Baseline low ALT activity is associated with increased long-term mortality after COPD exacerbations.

BACKGROUND: COPD exacerbations have negative impact on patients' survival. Several risk factors for grave outcomes of such exacerbations have been descried. Muscle dysfunction and mass loss were shown to impact negatively on prognosis and survival. Low activity of the enzyme ALT (Alanine amino-transferase) in the blood is a known indicator for sarcopenia and frailty, however, no previous studies addressed the association of low ALT amongst patients hospitalized due to COPD exacerbation and long-term survival. METHODS: This is a historic prospective cohort study of patients hospitalized due to acute COPD exacerbation. RESULTS: Included were 232 consecutive COPD exacerbation patients. The median time of follow-up was 34.9 months (IQR 23.13-41.73 months). During this period 104 (44.8%) patients died. All patients were grouped to quartiles according to blood ALT levels (after exclusion of cases considered to have hepatic tissue damage (ALT > 40 IU)). The risk of long-term mortality increased, in a statistically significant manner, amongst patients with low ALT values: the median survival of patients with ALT < 11 IU was 18.5 months only while the median survival for the rest of the study group was not reached. For ALT < 11 IU; 12-16 IU; 17-20 IU and > 21 IU the mortality rates were 69%; 40.9%; 36.3 and 25% respectively (p <  0.001 for comparison of lower quartile with upper three quartiles). The crude hazard ratio for mortality amongst patients with ALT levels lower than 11 IU was 2.37 (95% CI; 1.6-3.5). This increased risk of mortality remained significant after adjustment for age, weight, creatinine, albumin concentration and cardiovascular diseases (HR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.08-3.1, p <  0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Low ALT values, a biomarker of sarcopenia and frailty, are associated with poor long-term survival amongst patients hospitalized due to COPD exacerbation.

A national survey about parent awareness of the risk of severe brain injury from playing football.

A survey was conducted to determine the level of awareness among parents of high school football players about the risk of severe brain injury. A national sample of 1007 randomly selected households was interviewed by telephone during February, 1992. All interviewees were parents of high school football players who either were currently playing football or had played within the previous 5 years. Survey questions measured the extent to which parents were aware both of the risks associated with playing high school football and the existing helmet warnings about those risks. Overall, the survey results demonstrated that parents of high school football players were uninformed about both the risk of severe brain injury from playing high school football and the football helmet warnings about that risk. Specifically, unprompted, most parents mentioned broken bones, knee injuries, sprains, or shoulder injuries as hazards associated with playing football. Few parents mentioned severe brain damage, even when prompted. Further, the overwhelming majority of parents incorrectly believed that wearing a football helmet generally eliminated the risk of severe brain injury. Very few parents had received information from any source about the risks of head injury or had heard that no football helmet can provide complete protection against this hazard. Few parents were aware of the warning label on the helmet or knew what the label said, even when prompted. In short, parents were unaware of the risk of severe brain damage, misinformed about a football helmet's ability to protect against this risk, and uninformed about the football helmet warning label about this risk.