Inverse association between diabetes and altitude: a cross-sectional study in the adult population of the United States.

ObjectiveTo determine whether geographical elevation is inversely associated with diabetes, while adjusting for multiple risk factors.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional analysis of publicly available online data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2009. Final dataset included 285,196 US adult subjects. Odds ratios were obtained from multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis.ResultsAmong US adults (≥20 years old), the odds ratio for diabetes was 1.00 between 0 and 499 m of altitude (reference), 0.95 (95% confidence interval, 0.90-1.01) between 500 and 1,499 m, and 0.88 (0.81-0.96) between 1,500 and 3,500 m, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, ethnicity, self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption, self-reported physical activity, current smoking status, level of education, income, health status, employment status, and county-level information on migration rate, urbanization, and latitude. The inverse association between altitude and diabetes in the US was found among men [0.84 (0.76-0.94)], but not women [1.09 (0.97-1.22)].ConclusionsAmong US adults, living at high altitude (1,500-3,500 m) is associated with lower odds of having diabetes than living between 0 and 499 m, while adjusting for multiple risk factors. Our findings suggest that geographical elevation may be an important factor linked to diabetes

Understanding Privacy Behaviors of Millennials within Social Networking Sites

ABSTRACT Creating and defining an online persona is something most Millennials will find themselves doing as they transition into adulthood. Today having an online profile is almost essential to fully network with friends, family, and employers. Despite the popularity of this technology amongst teenagers, not a lot is understood in terms of their privacy behaviors or attitudes regarding privacy within social networking sites (SNS). To investigate this, we designed an interview-based study, in which we questioned several high school students about their thoughts and privacy practices, and habits. We found, contrary to popular thought, that privacy is a concern for most Millennials and manifests itself in both attitudes and practice for young users. Popular media, and often times concerned parents, have assumed teenagers do not understand the nuances of Social Networking Sites and believe Facebook is a danger-ridden landscape for young people's well being and reputation. This study however found a group of savvy Millennials that understood the potential dangers affiliated with low privacy settings, and took precautions with their identity and online personas. The findings from this study, along with guidelines set forth for practice and additional research, will help the information community better evaluate Millennial behaviors and serve their online needs

Healthy males’ antioxidant system response in induced acute hyperglycemia

Objetivo: determinar la respuesta del sistema antioxidante en varones sanos, frente a la hiperglicemia aguda inducida. Diseño: estudio prospectivo, descriptivo, longitudinal, experimental. Lugar: Instituto Nacional de Biología Andina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú. Material biológico: Sangre y suero de sujetos aparentemente sanos. Intervenciones: A 13 sujetos adultos clínicamente sanos, entre 20 y 41años, después de 10 horas de ayuno, se administró glucosa vía endovenosa, mediante el método de clamp hiperglicémico, a 125 mg/dL por encima del valor basal, durante 120 minutos. Se realizó mediciones de la glicemia a 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 y 120 minutos. Se tomó la muestra sanguínea con anticoagulante EDTA y otra de sangre total, para obtención de suero, para las pruebas bioquímicas a los 0, 60 y 120 minutos. Principales medidas de resultados: Modificaciones de la glicemia y lipoperoxidación en suero, glutatión y actividad superóxido dismutasa en glóbulos rojos lisados e índices de estrés oxidativo. Resultados: El nivel de glucosa durante el clamp hiperglicémico, luego de alcanzar el ‘equilibrio’, fue 197±17,58 mg/dL. La lipoperoxidación aumentó de 2,54 + 0,51 a 2,90 + 0,58 umol/L, de 0 a 60 minutos, y a 2,66 + 0,55 umol/L a los 120 minutos. El glutatión se redujo en 8,10% a la hora, aumentando 7,08% a los 120 minutos. La actividad superóxido dismutasa se elevó 0,54% a los 60 minutos y 5,66% a los 120 minutos, sobre el basal. Los índices de valoración del estrés oxidativo tuvieron correlación r Pearson positiva, en nivel alto a muy alto. Conclusiones: la hiperglicemia aguda inducida hasta 2 horas elevó el estrés oxidativo, promoviendo generación de defensa antioxidante, con síntesis de glutatión reducido de novo y mayor actividad de la superóxido dismutasa.Objective: To determine healthy males’ antioxidant system response in induced acute hyperglycemia. Design: Prospective, descriptive, longitudinal, experimental study. Setting: National Institute of Andean Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Biological materials: Whole blood and serum of apparently healthy men. Interventions: After 10 hour fasting, intravenous glucose was administered to thirteen healthy 20-41 year-old adult men using the hyperglycemic clamp method at 125 mg/dL above basal value during 120 minutes. Glycemia was measured at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 minutes. Blood sampling was obtained with EDTA anticoagulant and whole blood to obtain blood serum for biochemistry tests at 0, 60 and 120 minutes. Main outcome measures: Blood serum glycemia and lipoperoxidation variation, glutathione and superoxide dismutase activity in lysed red blood cells and oxidative stress index. Results: After achieving ‘balance’, glucose levels during hyperglycemic clamp was 197 ± 17,58 mg/dL. Lipoperoxidation increased from 2,54 + 0,51 to 2,90 + 0,58umol/L, from 0 to 60 minutes, and to 2,66 + 0,55 umol/L at 120 minutes. Glutathione was reduced in 8,10% at one hour, rising 7,08% at 120 minutes. Superoxide dismutase activity rose above basal 0,54% at 60 min and 5,66% at 120 min. Oxidative stress valuation index had high level to very high level positive Pearson r correlation. Conclusions: Acute induced hyperglycemia up to 2 hours increased oxidative stress, promoting generation of antioxidant defence with de novo synthesis of reduced glutathione and greater activity of superoxide dismutase

Evaluation of the implementation of a clinical pharmacy service on an acute internal medicine ward in Italy

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Springer Nature. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Background: Successful implementation of clinical pharmacy services is associated with improvement of appropriateness of prescribing. Both high clinical significance of pharmacist interventions and their high acceptance rate mean that potential harm to patients could be avoided. Evidence shows that low acceptance rate of pharmacist interventions can be associated with lack of communication between pharmacists and the rest of the healthcare team. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a structured communication strategy on acceptance rate of interventions made by a clinical pharmacist implementing a ward-based clinical pharmacy service targeting elderly patients at high risk of drug-related problems. Characteristics of interventions made to improve appropriateness of prescribing, their clinical significance and intervention acceptance rate by doctors were recorded. Methods: A clinical pharmacy intervention study was conducted between September 2013 and December 2013 in an internal medicine ward of a teaching hospital. A trained clinical pharmacist provided pharmaceutical care to 94 patients aged over 70 years. The clinical pharmacist used the following communication and marketing tools to implement the service described: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) goals; Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA) model. Results: A total of 740 interventions were made by the clinical pharmacist. The most common drug classes involved in interventions were: antibacterials for systemic use (11.1%) and anti-parkinson drugs (10.8%). The main drug-related problem categories triggering interventions were: no specific problem (15.9%) and prescription writing error (12.0%). A total of 93.2% of interventions were fully accepted by physicians. After assessment by an external panel 63.2% of interventions (96 interventions/ per month) were considered of moderate clinical significance and 23.4% (36 interventions/ per month) of major clinical significance. The most frequent interventions were to educate a healthcare professional (20.4%) and change dose (16.1%). Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first study evaluating the effect of a structured communication strategy on acceptance rate of pharmacist interventions. Pharmaceutical care delivered by the clinical pharmacist is likely to have had beneficial outcomes. Clinical pharmacy services like the one described should be implemented widely to increase patient safety.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

The Short-Term Effect of Weight Loss Surgery on Volumetric Breast Density and Fibroglandular Volume

Purpose: Obesity and breast density are both associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and are potentially modifiable. Weight loss surgery (WLS) causes a significant reduction in the amount of body fat and a decrease in breast cancer risk. The effect of WLS on breast density and its components has not been documented. Here, we analyze the impact of WLS on volumetric breast density (VBD) and on each of its components (fibroglandular volume and breast volume) by using three-dimensional methods. Materials and Methods: Fibroglandular volume, breast volume, and their ratio, the VBD, were calculated from mammograms before and after WLS by using Volpara™ automated software. Results: For the 80 women included, average body mass index decreased from 46.0 ± 7.22 to 33.7 ± 7.06 kg/m2. Mammograms were performed on average 11.6 ± 9.4 months before and 10.1 ± 7 months after WLS. There was a significant reduction in average breast volume (39.4 % decrease) and average fibroglandular volume (15.5 % decrease), and thus, the average VBD increased from 5.15 to 7.87 % (p < 1 × 10−9) after WLS. When stratified by menopausal status and diabetic status, VBD increased significantly in all groups but only perimenopausal and postmenopausal women and non-diabetics experienced a significant reduction in fibroglandular volume. Conclusions: Breast volume and fibroglandular volume decreased, and VBD increased following WLS, with the most significant change observed in postmenopausal women and non-diabetics. Further studies are warranted to determine how physical and biological alterations in breast density components after WLS may impact breast cancer risk.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

Non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis: a consensus of the Belgian Bone Club

This consensus article reviews the various aspects of the non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis, including the effects of nutriments, physical exercise, lifestyle, fall prevention, and hip protectors. Vertebroplasty is also briefly reviewed. Non-pharmacological management of osteoporosis is a broad concept. It must be viewed as an essential part of the prevention of fractures from childhood through adulthood and the old age. The topic also includes surgical procedures for the treatment of peripheral and vertebral fractures and the post-fracture rehabilitation. The present document is the result of a consensus, based on a systematic review and a critical appraisal of the literature. Diets deficient in calcium, proteins or vitamin D impair skeletal integrity. The effect of other nutriments is less clear, although an excessive consumption of sodium, caffeine, or fibres exerts negative effects on calcium balance. The deleterious effects of tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption and a low BMI are well accepted. Physical activity is of primary importance to reach optimal peak bone mass but, if numerous studies have shown the beneficial effects of various types of exercise on bone mass, fracture data as an endpoint are scanty. Fall prevention strategies are especially efficient in the community setting, but less evidence is available about their effectiveness in preventing fall-related injuries and fractures. The efficacy of hip protectors remains controversial. This is also true for vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Several randomized controlled studies had reported a short-term advantage of vertebroplasty over medical treatment for pain relief, but these findings have been questioned by recent sham-controlled randomized clinical studies

Australia's National Bowel Cancer Screening Program: does it work for Indigenous Australians?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite a lower incidence of bowel cancer overall, Indigenous Australians are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage when prognosis is poor. Bowel cancer screening is an effective means of reducing incidence and mortality from bowel cancer through early identification and prompt treatment. In 2006, Australia began rolling out a population-based National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) using the Faecal Occult Blood Test. Initial evaluation of the program revealed substantial disparities in bowel cancer screening uptake with Indigenous Australians significantly less likely to participate in screening than the non-Indigenous population.</p> <p>This paper critically reviews characteristics of the program which may contribute to the discrepancy in screening uptake, and includes an analysis of organisational, structural, and socio-cultural barriers that play a part in the poorer participation of Indigenous and other disadvantaged and minority groups.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A search was undertaken of peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, and other grey literature using electronic databases and citation snowballing. Articles were critically evaluated for relevance to themes that addressed the research questions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The NBCSP is not reaching many Indigenous Australians in the target group, with factors contributing to sub-optimal participation including how participants are selected, the way the screening kit is distributed, the nature of the test and comprehensiveness of its contents, cultural perceptions of cancer and prevailing low levels of knowledge and awareness of bowel cancer and the importance of screening.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings suggest that the population-based approach to implementing bowel cancer screening to the Australian population unintentionally excludes vulnerable minorities, particularly Indigenous and other culturally and linguistically diverse groups. This potentially contributes to exacerbating the already widening disparities in cancer outcomes that exist among Indigenous Australians. Modifications to the program are recommended to facilitate access and participation by Indigenous and other minority populations. Further research is also needed to understand the needs and social and cultural sensitivities of these groups around cancer screening and inform alternative approaches to bowel cancer screening.</p