International journal of environmental research and public health
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
ReviewPotential Application of Whole Body Vibration Exercise For Improving The Clinical Conditions of COVID-19 Infected Individuals: A Narrative Review From the World Association of Vibration Exercise Experts (WAVex) Panel.
COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease which leads to several clinical conditions related to the dysfunction of the respiratory system along with other physical and psychological complaints. Severely affected patients are referred to intensive care units (ICUs), limiting their possibilities for physical exercise. ⋯ Recommendations regarding the reduction of fatigue and the risk of dyspnea, the improvement of the inflammatory and redox status favoring cellular homeostasis and the overall improvement in the quality of life are provided. Finally, practical applications for the use of this paradigm leading to a better prognosis in bed bound and ICU-bound subjects is proposed.
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Italy has been hit very hard by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. This brief report highlights some of the peculiarities manifested by its older adult population, with particular reference to those living in nursing institutions and at home. Mortality data (as of 26 April) are reported, together with reactions to forced isolation, loneliness, and fear of contracting the disease, which represent big challenges for all, especially for frail elderly people.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Gender Inequalities in Health and Their Effect on the Economic Prosperity Represented by the GDP of Selected Developed Countries-Empirical Study.
The objective is to evaluate the relations between gender health inequalities and economic prosperity in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The groups included health indicators in the specification of men, women and gender inequalities: life expectancy, causes of mortality and avoidable mortality. The variable determining the economic prosperity was represented by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ⋯ The output of the cluster analysis showed the relations of indicators evaluating the inequalities and the prosperity. The countries such as Luxembourg, Norway or Switzerland showed very positive outputs, on the other hand, the countries with a potential for the improvement are Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. Overall, the policies should focus on reducing the inequalities in avoidable mortality as well as reducing the frequent diseases in younger people.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Utility of Liver Function Tests and Fatty Liver Index to Categorize Metabolic Phenotypes in a Mediterranean Population.
The aim of this study was to analyze the utility of liver function tests (LFT) and fatty liver index (FLI), a surrogate marker of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, in the categorization of metabolic phenotypes in a Mediterranean population. A cross-sectional study was performed on a random representative sample of 2233 adults assigned to a health center in Málaga, Spain. The metabolic phenotypes were determined based on body mass index (BMI) categorization and the presence or absence of two or more cardiometabolic abnormalities (high blood pressure, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia, pre-diabetes) or type 2 diabetes. ⋯ Liver biochemistry is poorly correlated with metabolic phenotypes. Conversely, a good correlation between FLI, as a marker of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and metabolically abnormal phenotypes in all BMI ranges was found. Our study suggests that FLI may be a useful marker for characterizing metabolically abnormal phenotypes in individuals who are overweight or obese.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Distribution of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Its Monthly Forecast Based on Seasonal Climate Patterns.
This paper investigates whether the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic could have been favored by specific weather conditions and other factors. It is found that the 2020 winter weather in the region of Wuhan (Hubei, Central China)-where the virus first broke out in December and spread widely from January to February 2020-was strikingly similar to that of the Northern Italian provinces of Milan, Brescia and Bergamo, where the pandemic broke out from February to March. The statistical analysis was extended to cover the United States of America, which overtook Italy and China as the country with the highest number of confirmed COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) cases, and then to the entire world. ⋯ However, in autumn, the pandemic could come back and affect the same regions again. The Tropical Zone and the entire Southern Hemisphere, but in restricted colder southern regions, could avoid a strong pandemic because of the sufficiently warm weather during the entire year and because of the lower median age of their population. Google-Earth-Pro interactive-maps covering the entire world are provided as supplementary files.