The financing problems of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Jordan

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Approach to dysglycemia: Do we need to treat impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose?

AbstractImpaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) are not only a surrogate for the state of insulin resistance but are also associated with the microvascular and macrovascular complications traditionally linked to diabetes. They predict an increased risk for death and morbidity due to cardiovascular disease.There is growing evidence that early detection of this state of “pre-diabetes” enables us to limit these recognized complications and perhaps to halt the progression to diabetes. For all pre-diabetes patients’ life style modifications, emphasizing modest weight loss & moderate physical activity are strongly recommended. Pharmacological intervention may also be necessary. Many studies have shown several drugs, both antidiabetic and nonhypoglycemic agents to be useful. If pharmacological treatment is required, Metformin is considered the first choice because of its safety, tolerability, efficacy and low cost

Metabolic Syndrome and Its Individual Components among Jordanian Children and Adolescents

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MeS) and its individual components in Jordanian children and adolescents aged 7–18 years and determine the factors that are associated with clustering of metabolic abnormalities. MeS was defined using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition. The prevalence of MeS was estimated from 512 subjects who had complete information on all MeS components. The prevalence of MeS according to IDF criteria was 1.4% in subjects aged between 10 and 15.9 years and 3.6% in subjects aged between 16 and 18 years. When categorized according to body mass index (BMI), the prevalence of the MeS was 15.1% in obese subjects, compared to 0.3% in subjects with normal BMI, and 3.0% in overweight subjects. In conclusion, our results indicate that although the prevalence of MeS is low in Jordanian children and adolescents, a large proportion of them had one or two metabolic abnormalities

Hypogonadism among Jordanian men with type 2 diabetes: Prevalence and associated factor

AbstractAimsPrevalence of hypogonadism is largely unknown in the general population and population of diabetics in Arab countries including Jordan. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hypogonadism among men with type 2 diabetes in Jordan and determine its associated factors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included a total of 1049 consecutive men with type 2 diabetes who attended the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics (NCDEG) in Amman, Jordan, in the period from August 2008 to February 2009. Data were collected from medical records and using a pre-structured questionnaire. Clinical characteristic, anthropometric measurements and laboratory measurements were obtained. Hypogonadism was defined as total testosterone <3ng/ml.ResultsOverall, 36.4% of patients with diabetes had total testosterone level <3ng/ml and 29% had symptoms of androgen deficiency. Of those with serum testosterone level <3ng/ml, 80.2% had symptoms of androgen deficiency. About 16.9% of those with serum testosterone level <3ng/ml had primary hypogonadism and 83.1% had secondary hypogonadism. Age, monthly income of less than 500JD, obesity, and neuropathy were significantly associated with low serum total testosterone level.ConclusionsThe prevalence of hypogonadism among men with type 2 diabetes in Jordan is high. This urgently calls for implementing early and universal screening programs irrespective of symptoms of androgen deficiency to detect those who have low serum total testosterone level at any early stage and to supplement testosterone accordingly

Clinical and inheritance profiles of Kallmann syndrome in Jordan

BACKGROUND: Proper management of patients with Kallmann syndrome (KS) allows them to attain a normal reproductive health. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the presentation modalities, phenotypes and the modes of inheritance among 32 patients with Kallmann syndrome in Jordan. Recognition of the syndrome allows for prompt proper management and provision of genetic counselling. SUBJECTS: Over a period of five years (1999–2004), the clinical and inheritance profiles of 26 male and 6 female patients with Kallmann syndrome from 12 families were evaluated at the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics in Jordan. RESULTS: The patients belonged to twelve Jordanian and Palestinian families and their age at presentation ranged from 4 – 46 years. Nine boys aged 4–14 years presented with cryptorchidism and microphallus, all other males presented with delayed puberty, hypogonadism and/or infertility. The main presentation among six female patients was primary amenorrhea. Intrafamilial variability in clinical phenotype was specifically evident for renal abnormalities and sensorineural hearing impairment. Familial KS was diagnosed in 27 patients belonging to five families with the X-linked mode of inheritance and two families with the autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. CONCLUSIONS: (1) the majority of cases in this study represented the X-linked form of KS, which might point to a high prevalence of Kal 1 gene in the population. (2) Genetic counselling helps these families to reach a diagnosis at an early age and to decide about their reproductive options. (3) Children presenting with cryptorchidism and microphallus in our population should be investigated for KS

Relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and metabolic syndrome among Jordanian adults

Evidence of the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and metabolic syndrome (MeS) remains uncertain and incongruent. This study aimed to determine the association between 25(OH)D and MeS among Jordanian adults. A complex multistage sampling technique was used to select a national population-based household sample. The present report deals exclusively with adults aged > 18 years who had complete information on all components of MeS (n = 3,234). A structured questionnaire was used to collect all relevant information. Anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory measurements were obtained. MeS was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition. Of the total, 42.0% had MeS and 31.7% had 25(OH)D < 30 ng/ml. In a stratified analysis, the prevalence of MeS did not differ significantly between subjects with low and normal 25(OH)D levels for men and women in all age groups. In the multivariate analysis, the odds of MeS were not significantly different between subjects with low and normal 25(OH)D levels (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.70, 1.05, P-value = 0.133). The association between 25(OH)D and MeS remained non-significant when 25(OH)D was analyzed as a continuous variable (OR = 1.004, 95% CI; 1.000, 1.008, P = 0.057) and when analyzed based on quartiles. None of the individual components of MeS were significantly associated with 25(OH)D level. This study does not provide evidence to support the association between 25(OH)D level and MeS or its individual components. Prospective studies are necessary to better determine the roles of 25(OH)D levels in the etiology of MeS

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

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

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks