COVID-19 is a systemic infection with a significant impact on the hematopoietic system and hemostasis. Lymphopenia may be considered as a cardinal laboratory finding, with prognostic potential. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and peak platelet/lymphocyte ratio may also have prognostic value in determining severe cases. During the disease course, longitudinal evaluation of lymphocyte count dynamics and inflammatory indices, including LDH, CRP and IL-6 may help to identify cases with dismal prognosis and prompt intervention in order to improve outcomes. Biomarkers, such high serum procalcitonin and ferritin have also emerged as poor prognostic factors. Furthermore, blood hypercoagulability is common among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Elevated D-Dimer levels are consistently reported, whereas their gradual increase during disease course is particularly associated with disease worsening. Other coagulation abnormalities such as PT and aPTT prolongation, fibrin degradation products increase, with severe thrombocytopenia lead to life-threatening disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), which necessitates continuous vigilance and prompt intervention. So, COVID-19 infected patients, whether hospitalized or ambulatory, are at high risk for venous thromboembolism, and an early and prolonged pharmacological thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin is highly recommended. Last but not least, the need for assuring blood donations during the pandemic is also highlighted.

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet may contribute to the prevention of a series of brain diseases; this may be of special value given the aging of Western societies.

Although COVID-19 presents primarily as a lower respiratory tract infection transmitted via air droplets, increasing data suggest multiorgan involvement in patients that are infected. This systemic involvement is postulated to be mainly related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus binding on angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors located on several different human cells. Lung involvement is the most common serious manifestation of the disease, ranging from asymptomatic disease or mild pneumonia, to severe disease associated with hypoxia, critical disease associated with shock, respiratory failure and multiorgan failure or death. Among patients with COVID-19, underlying cardiovascular comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes and especially cardiovascular disease, has been associated with adverse outcomes, whereas the emergence of cardiovascular complications, including myocardial injury, heart failure and arrhythmias, has been associated with poor survival. Gastrointestinal symptoms are also frequently encountered and may persist for several days. Haematological complications are frequent as well and have been associated with poor prognosis. Furthermore, recent studies have reported that over a third of infected patients develop a broad spectrum of neurological symptoms affecting the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system and skeletal muscles, including anosmia and ageusia. The skin, the kidneys, the liver, the endocrine organs and the eyes are also affected by the systemic COVID-19 disease. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview of the organ-specific systemic manifestations of COVID-19.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is inversely associated with arterial blood pressure, even though a beneficial component of the Mediterranean diet score-cereal intake-is positively associated with arterial blood pressure. Olive oil intake, per se, is inversely associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

It is considered that fruit and vegetable (F&V) protect against oesophagus and gastric cancer (GC). However, 2 recent meta‐analyses suggest that the strength of association on GC seems to be weaker for vegetables than for fruit and weaker in cohort than in case‐control studies. No evidence exists from cohort studies about adenocarcinoma of oesophagus (ACO). In 521,457 men and women participating in the EPIC cohort in 10 European countries, information of diet and lifestyle was collected at baseline. After an average of 6.5 years of follow‐up, a total of 330 GC and 65 ACO, confirmed and classified by a panel of pathologists, was used for the analysis. We examined the relation between F&V intake and GC and ACO. A calibration study in a sub‐sample was used to control diet measurement errors. In a sub‐sample of cases and a random sample of controls, antibodies against Helicobacter pylori (Hp) were measured and interactions with F&V were examined in a nested case‐control study. We observed no association with total vegetable intake or specific groups of vegetables and GC risk, except for the intestinal type, where a negative association is possible regarding total vegetable (calibrated HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.35–1.22 per 100 g increase) and onion and garlic intake (calibrated HR 0.70; 95% CI 0.38–1.29 per 10 g increase). No evidence of association between fresh fruit intake and GC risk was observed. We found a negative but non significant association between citrus fruit intake and the cardia site (calibrated HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.47–1.22 per 100 g increase) while no association was observed with the non‐cardia site. Regarding ACO, we found a non significant negative association for vegetable intake and for citrus intake (calibrated HRs 0.72; 95% CI 0.32–1.64 and 0.77; 95% CI 0.46–1.28 per 100 and 50 g increase, respectively). It seems that Hp infection does not modify the effect of F&V intake. Our study supports a possible protective role of vegetable intake in the intestinal type of GC and the ACO. Citrus fruit consumption may have a role in the protection against cardia GC and ACO. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The new type of coronavirus (COVID-19), SARS-CoV-2 originated from Wuhan, China and has led to a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 is a novel emerging infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 characterized as atypical pneumonia. As of July 1, 2020, more than 10 million people worldwide had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. The typical manifestations of COVID-19 include fever, sore throat, fatigue, cough, and dyspnoea combined with recent exposure. Most of the patients with COVID-19 have mild or moderate disease, however up to 5–10% present with severe and even life-threatening disease course. The mortality rates are approximately 2%. Therefore, there is an urgent need for effective and specific antiviral treatment. Currently, supportive care measures such as ventilation oxygenation and fluid management remain the standard of care. Several clinical trials are currently trying to identify the most potent drug or combination against the disease, and it is strongly recommended to enroll patients into ongoing trials. Antivirals can be proven as safe and effective only in the context of randomized clinical trials. Currently several agents such as chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir, monoclonal antibodies, antisense RNA, corticosteroids, convalescent plasma and vaccines are being evaluated. The large numbers of therapeutic interventions aim to define the most efficacious regimen. The aim of this article is to describe the treatment strategies that have been used for COVID-19 patients and review all the available literature.

Total, red, and processed meat intakes were associated with an increased risk of gastric non-cardia cancer, especially in H. pylori antibody-positive subjects, but not with cardia gastric cancer.

Background: Dietary supplement use is increasing, but there are few comparable data on supplement intakes and how they affect the nutrition and health of European consumers. The aim of this study was to describe the use of dietary Correspondence: G Skeie, Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway. E-mail: Guri.Skeie@uit.no Guarantor: G Skeie Contributors: GS performed statistical analyses and wrote the article. NS was the overall coordinator of this project and of the EPIC nutritional databases (ENDB) project. GS, ML, PA, PJ, VP, AP, EMN, KA, TP, MN, MT, KN, JH, LW, ES, AO, SN, VH, GD, CC, DE contributed to the reclassification of data from their respective countries, and gave input on statistical analyses, interpretation of results and drafting of the article. TB, AH, HV, PW, MCBR, PF, EL, NS gave input on the statistical analyses, interpretation of results and drafting of the manuscript. The other co-authors were local EPIC collaborators involved in the design of the study and data collection. ER is the overall coordinator of the EPIC study. All co-authors provided comments and suggestions on the article and approved the final version. Results: Between countries, the mean percentage of dietary supplement use varied almost 10-fold among women and even more among men. There was a clear north-south gradient in use, with a higher consumption in northern countries. The lowest crude mean percentage of use was found in Greece (2.0% among men, 6.7% among women), and the highest was in Denmark (51.0% among men, 65.8% among women). Use was higher in women than in men. Vitamins, minerals or combinations of them were the predominant types of supplements reported, but there were striking differences between countries. Conclusions: This study indicates that there are wide variations in supplement use in Europe, which may affect individual and population nutrient intakes. The results underline the need to monitor consumption of dietary supplements in Europe, as well as to evaluate the risks and benefits.