Levels of retinol and retinoic acid in pancreatic cancer, type-2 diabetes and chronic pancreatitis.

Aims: Retinoids participate in multiple key processes in the human body e.g., vision, cell differentiation and embryonic development.

Changes in the level of health literacy in Czechia between 2015 and 2020.

During the five years from 2015 to 2020, the proportion of people with limited health literacy decreased by 12%. This finding results from international research on the level of health literacy, which took place since 2019 till 2021 in 17 countries of the European region of the World Health Organization. In total, more than 42,000 respondents were interviewed, in Czechia there were 1,650 respondents.

Professor Josef Charvát and Informatics.

Professor Josef Charvát, a prominent internist and endocrinologist, has been following the issues of cybernetics and computers from the very beginning. In the difficult times of the 1950s, he was heavily involved in the organization of seminars and meetings of workers in technical and medical fields interested in cybernetics. Later, in his books for the general public, he foresaw a significant application of computers in medicine.

Novel biochemical markers for non-invasive detection of pancreatic cancer.

To identify non-invasive biomarkers of non-metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC), the blood from 186 patients (PC n=28; DM-diabetes mellitus n=60; ChP-chronic pancreatitis n=47; healthy controls n=51) was analyzed for 58 candidate biomarkers. Their effectiveness to identify PC was compared with CA19-9. Panel defined by Random-forest (RF) analysis (CA19-9, AAT, IGFBP2, albumin, ALP, Reg3A, HSP27) outperforms CA19-9 in discrimination of PC from DM (AUC 0.

Optimizing clinical approaches to COVID-19 patients in primary care.

There is insufficient evidence from medical studies for clinical approaches to patients with COVID-19 in primary care. Patients often urge the therapeutic use and preventive administration of various medicines, often controlled by studies insufficiently or completely unverified. The aim of the project, commissioned by the Committee of the Society of General Practice of the Czech Medical Association JEP, was to compensate for this deficiency by interdisciplinary consensus and thus provide general practitioners (GPs) with a basic support in accessing patients with COVID-19.

[Obesity and cardiovascular disease].

Obesity with no comorbidities probably carries no cardiovascular risk, and the so-called obesity paradox even comes into play, wherein obesity may improve the prognosis of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular complications primarily occur indirectly due to metabolic comorbidities of obesity. However, a thrombogenic potential of obesity has also been established.

[Contemporary state and perspectives of obesity pharmacotherapy].

The history of obesity pharmacotherapy is controversial. Many drugs are not used more due to severe side effects. Today we have four effective antiobesity drugs.

Glycemic Outcomes in Adults With T1D Are Impacted More by Continuous Glucose Monitoring Than by Insulin Delivery Method: 3 Years of Follow-Up From the COMISAIR Study.

Objective: This study assessed the clinical impact of four treatment strategies in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D): real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rtCGM) with multiple daily insulin injections (rtCGM+MDI), rtCGM with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (rtCGM+CSII), self-monitoring of blood glucose with MDI (SMBG+MDI), and SMBG with CSII (SMBG+CSII).

Research Design And Methods: This 3-year, nonrandomized, prospective, real-world, clinical trial followed 94 participants with T1D (rtCGM+MDI, = 22; rtCGM+CSII, = 26; SMBG+MDI, = 21; SMBG+CSII, = 25). The main end points were changes in A1C, time in range (70-180 mg/dL [3.

[Current views on metabolic syndrome].

The theory of metabolic syndrome originated 30 years ago. Several definitions try to explain the frequent common incidence of the risk factors for atherosclerosis. At first the syndrome of insulin resistance was involved.

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Gelesis100: A Novel Nonsystemic Oral Hydrogel for Weight Loss.

Objective: This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of Gelesis100, a novel, nonsystemic, superabsorbent hydrogel to treat overweight or obesity.

Methods: The Gelesis Loss Of Weight (GLOW) study was a 24-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in patients with BMI ≥  27 and ≤ 40 kg/m and fasting plasma glucose ≥ 90 and ≤ 145 mg/dL. The co-primary end points were placebo-adjusted weight loss (superiority and 3% margin super-superiority) and at least 35% of patients in the Gelesis100 group achieving ≥ 5% weight loss.

[Treatment strategy of type 2 diabetes used in Czech Republic after metformin therapy failure].

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is an enormous medical problem caused by increasing prevalence of the disease and increasing prevalence of severe chronic complications of diabetes. New ADA/EASD guidelines and also Czech diabetes society guidelines enable effective individual approach to the patient. Goal of the therapy is optimal compensation of diabetes and prevention of acute and chronic complications of diabetes and decrease of mortality.

[A diet suitable for patients with dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome].

Atherosclerosis or cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in developed countries. Intervention of its risk factors is pharmacological but non-pharmacological intervention must be its integral part. Dietary recommendations for dyslipidemia are long known however it is necessary to emphasize the importance of their compliance.

Urine Levels of Phthalate Metabolites and Bisphenol A in Relation to Main Metabolic Syndrome Components: Dyslipidemia, Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes. A Pilot Study.

Aim: Human exposure to organic pollutants (some of them also called endocrine disruptors) can be associated with adverse metabolic health outcomes including type 2 diabetes. The goal of this study was to compare the urine levels of bisphenol A and phthalate metabolites in subgroups of patients with metabolic syndrome composed of patients with and without three important components of metabolic syndrome (hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes).

Methods: We have investigated 24 hr urine samples of 168 patients with metabolic syndrome from the Metabolic Outpatient Department of General University Hospital in Prague.

Phthalates exposure indicators determined by urinary phthalate metabolites in healthy non-obese Czech adults: FANTOM study.

It is assumed that human exposure to phthalates may be associated with adverse health effects. The indicators of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in healthy adults are limited. In this study, the phthalate metabolites concentrations were detected from 24-h urine collection in non-obese Czech adults (n = 201).

[Alternative healing methods around us].

This article gives information on selected alternative medicine methods (AMM) under conditions of the Czech health care system. They can be defined as contemporaneous diagnostic and therapeutic methods which differ in their theoretical fundaments as well as practices from the evidence based medicine. This definition is controversial because these methods are an intrinsically incompatible aggregate of modalities acting as a placebo above all.

Comparison of Different Treatment Modalities for Type 1 Diabetes, Including Sensor-Augmented Insulin Regimens, in 52 Weeks of Follow-Up: A COMISAIR Study.

Objective: To compare different treatment modalities for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) based on real-time continuous glucose monitoring (RT-CGM) or self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) combined with multiple daily injections (MDIs) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII).

Research Design And Methods: Sixty-five T1D patients were followed up for a year. Of these, 27 started RT-CGM as part of a sensor-augmented insulin regimen (SAIR); within this SAIR group, 15 subjects started sensor-augmented pump (SAP) therapy and the remaining 12 continued with MDIs (MDIs + RT-CGM).

[Potential sources of phthalates and bisphenol A and their significance in the development of metabolic diseases].

Nowadays, there is increasing evidence showing that the development of the metabolic syndrome combining obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia involves except of traditional risk factors (overnutrition, lack of physical activity, genetic predisposition) also the effect of environmental organic substances called organic pollutants or endocrine disruptors. These chemicals can be found in plastic covers, paints, flame retardants, exhaust gases, fertilizers as well as diverse daily utensils. Phthalates, used primarily as plasticizers, and bisphenol A, are among the most wide-spread members of this group.

Modulation of Energy Intake and Expenditure Due to Habitual Physical Exercise.

Background: The 20th and 21st centuries are marked by an increase in life expectancy on one hand and on the other hand by the increase of so called civilization diseases. Their share one common trait: the energy metabolism imbalance, with low energy expenditure and high energy uptake. Our age can be viewed as the age of inactivity and wealth.

No difference in hypertension prevalence in smokers, former smokers and non-smokers after adjusting for body mass index and age: a cross-sectional study from the Czech Republic, 2010.

Background: Several hypotheses suggest a temporary increase in blood pressure following smoking cessation. This may be the result of endocrine changes (e.g.

[Obesity and orthopedic surgery, or else do mechanical complications of obesity exist?].

Arthroses of weight-bearing joints and vertebrogenic problems are characteristic diseases of the obese. However the extreme risk is associated in particular with the combination with metabolic syndrome. Arthroses of bearing joints thus do not only present a mechanical complication of obesity, but also a metabolic complication.

Perioperative Tight Glucose Control Reduces Postoperative Adverse Events in Nondiabetic Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Context: Tight glucose control (TGC) reduces morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery, but only limited data about its optimal timing are available to date.

Objective: The purpose of this article was to compare the effects of perioperative vs postoperative initiation of TGC on postoperative adverse events in cardiac surgery patients.

Design: This was a single center, single-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial.

[Myokines - muscle tissue hormones].

Physical inactivity is demonstrably related to the manifestation of chronic diseases which significantly modify the quality and prognosis of life in a negative way. The benefits of exercise are surely mediated by many pathophysiological mechanisms interrelated in varying degrees, which have not yet been fully examined in their complexity. In the late 20th century it was positively proven that a working striated muscle really regulates the metabolic and physiological response in the other organs.