Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

The maintenance of parents bill

In the past few months, Singaporeans have debated upon the pros and cons of the Maintenance of Parents Bill. The Bill gives recourse to parents to claim maintenance of their children as a last resort. It is tabled by NMP Woon and first read in the Parliament on the 123rd day of May 1994.BUSINES

Dimethylsulfide: Acceptor oxidoreductase from Rhodobacter sulfidophilus - The purified enzyme contains b-type haem and a pterin molybdenum cofactor

Dimethylsulfide:acceptor oxidoreductase was purified from the purple non-sulfur phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sulfidophilus. The native form of the enzyme had a molecular mass of 152 kDa and was composed of three distinct subunits of 94, 38 and 32 kDa. Dimethylsulfide :acceptor oxidoreductase did not oxidise other thioethers which were tested. The enzyme was able to reduce a variety of N-oxides using reduced methylviologen as electron donor but it reduced dimethylsulfoxide at a very low rate. The resting form of dimethylsulfide:acceptor oxidoreductase exhibited a spectrum which was characteristic of a reduced cytochrome with absorbance maxims at 562 nm, 533 nm and 428 nm. Pyridine haemochrome analysis established that the cytochrome contained a b-type haem and a content of 0.65 mol protohaem/ mol enzyme was determined. After oxidation of the haem with ferricyanide, the absorbance spectrum of the reduced cytochrome was restored by reduction with dimethylsulfide. Metal analysis revealed that dimethylsulfide:acceptor oxidoreductase contained 0.5 mol Mo and 3.5 mol Fe/mol enzyme. Heat treatment of the enzyme released material with fluorescence excitation and emission spectra which were characteristic of form B of the pterin component of the pterin molybdenum cofactor From this analysis it is concluded that dimethylsulfide:acceptor oxidoreductase is a molybdenum oxotransferase which may also contain a iron-sulfur cluster. It is suggested that the haem and pterin molybdenum cofactor are associated with the 94-kDa subunit

Prepared and highly committed despite the risk of COVID-19 infection: a cross-sectional survey of primary care physicians’ concerns and coping strategies in Singapore

10.1186/s12875-021-01370-7BMC Family Practice2212

The impact of COVID-19 on private and public primary care physicians: A cross-sectional study

10.1016/j.jiph.2020.12.028JOURNAL OF INFECTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH143285-28