Lipid-Lowering Treatment and the Lipid Goals Attainment in Patients with a Very High Cardiovascular Risk.

Hypercholesterolemia is the main cardiovascular (CV) risk factor with a large body of evidence. Our aim was to assess the achievement of the main therapeutic goal of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients with a very high CV risk and a high-dose statin therapy. The study group consisted of 1413 consecutive patients hospitalised at the Upper-Silesian Medical Centre in Katowice due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated with atorvastatin ≥ 40 mg or rosuvastatin ≥ 20 mg. The lipid profile was performed on admission and within 12 months after AMI. The main therapeutic goal was defined as LDL-C < 55 mg%. The study group (n = 1413) included 979 males (69.3%) with arterial hypertension (83.3%), diabetes (33.5%), peripheral artery disease (13.6%) and nicotinism (46.2%). In the study group, only 61 patients (4.3%) were additionally taking ezetimibe. During hospitalisation, the primary LDL-C goal was found in only 186 patients (13.2%). Subsequently, a follow-up lipidogram within 12 months was performed in 652 patients (46%), and the therapeutic goal was achieved in 255 patients (39%). There were 258 (18.26%) patients who died within 12 months after myocardial infarction. The lowest mortality rate was found in the subgroup of patients with LDL-C < 55 mg% during follow-up (11.02%). The primary lipid goal attainment among patients with a high-dose statin and a very high CV risk is low and far from the expected rate. Patients hospitalised for AMI should be given a combination of statin and ezetimibe more frequently. Low LDL-C levels measured at follow-up predict a lower risk of death at 12-month follow-up in a large group of patients.

Quality of Life 6 Months after COVID-19 Hospitalisation: A Single-Centre Polish Registry.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the entire global population, had an impact on our health and quality of life. Many people had complications, were hospitalised or even died due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The health systems of many countries had to radically change their way of functioning and scientists around the world worked intensively to develop a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. AIM: The aim of this work is to assess the quality of life of patients who were hospitalised for COVID-19, using the SF-36 questionnaire. METHODS: Between May and August 2022, we conducted a telephone assessment of quality of life in patients who were hospitalised for COVID-19 at the Temporary Hospital in Pyrzowice (Silesia, Poland), between November 2021 and January 2022. RESULTS: Quality of life was significantly lower in women (p = 0.040), those with DM2 (p = 0.013), CKD (p = 0.041) and the vaccinated (p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: People with chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus and women had a lower quality of life after COVID-19 disease. However, people who were vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2 had a lower quality of life than non-vaccinated people did. This is possibly due to the higher mean age, and probably the higher disease burden, in the vaccinated group.

Consequences of prolonged sedentary work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced physical activity and increased the time spent sitting. Combined with the lack of ergonomics at home workplaces, the risk of discomfort has increased, especially around the cervical spine and upper limbs. Evaluation of the mentioned problem is the subject of the study. METHODS: The study used an original questionnaire based on the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The analysis used responses from people who reported discomfort in the form of tingling or numbness in the cervical spine, shoulder, elbow and wrist during the pandemic. Statistical analysis of the results was carried out to formulate conclusions. In addition, individual data were presented as percentages. RESULTS: Considering the working time exceeding 8 hours a day, discomfort in the wrist joint area was most often reported among people working remotely (15.1%). Shoulder complex discomfort was the most common symptom (22%) reported by people working more than 8 hours a day, under the age of 31. In young people, the risk of discomfort in the shoulder, hand and cervical spine area increased. CONCLUSIONS: Extended working time is conducive to the appearance of symptoms within the hands. In future studies, it will be necessary to analyze the ergonomic factors responsible for this phenomenon.

Oxytocin receptors in the dorsolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) bias fear learning toward temporally predictable cued fear.

The inability to discriminate between threat and safety is a hallmark of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Dorsolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTdl) is critically involved in the modulation of fear and anxiety, and has been proposed to regulate discrimination between signaled (cued, predictable) and unsignaled (unpredictable) threats. We recently showed that oxytocin receptors (OTRs) in the BNSTdl facilitate acquisition of cued fear measured in a fear-potentiated startle (FPS). In the current study, using in vivo microdialysis in awake male Sprague-Dawley rats, a double immunofluorescence approach with confocal microscopy, as well as retrograde tracing of hypothalamic BNST-projecting OT neurons, we investigated whether fear conditioning activates OT system and modulates OT release. To determine the role of OTR in fear memory formation, we also infused OTR antagonist or OT into the BNSTdl before fear conditioning and measured rats' ability to discriminate between cued (signaled) and non-cued (unsignaled) fear using FPS. In contrast to acute stress (exposure to forced swim stress or foot shocks alone), cued fear conditioning increases OT content in BNSTdl microdialysates. In addition, fear conditioning induces moderate activation of OT neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and robust activation in the supraoptic and accessory nuclei of the hypothalamus. Application of OT into the BNSTdl facilitates fear learning toward signaled, predictable threats, whereas blocking OTR attenuates this effect. We conclude that OTR neurotransmission in the BNSTdl plays a pivotal role in strengthening fear learning of temporally predictable, signaled threats.