Annals of Medicine

Cervical artery dissection refers to a tear in the internal carotid or the vertebral artery that results in an intramural haematoma and/or an aneurysmal dilatation. Although cervical artery dissection is thought to occur spontaneously, physical trauma to the neck, especially hyperextension and rotation, has been reported as a trigger. Headache and/or neck pain is the most common initial symptom of cervical artery dissection. Other symptoms include Horner's syndrome and lower cranial nerve palsy. Both headache and/or neck pain are common symptoms and leading causes of disability, while cervical artery dissection is rare...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. However, only a small proportion of subjects harbouring CD-related genetic risk develop the disease. Among the environmental factors that may influence CD risk, pre- and perinatal factors, delivery methods, parental lifestyle, infant feeding practices, seasonality, dietary factors, drug use, childhood infections and variability in gut microbiota are those most widely studied regarding the risk to develop CD...

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and disease burden in China and worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the status of cardiovascular health among urban Chinese children and adolescents. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study comprising 12,618 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years, who were recruited from Chinese urban areas during 2013-2015. The poor, intermediate, and ideal levels of 7 cardiovascular health metrics, including smoking, body mass index, dietary intake, physical activity, blood pressure, blood glucose, and total cholesterol were defined according to revised American Heart Association criteria...

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic non-degenerative disease, whose nutritional therapy seems controversial. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the knowledge about the effect of dietary interventions on patient reported outcomes (PRO) and inflammation in patients with FM. Six electronic databases - PubMed, BioMed Central, Cochrane library, EMBASE, LILACS and ISI - were searched for clinical trials, in which a dietary intervention in patients with FM diagnosed was conducted. Quality of evidence assessment was measured in accordance to GRADE methodology...

INTRODUCTION: The use of oral appliances to enhance sports performance has been advocated by some authors, however, studies addressing the effectiveness of these strategies are inconclusive. METHODS: Here we investigate the effects of dental occlusions on shoulder strength. Fourteen healthy male subjects (age =21.67 ± 0.86 yrs) without temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder participated in this study. Isokinetic strength was evaluated in shoulder abduction/adduction and arm external/internal rotation tests...

INTRODUCTION: High physical activity (PA) at old age indicates good functional capacity enabling independent living. We investigated how different disease conditions are associated with measured PA indicators in old women and men, and whether they recognize this association. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional twin cohort study in Finland comprised 779 individuals (276 complete twin pairs, including 117 monozygotic pairs), who participated in hip-worn accelerometer monitoring of PA and responded to questions on diseases and mobility limitations at mean age of 73 (range 71 to 75)...

BACKGROUND: Knowledge on the use of secondary preventive medication in young adults is limited. METHODS: We included 936 first-ever ischemic stroke 30-day survivors aged 15-49, enrolled in the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry, 1994-2007. Follow-up data until 2012 came from Finnish Care Register, Statistics Finland, and Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Usage thresholds were defined as non-users, low (prescription coverage <30%), intermediate (30-80%) and high users (>80%)...

BACKGROUND: Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A/B (CDKN2A/B) genes are frequently altered in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients. The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively assess the prognostic value of CDKN2A/B deletions in ALL patients. METHODS: Systematic literature review was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to July 2018. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with fixed-effects or random-effects models...

BACKGROUND: Seasonal variation in glucose metabolism might be driven by changes in daylight. Melatonin entrains circadian regulation and is directly associated with daylight. The relationship between melatonin receptor 1B gene variants with glycemic traits and type 2 diabetes is well established. We studied if daylight length was associated with glycemic traits and if it modified the relationship between melatonin receptor 1B gene rs10830963 variant and glycemic traits. MATERIALS: A population-based sample of 3,422 18-78-year-old individuals without diabetes underwent an oral glucose tolerance test twice, an average 6...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: The association between dietary salt intake and hypertension has been well documented. We evaluated the association between dietary sodium intake and the incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) during a mean follow-up of 19 years among 716 subjects from the Oulu Project Elucidating Risk of Atherosclerosis (OPERA) cohort. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dietary sodium intake was evaluated from a seven-day food record. The diagnosis of AF (atrial flutter included) was made if ICD-10 code I48 was listed in the hospital discharge records during follow-up...

The importance of assessing the probability of venous thromboembolism recurrence, a condition that includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, lies in the fact that it is the most important factor in deciding the duration of anticoagulant treatment. Risk of recurrence depends mostly on the presence of a risk factor for developing venous thromboembolism, with patients with unprovoked events being at the higher risk of recurrence. The risk of recurrence needs to be balanced with the risk of bleeding and the potential severity of these thrombotic and hemorrhagic events...

BACKGROUND: The smartphone apps provide a user-friendly option for measurement of heart rate (HR) by detecting pulsatile photoplethysmographic signals with built-in cameras from the fingertips, however, the validation study is limited. METHODS: We compared HR detected by the smartphone apps (App1 = Instant HR, App2 = Cardiio: HR Monitor and App3 = Runtastic HR Monitor) with simultaneous standard ECG monitoring in the adult patients at the critical care unit...

The definition of a high-sensitivity cardiac Troponin (cTn) assay describes the ability to quantify a cardiac biomarker level in at least 50% of healthy individuals. This advance in analytic sensitivity has come with a perceived loss of specificity in the most classic application - chest pain triage and the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). As cardiac Troponin can no longer be used as a dichotomous test, the medical field is increasingly moving towards a more granular interpretation. However, rapid rule-out/rule-in algorithms for AMI still rely on concrete thresholds for efficient triage, irrespective of the patient's comorbidities...

Haemodynamic instability predisposes patients to cardiac complications in non-cardiac surgery. Esmolol, a short-acting cardioselective beta-adrenergic blocker might be efficient in perioperative cardiac protection, but could affect other vital organs, such as the kidneys, and post-discharge survival. We performed a systematic review on the use of esmolol for perioperative cardiac protection. We searched PubMed, Ovid Medline and Cochrane Central Register for Controlled trials. Eligible randomized controlled studies (RCTs) reported a perioperative esmolol intervention with at least one of the primary (major cardiac or renal complications during the first 30 postoperative days) or secondary (postoperative adverse effects and all-cause mortality) outcomes...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) would be positively associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) in perimenopausal women from a population-based perspective, after adjustment for all potential confounders. METHODS: This study used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database, 2005-2012, to report on MDD in perimenopausal women. RESULTS: The odds ratio (OR) for MDD increased when there was a smoker was in the home, as compared to not having a smoker in the home (aOR = 2...

INTRODUCTION: Preterm birth is a major cause of infant mortality. It is unknown whether body mass index (BMI) influences the risk of preterm birth in women, who prenatally use antidepressants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study cohort (N = 6920) consists of all primiparous European born women without previously diagnosed diabetes from the city of Vantaa, Finland, who delivered a singleton child between 2009 and 2015. Data on births, pre-pregnancy BMI and purchases of antidepressants from 12 months before conception until delivery were obtained from Finnish National Registers...

Disruption of circadian clocks is strongly associated with mood disorders. Chronotherapies targeting circadian rhythms have been shown to be very effective treatments of mood disorders, but still are not widely used in clinical practice. The mechanisms by which circadian disruption leads to mood disorders are poorly characterized and, therefore, may not convince clinicians to apply chronotherapies. Hence, in this review, we describe specific potential mechanisms, in order to make this connection more credible to clinicians...