Nota: Estas diretrizes se prestam a informar e não a substituir o julgamento clínico do médico que, em última análise, deve determinar o tratamento apropriado para seus pacientes.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account annually for almost one third of all deaths worldwide. Among the CVD, systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) is related to more than half of those outcomes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an independent risk factor for SAH because it causes functional and structural damage to the arterial wall, leading to stiffness. Several studies have related oxidative stress, production of free radicals, and neuroendocrine and genetic changes to the physiopathogenesis of vascular aging. Indirect ways to analyze that aging process have been widely studied, pulse wave velocity (PWV) being considered gold standard to assess arterial stiffness, because there is large epidemiological evidence of its predictive value for cardiovascular events, and it requires little technical knowledge to be performed. A pulse wave is generated during each cardiac contraction and travels along the arterial bed until finding peripheral resistance or any bifurcation point, determining the appearance of a reflected wave. In young individuals, arteries tend to be more elastic, therefore, the reflected wave occurs later in the cardiac cycle, reaching the heart during diastole. In older individuals, however, the reflected wave occurs earlier, reaching the heart during systole. Because PWV is an important biomarker of vascular damage, highly valuable in determining the patient’s global cardiovascular risk, we chose to review the articles on vascular aging in the context of cardiovascular risk factors and the tools available to the early identification of that damage.

Although considered to be almost always a clinically silent disease, systemic hypertension impairs the quality of life of patients who suffer from it.

Objectivesto evaluate parental stress of mothers of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy; to verify whether parental stress undergoes variations according to the level of motor compromise, the child's phase of life, and sociodemographic variables.Methoda cross-sectional, descriptive study, with 223 mothers of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.Results45.3% of the mothers presented high levels of stress; there were differences in stress between mothers of children with mild and severe motor impairment; mothers of older children were more stressed than mothers of younger children and of adolescents; paid work and leisure activities reduced the stress.Conclusionmothers of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy, whose children present mild to severe motor impairment are vulnerable to parental stress. Paid work and leisure activities were the factors that contributed most to reducing the stress.

Suprascapular nerve block is a safe and extremely effective procedure in shoulder pain therapy. It also has an easy reproducibility and has been very used by professionals of many medical specialties. When it is well-indicated, this method must be taken into consideration.

Original ArticleThe prevention of diabetes and its complications is a challenge for the healthcare team. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of educational action on the disease knowledge of patients with type 2 diabetes. A randomized clinical trial was conducted with 62 patients registered in a service of reference in the treatment of hypertension in 2010. Data were collected through a questionnaire applied to the Intervention (IG) and Control (CG) groups at the beginning and at the end of the study. The IG participated in group educational activities, using problematization methodology. The results showed a significant increase in knowledge about diabetes in the patients of the IG, in all the topics (p<0.05). In the CG, some changes were observed in knowledge, however, these were fewer when compared with the IG. In conclusion, it was possible to increase disease knowledge through the performance of educational activities. Clinical trial identifier: RBR-58n26hDescriptors: Community Health Nursing; Health Education; Diabetes Mellitus; Self-Care. Efectos de intervención educativa sobre el conocimiento de la enfermedad en pacientes con diabetes mellitusLa prevención de diabetes y sus complicaciones es un desafío para el equipo de salud. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar el efecto de acción educativa sobre el conocimiento de la enfermedad en pacientes portadores de diabetes tipo 2. Fue realizado ensayo clínico aleatorizado con 62 pacientes registrados en servicio de referencia en tratamiento de la hipertensión arterial en 2010. Los datos fueron obtenidos a través de un cuestionario aplicado a los grupos Intervención (GI) y Control (GC), al inicio y al final del estudio. El GI participó de actividades educativas grupales, utilizando la metodología problematizadora.Los resultados muestran un aumento significativo del conocimiento sobre la diabetes en pacientes del GI, en todas las cuestiones (p<0,05). En el GC, algunas alteraciones observadas, fueron mucho menores cuando comparadas al GI. Se concluye que fue posible elevar los conocimientos sobre la enfermedad por medio de realización de actividades educativas. Número del Registro clínico, Identificador primario: RBR-58n26h

The results suggest that both overall obesity (BMI) and central obesity (WC and WHtR) anthropometric indicators can be used in this population to evaluate the risk of developing hypertension.

BackgroundStudies have shown sodium restriction to have a beneficial effect on blood pressure (BP) of hypertensive patients.ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of light salt substitution for regular salt on BP of hypertensive patients.MethodsUncontrolled hypertensive patients of both sexes, 20 to 65 years-old, on stable doses of antihypertensive drugs were randomized into Intervention Group (IG - receiving light salt) and Control Group (CG - receiving regular salt). Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were analyzed by using casual BP measurements and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring (HBPM), and sodium and potassium excretion was assessed on 24-hour urine samples. The patients received 3 g of salt for daily consumption for 4 weeks.ResultsThe study evaluated 35 patients (65.7% women), 19 allocated to the IG and 16 to the CG. The mean age was 55.5 ± 7.4 years. Most participants had completed the Brazilian middle school (up to the 8th grade; n = 28; 80.0%), had a family income of up to US$ 600 (n = 17; 48.6%) and practiced regular physical activity (n = 19; 54.3%). Two patients (5.7%) were smokers and 40.0% consumed alcohol regularly (n = 14). The IG showed a significant reduction in both SBP and DBP on the casual measurements and HBPM (p < 0.05) and in sodium excretion (p = 0.016). The CG showed a significant reduction only in casual SBP (p = 0.032).ConclusionsThe light salt substitution for regular salt significantly reduced BP of hypertensive patients.