Lifestyle Changes in Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has made adjustments in lifestyle of young people. Distance learning at university, staying at home for a long time, limiting social contacts lead to decrease in physical activity, changes in eating behavior and psychological problems. All this is only a small part of the  negative impact of the  current epidemiological situation on the health of young people. Aim and Methods. To estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyles of young people, a comparative analysis was made of various aspects of the lifestyles of 208 medical students before the pandemic in 2019 and 100 medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. To collect information, a specially developed questionnaire was used, which included questions about diet, physical activity, bad habits, psychological status, and also measured anthropometric indicators (height, body weight, waist circumference) and blood pressure. Results. Both negative changes in character and regime of taking meal, decrease in physical activity and increase in psychological problems such as stress and depression were revealed among medical students during the  COVID-19 pandemic, which can facilitate increasing the  body weight of young people, as well as increasing the prevalence of bad habits (alcohol consumption, smoking). Conclusions. The existing epidemiological situation with the new coronavirus infection that has developed throughout the world made a negative impact on the lifestyle of young people. Currently, despite the  active fight against COVID-19, it is advisable not to forget about timely monitoring and modification the lifestyle of the young people, which in turn is the key to successful prevention of the most common noninfectious diseases with leading position of mortality throughout the world

Evaluation of adherence of patients with atrial fibrillation to anticoagulant therapy at the outpatient stage of treatment

Despite clinical guidelines for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) patient adherence to oral anticoagulants (OACs) in routine clinical practice remains low. Assessing the factors affecting adherence to the OACs regimen and developing strategies for its improvement is important. Aim. To assess the adherence of patients with AF to the prescribed anticoagulant therapy at the outpatient stage of treatment. Methodology. The object of the study was 165 patients with nonvalvular AF undergoing treatment in a specialized cardiology department or receiving outpatient treatment in a specialized cardiological dispensary in Saratov from February 2018 to December 2019. After 3, 6, 12 months, a telephone contact with the patients was carried out, a specially designed questionnaire was filled out, in which the anticoagulant therapy received by AF patients was reflected, the Morisky-Green questionnaire was filled out, the answers of patients about the reasons for skipping or stopping the administration of the OACs were recorded. Results. After 3 months. 16.6 % of AF patients replaced the OACs intake with antiplatelet agents, 16 % refused antithrombotic therapy; 43.1 % of AF patients were adherent to OACs. After 6 months. antiplatelet agents were taken by 24.5 % patients (p<0.05), 11.9 % completely stopped taking antithrombotic drugs; 30.8 % of patients were adherent to OACs (p<0.05). After 12 29,5 % patients replaced OACs treatment with antiplatelet agents, 7.6 % patients did not take any antithrombotic drugs; 31.8 % of AF patients were adherent to OACs. The most common reasons for a decrease in the adherence to OACs therapy were the cost of drugs, lack of understanding of the value of OACs administration in AF, and the lack of appreciable effect of OACs administration. Conclusion. At the outpatient stage of treatment, there was an insufficient level of adherence of AFpatients to OACs treatment

Assessment of diet, bad habits and psychological status in men and women of the XXI century

Background. The modern rhythm of life has a negative impact on the people lifestyle. Daily stress factors, anxiety, sleep disturbance contribute to the spread of bad habits and excessive consumption of sugars, which, in combination with physical inactivity, leads to weight gain and obesity, and subsequently the development of a number of associated diseases. Methods. Using a specially designed questionnaire, including questions about nutrition, bad habits, physical activity, psychological status, a direct, voluntary survey of 120 socially active, able-bodied men and women was conducted. The risk of developing diabetes mellitus was assessed using the FINDRISK scale, height, body weight, waist circumference were also measured, and body mass index was calculated. Results. The vast majority of respondents (72.5%) noted one or another lack in their lifestyle. More than half of females and males (only 57.5 % of participants) lead a sedentary lifestyle. An increased intake of sugars was revealed in the diet, 18.33 % of the participants consumed fast food weekly, among men there was insufficient consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits. Analysis of bad habits showed that 15.83 % of respondents smoke, 15 % (most men) use energy drinks, 5 % of respondents abuse alcohol. Sleep disorders are widespread in both sexes (generally 55 %), anxiety, mainly among women (51.76 %), depressive background was most often recorded among consumers of energy drinks (66.67 %). Insufficient awareness of rational nutrition was noted in both sexes. When setting goals for lifestyle correction, multitasking was revealed (more than three tasks in 20 % of men and 21.18 % of women) and a high expectation of achieving results. Conclusions. The results of the study highlight numerous risk factors in the lifestyle of socially active people of both sexes which if not corrected in time, can lead to the development of a number of serious diseases

Differences in expression profiles in malingant melanoma patients according to immunotherapy response

One of the most important branch of modern molecular genetics and biomedicine is the search for predictive markers that help choose the most effective way of treatment, drug and also determine its individual dosage. Among the markers, those that can provide the possibility of using a non­invasive, so­called “liquid biopsy” are considered particularly promising. This method allows the condition of the tumor to be assessed by analyzing the body’s natural fluids, such as blood, urine or saliva. Such studies are most convenient in those cases when it is necessary to monitor the effectiveness of therapy in order to record the time of the onset of resistance of tumor cells, the onset of relapse and to move on to the next line of therapy. In the treatment of aggressive and rapidly became metastatic malignant tumors, such as melanoma, the presence of reliable markers that allow quick and accurate determination of treatment tactics is especially important. Nowadays, there is an increasing number of studies devoted to the search for predictive markers of the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Melanoma is one of the most immunogenic tumors and, as a result, has become a model object for research into and introduction of new approaches to immunotherapy. In this study, we compared two groups of patients with metastatic skin melanoma, with different responses to immunotherapy with blockers of immune control points, to identify new predictive expression biomarkers among microRNAs and mRNAs, and to identify the genes responsible for the occurrence of an objective response to therapy. As a result, the study detected several microRNAs with a significant change in expression level within the tumor tissue of patients responding differently to immunotherapy. Differences in the level of expression of their target genes have also been found, that will allow a more detailed analysis of the molecular mechanisms that determine the sensitivity or resistance of malignant melanoma cells to the immunotherapy. Based on the obtained data, we have proposed expression markers (mRNAs and microRNAs) that can be used as predictors of malignant melanoma tumors to immunotherapy