Effect of ketogenic mediterranean diet with phytoextracts and low carbohydrates/high-protein meals on weight, cardiovascular risk factors, body composition and diet compliance in Italian council employees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been increased interest in recent years in very low carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKD) that, even though they are much discussed and often opposed, have undoubtedly been shown to be effective, at least in the short to medium term, as a tool to tackle obesity, hyperlipidemia and some cardiovascular risk factors. For this reason the ketogenic diet represents an interesting option but unfortunately suffers from a low compliance. The aim of this pilot study is to ascertain the safety and effects of a modified ketogenic diet that utilizes ingredients which are low in carbohydrates but are formulated to simulate its aspect and taste and also contain phytoextracts to add beneficial effects of important vegetable components.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study group consisted of 106 Rome council employees with a body mass index of ≥ 25, age between 18 and 65 years (19 male and 87 female; mean age 48.49 ± 10.3). We investigated the effects of a modified ketogenic diet based on green vegetables, olive oil, fish and meat plus dishes composed of high quality protein and virtually zero carbohydrate but which mimic their taste, with the addition of some herbal extracts (KEMEPHY ketogenic Mediterranean with phytoextracts). Calories in the diet were unlimited. Measurements were taken before and after 6 weeks of diet.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant changes in BUN, ALT, AST, GGT and blood creatinine. We detected a significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in BMI (31.45 Kg/m²to 29.01 Kg/m²), body weight (86.15 kg to 79.43 Kg), percentage of fat mass (41.24% to 34.99%), waist circumference (106.56 cm to 97.10 cm), total cholesterol (204 mg/dl to 181 mg/dl), LDLc (150 mg/dl to 136 mg/dl), triglycerides (119 mg/dl to 93 mg/dl) and blood glucose (96 mg/dl to 91 mg/dl). There was a significant (p < 0.0001) increase in HDLc (46 mg/dl to 52 mg/dl).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The KEMEPHY diet lead to weight reduction, improvements in cardiovascular risk markers, reduction in waist circumference and showed good compliance.</p

The lower and middle Palaeolithic industries associated with the T4 terrace of the lower Tejo river (Central Portugal); archives of the earliest human occupation on western Iberia, during ca. 340 ka to 155 ka ago

Através dos registos geomorfológicos e sedimentares, os rios fornecem relevantes arquivos de mudanças paleoambientais, nomeadamente paleoclimáticas e paleogeográficas. As sucessões sedimentares melhor datadas são as mais importantes, com as idades numéricas dos respetivos dos eventos sedimentares, de fósseis e de materiais arqueológicos, obtidas por uma variedade de técnicas. Os arquivos fluviais do Quaternário fornecidos pelo rio Tejo em Portugal (Baixo Tejo) constituem um importante repositório de dados para estudos da evolução da dinâmica sedimentar e da paisagem, bem como da ocupação humana pré-histórica. O atual estado de conhecimentos resultantes das sucessivas abordagens usando métodos da geomorfologia, litostratigrafia, arqueologia e datação numérica no estudo do Terraço T4 do Baixo Tejo é aqui sintetizado. Este trabalho tem enfoque nos sítios com indústrias do Paleolítico que foram encontradas no Terraço T4, o qual é constituído por uma unidade basal de cascalheiras e uma unidade superior dominada por areias. Os mais antigos artefactos são de rara ocorrência e foram encontrados na unidade de Cascalheiras Inferiores, apresentando formas bifaciais pouco elaboradas que podem ser atribuídas ao Acheulense, com uma idade provável de ca. 340 a 325 ka. Em contraste, os níveis estratigráficos inferiores e médios da unidade de Areias Superiores do T4 apresentam vários sítios arqueológicos que documentam fases sucessivas de um Acheulense evoluído, que foram datados de ca. 325 a 220 ka. Nos níveis estratigráficos dos depósitos do topo do T4 foram encontradas indústrias do Paleolítico Médio e datam, provavelmente, de ca. 165 a 155 ka.Because of their geomorphological and sedimentary records, rivers provide relevant archives of palaeoenvironmental change, namely palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic. Well-dated long-term sedimentary successions sequences are of the most value, with the ages of sedimentary events, included fossils and archaeological materials provided by a range of numerical dating techniques. The Quaternary fluvial archives of the Tejo River in Portugal (the Lower Tejo) can provide important data for studies of landscape and sedimentary evolution, but also of the early human occupation. The present state of art achieved by using methods of geomorphology, lithostratigraphy, sedimentology, archaeology and absolute dating in the study of the Lower Tejo River T4 terrace is here summarized. The Lower Tejo has staircases that comprise a culminant sedimentary unit (the ancestral Tejo River, before the beginning of the fluvial incision stage) and six terraces (T1 to T6) located above the modern alluvial plain, with details as follows: T6 at +7-10 m (above river level), 64-32 ka, with Late Middle Palaeolithic (late Mousterian); T5 at +18-26 m, 136-75 ka, with Middle Palaeolithic industries and Mousterian knapping (Levallois); T4 at +34-48 m, similar to 340-155 ka, with Lower Palaeolithic (Early to Late Acheulian) to early Middle Palaeolithic; T3, T2 and T1 do not contain archaeological materials and only from the T3 (+43-78 m) and T1 (+84-164 m) finite absolute ages were obtained. The prehistoric human occupation of this area is of renewed interest because it contains evidence for an extensive Palaeolithic occupation. Related archaeological sites are present on both sides of the river, from the vicinity of the Spanish border (Vila Velha de Rodao; upstream) to the Lisboa area (near the river mouth). This work focuses on the Palaeolithic sites that were found on the T4 terrace, which is made of a basal Lower Gravels unit and an overlying Upper Sands unit. The oldest artefacts previously found in the Lower Gravels unit of the T4 terrace, display crude bifacial forms that can be attributed to the Acheulian, with a probable age of ca. 340 to 325 ka. In contrast, the lower and middle stratigraphic levels of the T4 Upper Sands unit has archaeological sites stratigraphically documenting successive phases of an evolved Acheulian, that were dated as ca. 325 to 220 ka. Notably, these Lower Paleolithic artisans were able to produce tools with different levels of sophistication, simply by applying different strategies. More elaborated reduction sequences were used in case of bifaces, and simpler reduction sequences to obtain cleavers. The differences observed in the lithic assemblages documented at each of these sites can be attributed to a certain degree to particular economic functionalities. But, simultaneously, taking into account the stratigraphic position of these sites and the global technological and typological characteristics of the most relevant tools types (bifaces, cleavers, side-scrapers) we are also impelled to consider the occurrence of local evolutionary chronological trends. In stratigraphic levels at the top deposits of T4, Middle Paleolithic industries have been found and probably date as ca. 165 to 155 ka. In the context of the human settlements of the Middle Pleistocene recognized on the terraces of the Tagus River in Portugal, most of the sites mentioned here in detail, contained in sedimentary deposits of the T4 Terrace and with a chronology of ca. 340 ka to ca. 220 ka, belong to the Lower Paleolithic. The data currently available seem to suggest the possibility of some variability in the lithic industries, if we consider sites with bifaces and hand axes, such as those of Monte Famaco and Vale do Forno (VF1 and VF8), with bifaces, but without axes as in Castelo Velho, to the sites of Fonte da Moita and Ribeira da Ponte da Pedra, where there are industries rich in fine pebbles and rare bifacial pieces. However, it should be pointed out that the specific reality of each of these sites is not comparable with the rest. In fact, this variability is further accentuated when the cave sites of the Almonda spring are introduced into the equation. The correlation of the already known results and the ones to be obtained in the future with the reality of other regions and with other contexts also already identified in the region, as is the case of the recent findings in karst cavities will not fail to enrich the discussion about the variability of the data known

Lipido-Sterolic Extract of Serenoa repens (LSESr, Permixon (R)) Treatment Affects Human Prostate Cancer Cell Membrane Organization

The molecular mechanism by which the lipido-sterolic extract of Serenoa repens (LSESr, Permixon) affects prostate cells remains to be fully elucidated. In androgen-independent PC3 prostate cancer cells, the LSESr-induced effects on proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by counting cells and using a FACScan cytofluorimeter. PC3 cells were stained with JC-1 dye to detect mitochondrial membrane potential. Cell membrane lipid composition was evaluated by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatographic analysis. Akt phosphorylation was analyzed by Western blotting and cellular ultrastructure through electron microscopy. LSESr (12.5 and 25 microg/ml) administration exerted a biphasic action by both inhibiting proliferation and stimulating apoptosis. After 1 h, it caused a marked reduction in the mitochondrial potential, decreased cholesterol content and modified phospholipid composition. A decrease in phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) level was coupled with reduced Akt phosphorylation. After 24 h, all of these effects were restored to pre-treatment conditions; however, the saturated (SFA)/unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) ratio increased, mainly due to a significant decrease in omega 6 content. The reduction in cholesterol content could be responsible for both membrane raft disruption and redistribution of signaling complexes, allowing for a decrease of PIP2 levels, reduction of Akt phosphorylation and apoptosis induction. The decrease in omega 6 content appears to be responsible for the prolonged and more consistent increase in the apoptosis rate and inhibition of proliferation observed after 2-3 days of LSESr treatment. In conclusion, LSESr administration results in complex changes in cell membrane organization and fluidity of prostate cancer cells that have progressed to hormone-independent status

Dilated cardiomyopathy : a group that does not benefit from ICD?

Copyright © 2019 European Society of CardiologyIntroduction: The prevalence of sudden death in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction has been declining in the last decade, not only due to better optimization of pharmacological therapy, but also due to the high rate of cardiac resynchronization responders. Overall, based on recent studies demonstrating a lack of improvement in mortality in some patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, the CRT-P/CRT-D implantation ratio has been increasing across Europe. Objective: To evaluate the evolution of the CRT-P/CRT-D implantation ratio and to evaluate the impact on mortality of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients who underwent resynchronization therapy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Wells and Geneva decision rules to predict pulmonary embolism: can we use them in Covid-19 patients?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2021. For permissions please email: [email protected]. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a recognized complication of SARS-COV2 infection due to hypercoagulability. Before the COVID era, the need for computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) to rule out PE was determined by clinical probability, based on Wells and Geneva scores, in association with D-dimer measurements. However, patients with SARS-COV2 infection have a pro-thrombotic and pro-inflammatory state which may compromise the usefulness of these algorithms to select patients for CTPA.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How can we improve the success of cardiac resynchronization therapy implantation?

© The Author(s) 2019.Introduction: The left ventricular (LV) lead implantation in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is one of the most important and complex steps, leading to implantation failure in 10–15% of cases. New LV lead implantation techniques are needed to allow better resynchronization and decrease mortality and hospitalizations. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the snare technique in the LV lead implantation in cases of standard technique failure.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Home-based cardiac rehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic: effectiveness of an educational intervention

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2021. For permissions please email: [email protected]. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)Patient education is considered a core component of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and nowadays, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, online education programs are critical. However, the best strategy for implementing these digital programs to increase patients’ adherence and learning is not fully established.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio