Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre
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Non-dipper hypertension (HT) confers greater risk compared with dipper HT. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) recently emerged as a novel and independent marker of cardiovascular disease, both in diagnostic and prognostic scopes. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship of circadian blood pressure (BP) pattern with serum GDF-15 level in newly diagnosed HT patients without left ventricular hypertrophy. ⋯ Our results showed GDF-15 upregulation in the non-dipper HT group. GDF-15 and nighttime diastolic BP were independently associated with the non-dipping pattern. This study may suggest possible utilization of GDF-15 in the prediction of non-dipper HT.
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Diabetic complications involve multiple pathological pathways, including hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and inflammation. Combination therapy is usually employed to improve treatment outcomes and to lower potential adverse effects. In this study, we evaluated the effects of antidiabetic and antihypertensive agents, glibenclamide (GLI) and losartan (LT), on diabetes mellitus (DM)-associated metabolic changes in rats. ⋯ Adding LT to GLI therapy revealed prospective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action, while no synergistic or additive effects were observed.
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Both severe hyperglycemia (> 200 mg/dL) and hypoglycemia (≤70 mg/dL) are known to be associated with increased mortality in critically ill patients. Therefore, we investigated associations of a single episode of blood glucose deviation (concentration either ≤70 mg/dL and/or > 200 mg/dL) during an intensive care unit (ICU) stay with mortality in these patients. ⋯ In patients with dia-betes, hypo- but not hyperglycemia was associated with increased mortality, whereas in patients without diabetes, both hyper- and hypoglycemia were associated with adverse outcome. Blood glucose concentration might need differential approaches depending on concomitant diseases.
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A conversion from Hashimoto's thyroiditis to Graves' disease and vice versa leads to diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. ⋯ We suggest educating patients and physicians to recognize changes in thyroid function and close monitoring of unclear cases of overt hyperthyroidism.
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This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) in patients with type II diabetes mellitus (DM) with either optimal glycemic control (OGC) or poor glycemic control (PGC) compared with nondiabetics using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). ⋯ The prevalence of AP and severe bone destruction in periapical tissues was significantly higher in the DM patients compared with the nondiabetic patients.