The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Lifestyle Health Determinants Among Older Adults Living in the Mediterranean Region: The Multinational MEDIS Study (2005-2015) / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: By the end of the 2000s, the economic situation in many European countries started to deteriorate, generating financial uncertainty, social insecurity and worse health status. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the recent financial crisis has affected the lifestyle health determinants and behaviours of older adults living in the Mediterranean islands. METHODS: From 2005 to 2015, a population-based, multi-stage convenience sampling method was used to voluntarily enrol 2749 older adults (50% men) from 20 Mediterranean islands and the rural area of the Mani peninsula. Lifestyle status was evaluated as the cumulative score of four components (range, 0 to 6), that is, smoking habits, diet quality (MedDietScore), depression status (Geriatric Depression Scale) and physical activity. RESULTS: Older Mediterranean people enrolled in the study from 2009 onwards showed social isolation and increased smoking, were more prone to depressive symptoms, and adopted less healthy dietary habits, as compared to their counterparts participating earlier in the study (p<0.05), irrespective of age, gender, several clinical characteristics, or socioeconomic status of the participants (an almost 50% adjusted increase in the lifestyle score from before 2009 to after 2009, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A shift towards less healthy behaviours was noticeable after the economic crisis had commenced. Public health interventions should focus on older adults, particularly of lower socioeconomic levels, in order to effectively reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease at the population level.

Associations among benign prostate hypertrophy, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and latent carcinoma of the prostate / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the frequency of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and its associations with benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) and latent histological carcinoma of the prostate (LPC) in autopsy material.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two hundred and twelve prostate specimens obtained from autopsy material were subjected to whole mount analysis in an attempt to investigate the associations among BPH, AAH and LPC.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Most histological carcinomas and AAH lesions were found in enlarged prostates with intense hypertrophy. No statistically significant relation was found between BPH and the main characteristics of LPC, such as tumor volume, histological differentiation and biological behavior. Our data regarding multi-focal tumors showed a tendency for multi-focal carcinomas to develop in larger prostates, and a tendency of AAH lesions to develop in larger prostates. No statistically significant relation was found between AAH and LPC.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There seems not any causative aetiopathogenetical or topographical relation between AAH lesions and prostate adenocarcinoma. AAH lesion seems to be a well-defined mimicker of prostatic adenocarcinoma, and the reported association of AAH with prostatic carcinoma could probably be an epiphenomenon.</p>

Association between testicular microlithiasis, testicular cancer, cryptorchidism and history of ascending testis

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively determine the prevalence of testicular microlithiasis in symptomatic patients who were referred for scrotal ultrasound examination and to evaluate the possible association of testicular microlithiasis with testicular cancer and other conditions such as cryptorchidism or history of ascending testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 391 men who were referred to our institutions between July 2002 and May 2005 for any type of symptoms from the testicles, underwent physical and scrotal ultrasound examination. The presence of testicular microlithiasis, the number of lesions and the involvement of both testicles in relation to the symptoms as well as the coexistence of other lesions were studied. RESULTS: Eighteen (4.6 percent) of 391 men enrolled into the study had testicular microlithiasis. Two out of the eighteen patients (11 percent) had concomitant testicular cancer, which was confirmed by pathological evaluation of the orchidectomy specimen. One of the patients with testicular microlithiasis presented a rising in biochemical tumor markers (LDH, and HCG) and underwent orchidectomy one year later. Five of the remaining 373 (1.3 percent) patients without microlithiasis were diagnosed with testicular cancer. Thirty six men reported having a history of ascending testis, but none of them was found with testicular cancer. Two cases of testicular torsion in a cryptorchid position had testicular microlithiasis, but the orchidectomy specimen (after surgery) was negative for testicular cancer. The correlation between testicular cancer and testicular microlithiasis found in our study was statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There seems to be an association between testicular microlithiasis and testicular cancer.