Clinical characteristics and variables associated with COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in Luanda, Angola, in the first year of the pandemic.

Background: The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa is still unclear. In comparison to Europe and North America, morbidity and death rates are lower. Several factors have been proposed, including geographical variation in virus impact, environmental factors, differences in age distribution, and the impact of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV infection and tuberculosis.

Influence of cigarette smoking on the Index of Cardiac Electrophysiological Balance in apparently healthy Angolans.

Tobacco use accelerates atherosclerosis and is one of the predictors of death from ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, heart failure, and sudden death. A new non-invasive parameter, the Index of Cardiac Electrophysiological Balance (iCEB) between depolarization and repolarization of the action potential, was considered a new biomarker for the identification of patients at increased arrhythmic risk. We aimed to evaluate the iCEB in apparently healthy Angolans with habitual cigarette smoking compared to non-smokers.

Adrenal Vein Sampling in the Management of Primary Aldosteronism: The Added Value of Intraprocedural Cortisol Assessment.

Introduction: Primary aldosteronism is the most common cause of secondary hypertension. Adrenal vein sampling is the gold standard for subtyping primary aldosteronism. However, this procedure is technically challenging and often has a low success rate.

[Improving the Quality of Publications in and Advancing the Paradigms of Clinical and Social Pharmacy Practice Research: The Granada Statements].

Pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences embrace a series of different disciplines. Pharmacy practice has been defined as "the scientific discipline that studies the different aspects of the practice of pharmacy and its impact on health care systems, medicine use, and patient care". Thus, pharmacy practice studies embrace both clinical pharmacy and social pharmacy elements.

Diagnosis of 17-alpha hydroxylase deficiency performed late in life in a patient with a 46,XY karyotype.

Summary: 17-Alpha-hydroxylase deficiency (17OHD) is a rare autosomal recessive disease, representing 1% of cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. A 44-year-old female presented to the emergency department complaining of generalized asthenia and polyarthralgia for about 2 weeks. On examination, she was hypertensive (174/100 mmHg), and laboratory results revealed hypokalemia and hypocortisolism.

Maturity-onset diabetes of the young secondary to HNF1B variants (HNF1B-MODY): a series of 10 patients from a single diabetes center.

Background: Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) is an autosomal dominant condition and represents 1-5% of all cases of diabetes mellitus. MODY is often misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The rare subtype 5 (HNF1B-MODY) is due to hepatocyte nuclear factor 1β (HNF1B) molecular alteration and is remarkable for its multisystemic phenotypes characterized by a broad spectrum of pancreatic and extra-pancreatic clinical manifestations.

Epidemiological, Social and Economic Burden of Severe Hypoglycaemia in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Portugal: A Structured Literature Review.

Introduction: The aim of this review was to identify and review studies reporting on the epidemiological, social and economic impact associated with severe hypoglycaemia (SH) in people with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Portugal.

Methods: A structured literature search was carried out in PubMed and Embase using a predefined selection criterion. Studies published in either Portuguese or English, between January 2010 and February 2021 were deemed eligible for inclusion.

Absolute Hyperglycemia versus Stress Hyperglycemia Ratio for the Prognosis of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in the First Months of the Pandemic: A Retrospective Study.

Diabetes is a risk factor for greater severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) is an independent predictor of critical illness, and it is reported to have a stronger association than absolute hyperglycemia. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of absolute hyperglycemia and SHR with the severity of COVID-19, since there are no studies investigating SHR in patients with COVID-19.

Pituitary metastasis as the first manifestation of lung carcinoma.

Pituitary metastases are rare. Clinical presentation could range from asymptomatic to panhypopituitarism or local symptoms. We present a case report of a 43-year-old male patient with a new onset headache, visual disturbances, and panhypopituitarism.

Liraglutide Effectiveness in Type 2 Diabetes: Insights from a Real-World Cohort of Portuguese Patients.

Liraglutide is a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist prescribed to diabetic patients for glycaemic control. To understand the impact of liraglutide in the real-world setting, this study analysed its effects in a Portuguese cohort of Type 2 diabetes patients. This was an observational, multicentric, and retrospective study that included 191 liraglutide-treated patients with at least 12 months of treatment.

Does the Hyperglycemia Impact on COVID-19 Outcomes Depend upon the Presence of Diabetes?-An Observational Study.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has emerged as a major risk factor for COVID-19 severity and SARS-CoV-2 infection can worsen glycemic control and may precipitate new-onset diabetes. At-admission hyperglycemia (AH) is a known predictor for worse outcomes in many diseases and seems to have a similar effect in COVID-19 patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the impact of AH regardless of pre-existing diabetes mellitus and new-onset diabetes diagnosis in the clinical severity of COVID-19 inpatients in the first months of the pandemic.

The role of illness perceptions on medication nonadherence among patients with hypertension: A multicenter study in indonesia.

Nonadherence to antihypertensive medications is recognized as a significant cause of treatment failure. Therefore, identifying its underlying factors, particularly from the patient's perspective, is essential for developing tailored intervention strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the associations between different domains of illness perception and medication nonadherence among patients with hypertension in Indonesia.

Case Report: Artifactual Hypoglycemia: A Condition That Should Not Be Forgotten.

Background: Hypoglycemia is uncommon in people who are not being treated for diabetes mellitus and, when present, the differential diagnosis is broad. Artifactual hypoglycemia describes discrepancy between low capillary and normal plasma glucose levels regardless of symptoms and should be considered in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon.

Case Presentation: A 46-year-old female patient with a history of a sleeve gastrectomy started complaining about episodes of lipothymias preceded by sweating, nausea, and dizziness.

Electrocardiographic findings in pregnant women in Angola.

Background: Studies on the electrocardiogram findings in African pregnant women are limited. There is no information available in the literature on the electrocardiographic parameters of pregnant Angolan women.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe electrocardiographic findings in women with normal pregnancies in Bengo Province, Angola.

The Role of the Metabolome and Non-Coding RNA on Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas: An Update.

Pheochromocytoma and paragangliomas (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. In some patients they exhibit malignant behavior characterized by the presence of metastases, limiting treatment options and survival rates. Therapeutic options are limited to surgery, localized radiotherapy, and a few systemic therapies.

Prevalence of major and minor electrocardiographic abnormalities and their relationship with cardiovascular risk factors in Angolans.

Aims: To identify the prevalence of major and minor electrocardiographic abnormalities and their association with the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a population in the province of Bengo, northern Angola.

Methods: A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted and a representative random sample stratified by sex and age was selected. In total, 2379 black individuals were included in the final analysis.

The role of GLP-1 receptor agonists during COVID-19 pandemia: a hypothetical molecular mechanism.

Introduction: A number of anti-diabetic treatments have been favored during the continuing spread of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) are a group of antidiabetic drugs, the glucose reducing effect of which is founded on augmenting glucose-dependent insulin secretion with concomitant reduction of glucagon secretion and delayed gastric emptying. Apart from their glucose lowering effects, GLP1-RAs also exert a plethora of pleiotropic activities in the form of anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic and anti-obesogenic properties, with beneficial cardiovascular and renal impact.

Heterogeneity amongst GLP-1 RA cardiovascular outcome trials results: can definition of established cardiovascular disease be the missing link?

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of adverse outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, and all new anti-diabetic agents are mandated to undergo cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs). Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) are incretin mimetics that reduce blood glucose levels with a low associated risk of hypoglycaemia. CVOTs with different GLP-1 RAs yielded different results in terms of major cardiovascular composite outcome (MACE), with some trials showing superiority in the treatment arm, whereas other simply displayed non-inferiority.

Lack of Consistent Association between Asthma, Allergic Diseases, and Intestinal Helminth Infection in School-Aged Children in the Province of Bengo, Angola.

Epidemiological studies have shown conflicting findings on the relationship between asthma, atopy, and intestinal helminth infections. There are no such studies from Angola; therefore, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between asthma, allergic diseases, atopy, and intestinal helminth infection in Angolan schoolchildren. We performed a cross-sectional study of schoolchildren between September and November 2017.

Impact of Annual Albendazole versus Four-Monthly Test-and-Treat Approach of Intestinal Parasites on Children Growth-A Longitudinal Four-Arm Randomized Parallel Trial during Two Years of a Community Follow-Up in Bengo, Angola.

Malnutrition and intestinal parasites continue to have serious impacts on growth and cognitive development of children in Angola. A longitudinal four-arm randomized parallel trial was conducted to investigate if deworming with a single annual dose of albendazole (annual-ALB) or a four-monthly test-and-treat (4TT) intestinal parasites approach at individual or household levels improve nutritional outcomes of pre-school children in Bengo province. Children with intestinal parasites (n = 121) were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to arm A1: annual-ALB*individual level; A2: annual-ALB*household level; A3: 4TT*individual; and A4: 4TT*household level.