Articles: disease.
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Fatty acids are important dietary factors that have been extensively studied for their implication in health and disease. Evidence from epidemiological studies and randomised controlled trials on their role in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and other diseases remains inconsistent. The objective of this study was to assess whether genetically predicted fatty acid concentrations affect the risk of disease across a wide variety of clinical health outcomes. ⋯ Our study suggests potentially protective effects of circulating DHA and omega-3 concentrations on cholelithiasis and cholecystitis and on obesity, highlighting the need to further assess them as prevention treatments in clinical trials. Moreover, our findings do not support the supplementation of unsaturated fatty acids for cardiovascular disease prevention.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), especially hypertension and diabetes, are rapidly rising in sub-Saharan Africa, necessitating health systems transformations. In Tanzania, current policies aim to improve control of hypertension and diabetes, but information is still needed to assess the gaps in treatment. ⋯ The high burden of hypertension and low levels of control in our study underscores the importance of improving the awareness and treatment of hypertension. The differences in the care cascades for hypertension and diabetes demonstrates that chronic NCD treatment is possible in this setting, but efforts will be needed across the entire care cascade to improve hypertension control.
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The disruptions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted the delivery and utilization of healthcare services with potential long-term implications for population health and the hospital workforce. Using electronic health record data from over 700 US acute care hospitals, we documented changes in admissions to hospital service areas (inpatient, observation, emergency room [ER], and same-day surgery) during 2019-2020 and examined whether surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations corresponded with increased inpatient disease severity and death rate. ⋯ Infectious disease admissions increased by 52%. The monthly measures of inpatient case mix index, length of stay, and non-COVID death rate were higher in all months in 2020 compared with respective months in 2019.
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Hypertension represents one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality globally. Early detection and treatment of this condition is vital to prevent complications. However, hypertension often goes undetected, and even if detected, not every patient receives adequate treatment. Identifying simple and effective interventions is therefore crucial to fight this problem and allow more patients to receive the treatment they need. Therefore, we aim at investigating the impact of a population-based blood pressure (BP) screening and the subsequent "low-threshold" information treatment on long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. ⋯ The study does not provide evidence of an effect of the assessed BP screening and subsequent information treatment on BP, health behavior, or long-term CVD mortality and morbidity. Future studies should consider larger datasets to detect possible effects and a shorter follow-up for the intermediate outcomes (i.e., BP and behavior) to detect short-, medium-, and long-term effects of the intervention along the causal pathway.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A nutrigenetic tool for precision dietary management of NAFLD deeming insulin resistance markers.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development is linked to insulin resistance and influenced by environmental factors, but it also underlined a genetic predisposition. The aim of this research was to build a predictive model based on genetic and hepatic health information, deeming insulin resistance markers in order to personalize dietary treatment in overweight/obese subjects with NAFLD. ⋯ Models integrating genetic screening and insulin resistance markers can be useful for the personalization of NAFLD weight loss treatments.