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Background: In patients with diabetes, the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms is about two to four times greater than in the general population. The association between diabetes and mental health disorders could be exacerbated in a stressful environment, and psychological distress could increase depressive symptoms and cause adverse diabetes outcomes. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of mental health disorders in patients with diabetes during the social distancing period due to COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study developed to assess the impact of social distancing on a cohort of adults with type 1 (n = 52) and type 2 diabetes (n = 68) in Brazil. Inclusion criteria involved having an HbA1c test collected in the past 3 months and having a valid telephone number in electronic medical records. The primary outcome was the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders, assessed by survey (SRQ-20). Secondary outcomes included the prevalence of diabetes related emotional distress, eating and sleeping disorders, all assessed by validated surveys at the moment of the study. Statistical analyses included unpaired t-test for continuous variables and χ 2 test for categorical variables. Results: Overall (n = 120), participants had a mean age of 54.8 ± 14.4 years-old, and HbA1c of 9.0 ± 1.6% (75 ± 17.5 mmol/mol); 93% of patients showed signs of current mental suffering based on the surveys measured. Almost 43% of patients showed evidence of significant psychological distress, with a significant greater tendency in patients with type 2 diabetes. The presence of diabetes related emotional distress was found in 29.2% of patients; eating disorders in 75.8%; and moderate/severe sleeping disorders in 77.5%. Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of evidence of psychological distress among patients with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic and this highlights the need for mental health access and support for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Background The disclosure in the media of a benefit with the use of dexamethasone in patients with COVID-19 infection sets precedents for self-medication and inappropriate use of corticosteroids. Methods This is a critical interpretive synthesis of the data available in the literature on the effects of the use of corticosteroids and the impact that their indiscriminate use may have on patients with diabetes. Reviews and observational and experimental studies published until June 18, 2020 were selected. Results Corticosteroids are substances derived from cholesterol metabolism that interfere with multiple aspects of glucose homeostasis. Interactions between corticoid receptors and target genes seem to be among the mechanisms responsible for the critical functions of glucocorticoids for survival and anti-inflammatory effects observed with these medications. Corticosteroids increase hepatic gluconeogenesis, reduce peripheral use of glucose and increase insulin levels. Previous studies have shown that glucocorticoids have a pro-adipogenic function, increasing deposition of abdominal fat, and lead to glucose intolerance and hypertriglyceridemia. In addition, these drugs play a role in controlling liver metabolism and can lead to the development of hepatic steatosis. Glucocorticoids reduce the recruitment of osteoblasts and increase the number of osteoclasts, which results in increased bone resorption and greater bone fragility. Moreover, these medications cause water and sodium retention and increase the response to circulating vasoconstrictors, which results in increased blood pressure levels. Chronic or high-dose use of corticosteroids can, by itself, lead to the onset of diabetes. For those who were already diagnosed with diabetes, studies show that chronic use of corticosteroids leads to a 94% higher risk of hospitalization due to diabetes complications. In addition to the direct effects on glycemic control, the effects on arterial pressure control, lipids and bone metabolism also have a potential for severe consequences in patients with diabetes. Conclusion Fear and uncertainty toward a potentially serious infection may lead people to self-medication and the inappropriate and abusive use of corticosteroids. More than ever, it is necessary for health professionals to be alert and able to predict damages related to the use of these drugs, which is the first step to minimize the potential damages to come.

Decreased BMD in the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femur is detectable in women 1 year after RYGB surgery. Calcium malabsorption, caused by vitamin D deficiency and increased bone resorption, is partially responsible for these outcomes and should be targeted in future clinical trials.

Diabetes is one of the most important epidemic diseases of this century and the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled over the past three decades. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of diabetes in the adult Brazilian population and analyze the trends for the last three decades through a systematic review with meta-analysis. This review included observational studies published between 1980 and 2015, which were independently identified by two reviewers in five databases. Random effect models were used to estimate the prevalence and trends of diabetes. In total, 50 articles were included in this review. Three different patterns for diabetes diagnosis were identified: self-report (36 studies), fasting glucose (7 studies), and complex diagnosis (fasting glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, and self-report; 7 studies). The prevalence of diabetes was 5.6 % (95 % CI 5.0–6.3; I2 = 100 %) by self-report, 6.6 % (95 % CI 4.8–8.9; I2 = 94 %) by fasting glucose, and 11.9 % (95 % CI 7.7–17.8 I2 = 100 %) by complex diagnosis. In trend analyses, we observed an increase in the prevalence of diabetes over time. The biggest increase was detected in studies using complex diagnosis: 7.4 % (95 % CI 7.1–7.7) in the 1980s to 15.7 % (95 % CI 9.8–24.3) in the 2010s. In conclusion, despite high heterogeneity, this study observed a high prevalence of diabetes in Brazilian adults over time and with a progressive increase in the last 35 years.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13098-016-0181-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Obesity is linked to the development of cancer. Previous studies have suggested that there is a relationship between bariatric surgery and reduced cancer risk. Data sources were from Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library. From 951 references, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria (54,257 participants). In controlled studies, bariatric surgery was associated with a reduction in the risk of cancer. The cancer incidence density rate was 1.06 cases per 1000 person-years within the surgery groups. In the meta-regression, we found an inverse relationship between the presurgical body mass index and cancer incidence after surgery (beta coefficient -0.2, P < 0.05). Bariatric surgery is associated with reduced cancer risk in morbidly obese people. However, considering the heterogeneity among the studies, conclusions should be drawn with care.

Objective Mortality of diabetic patients is higher than that of the population at large (17.8, 29.2 and 35.3% in healthy subjects, impaired fasting glucose and DM respectively, p<0.001), hypertension (30.1, 56.3 and 50.5% in healthy subjects, impaired fasting glucose and DM, respectively, p<0.001), and hypercholesterolemia (23.2, 35.1 and 39.5

This study aimed to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on guardians of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. An online survey was performed to assess the prevalence of pandemic-related emotional burden, mental health disorders and diabetes-specific emotional burden related to diabetes care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregivers of children and adolescents with diabetes under the age of 18 and caregivers of youth without diabetes for the non-diabetes group were invited to participate. For the primary outcome, mental health disorders were evaluated using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), while pandemic-related emotional burden and diabetes-specific emotional burden related to diabetes care were evaluated in different domains with specific questions. For analyses, a hierarchical testing strategy was performed. A total of 764 participants were included in the study. Regarding the pandemic period, caregivers of youth with type 1 diabetes endorsed significantly more pandemic-related emotional burden for both themselves (OR 1.67; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.53) and for their child (OR 2.28; 95% CI, 1.54 to 3.38) when compared to the non-diabetes group. The emotional burden evaluation on different age ranges showed that the two groups were similar when the dependent youth was younger than 6 years. Moreover, a positive screening for mental health disorders during social distancing was higher in the diabetes group compared to the non-diabetes group (OR 2.43; 95% CI, 1.70 to 3.47), particularly in those aged under 12 years old. There was no difference between groups in mental health disorders among caregivers of adolescents older than 12 years. Our results allow to conclude that concern, burden and mental health disorders can be present in caregivers of youth with diabetes, and behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic may enhance this situation.