May measurement month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Argentinean cohort.

Hypertension continues to be the leading cause of death and disability in the industrialized world, with a high level of unawareness and unacceptably poor control. Therefore, the Argentinian Society of Hypertension, in agreement with the May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative of the International Society of Hypertension, implemented for the second consecutive year an educational campaign during the month of May 2018. A volunteer cross-sectional survey was carried out in public spaces and health centres during the month of May 2018 across 33 cities in Argentina. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg based on the mean of the 2nd and 3rd of three consecutive BP measurements, or in those on treatment for high BP. Statistical analysis including multiple imputation followed the MMM protocol. A total of 70 418 individuals were screened during MMM18, after excluding those under 18 years old. Of the total, 43.8% of participants were classified as hypertensive, 77.7% were aware of their diagnosis, 69.1% were on pharmacological treatment, and 38.7% were controlled. Of those on antihypertensive medication, 56.0% were controlled. It is necessary to reinforce strategies not only to increase the awareness and control of hypertension but also to identify the population groups, in which these strategies would have the greatest impact, helping to reduce the enormous health burden attributed to hypertension

Biomarkers of therapeutic responses in chronic Chagas disease: state of the art and future perspectives

The definition of a biomarker provided by the World Health Organization is any substance, structure, or process that can be measured in the body, or its products and influence, or predict the incidence or outcome of disease. Currently, the lack of prognosis and progression markers for chronic Chagas disease has posed limitations for testing new drugs to treat this neglected disease. Several molecules and techniques to detect biomarkers in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients have been proposed to assess whether specific treatment with benznidazole or nifurtimox is effective. Isolated proteins or protein groups from different T. cruzi stages and parasite-derived glycoproteins and synthetic neoglycoconjugates have been demonstrated to be useful for this purpose, as have nucleic acid amplification techniques. The amplification of T. cruzi DNA using the real-time polymerase chain reaction method is the leading test for assessing responses to treatment in a short period of time. Biochemical biomarkers have been tested early after specific treatment. Cytokines and surface markers represent promising molecules for the characterisation of host cellular responses, but need to be further assessed.RICET RD12/0018/0010. RICET RD12/0018/0021. AGAUR 2014SGR26. Plan Nacional de I+D+I SAF2012-35777. Plan Nacional de I+D+I SAF2013-48527-R. NIMHD/NIH 2G12MD007592. Financial support: CRESIB and IPBLN research members were partially supported by the RICET (RD12/0018/0010, RD12/0018/0021), M-JP and JG received research funds from AGAUR (2014SGR26) and Fundación Mundo Sano, M-CT and M-CL were supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+I (MINECO-Spain) (SAF2012-35777, SAF2013-48527-R and FEDER), ICA was partially supported by NIMHD/NIH (2G12MD007592). Financial support: CRESIB and IPBLN research members were partially supported by the RICET (RD12/0018/0010, RD12/0018/0021), M-JP and JG received research funds from AGAUR (2014SGR26) and Fundación Mundo Sano, M-CT and M-CL were supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+I (MINECO-Spain) (SAF2012-35777, SAF2013-48527-R and FEDER), ICA was partially supported by NIMHD/NIH (2G12MD007592).Peer reviewe