Altered Vascular Endothelium-Dependent Responsiveness in Frail Elderly Patients Recovering from COVID-19 Pneumonia: Preliminary Evidence.

We evaluated vascular dysfunction with the single passive leg movement test (sPLM) in 22 frail elderly patients at 84 + 31 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 pneumonia, compared to 22 age-, sex- and comorbidity-matched controls (CTRL). At rest, all COVID-19 patients were in stable clinical condition without severe comorbidities. Patients (aged 72 ± 6 years, 73% male) had moderate disability (Barthel index score 77 ± 26), hypoxemia and normocapnia at arterial blood gas analysis and mild pulmonary restriction at spirometry.

Patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia in sub-acute care exhibit severe frailty: Role of the nurse assessment.

Aims And Objectives: To document the level of frailty in sub-acute COVID-19 patients recovering from acute respiratory failure and investigate the associations between frailty, assessed by the nurse using the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS), and clinical and functional patient characteristics during hospitalisation.

Background: Frailty is a major problem in patients discharged from acute care, but no data are available on the frailty risk in survivors of COVID-19 infection.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study (STROBE checklist).

The impact of exercise training on fatigue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction And Objective: Fatigue can be divided in perceived fatigue, the feeling of exhaustion or lack of energy, and performance fatigue, the reduction in muscle force/activation during a given task. This meta-analysis evaluates the impact of exercise training on fatigue, compared with normal care in patients with COPD.

Material And Methods: We searched randomised controlled trials on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and CINAHL databases from their inception to December, 31st 2019 using the terms COPD, Fatigue, Fatigability, Muscle activation, Muscle endurance, Muscle Performance, Voluntary Activation, Motoneuron excitability, Force Development, Exercise, AND Rehabilitation.

Hypoalbuminemia as a marker of protein metabolism disarrangement in patients with stable chronic heart failure.

Background: Despite therapeutic advances, chronic heart failure (CHF)-related mortality and hospitalization is still unacceptably high. Evidence shows that muscular wasting, sarcopenia, cachexia are independent predictors of mortality and morbidity in CHF and are signs of protein metabolism disarrangement (PMD), which involve all body proteins including circulating one. We postulate that circulating human serum albumin (HSA) could be a marker of PMD and catabolic low-grade inflammation (LGI) in CHF patients.

Therapist Driven Rehabilitation Protocol for Patients with Chronic Heart and Lung Diseases: A Real-Life Study.

Therapist driven protocols may help to tailor rehabilitation programs to individual patients. We aimed to test the feasibility, safety, and clinical usefulness of a therapist driven protocol for rehabilitation including exercise training of patients with heart or lung diseases. An internal audit elaborated the Cardio-Respiratory Exercise Maugeri Algorithm (CREMA) based on: (a) standardized baseline assessments, (b) decision-making pathways, and (c) frequency/intensity/time/type (FITT) of prescription for each exercise.

Nocturnal Hypoxemia Impacts Right Ventricle Diastolic Function in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), although a growing healthcare problem and documented risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, is still under-diagnosed in cardiac patients. To investigate the correlation between OSA and echocardiographic parameters of right ventricle diastolic (RVD) dysfunction, in particular trans-tricuspid E-wave deceleration time (EDT), we retrospectively analyzed data of 103 pure (comorbidity-free) OSA patients with comprehensive echocardiographic examination (ETT). Apnea/hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen desaturation index (ODI), mean nighttime oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO), time elapsed with SpO < 90% (T90) and mean peak desaturation of nocturnal events (Mdes, graded as mild, medium or severe) were compared with echocardiographic parameters.

Mammalian Target of Rapamycin: Is It Relevant to COPD Pathogenesis or Treatment?

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway regulates fundamental metabolic processes such as inflammation, autophagy and apoptosis, all of which influence cell fate. Recent experimental data suggest that mTOR signalling is involved in many diseases, including lung diseases, but with contrasting data. Overexpression of mTOR and its signalling proteins have been linked to lung cell senescence and development of emphysema, pulmonary hypertension and inflammation.

Effectiveness of manual therapy in COPD: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

Purpose: Manual therapy (MT) has been proposed in pulmonary rehabilitation programmes for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but an updated systematic review of the evidence is lacking. We aimed to systematically review the effectiveness of MT interventions, alone or added to exercise, on lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life in COPD patients, compared to other therapies (e.g.

Is the Response of Tumours Dependent on the Dietary Input of Some Amino Acids or Ratios among Essential and Non-Essential Amino Acids? All That Glitters Is Not Gold.

Energy production is the main task of the cancer cell metabolism because the costs of duplicating are enormous. Although energy is derived in cells by dismantling the carbon-to-carbon bonds of any macronutrient, cancer nutritional needs for energetic purposes have been studied primarily as being dependent on glycolysis. Since the end of the last century, the awareness of the dependence of cancer metabolism on amino acids not only for protein synthesis but also to match energy needs has grown.