Dose-response relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia in middle-aged and elderly people in Urumqi / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To investigate the dose-response relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia in middle-aged and elderly people in Urumqi, and then provide the reference to guide the middle-aged and elderly people to arrange exercise reasonably.Methods:A total of 1886 middle-aged and elderly people (aged ≥ 50 years old) from December 2018 to December 2019 in Cihui Health Management Center in Urumqi were selected as the research objects to conduct a questionnaire survey, collected general information and physical examination data, and used the International Physical activity questionnaire to investigate and evaluate their daily activities. Diagnostic criteria of the Asian Working Group on Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 were used. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia, and restricted cubic spline was used to analyze the dose-response relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia.Results:Among the investigated subjects, 208 people suffered from sarcopenia, and the prevalence rate was 11%. Multivariate analysis showed that after adjusting for confounding factors such as demographic characteristics, moderate and high intensity physical activity was associated with a lower risk of sarcopenia compared with low intensity physical activity ( OR = 0.389, 95% CI 0.261-0.580; OR = 0.055, 95% CI 0.025-0.122). The dose-response relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia showed an approximate 1-shaped dose-response relationship between total physical activity and sarcopenia ( P<0.01). Conclusions:The strength of the association between physical activity and sarcopenia was approximately an "L" shaped curve, and increased physical activity was associated with a lower risk of sarcopenia when physical activity was between 2500 and 3500 MEt-min/week.

Plasma D-dimer Can Effectively Predict the Prospective Occurrence of Ascites in Advanced Schistosomiasis Japonica Patients

China still has more than 30,000 patients of advanced schistosomiasis while new cases being reported consistently. D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product. As ascites being the dominating symptom in advanced schistosomiasis, the present study aimed to explore a prediction model of ascites with D-dimer and other clinical easy-achievable indicators. A case-control study nested in a prospective cohort was conducted in schistosomiasis-endemic area of southern China. A total of 291 patients of advanced schistosomiasis were first investigated in 2013 and further followed in 2014. Information on clinical history, physical examination, and abdominal ultrasonography, including the symptom of ascites was repeatedly collected. Result showed 44 patients having ascites. Most of the patients' ascites were confined in the kidney area with median area of 20 mm². The level of plasma D-dimer and pertinent liver function indicators were measured at the initial investigation in 2013. Compared with those without ascites, cases with ascites had significantly higher levels of D-dimer (0.71±2.44 μg/L vs 0.48±2.12 μg/L, P=0.005), as well ALB (44.5 vs 46.2, g/L) and Type IV collagen (50.04 vs 44.50 μg/L). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated a moderate predictive value of D-dimer by its own area under curve (AUC) of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.54–0.73) and the cutoff value as 0.81 μg/L. Dichotomized by the cutoff level, D-dimer along with other categorical variables generated a prediction model with AUC of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68–0.89). Risks of patients with specific characteristics in the prediction model were summarized. Our study suggests that the plasma D-dimer level is a reliable predictor for incident ascites in advanced schistosomiasis japonica patients.

Clinical features, radiological characteristics, and pathological changes in 42 patients with cerebral sparganosis / 中华神经科杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical features,the radiological characteristics,and the pathological changes of cerebral sparganosis.Methods We retrospectively collectted and summarized the clinical data of 42 patients with cerebral sparganosis from the Iinstitute of Anti-parasitic Diseases of Jiangxi Province and the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University during January 2000 to January 2014.The follow-up period of the 42 patients ranged from 4 to 96 months.Results Forty-two cases (30 males and 12 females) with cerebral sparganosis were enrolled in the study.Among the 42 patients,34 cases suffered from seizures,16 cases experienced headaches,and 14 cases had limb weakness.The brain CT scan showed the small and punctuate calcifications scattering around the lesions in 18 cases.The features of enhanced MRI included aggregating ring-like enhancement in 38 cases,tunnel lesions in 14 cases,and lesion migration in 13 cases.Twenty-four of the 42 patients were performed surgery.The brain tissues revealed multiple inflammatory tunnels,in which live or degenerated larvae were identified in 20 cases,but only eosinophilia tunnels were observed in the other 4 cases.The serum and cerebro-spiral fluid specimens from 18 patients without surgery were positive to spirometra mansoni antigen.Their cerebral lesions disappeared and got a favorable prognosis after administration of praziquantel in long term follow-ups.Conclusions There is a high incidence of cerebral sparganosis in Poyang lake basin.The clinical features of cerebral sparganosis mainly include seizure,headache and hemiparesis.The enhanced lesions show knot or tunnel signs on multi-planar MRI which are associated with the multiple inflammatory tunnels of larvae migration.A longterm administration of high dose opraziquantel can also get a good treatment prognosis without the classical surgical therapy for cerebral sparganosis.