Características neuropsicológicas del pensamiento en personas en estadio de prejubilación

This work is aimed to describe the current thought-process in a population during the Pre-retirement stage with different conditions. The sample was conformed by 50 persons from The medical consultory 76-3, which belongs to the clinic “Ramón Pando Ferrer” in the Santaclara´s municipality of villaclara`s province. Their ages ranged from 50 to 60 years Old. The period of this study was from April 2007 to February 2008. During this period of time were explored two groups of person: a first group study composed of people that had decided to go into retirement and a second witness group which had decided to continue actively working. In both groups were included 25 persons. It was applied a semi-structural Interview and a neuropsychological exploration battery based on Luria's postulates. The Main findings confirmed thinking disorders in it's logical-verbal and practical- space Expressions, and also the presence of ruminative styles that caused a lack of control in the cognitive function and influenced in the capacity to regulate, planify and verify actions As well. The most affectation was noticed in that group which desidered the retirement. Finally in the studied sample were found significative differences in aspects such as: Education level, labour occupation, personal pathological antecedents, food and toxic habits and other thinking disorders which indicate the existence of neuropsychological limitations associated with the functional systems.El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de describir el estado actual del proceso del pensamiento en una población en estadio de prejubilación con condiciones diferentes. La muestra estuvo conformada por 50 personas pertenecientes al consultorio médico No. 76-3 del Policlínico “Ramón Pando Ferrer”, municipio Santa Clara, provincia Villa Clara, cuyo rango de edad osciló entre los 50 y 60 años, en el período comprendido desde abril de 2007 a febrero de 2008. Se exploraron dos grupos de personas, un primer grupo estudio que decidió jubilarse y un segundo grupo testigo que expresó mantenerse laboralmente activo, cada uno con 25 miembros. Se aplicaron una entrevista semiestructurada y una batería de exploración neuropsicológica basada en los postulados de Luria. Entre los principales hallazgos se constataron alteraciones del pensamiento en su expresión lógico verbal y práctico espacial, así como la presencia de estilos rumiativos que provocaron descontrol en las funciones cognitivas e influyeron en la capacidad para regular, planificar y verificar las acciones. Se notó mayor afectación en el grupo estudio que deseó la jubilación. Finalmente, en la muestra estudiada, se encontraron diferencias significativas en aspectos tales como: el nivel de escolaridad, la ocupación, los antecedentes patológicos personales, los hábitos tóxicos y alimentarios, así como alteraciones del pensamiento que indican la existencia de limitaciones neuropsicológicas asociadas a los sistemas funcionales

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Gender-based vulnerability in women who inject drugs in a harm reduction setting

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In comparison with men, women who use drugs (WWUD) have considerably more frequent and intense experiences with interpersonal violence, sexual abuse and trauma. The aim of this study was to identify issues related to gender-based vulnerability in a group of WWUD attended in a harm reduction facility in Madrid, Spain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted during a screening of blood borne infections. We included WWUD (smoked or injected heroin/cocaine) who were actively screened for HIV, HBV and HCV in a harm reduction setting in Madrid (Spain) from January to December 2017. WWUD were interviewed for gender-based abuse or violence using a face-to-face questionnaire by a trained interviewer. Aspects related to their social-epidemiological condition and gender-based vulnerability were collected. RESULTS: We included 109 women who were actively using drugs. The median age was 39 (IQR 35-47) years, 84.4% were Spanish born, 22.9% were homeless, 43 (41.7%) had ever used injected drugs, 29 (26.6%) were currently using injected drugs, and 27.1% had mental health disorders. Aspects related to gender-based vulnerability were collected. Among those surveyed, they reported having ever suffered emotional or psychological damage (88%), having experienced at least one incident of serious physical injury by a male partner (71%), and having ever suffered sexual abuse (49%). In addition, 28% had ever exchanged sex for money/drugs. When compared to women that did not use injecting drugs, those who injected drugs had more frequently exchanged sex for money/drugs (55% vs 21%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of WWUD suffer psychological or physical violence by partners denoting gender-based vulnerability. Interventions in harm reduction settings with a multidisciplinary and gender-based approach should be implemented.JV has received research grants and honoraria for lectures from Gilead Sciences and travel grants from Gilead Sciences, ViiV, Merck and Janssen; SM has been involved in speaking activities and has received grants for research from Abbott, Boehringer&Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Glaxo Smith Kline, Janssen Cilag, Merck Sharp&Dohme, Pfizer, Roche, and Schering Plough.; JT has received honoraria for talks from Gilead and Merck; PR has received grant/research support from Merck, Gilead, Janssen, AbbVie and ViiV. Other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.S

HCV seroconversion in a cohort of people who use drugs followed in a mobile harm reduction unit in Madrid: Breaking barriers for HCV elimination.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Harm reduction strategies have been shown to decrease the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in people who inject drugs (PWID), but the results have been inconsistent when it comes to prevention of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We aimed to examine the rate of HCV seroconversion among people who use drugs (PWUD) followed at a mobile harm reduction unit (MHRU) to evaluate if a low-threshold methadone substitution program (LTMSP) is associated with a low HCV seroconversion rate and subsequently identify barriers for elimination. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A cohort of PWUD have been followed at a MRHU in Madrid between 2013 and 2016. Individuals who were negative for HCV antibodies at baseline and who had at least one retest for HCV antibodies were eligible. Kaplan-Meier methods were employed to estimate the global incidence density. RESULTS:During the study period, 946 PWUD were screened for HCV at least once. At baseline 127 PWUD were negative for HCV antibodies and had at least one follow-up HCV antibodies test. The baseline HCV prevalence was 33%. After a median 0.89 (IQR 0.3-1.5) years of follow-up and 135 person-years of risk for HCV infection, 28 subjects seroconverted. The incidence density for HCV seroconversion for this sample was 20.7 cases (95% CI: 14.3-29.7) per 100 person-years. Injecting drugs in the last year was strongly associated to HCV seroconversion (AHR 15.5, 95%CI 4.3-55.8, p < 0.001). Methadone status was not associated to HCV seroconversion. CONCLUSIONS:A high incidence of HCV infection was found among PWUD at a MHRU in Madrid. In this setting opiate substitutive treatment (OST) as a LTMSP does not appear to protect against HCV seroconversion

Characteristics, complications and outcomes among 1549 patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in a secondary hospital in Madrid, Spain: a retrospective case series study

Objectives To describe demographic, clinical, radiological and laboratory characteristics, as well as outcomes, of patients admitted for COVID-19 in a secondary hospital.Design and setting Retrospective case series of sequentially hospitalised patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2, at Infanta Leonor University Hospital (ILUH) in Madrid, Spain.Participants All patients attended at ILUH testing positive to reverse transcriptase-PCR on nasopharyngeal swabs and diagnosed with COVID-19 between 1 March 2020 and 28 May 2020.Results A total of 1549 COVID-19 cases were included (median age 69 years (IQR 55.0–81.0), 57.5% men). 78.2% had at least one underlying comorbidity, the most frequent was hypertension (55.8%). Most frequent symptoms at presentation were fever (75.3%), cough (65.7%) and dyspnoea (58.1%). 81 (5.8%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (median age 62 years (IQR 51–71); 74.1% men; median length of stay 9 days (IQR 5–19)) 82.7% of them needed invasive ventilation support. 1393 patients had an outcome at the end of the study period (case fatality ratio: 21.2% (296/1393)). The independent factors associated with fatality (OR; 95% CI): age (1.07; 1.06 to 1.09), male sex (2.86; 1.85 to 4.50), neurological disease (1.93; 1.19 to 3.13), chronic kidney disease (2.83; 1.40 to 5.71) and neoplasia (4.29; 2.40 to 7.67). The percentage of hospital beds occupied with COVID-19 almost doubled (702/361), with the number of patients in ICU quadrupling its capacity (32/8). Median length of stay was 9 days (IQR 6–14).Conclusions This study provides clinical characteristics, complications and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 admitted to a European secondary hospital. Fatal outcomes were similar to those reported by hospitals with a higher level of complexity