Tuberculosis-Associated Anemia: A Narrative Review.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne illness that induces systemic inflammation. It often affects the lungs causing cough, fever, and chest pain. A commonly associated comorbid condition in TB is anemia. This review article has summarized various studies with an aim to gain a better understanding of pathogenesis and the role of cytokines that contribute to the development of anemia in TB. The study has gathered risk factors that enhance the likelihood of TB patients acquiring anemia. It has reviewed therapeutic modalities such as antitubercular therapy and iron therapy in an attempt to find which of them are effective in reducing the severity of anemia. This review article has also emphasized the importance of measuring hepcidin and ferritin and has touched upon the investigations that can be easily implemented.

Depression in Parkinson's Disease: A Narrative Review.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative age-related disorder that affects the central nervous system (CNS) and is characterized by uncontrollable movements such as shaking, stiffness, and loss of balance and coordination. Depression is a common non-motor manifestation of PD, but unfortunately, depression remains unrecognized and often undertreated. The underlying pathophysiology of depression in PD is complicated, and many studies have been conducted to know the exact cause, but the question remains unanswered. In this article, we discuss various pathophysiologies by which depression occurs in PD. The most widely accepted theories are neuroinflammation and monoamine oxidase theory. This article also explored the pharmacological treatment of depression in PD; this involves standard antidepressant therapy such as tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO); non-pharmacological treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have also been discussed. However, physicians hesitate to prescribe antidepressants to patients with PD due to concerns about harmful drug-drug interactions between antidepressants and antiparkinsonian drugs. Despite the complicated link between PD and depression, the co-administration of antidepressants and antiparkinsonian drugs is safe and beneficial when appropriately managed. However, early recognition and initiation of treatment of depression in PD reduces the longitudinal course and improves the cross-sectional picture. This review article also explored the clinical and diagnostic findings and impact on the quality of life of depression in PD.

Atrial Fibrillation in Chronic Kidney Disease: An Overview.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition that can be caused due to any etiology leading to structural damage to the kidney, which can be measured by a decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the presence of damage biomarkers for more than three months. This article has discussed the causal relationship between atrial fibrillation (AF) and CKD, a few of them being inflammation, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation, anemia, and uremia associated with CKD. This review mentioned the clinical impact of the presence of AF in CKD patients. The presence of AF in CKD patients aggravates the renal dysfunction, which in turn adds to the generation of AF. This article explores the various pharmacological and interventional treatment modalities, including antiarrhythmics, anticoagulants, and cardiac ablation, and their complications, leading to restricted usage in CKD patients.

Breast Cancer and the Cardiovascular Disease: A Narrative Review.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting females worldwide and is also among the top causes of all cancer-related deaths. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is known to have the highest rate of mortality in women. There are several risk factors for both CVD and breast cancer that overlap, such as diet, smoking, and obesity, and also the current breast cancer treatment has a significant detrimental effect on cardiovascular health in general. Patients with exposure to potentially cardiotoxic treatments, including anthracyclines, trastuzumab, and radiation therapy, are more likely to develop CVD than non-cancer controls. Early detection and treatment may reduce the risk of the development of cardiac morbidity and mortality and would increase the number of breast cancer survivors. This article provides a comprehensive overview of breast cancer, identifies shared risk factors among breast cancer and CVD, and the cardiotoxic effects of therapy. It also reviews possible prevention and treatment of CVD in breast cancer patients and reviews literature about chemoprevention of cardiac disease in the setting of breast cancer treatment.

Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy: The Interplay Between Liver and Heart.

Cardiac vascular dysfunction was described years ago in alcohol-associated liver cirrhosis and recently became known as cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM) in 2005. Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is a specific cardiac dysfunction estimated to be prevalent in half of the liver cirrhosis patient population; it comprises a triad of impaired myocardial contractile responses to stress (systolic dysfunction), inadequate ventricular relaxation, and electrophysiological abnormalities. This review describes the various pathophysiological mechanisms connecting liver cirrhosis to the alterations seen in CCM and briefly mentions the role of the cardiovascular system in connecting the pathophysiology of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). Insertion of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and liver transplantation exacerbates the underlying cardiac dysfunction leading to signs and symptoms of heart failure. This article also focuses on the clinical importance of diagnosing CCM and the limitations existing around traditional diagnostic criteria based on transmitral flow parameters. It highlights newer parameters proposed by the Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy Consortium to obtain a diagnosis of CCM. Liver transplantation is the only treatment available to cure CCM.

Sarcoidosis and Its Dermatological Manifestations: A Narrative Review.

Sarcoidosis is an enigma diagnosed by ruling out other etiologies of granulomatous inflammation. The multisystem manifestations of sarcoidosis and the clinical polymorphism pose a diagnostic challenge to all physicians. The skin is the most commonly affected organ after the lungs in sarcoidosis. Dermatological manifestations can appear before, during, or after systemic involvement, and the type of skin lesion can have prognostic significance. Also, a biopsy of skin lesions is less invasive and more accessible to perform than a biopsy of visceral organs. Thus, in certain ways, cutaneous manifestations can aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of systemic disease. This article has focused on the frequently encountered skin lesions of sarcoidosis along with their prevalence, clinical features, and management.