A national audit of facilities, human and material resources for the comprehensive management of diabetes in Ghana-A 2023 update.

Introduction: The human and material resources as well as the systems for managing diabetes in Africa are inadequate. This study or needs assessment, aimed at updating the human and material resources, identifying the gaps and unmet needs for comprehensive diabetes care in Ghana.

Methods: We conducted a national audit of 122 facilities in all 16 administrative regions of Ghana.

Assessing the vibration perception threshold in a community sample of adult Ghanaians.

Background: The vibration perception threshold (VPT) helps evaluate human somatosensory function and diagnose peripheral neuropathy. To optimize its use as a primary neurologic tool, it is imperative to establish its typical values in healthy subjects and assess the factors affecting its variability in an individual to ensure consistency in its application.

Methods: Demographic data and a brief medical history were collected from 391 non-diabetic adults aged 30-80 at Kpone-on-Sea in Ghana.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Ocular Changes in Children and Adolescents with Diabetes Mellitus in Selected Health Facilities in Ghana.

Background: The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), other diabetes-related ocular changes (e.g., cataracts, corneal ulceration), and non-diabetic ocular disease in Ghanaian children and adolescents.

Assessment of oral health status in a Ghanaian population: rationale, methods, and population characteristics.

Background: Oral health surveys aid in estimating the oral health of a population and provide a projection for future oral health care needs. We report the procedures and rationale of a survey carried out to assess the oral health status and risk factors for oral disease among adults in the Greater Accra Region (GAR) of Ghana. The objective was to provide prevalence estimates on dental diseases, oral health behaviour and risk factors, and to establish baseline epidemiological data on the population's oral health for further research.

Associations of Serum Uric Acid Levels With Macrovascular and Renal Microvascular Dysfunction Among Individuals From Sub-Saharan Africa.

Importance: Serum uric acid (SUA) level is associated with vascular dysfunction in Eurasian populations, but little is known about this association in individuals from sub-Saharan Africa, who have a high prevalence of both relatively high SUA levels and vascular dysfunction.

Objectives: To assess the associations of SUA levels with macrovascular and kidney microvascular dysfunction in individuals of sub-Saharan African ancestry and evaluate potential factors that could mediate these associations.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes Among African Migrants study, conducted from 2012 to 2015, were performed from January to March 2021.

Inflammation and its associations with aortic stiffness, coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease in different ethnic groups: The HELIUS Study.

Background: evidence shows important ethnic differences in vascular dysfunction rates; however, the mechanisms driving these differences remain unclear. One potential factor is the ethnic differences in the role of inflammation in vascular injury. We tested the hypothesis that low-grade inflammation is unequally associated with vascular dysfunction in different ethnic groups.

Associations between macrovascular and renal microvascular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes and non-diabetes: the HELIUS study.

Background: Although the associations between measures of macrovascular and microvascular dysfunctions are well characterized in diabetes, there is limited data on these associations in individuals without diabetes. We compared the associations between macrovascular dysfunction and renal microvascular dysfunction in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and without diabetes.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multiethnic Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), including 986 participants with T2D and 7680 participants without diabetes were done.

Psychosocial distress, clinical variables and self-management activities associated with type 2 diabetes: a study in Ghana.

Aim: Psychosocial distress can act as a barrier to diabetes self-care management and thus compromise diabetes control. Yet in Ghana, healthcare centres mainly focus on the medical aspect of diabetes to the neglect of psychosocial care. This study determined the relationship amongst psychosocial distress, clinical variables, and self-management activities associated with type 2 diabetes management.

Association between C reactive protein and microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in sub-Saharan Africans with and without diabetes: the RODAM study.

Introduction: Although inflammation assessed by elevated C reactive protein (CRP) concentration is known to be associated with risk of cardiovascular disease, its association with microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in diabetes and non-diabetes remains unclear. We examined the association between CRP and diabetes and associated microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in sub-Saharan Africans with and without diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter RODAM study (Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants) including 5248 Ghanaians (583 with diabetes, 4665 without diabetes) aged 25-70 years were done.

Higher prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in Ghana compared to Ghanaian migrants in Europe: The RODAM study.

Background: Evidence suggests that the burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) is rising more rapidly than other forms of cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, but the extent to which they differ between rural and urban settings in Africa and upon migration to Europe is unknown. We assessed the burden of PAD among Ghanaians living in rural- and urban-Ghana and Ghanaian migrants living in three European countries.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study were done.

Microvascular and macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes Ghanaian residents in Ghana and Europe: The RODAM study.

Aims: To compare microvascular and macrovascular complication rates among Ghanaians with type 2 diabetes (T2D) living in Ghana and in three European cities (Amsterdam, London and Berlin).

Methods: Data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study were analyzed. 650 Ghanaian participants with T2D (206 non-migrant and 444 migrants) were included.

A Novel Gametocyte Biomarker for Superior Molecular Detection of the Plasmodium falciparum Infectious Reservoirs.

Background: Complete malaria eradication and optimal use of transmission-reducing interventions require knowledge of submicroscopic infectious reservoirs among asymptomatic individuals. Even submicroscopic levels of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes can infect mosquitoes and promote onward transmission. Most efforts to identify gametocyte carriers use polymerase chain reaction amplification of the gametocyte-specific transcript Pfs25.

Predictors of quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus in two tertiary health institutions in Ghana and Nigeria.

Background: Patients with chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) usually have a relatively poor quality of life (QoL), because the cost of care (living expenses and health) or diet restrictions are heavily felt by these patients, and this is of a public health concern. However, limited data on DM QoL exist in Ghana and Nigeria. This makes it imperative for data to be collated in that regard.

Arterial stiffness in hypertensive and type 2 diabetes patients in Ghana: comparison of the cardio-ankle vascular index and central aortic techniques.

Background: Diabetes and hypertension increase arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events in all societies studied so far; sub-Saharan African studies are sparse. We investigated factors affecting arterial function in Ghanaians with diabetes, hypertension, both or neither.

Method: Testing the hypothesis that arterial stiffness would progressively increase from controls to multiply affected patients, 270 participants were stratified into those with diabetes or hypertension only, with both, or without either.

Peripheral sensory neuropathy in type 2 diabetes patients: A case control study in Accra, Ghana.

Objective: Peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN) is a common cause of ulceration and amputation in diabetes (DM) patients. The prevalence of PSN in DM patients is largely undetermined in sub-Saharan African population. We studied the burden of PSN in DM patients using a validated questionnaire and quantitative sensory test.

Body composition and ankle-brachial index in Ghanaians with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease in a tertiary hospital.

Background: Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and indices of obesity are both use to indicate cardiovascular risk. However, association between body composition indices and ABI, a measure of peripheral arterial disease, is inconsistent in various study reports. In this study, we investigated the relationship between ABI and general and central indices of obesity in Ghanaians without history of cardiovascular diseases.

Peripheral artery disease and exertional leg symptoms in diabetes patients in Ghana.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a major health problem in diabetes patients in high-income countries, but the PAD burden in sub-Saharan Africa is largely undetermined. We studied the prevalence of PAD and exertional leg symptoms in diabetes (DM) patients in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

Methods: In a case control study design, 485 DM and 330 non-diabetes participants were recruited.

Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as economic and developmental challenges in Africa.

Current estimates and projections suggest that the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes and related risk factors in African countries is important, somewhat unique and rapidly growing. Various segments of the population are affected; however, the group mostly affected is young adults residing in urban areas, and increasingly those in the low socioeconomic strata. The African milieu/environment is compounded by weak health systems, which are unable to cope with the looming double burden of communicable and chronic non-communicable diseases.

Reference intervals for common biochemical analytes in serum and plasma of a random adult population in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Background: The reference interval (RI) is arguably the most widely used decision making tool in clinical practice. Using the manufacturer's reference values may not be appropriate for other ethnic populations.

Objective: The objective was to determine the reference intervals (RI) of Ghanaians and compare them to that provided in kits.

Body size and blood pressure: an analysis of Africans and the African diaspora.

Background: Blood pressure is directly and causally associated with body mass index (BMI) in populations worldwide. However, the relationship may vary across BMI in populations of African origin.

Methods: We compared the relationship between blood pressure and BMI in populations of African origin, using 13 samples from Africa, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The changing patterns of hypertension in Ghana: a study of four rural communities in the Ga District.

Objective: To determine the prevalence, distribution and risk factors of hypertension among rural residents in Ghana.

Design And Setting: Cross sectional study in four rural communities in the Ga District of Ghana.

Subjects And Methods: All adults aged > or = 18 years in four rural communities were asked to participate.

Cardiovascular complications of diabetes mellitus in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Cardiovascular disease, the major cause of mortality and morbidity in modern societies, is set to overtake infectious diseases in the developing world as the most common cause of death. The increasing prevalence of major and emerging cardiovascular risk factors accounts for the growing burden of cardiovascular disease in the world. Diabetes in all its forms is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors.

A novel I247T missense mutation in the haptoglobin 2 beta-chain decreases the expression of the protein and is associated with ahaptoglobinemia.

We have identified a novel base substitution at codon 247 in the beta-chain of the haptoglobin 2 ( Hp(2)) allele in a Ghanaian with the Hp0 (ahaptoglobinemic) phenotype. The heterozygous T-->C substitution caused reduced expression of the protein when the mutant was transfected into COS7 cells. The base substitution resulted in a missense change of the non-polar amino acid isoleucine to the polar amino acid threonine at a position in the beta-chain that is highly conserved among several species.