HISTORY OF PLASMA THERAPY: A CURRENTLY USED TREATMENT OPTION FOR COVID-19

The current pandemic provides the most incredible opportunity to develop convalescent plasma therapy into an effective treatment modality for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) while a vaccine is still under development. The global reach of this pandemic, and the immediate need for effective treatments for patients with severe and critical COVID-19, is driving both basic and clinical research at an unprecedented rate. Convalescent plasma therapy is a treatment option that has been known since the 1900s and has been used in various disease treatments since then. Convalescent plasma therapy is one of the treatments currently being used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. We see that this treatment method was likewise used in the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Ebola epidemics, which occurred worldwide in the recent past. This review aims to provide an overview of plasma therapy's history and the scientists behind this vital discovery. Secondarily, we report the recent global advances in convalescent plasma use in COVID-19 treatment

Novel Mutations in Obesity-related Genes in Turkish Children with Non-syndromic Early Onset Severe Obesity: A Multicentre Study

Non syndromic monogenic obesity is a rare cause of early onset severe obesity in the childhood period. This form may not be distinguishable from other forms of severe obesity without genetic analysis, particularly if patients do not exibit any physical abnormalities or developmental delay. The aim of this study was to screen 41 different obesity-related genes in children with non-syndromic early onset severe obesity

Which swallowing difficulty of food consistency is best predictor for oropharyngeal dysphagia risk in older person?

WOS: 000476771900010Key summary pointsAimOur aim was to investigate which swallowing difficulty of food consistency in older people who did not have any disease that might affect swallowing functions, and which symptoms were most likely related to oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) risk.FindingsWe have found that the eating/drinking difficulty of thick liquids was the highest predictive value with respect to OD risk and the eating difficulty of mixed content food had the highest diagnostic ratio.MessageThe present study reports that even in older person who do not go to the hospital with the complaints of swallowing difficulty, the difficulty of swallowing thick liquids and especially the mixed content food should be questioned. AbstractPurposeThe present study aimed to investigate which swallowing difficulty of food consistency in participants over 65years of age who did not have any disease that might affect swallowing functions, and which symptoms were most likely related to oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD).MethodsThe cross-sectional and multicenter study was conducted at 12 hospitals including 883 participants aged >= 65years who were fed orally and who were admitted to the physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics between September 2017 and December 2018. Demographic characteristics were recorded. Katz Daily Living Activities Index (KDLAI), swallowing-related quality of life scale (Swal-QoL) and 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) were used. The participants were asked the yes or no questions including swallowing difficulty of various types of food consistency with the face-to-face interview.ResultsParticipants were divided into two groups as normal swallowing (EAT-10= 3 group) (n=244) according to the EAT-10 scores. While there was no difference related to number of teeth and KDLAI scores between groups (p=0.327 and p=0.221, respectively), the significant difference was found between groups in terms of yes/no questions and Swal-QoL scores (p<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that eating difficulty of mixed content food provided maximum sensitivity (99%) and eating/drinking difficulty of thick liquid had maximum specificity (77%). The higher area under curve was in eating/drinking difficulty of thick liquid (0.891), and higher positive likelihood ratio (LR) was eating/drinking difficulty of thick liquid (4.26) as well as lower negative LR was eating difficulty of mixed content food (0.01). The higher diagnostic odds ratio was eating difficulty of mixed content food (367.0), and the higher posttest probability was eating/drinking difficulty of thick liquid (0.211).ConclusionWhile eating difficulty of hard solid food is the most common symptom in healthy participants over 65years of age, the eating difficulty of thick liquids is the highest predictive value related to oropharyngeal dysphagia risk. Also, the eating difficulty of mixed content food had the highest diagnostic ratio

The GUSS test as a good indicator to evaluate dysphagia in healthy older people: a multicenter reliability and validity study

Purpose Dysphagia is known to be a disorder of the swallowing function, and is a growing health problem in aging populations. Swallowing screening tests have mostly been studied in comorbidities such as stroke associated with old age. There is no simple, quick and easy screening test to best determine the risk of oropharyngeal dysphagia in geriatric guidelines. We aimed to evaluate whether the Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS) test is an effective method for evaluating swallowing difficulty in healthy older people. Methods This cross-sectional and multicenter study was conducted at 13 hospitals between September 2017 and February 2019. The study included 1163 participants aged >= 65 years and who had no secondary dysphagia. Reliability was evaluated for data quality, scaling assumptions, acceptability, reliability, and validity as well as cutoff points, specificity and sensitivity. Results The age distribution of 773 (66.5%) patients was between 65 and 74 years and 347 (29.8%) of them were male and 767 (66%) patients were female. The average total GUSS score was 18.57 +/- 1.41. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.968. There was a moderate statistically significant negative correlation between the total GUSS and 10-item Eating Assessment Tool scores as well as between the total GUSS score and quality of life. The cutoff point of the total GUSS score was 18.50, sensitivity was 95.5% and specificity was 94.4%. Conclusions The GUSS test is a valid and reliable test to identify possible oropharyngeal dysphagia risk in healthy older people who had no secondary dysphagia. It is suitable as a screen test for clinical practice

Novel Mutations in Obesity-related Genes in Turkish Children with Non-syndromic Early Onset Severe Obesity: A Multicentre Study

Objective: Non syndromic monogenic obesity is a rare cause of early onset severe obesity in the childhood period. This form may not be distinguishable from other forms of severe obesity without genetic analysis, particularly if patients do not exibit any physical abnormalities or developmental delay. The aim of this study was to screen 41 different obesity-related genes in children with nonsyndromic early onset severe obesity. Methods: Children with severe (body mass index-standard deviation score >3) and early onset (<7 years) obesity were screened by next-generation sequencing based, targeted DNA custom panel for 41 known-obesity-related genes and the results were confirmed by Sanger technique. Results: Six novel variants were identified in five candidate genes in seven out of 105 children with severe obesity; two in SIM1 (p.W306C and p.Q36X), one in POMC (p.Y160H), one in PCSK1 (p.W130G fs Ter8), two in MC4R (p.D126E) and one in LEPR (p.Q4H). Additionally, two previously known variations in MC4R were identified in four patients (p.R165W in three, and p.V166I in one). Conclusion: We identified six novel and four previously described variants in six obesity-related genes in 11 out of 105 childrens with early onset severe obesity. The prevalence of monogenic obesity was 10.4\% in our cohort

The impacts of occupational risks and their effects on work stress levels of health professional (The sample from the Southeast region of Turkey)

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to determine the occupational risks and their effects on the work stress of the health professionals working in state hospitals in the Southeast of Turkey. METHODS: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was composed of 360 health professionals of the Pazarcık, Ergani, and Şehitkamil State Hospitals between December 2014 and January 2015. The data of the study were obtained by performing the survey which was composed of questions related to the socio-demographic characteristics, factors that were thought to affect the occupational risks and job stress, as well as, the questions of the Work Stress Scale. The analyses of the data have been performed using Student’s t test and one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: The working hours, the number of being on-duty, insomnia, and burnout in health professionals were determined to be with the highest mean scores among other stressful risks and hazards. The mean work stress level, which increases the success by creating the group-stimulus effect, was indicated as 2.4 and 2.5 for the health professionals in Pazarcık and Ergani State Hospital, respectively. However, the stress level which poses a threat for the group-health and efficiency was found to be 4.0 for the health professionals of the Şehitkamil State Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: As the exposure of the occupational risks increases in the health professionals, the work stress scores also increase (p < 0.05). The occupational risks and work stress of the health professionals in the Şehitkamil State Hospital should be evaluated in terms of occupational health and safety