Virgin Coconut Oil as Adjunctive Therapy for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in a Tertiary Referral Hospital: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Virgin coconut oil (VCO) has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential therapeutic candidate against COVID-19 infection. Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of VCO as adjunctive therapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a randomized, open-label controlled trial involving laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted at the Philippine General Hospital. The study participants were randomized to the intervention group who received virgin coconut oil with local standard of care, or to the control group who received local standard of care alone. Results: We enrolled 39 participants into the VCO group and 38 participants into the control group. Significantly fewer participants in the VCO group had abnormal CRP levels at the end of treatment compared to control. (relative risk [RR] 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58 to 0.95; p=0.02) No significant difference was found in the duration of hospital stay (mean 9.33 days for VCO vs. 10.29 days for control; p=0.45) and time to symptom resolution (mean 6.8 days for VCO, vs. 6.74 days for control; p=0.91). Although the proportion of patients who developed the secondary outcomes of mortality, need for ICU admission, need for invasive ventilation, and negative viral conversion was lower in the VCO group, results did not reach statistical significance. The VCO group had larger reduction in the inflammatory markers ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, TNF-alpha, IP-10 and IL-6, but results did not reach statistical significance. Adverse events were significantly higher in the VCO group (RR 4.87, 95% CI 1.14 to 20.79; p=0.03). Conclusion: This clinical trial on hospitalized patients showed significant benefit in CRP levels of participants given VCO compared to control. There was no significant benefit in the use of VCO as adjunctive therapy in reducing duration of hospital stay. Larger studies are needed to conclusively demonstrate the effect of VCO on other clinical outcomes and inflammatory markers.

Current status of hypertension care and management in the Philippines.

AIMS: In this paper, we discuss the existing data on the burden of hypertension in the Philippines and present the status of management, prevention, and control of hypertension in the country. METHODS: A literature review was conducted to synthesize the status of hypertension care in the Philippines. RESULTS: Hypertension continues to contribute to the country's leading causes of death. Similar to the global trend, almost half of hypertensive Filipinos are still not aware of their condition, and only 27 % have it under control. The prevalence of hypertension has steadily increased from 22 % in 1993 to 25.15 % in 2013. The 2020 Philippine Society for Hypertension clinical practice guideline defines hypertension as an office BP of 140/90 mm Hg or above following the proper standard BP measurement. During the past decade, monotherapy has been the mode of treatment in more than 80 % of Filipino patients. This could also explain why the BP control rates have been low. The most prevalent complications of hypertension in the Philippines were stroke (11.6 %), ischemic heart disease (7.7 %), chronic kidney disease (6.30 %), and hypertensive retinopathy (2.30 %). Hypertension causes economic tolls on patients, from the cost of drugs to hospitalization and complications. Hospitalization from hypertensive complications can easily wipe out the savings of middle-class families and is catastrophic for lower-income Filipinos. CONCLUSION: In this review, we summarize the existing data on the burden of hypertension among Filipinos and the risk factors associated with the disease. We present the current screening tools, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention strategies for hypertension in the Philippines. Lastly, we propose solutions to meet the global targets of hypertension management and help relieve the growing burden of this disease.

Dyslipidemia research landscape and socioeconomic facilitators of scientific productivity in Southeast Asia.

BACKGROUND: The growing prevalence of lipid disorder in Southeast Asia (SEA) resulted in an increase in clinical and epidemiological studies on dyslipidemia in the region. Thus, there is a need to summarize the existing evidence from the literature. AIMS: This paper determined the research landscape of dyslipidemia in SEA. This study also identified the socioeconomic facilitators of scientific productivity in dyslipidemia research in SEA. METHODS: A database search of dyslipidemia literature in SEA countries was performed using the Scopus database. Bibliographic information was obtained, and network visualization of collaboration among countries and keywords was created using VOSviewer software. RESULTS: This bibliometric analysis showed a continuous increase in published articles in SEA, most of which were from universities and hospitals in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The usual topics of dyslipidemia research in SEA include epidemiology, pathophysiology, comorbidities and complications, and treatment options for dyslipidemia. Research & development expenditure (total citations: p = 0.037; h-index: p = 0.031) and researchers in R&D (total citations: p = 0.005; h-index: p = 0.017) were positively correlated with citations and h-index for dyslipidemia publications from SEA countries. Moreover, the number of research collaborations within SEA and worldwide was positively correlated with the total publications, citations, and h-index of SEA countries for their dyslipidemia research outputs. CONCLUSION: In summary, this bibliometrics study showed an increasing trend of dyslipidemia research in SEA countries. Policymakers and administrators should invest more in dyslipidemia studies to propose better strategies in curbing the prevalence of this condition in SEA.