[Determination of factors influencing the desire and possibilities of prevention of inactivity and other behavi-oral risk factors by primary care physicians (REFLECTION). The results of a one-time survey].

Aim    To evaluate clinical practice of primary care physicians with respect of preventing behavioral risk factors in patients as well as objective and subjective factors that influence their motivation for taking preventive measures. Material and methods    This study was a cross-sectional survey. The questionnaire was anonymous and included closed questions and multiple-choice questions. Based on the obtained results, prevalence of modifiable risk factors for chronic noninfectious diseases (CNID) was comprehensively evaluated in the survey population. Also, a special quantitative variable was introduced, the Index of Behavioral Risk Factors. that reflected the burden of risk factors. This composite index included the degree of risk factor in a specific respondent, for example, obesity degree, number of cigarettes smoked per day, severity of hypodynamia. Physicians' knowledge and beliefs about the effect of physical activity (PA) on certain diseases were evaluated. Result    623 physicians (mean age 40 years (31-52), 85.5 % women) participated in the survey. The respondents included general practitioners (7.5%), cardiologists (2.9 %), preventive care physicians (4.8 %), internists (25.4 %), and other specialists (59.4 %). 70.8 % of respondents never smoked, 17.5 % were current smokers. 38.5% (240) of the surveyed had a normal body weight index (BWI); 41.7 % (260) were overweight; 11.6 % (72) had degree 1 obesity; 3.7 % (23) had degree 2 obesity; and 0.8 % had degree 3 obesity. A very low PA level was noticed; most of the surveyed exercised not more than once a week (median, 1 (0-3) time). More than 90 % had behavioral risk factors, low PA and excessive body weight. The physicians with a higher index of behavioral risk factors 50% less frequently checked the body weight of patients (odds ratio (OR), 0.541; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.388-0.753, p<0.05); 33% less frequently asked whether the patient smoked (OR, 0.675; 95 % CI: 0.465-0.978, p=0.037); 50% less frequently asked the patients about his/her level of PA (OR, 0.482; 95 % CI: 0.343-0.678, p<0.001); and 60% less frequently recommended increasing the PA (OR, 0.408; 95 % CI: 0.292-0.570, p<0.001).Conclusion    Most of the surveyed were aware of the benefits of PA for prevention and treatment of CNID, however, they related the mechanism of this effect only with weight loss. The most frequently mentioned barriers to behavioral risk counseling were uncertainty about whether such counseling was within the physician's professional competence, lack of time, lack of confidence in the provision of advice and the effectiveness of interventions, and lack of patients' compliance.

Assessment of Awareness and Experience of Using off-label Drugs by Doctors of Clinical Specialties.

Aim      To evaluate the frequency of off-label prescription of medicines in practice of clinical specialists and the awareness of respondents of the procedure of justified off-label prescription.Material and methods  The sample included 542 clinical specialists who worked in definite medical organizations in 26 entities of the Russian Federation. The respondents were proposed to fill in remotely an anonymous questionnaire to evaluate the experience of prescribing medicines off-label to adult patients.Results Prescribing medicines not in consistence with the officially approved instruction for medical use (off-label or "outside instruction") is a relevant issue of global medical care since convincing scientific evidence for safety of such use is scarce. Analysis of information about off-label prescription is one of current tasks of national medical research centers according to the Federal Project "Development of a network of national medical research centers and implementation of innovative medical technologies". According to the responses about the frequency of off-label prescriptions 67.5 % of respondents reported of no experience of off-label prescription, 27.7 % said "rarely" or "sometimes", and 4.8 % said "frequently" and "very frequently". Specialties of physicians who have more often used medicines off-label (50% and more) included obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, rheumatology, hematology, and pulmonology. Cardiologists, neurologists and clinical pharmacologists use medicines off-label relatively rarely (19.6%, 28.6 %, and 22.2 %, respectively). 40 % of medicines used off-label were those designed for the treatment of coronavirus infection SARS-CoV-2. The medicines most frequently used off-label included metformin, rituximab, and thioctic acid. 65 % of respondents assessed their knowledge of off-label prescription as insufficient. In addition, 75 % of respondents consider it useful to receive additional information about risks and benefits of off-label prescription in clinical practice.Conclusion      The survey revealed the need of physicians for information about risks of the off-label use of medicines in clinical practice.

ANICHKOV study: the effect of combined hypotensive and lipid-lowering therapy on cardiovascular complications in patients of high and very high risk.

AIM: The aim of the study was to assess cardiovascular risk in patients with elevated levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C and concomitant AH, a comparative analysis of adherence, efficacy and safety of various forms of combined therapy in outpatient practice, including promising lisinopril/amlodipine/rosuvastatin FC (Ekvamer®). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ANICHKOV study included 702 patients in Moscow and the Moscow region over 18 years old with a -chole-sterol level ≥7.5 mmol/l and/or LDL-C ≥4.9 mmol/l from March 2017 to December 2018 based on 2 federal centers. According to the results of visit I, patients were prescribed with one of three therapy schemes. In the absence of AH, patients received scheme I -(Mertenil® at initial dosage of 10 mg/day). When history of AH existed or AH detected at visit I, patients were randomized to scheme II (Ekvamer® 5/10/10 mg/day) or III (Mertenil® 10 mg/day + Ekvator® 5/10 mg/day). During the observation, the treatment scheme remained unchanged, however, if the target levels of LDL-C and/or BP were not reached, the doses could be increased. The analysis of the main effects of the prescribed therapy were carried out for 12 months, and the frequency of MACE (CVD, ACS, stroke, or hospitalization to perform PCI) was also evaluated. RESULTS: Following the visit I, scheme I was assigned to 390 patients (55.6%), scheme II - 190 (27.1%), scheme III - 122 (17.4%). In 147 patients (20.9%), TG level was >2.3 mmol/l, which required additional fenofibrate intake in a dose of 145 mg/day. Adherence level was 89.5%, including scheme I - 91.7%, scheme II - 90.5%, scheme III - only 81.8%. In general, among compliant patients (n = 590), the decrease in TCh level was 41.0%, LDL-C - 47.4%. 16.6% of patients reached target levels of LDL-C <2.5 mmol/l, 5.6% - <1.8 mmol/l. In the fenofibrate subgroup, TG level decrease was 34.6%. During the follow-up period, 47 cases of side effects were observed in 27 patients (4.6%), that did not require modification of therapy. Systolic BP reduction in compliant patients of schemes II and III was 20 mm. Hg (13.1%), diastolic BP - 12 mm. Hg (13.6%), target BP levels (<140/90 mm. Hg) reached 83.7% and 80.8% of patients, respectively, target levels of BP and LDL-C <2.5 mmol/l reached 14.5% and 13.1% of patients, respectively, <1.8 mmol/l - 5.8% and 5.1%, respectively. During the observation period no deaths were recorded, other components of MACE were observed in 38 patients (5.8%), including 27 among compliant patients (4.6%) and 11 among non-compliant (15.9%, p<0.01). In 19 out of 38 patients (50%), hospitalization for routine PCI was the end point, ACS - in 12 (31.6%), and stroke - in 7 (18.4%). CONCLUSION: The results of the study demonstrated a sufficient hypolipidemic effect and high safety of Mertenil® and Ekvamer®. A higher adherence to the combined preparation than to two monodrugs was noted. Achieving target levels of BP and LDL-C is problematic, which dictates the expediency of using fixed combinations of drugs, especially in primary prevention.

[Place of vitamin D in the prevention of premature aging and the development of age-associated diseases].

There is an ongoing search for the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying the development of aging and age-associated diseases. At the same time there is growing evidence geroprotective properties of vitamin D.In this review, described in detail the possible mechanisms by which vitamin D affects differentiation, cell proliferation and apoptosis, and describes the potential benefits of this vitamin in the fight against aging and age-related diseases.

Place of vitamin D in the prevention of premature aging and the development of age-associated diseases.

There is an ongoing search for the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying the development of aging and age-associated diseases. At the same time there is growing evidence geroprotective properties of vitamin D. In this review, described in detail the possible mechanisms by which vitamin D affects differentiation, cell proliferation and apoptosis, and describes the potential benefits of this vitamin in the fight against aging and age-related diseases.

[Smoking, Telomere Length and Cardiovascular Diseases].

The role of smoking in the development of various diseases, including cardiovascular system is widely known and proven. At the same time, given the multi-component composition of tobacco smoke, many mechanisms of its damaging effect on the target organs remain unknown. Effect of smoking on duration of life and risk of cardiovascular diseases mediated by changes of rate of telomere shortening in chromosomes of eukaryotic cells has been actively studied in recent years. This article describes main damaging mechanisms of tobacco smoke on the cardiovascular system including changes at the molecular- genetic level.

[Telomeres and chronic heart failure].

With age, a person's cardio-vascular system changes gradually formed at different functional levels, which are the basis for the development of chronic heart failure. While aging itself does not lead to chronic heart failure, it is likely that age-related changes in the human body can accelerate the time onset of signs and symptoms of the disease. Different groups of patients start time and rate of progression of heart failure is extremely constant. Recently, particular attention is paid to the study of diastolic heart failure because of the high prevalence and some of the difficulties in diagnosis and treatment.