Treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) pneumonia remains empirical and the search for therapies that can improve outcomes continues. Melatonin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune-modulating effects that may address key pathophysiologic mechanisms in the development and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which has been implicated as the likely cause of death in COVID19. We aimed to describe the observable clinical outcomes and tolerability of high-dose melatonin (hdM) given as adjuvant therapy in patients admitted with COVID19 pneumonia. We conducted a retrospective descriptive case series of patients who: 1) were admitted to the Manila Doctors Hospital in Manila, Philippines, between March 5, 2020 and April 4, 2020; 2) presented with history of typical symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, loss of smell and/or taste, myalgia, fatigue); 3) had admitting impression of atypical pneumonia; 4) had history and chest imaging findings highly suggestive of COVID19 pneumonia, and, 5) were given hdM as adjuvant therapy, in addition to standard and/or empirical therapy. One patient admitted to another hospital, who one of the authors helped co-manage, was included. He was the lone patient given hdM in that hospital during the treatment period. Main outcomes described were: time to clinical improvement, duration of hospital stay from hdM initiation, need for mechanical ventilation (MV) prior to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and final outcome (death or recovery/discharge). Of 10 patients given hdM at doses of 36-72mg/day per os (p.o.) in 4 divided doses as adjuvant therapy, 7 were confirmed COVID19 positive (+) by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and 3 tested negative  (-), which was deemed to be false (-) considering the patients’ typical history, symptomatology, chest imaging findings and elevated bio-inflammatory parameters.  In all 10 patients given hdM, clinical stabilization and/or improvement was noted within 4-5 days after initiation of hdM. All hdM patients, including 3 with moderately severe ARDS and 1 with mild ARDS, survived; none required MV. The 7 COVID19(+) patients were discharged at an average of 8.6 days after initiation of hdM. The 3 highly probable COVID19 patients on hdM were discharged at an average of 7.3 days after hdM initiation. Average hospital stay of those not given hdM (non-hdM) COVID19(+) patients who were admitted during the same period and recovered was 13 days. To provide perspective, although the groups are not comparable, 12 of the 34 (35.3%) COVID19(+) non-hdM patients admitted during the same period died, 7/34 (20.6%) required MV; while 6 of 15 (40%) non-hdM (-) by RT-PCR but highly probable COVID19 pneumonia patients also died, 4/15  (26.7%) required MV. No significant side-effects were noted with hdM except for sleepiness, which was deemed favorable by all patients, most of whom had anxiety- and symptom-related sleeping problems previously. HdM may have a beneficial role in patients treated for COVID19 pneumonia, in terms of shorter time to clinical improvement, less need for MV, shorter hospital stay, and possibly lower mortality. HdM was well tolerated. This is the first report describing the benefits of hdM in patients being treated for COVID19 pneumonia.  Being a commonly available and inexpensive sleep-aid supplement worldwide, melatonin may play a role as adjuvant therapy in the global war against COVID19.

T he objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its component risk factors among Filipinos using three sets of criteria and to evaluate the association between MS and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. The study utilised a multi-staged cluster sampling design.The prevalence of MS was found to be 11. Thus, the metabolic syndrome is common in Filipinos, with low HDL-C as the most prevalent component. The metabolic syndrome predisposes to diabetes mellitus and stroke, with a tendency to MI using the IDF criteria.

BackgroundWe conducted a survey in 2008 to measure the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases and risk factors in Philippine adults.MethodsStratified multistage sampling was used to cover the entire Philippine population of adults aged 20 years or older. Using health questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, and blood examinations, the prevalences of atherosclerosis-related risk factors and diseases were determined. Survey results were compared with those obtained in 2003.ResultsOut of 7700 eligible subjects, 64% to 93.7% responded to different survey items. Age-adjusted hypertension prevalence was 24.6% at a single visit and 20.6% when corrected for true prevalence. The prevalence of diabetes was 3.9% on the basis of fasting blood glucose (FBG), 5.2% by FBG and history, and 6.0% when 2-hour post-load plasma glucose level was determined. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 72.0% and the prevalence of smoking was 31%. The prevalence of obesity was 4.9% by body mass index (BMI), and 10.2% and 65.6% by waist-hip ratio (WHR) in men and women, respectively. The prevalences of coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial diseases were 1.1%, 0.9%, and 1.0%, respectively.ConclusionsThe prevalences of risk factors for atherosclerosis were higher in 2008 than in 2003, although the increase in diabetes was not significant and smoking decreased. These findings indicate a need for active collaborative intervention by all government agencies and medical societies in the Philippines.

Background: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is the most underdiagnosed, underestimated and undertreated of the atherosclerotic vascular diseases despite its poor prognosis. There may be racial or contextual differences in the Asia-Pacific region as to epidemiology, availability of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and even patient treatment response. The Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases (APSAVD) thus coordinated the development of an Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement (APCS) on the Management of PAD. Objectives: The APSAVD aimed to accomplish the following: 1) determine the applicability of the 2016 AHA/ ACC guidelines on the Management of Patients with Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease to the Asia-Pacific region; 2) review Asia-Pacific literature; and 3) increase the awareness of PAD. Methodology: A Steering Committee was organized to oversee development of the APCS, appoint a Technical Working Group (TWG) and Consensus Panel (CP). The TWG appraised the relevance of the 2016 AHA/ACC PAD Guideline and proposed recommendations which were reviewed by the CP using a modified Delphi technique. Results: A total of 91 recommendations were generated covering history and physical examination, diagnosis, and treatment of PAD-3 new recommendations, 31 adaptations and 57 adopted statements. This Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement on the Management of PAD constitutes the first for the Asia-Pacific Region. It is intended for use by health practitioners involved in preventing, diagnosing and treating patients with PAD and ultimately the patients and their families themselves.

BackgroundRed cell distribution width (RDW), a routine component of the complete blood count (CBC), measures variation in the size of circulating erythrocytes. It has been associated with several clinical outcomes in cardiovascular disease. We sought to strengthen the association between RDW and mortality in patients admitted for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) by pooling together data from available studies.MethodsStudies that fulfilled the following were identified for analysis: 1) observational; 2) included patients admitted for ACS; 3) reported data on all-cause or cardiovascular (CV) mortality in association with a low or high RDW; and 4) used logistic regression analysis to control for confounders. Using MEDLINE, Clinical Key, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases, a search for eligible studies was conducted until January 9, 2017. The quality of each study was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Our primary outcome of interest was all-cause or CV mortality. We also investigated the impact of RDW on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) for the studies that reported these outcomes. Review Manager (RevMan) 5.3 was utilized to perform Mantel-Haenzel analysis of random effects and compute for relative risk.ResultsWe identified 13 trials involving 10,410 patients, showing that in ACS, a low RDW is associated with a statistically significant lower all-cause or CV mortality (RR 0.35, (95% CI 0.30 to 0.40), P < 0.00001, I2 = 53%), a finding that was consistent both in the short- and long-term.ConclusionsA low RDW is also associated with lower risk for MACEs after an ACS (RR 0.56, (95% CI 0.51 to 0.61), P < 0.00001, I2 = 91%). A low RDW during an ACS is associated with lower all-cause or CV mortality and lower risk of subsequent MACEs, providing us with a convenient and inexpensive risk stratification tool in ACS patients.