Diet risk behaviors in relation with personality features in students from Timis county, Romania (case-control study)

Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie Victor Babeş, Timişoara, România, Conferința științifico-practică cu participare internațională Centrul de Sănătate Publică din municipiul Chișinău – 70 de ani la straja sănătăţii 23 octombrie 2014In the performed study we investigated the existence of a relation between students` personality features and diet risk behaviors. The material was a sample consisted in 2074 students, 62.48 % girls and 37.51 % boys, aged between 18 and 25 years. The method (observational inquiry) consisted in two questionnaire applying: Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI, 212 items) and CORT 2004 (126 items, from which we selected 11 items (Q100-Q109), that refers to diet behavior. We chose for our study 2 groups of students: group of control – no consumption and group of study – 2 or more times/day consumption of a certain food. Statistical work was realized by the support of SPSS 16 Program. Obtained results: we identified a statistical significant difference between the 2 groups of students (case-control) of sweets consumption for sincerity (χ2=7.997, Sig.0.018) and of fried potatoes consumption for aggressiveness (χ2=6.334, Sig.0.042). A positive correlation was registered between sweets consumption-sincerity (γ=0.342, Sig.0.004), between fried potatoes consumption-aggressiveness (γ=0.373, Sig.0.039) and fried potatoes consumption-domination (γ=0.398, Sig.0.024). In conclusion, there is a positive relation, statistical significant between sweets consumption and sincerity and between fried potatoes consumption and aggressiveness, domination at the investigated student

Does coffee consumption alter plasma lipoprotein(A) concentrations? A systematic review

Coffee consumption alters plasma lipid and cholesterol concentrations, however, its effects on lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) have received little study. The aim of this PRISMA compliant systematic review was to examine the role of coffee on serum Lp(a). This study was prospectively registered (PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015032335). PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Central were searched from inception until 9th January 2016 to detect trials and epidemiological studies investigating the impact of coffee on serum Lp(a) concentrations in humans. We identified six relevant publications describing nine experimental trials of various designs. There were a total of 640 participants across all studies and experimental groups. In short-term controlled studies, consumption of coffee, or coffee diterpenes was associated with either a reduction in serum Lp(a) of 11 mg/dl (6 trials, 275 participants), or no effect (2 trials, 56 participants). Conversely, one cross-sectional study with 309 participants showed serum Lp(a) was elevated in chronic consumers of boiled coffee who had a median Lp(a) of 13.0 mg/dl (range 0-130) compared with consumers of filtered coffee who had median Lp(a) 7.9 mg/dl (range 0-144) The effect of coffee on Lp(a) is complex and may follow a biphasic time-course. The type of coffee and the method of preparation appear to be important to determining the effect on Lp(a

Role of Natural Products in Ameliorating Drugs and Chemicals Toxicity

Herbal medicines have a long history over than 7000 years in traditional treatment, therapeutic experiences, and clinical trials including Egypt, China, and Korea. This practice is still the mainstay of about 75–80% of the world population, mainly in the developing countries, for primary health care and promotion because of better cultural acceptability, better compatibility with the human body, and lesser side effects. However, the last few years have seen a major increase in their use in the developed world. Nowadays, we can find a bipolarised market for the active ingredients: those chemically produced and mainly supported by the pharmaceutical companies and those natural constituents that are demanded by an increased number of patients. Although natural products have not been always active as supposed, some of them are scientifically recognised as therapeutically active. Indeed, it has to be noted that some drugs, still used in the current therapies, are extracted from plants. Some of these can have additive action if coadministered with synthesized drugs or ameliorate the drug toxicity

Impact of statin therapy on coronary plaque composition: A systematic review and meta-analysis of virtual histology intravascular ultrasound studies

Background: Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) imaging is an innovative tool for the morphological evaluation of coronary atherosclerosis. Evidence for the effects of statin therapy on VH-IVUS parameters have been inconclusive. Consequently, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the impact of statin therapy on plaque volume and its composition using VH-IVUS. Methods: The search included PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Embase (through 30 November 2014) to identify prospective studies investigating the effects of statin therapy on plaque volume and its composition using VH-IVUS. Results: We identified nine studies with 16 statin treatment arms and 830 participants. There was a significant effect of statin therapy in reducing plaque volume (standardized mean difference (SMD): -0.137, 95 % confidence interval (CI): -0.255, -0.019; P = 0.023), external elastic membrane volume (SMD: -0.097, 95 % CI: -0.183, -0.011; P = 0.027) but not lumen volume (SMD: -0.025, 95 % CI: -0.110, +0.061; P = 0.574). There was a significant reduction in fibrous plaque volume (SMD: -0.129, 95 % CI: -0.255, -0.003; P = 0.045) and an increase of dense calcium volume (SMD: +0.229, 95 % CI: +0.008, +0.450

The Effects of Tamoxifen on Plasma Lipoprotein(a) Concentrations: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator widely used in the treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen therapy is associated with reduced circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increased triglycerides, but its effects on other lipids are less-well studied. Aims: We aimed to investigate the effect of tamoxifen on circulating concentrations of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) through systematic review and meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. Methods: This study was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42016036890). Scopus, Medline and EMBASE were searched from inception until 22nd March 2016 to identify studies investigating the effect of tamoxifen on Lp(a) values in humans. Results: Meta-analysis of 5 studies with 284 participants suggested a significant reduction of Lp(a) levels following tamoxifen treatment (weighted mean difference [WMD]: -3.53 mg/dL, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -6.53, -0.53, p=0.021). When studies were categorized according tamoxifen dose, there was a significant effect in the subset of studies with administered doses ≥20 mg/day (WMD: -5.05 mg/dL, 95% CI: -7.86, -2.23, p<0.001), but not in the subset with doses <20 mg/day (WMD: -1.41 mg/dL, 95% CI: -5.13, 2.31, p=0.458). With respect to duration of treatment, a greater effect was observed in subgroup of studies administering tamoxifen for <12 weeks (WMD: -4.01 mg/dL, 95% CI: -7.84, -0.18, p=0.04) versus the subgroup of studies lasting ≥12 weeks (WMD: -2.48 mg/dL, 95% CI: -5.50, 0.53, p=0.107). Conclusions: Meta-analysis suggested a significant reduction of Lp(a) levels following tamoxifen treatment. Further well-designed trials are required to validate these results

Validation of the Romanian Version of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) among Undergraduate Medical Students

Medical professionals require adequate abilities to identify others&rsquo; emotions and express personal emotions. We aimed to determine the validity and reliability of an empathy measuring tool in medical students for this study. We employed Spreng&rsquo;s Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) as a starting point for this validation. The process was performed in several steps, including an English-Romanian-English translation and a focus group meeting to establish each question&rsquo;s degree of understandability and usability, with minor improvements of wording in each step. We checked internal and external consistency in a pilot group (n = 67). For construct and convergent validity, we used a sample of 649 students. The overall internal and external reliability performed well, with Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha = 0.727 and respective ICC = 0.776. The principal component analysis resulted in 3 components: prosocial helping behavior, inappropriate sensitivity, dismissive attitude. Component 1 includes positively worded questions, and components 2 and 3 include negatively worded questions. Women had significantly higher scores than men in convergent validity, but we did not highlight any differences for other demographic factors. The Romanian version of the TEQ is a reliable and valid tool to measure empathy among undergraduate medical students that may be further used in subsequent research

Trichinellosis in Hospitalized Children and Adults from Western Romania: A 11-Year Retrospective Study

Trichinellosis, a serious and sometimes fatal human disease, is a consequence of consuming raw or improperly cooked meat containing the infective larvae of Trichinella spp. The aim of this observational cohort retrospective study is to compare the epidemiological, laboratory, clinical and therapeutic aspects of trichinellosis in children and adults from Western Romania. We investigated the medical records of patients who were diagnosed with trichinellosis and hospitalized between 17 January 2010 and 31 December 2020. One hundred thirty-three patients were identified according to the electronic databases of infectious disease hospitals, located in four counties from Western Romania. A total of 19 patients (14.28%) were children and 114 patients (85.71%) were adults. In children, the most frequent symptoms were digestive in 78.94%, followed by fever in 57.89%, eyelid or facial edema in 57.89% and myalgia in 52.63% of cases, while adults presented mainly myalgia in 87.71%, followed by fever in 77.19%, digestive symptoms in 68.42% and eyelid or facial edema in 66.66% of cases. The source of infection was pork meat products in the majority of patients (89.47%). Our results revealed a general declining trend in infection rates for both children and adults during the studied period. The vast majority of cases were severe and all required hospitalization. Education of the population along with public health strategies should be improved and maintained to fully prevent trichinellosis in Western Romania