metabolites. Metabolites were tested for association with RA using linear regression. OPLS-DA was used to discriminate RA patients from controls. Gaussian Graphical Models (GGMs) were used to identify correlated metabolites. 32 metabolites are identified as significantly (Bonferroni) associated with RA, including the previously reported metabolites as DHEAS, cortisol and androstenedione and extending that to a larger set of metabolites in the steroid pathway. RA classification using metabolic profiles shows a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 88%. Steroid levels show variation among the RA patients according to the corticosteroid treatment; lowest in those taking the treatment at the time of the study, higher in those who never took the treatment, and highest in those who took it in the past. Finally, the GGM reflects metabolite relations from the steroidogenesis pathway

Epidemiology and treatment patterns of rheumatoid arthritis in a large cohort of Arab patients.

OBJECTIVES:There is limited information on the epidemiology and treatment patterns of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) across the Arab region. We aim in this study to describe the demographic characteristics, clinical profile, and treatment patterns of patients of Arab ancestry with RA. METHODS:This is a cross sectional study of 895 patients with established rheumatoid arthritis enrolled from five sites (Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and United Arab Emirates). Demographic characteristics, clinical profile, and treatment patterns are compared between the five countries. RESULTS:The majority of our patients are women, have an average disease duration of 10 years, are married and non-smokers, with completed secondary education. We report a high (>80%) ever-use of methotrexate (MTX) and steroids among our RA population, while the ever-use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and TNF-inhibitors average around 67% and 33%, respectively. There are variations in RA treatment use between the five country sites. Highest utilization of steroids is identified in Jordan and KSA (p-value < 0.001), while the highest ever-use of TNF-inhibitors is reported in KSA (p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSION:Disparities in usage of RA treatments among Arab patients are noted across the five countries. National gross domestic product (GDP), as well as some other unique features in each country likely affect these. Developing treatment guidelines specific to this region could contribute in delivering standardized therapies to RA patients

Correction: Epidemiology and treatment patterns of rheumatoid arthritis in a large cohort of Arab patients.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208240.]