No abstract

No abstract

Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide.Aim. To estimate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk (CVR) categories in the adult population (aged 40-79 years) of Romania.Design. The present study was part of the epidemiological, cross-sectional PREDATORR study (PREvalence of DiAbeTes mellitus, prediabetes, overweight, Obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia and chronic kidney disease in Romania).Subjects and Methods. Exclusion criteria: age <40/ or>79 years old and diagnosis of ischemic vascular disease. The CVR was evaluated using charts developed by the World Health Organization/ International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) available for Europe B (epidemiological subregion where Romania was included). The CVR was divided into 5 categories: <10%, 10-20%, 20-30%, 30-40%, > 40%.Results. A total of 1631 subjects (57.0±10.7 years, 45.1% males) were included in the present study.The age and sex-adjusted prevalence of CVR >40% was 2.9% (95%CI 2.8-3.1%), CVR 30-40% was 1.85% (95%CI 1.8-1.9%), CVR 20-30% was 5.8% (95%CI 5.6-6.0%) and 13.0% (95%CI 12.8-13.3%) of the adult Romanian population has a 10-20% CVR, these CVR categories being more frequent in male and older age. Diabetes, overweight/ obesity and smoking were associated with high CVR categories.Conclusion. Romania is one of the countries with high CVR, requiring CVD prevention measures.

We use the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate determinants of stockpiling behavior during the COVID-19 lockdown. We analyzed 518 responses to an online survey and used Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) techniques to estimate relationships between variables. Negative attitude (perceived barriers) and others’ behavior (descriptive social norms) were revealed as significant predictors for both intention to over-purchase and the actual stockpiling behavior. The lack of significance obtained for perceived behavioral control (PBC) is also an important result, strengthening the evidence that factors’ contribution to TPB’s predictive power is strongly context-dependent, respectively that PBC is less relevant in settings dominated by uncertainty. The lack of significance is especially compelling when stockpiling behavior is regarded as deviant conduct from effective consumption. Our findings expand the understanding on the applicability of TPB and offer informed practical suggestions for improving managerial strategies, public and private ones, during extreme events when self-regulation and cognitive control are expedient but hard to achieve.

Background and aims: PREDATORR is a national study designed to estimate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, prediabetes, overweight, obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia and chronic kidney disease in Romanian adult population. The aim of present study was to estimate the prevalence, incidence, treatment and control in subjects from PREDATORR study. Material and methods: This study included 2727 adults aged 20 – 79 years. Subjects were examined, and three measurements were performed at a time of at least one minute and the mean of blood pressure readings was recorded. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg and/or antihypertensive drug therapy. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in Romanian adult population aged 20 – 79 years was 47.38% and was higher in men: 48.62% than women: 46.23%. The incidence of hypertension was: 10.7% in 20 – 39 years age group, 43.1% in 40 – 59 years age group and 75.1% in subjects aged ≥ 60 years. Among subjects with hypertension, 18.7% did not receive antihypertensive drug therapy, 27.7% received antihypertensive treatment in monotherapy, 34.7% were under double antihypertensive drugs and most of them (37.6%) received three or more antihypertensive drugs. Conclusions: The prevalence of hypertension in Romania is high, possible explanations of this might be the unhealthy lifestyle and diet.

The aim of this study was to analyze the serum concentration of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ferritin, and procalcitonin in COVID-19 patients with different forms of the disease. We performed a prospective cohort study on 137 COVID-19 consecutive patients, divided into four groups according to the severity of the disease as follows: 30 patients in the mild form group, 49 in the moderate form group, 28 in the severe form group, and 30 in the critical form group. The tested parameters were correlated with COVID-19 severity. Significant differences were registered between the form of COVID-19 depending on the vaccination status, between LDH concentrations depending on the virus variant, and in IL-6, CRP, and ferritin concentrations and vaccination status depending on the gender. ROC analysis revealed that D-dimer best predicted COVID-19 severe forms and LDH predicted the virus variant. Our findings confirmed the interdependence relationships observed between inflammation markers in relation to the clinical severity of COVID-19, with all the tested biomarkers increasing in severe and critical COVID-19. IL-6, CRP, ferritin, LDH, and D-dimer were increased in all COVID-19 forms. These inflammatory markers were lower in Omicron-infected patients. The unvaccinated patients developed more severe forms compared to the vaccinated ones, and a higher proportion of them needed hospitalization. D-dimer could predict a severe form of COVID-19, while LDH could predict the virus variant.

Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbi-mortality, about 30% of the population having a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a threefold increased

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive chronic disease, whose prevalence is steadily increasing worldwide. Although long-term complications of diabetes develop gradually, they cause serious damage or even life-threatening, especially when glycemic values are not controlled over time. In this article, we are presenting the case of a young patient, late diagnosed with T2DM, directly in a stage with chronic complications, which over time did not follow the indications recommended by doctors, leading to an undesired outcome, which may highlight the need for active screening of diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular risk factors, both in people with diabetes as well as in the general population, to prevent such events.