BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Vitamin D deficiency is common among pregnant women and since the fetus relies exclusively on maternal supply, deficiency could potentially interfere with fetal development. Vitamin D blood concentrations during pregnancy have been associated with offspring cardio-metabolic health in a few previous studies but the evidence is still inconsistent and only one previous study ...

OBJECTIVE We sought to describe findings, diagnostic yield, cost effectiveness of transthoracic echocardiography (TEE) and Carotid doppler ultrasound (CDU) in ischemic stroke. METHODS Cross sectional study at Mulago hospital, Uganda. Institutional ethical approval, patient consent was obtained. Patients eighteen years and above with ischemic stroke confirmed by brain computerized tomography (...

BACKGROUND The predictive potentials of neck circumference (NC) for cardio-metabolic risks remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate whether NC independently contributes to the prediction of cardio-metabolic risks beyond body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to hip ratio (WHpR) in a large Chinese population. METHODS A total of 4201 participants (2508 men a...

Cardiovascular diseases and cancers are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that primarily repress target mRNAs. Here, miR-24, miR-125b, miR-195, and miR-214 were selected as representative cardio-miRs that are upregulated in human heart failure. To bridge the gap between miRNA studies in cardiology and oncology, the targets a...

Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) was shown for unmedicated patients with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives, implying genetic associations. This is known to be an important risk factor for increased cardiac mortality in other diseases. The interaction of cardio-respiratory function and respiratory physiology has never been investigated in the disease although it might be close...

The lipid accumulation product is a novel, safe and inexpensive index of central lipid over accumulation based on waist circumference and fasting concentration of circulating triglycerides. This study was designed to investigate the ability of lipid accumulation product to predict Cardio-metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal women. In this Cross-sectional study, 264 postmenopausal women by u...

OBJECTIVE Recent findings suggest that premature death in patients with severe mental illness (SMI) can be attributed to the high comorbidity of cardio-metabolic disorders. This study investigated the prevalence and monitoring of some risk factors for cardio-metabolic disease in a cohort with SMI, compared to the general medical population. METHOD 101 participants with SMI and 100 controls we...

Neurally-mediated syncope has a broad clinical spectrum which ranges from typical vasovagal syncope on one hand, to those situations in which reflex syncope occurs with uncertain, or even apparently absent, triggers or prodromes, on the other hand. Overlap of clinical features is frequent in clinical practice and makes any classification difficult to apply when selecting patients for cardiac pa...

More than 130 FDA-approved drugs have been identified for now to prolong the QT interval and possibly lead to sudden cardiac death. Due to their toxic effect, some of these drugs have been withdrawn from the pharmaceutical market. In this study, we have formulated few rules to assess the ability to prolong QT interval and thereby discriminate between cardiotoxic and -safe drugs. These rules hav...

Higher protein meals increase satiety and the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) in acute settings, but it is unclear whether these effects remain after a person becomes acclimated to energy restriction or a given protein intake. This study assessed the effects of predominant protein source (omnivorous, beef/pork vs. lacto-ovo vegetarian, soy/legume) and quantity (10%, 20%, or 30% of energy from p...