Philippines hit by deadly Measles outbreak - a wakeup call?

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Prevalence and Predictors of Depression Amongst Hypertensive Individuals in Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: While studies evaluating the prevalence of depression and hypertension have been extensively carried out in high income countries, there is a paucity of information assessing the prevalence of depression within hypertensive patients in low income nations. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of undiagnosed depression in hypertensive patients within a tertiary care facility in Karachi, Pakistan. The secondary objective was to assess factors associated with undiagnosed depression in this group. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Civil Hospital Karachi Outpatient Department from January 2017 to April 2017. The sample population was composed of 411 hypertensive patients. Interviews were conducted after taking informed consent, with data concerning basic demographic details and lifestyle habits gathered. Blood pressure was recorded and its severity was classified as per the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7) guidelines. Depression was evaluated and its severity classified as per the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale, with a score of 10 or above set as the cut-off point. Data were entered and analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 23.0. (IBM, NY, USA). RESULTS: The prevalence of depression within 411 hypertensive patients was 40.1% (n = 165). The mean age of the sample was 45.7 ± 11.2 years, and the majority were females (72%, n = 295), unemployed (72%, n = 296), had primary or no education (67%, n = 277), and were of low socioeconomic status (78%, n = 321). The average systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 143.8 ± 21.7 and 93.3 ± 15.5 mm Hg, respectively. Factors which had a significant association with depression were gender (p = 0.009), age class (p = 0.035), educational status (p = 0.000), employment status (p = 0.003), socioeconomic status (p = 0.008), physical activity (p = 0.025), smoking (p = 0.017), and family history of hypertension (p = 0.022). CONCLUSION: With such a high prevalence rate of undiagnosed depression within hypertensive patients, it is pertinent to establish screening programs for early detection and community programs to raise awareness regarding long-term complications of untreated depression.

Clinical anatomy of celiac artery compression syndrome: a review.

Anatomic variations are often responsible for a variety of clinical conditions. In this review we investigate compression of the celiac artery and the superior mesenteric artery by the median arcuate ligament (MAL), diaphragmatic crura, or the celiac nerve plexus. This clinical condition known as celiac artery compression syndrome (CACS) has proven controversial in definition and relevance. This condition was first described as chronic abdominal pain because of the mesenteric ischemia caused by extrinsic compression of the celiac artery. Dunbar and others presented surgical approaches to decompress the celiac artery by releasing the MAL. Definitive answers have been sought to classify and relieve the clinical symptoms patients experience postprandially. Persistent symptoms following surgical treatment for CACS have led investigators to question the existence of this disease. Advances in technology such as angiographic MRI and color duplex ultrasonography have refreshed the importance of considering compression of the celiac artery during differential diagnoses. Because of the varying anatomic etiologies of disease, it is not possible to pinpoint a single cause for CACS. Potential etiologies for compression of the celiac artery include a "high take off" origin of the celiac artery compressed by normal diaphragmatic crura and MAL, a normal origin of the celiac artery with long diaphragmatic crura and MAL, large bilaterally fused celiac ganglia (with or without the involvement of the superior mesenteric ganglia) compressing the celiac trunk, celiacomesenteric trunk compression by diaphragmatic crura and MAL, or combinations of the above mentioned entities. In this review we describe potential sources of compression of the celiac artery by regional structures and treatments of CACS in an effort to justify the relevance of CACS in modern medicine.