Obesity is an overwhelming public threat. It has been estimated that more than one third of the adult population is obese despite the fact that the prevalence has remained stable since 2004.1 The good news is that the prevalence of obesity has leveled off; the bad news is that the number remains high enough to pose a significant public concern with multiple health-related implications. With man...

Noll et al • Original Contribution T randomized controlled trial design is considered to be the gold standard for clinical research and has been advocated for evaluating the benefits of alternative modes of therapy,1 including osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT).2 When designing a randomized controlled trial, researchers must make several decisions concerning control strategies. They must ...

See related article, pages 1407–1412 In this issue of Stroke, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study provides evidence that lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a significant predictor of stroke.1 This is an important finding, because ARIC is both large and prospective. Over 14 000 patients were enrolled in 1987 to 1989, and during 13.5 years of follow-up, they experienced 496 ischemic strok...

Sex Hormones and Carotid Atherosclerosis in the Metabolic Syndrome To the Editor: We read with great interest the recent article by Dr Iglseder et al1 dealing with sex differences in early carotid atherosclerosis in the metabolic syndrome. The results of their study demonstrated that extent of plaques and cariotid artery intima-media thickness parameters were significantly higher in subjects wi...

Increased microvascular permeability is a central hallmark of inflammation and the basis of edematous tissue injury in many acute and chronic pathological conditions, including ischemia-reperfusion injury, sepsis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.1–4 Increased microvascular leakage may occur in any region of the vasculature, but it is most familiar in the microvasculature, especially the...

Flavivirus in the family Flaviviridae is a causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis, which is usually transmitted by Ixodes persulcatus and I. ricinus ticks1. Based on the geographical prevalence, the TBEV is classified into three subtypes: European (TBEV-Eur), Siberian (TBEV-Sib), and Far-Eastern (TBEV-FE). The mortality rate for TBEV-Eur and TBEV-Sib subtype infections is relatively low (1–...

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common cause of secondary hypertension, because it involves 11.2% of referred hypertensive patients.1 Primary hyperparathyroidism (PPTH) is much less common, with a prevalence that, albeit imprecisely known, is probably 0.01% in unselected hypertensives. However, arterial hypertension develops in the majority (56% to 80%) of the PPTH patients,2 which can explain ...

We have read the article of Proietti et al, entitled “Risk of pocket hematoma in patients on chronic anticoagulation with warfarin undergoing electrophysiological device implantation: a comparison of different peri-operative management strategie” with great interest1. The authors have evaluated the relation between periprocedural anticoagulation regimen with the risk of developing pocket hemato...

Early Recurrence of Cerebrovascular Events After Transient Ischaemic Attack To the Editor: We read with great interest the recent article by Lisabeth et al1 regarding the stroke risk after a transient ischemic attack (TIA). Their results are similar to those reported in the midand late-1990s2,3 and considerably lower than more recent studies reported in the UK4,5 and Canada.6 We run rapid acces...

Mammalian cells and tissues rely on continuous interactions with the structural, physical, and soluble chemical environment to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. This ensures the continuation of proper physiological functions, accurate developmental cues during embryogenesis, containment of chronic pathological changes, and efficient repair of acute injuries. As part of cell regulation, the ...