Multimorbidity patterns and associations with functional limitations among an aging population in prison

ObjectivesCo-occurring chronic diseases are associated with functional limitations, particularly for the aging population ≥50 years old. Aging offenders (individual who are imprisoned) tend to have greater prevalence of chronic, mental health, and substance use disorders compared to non-imprisoned populations. Our primary aim was to determine patterns of co-occurring conditions associated with functional limitations among aging offenders.Materials and methodsWe included all male offenders from one correctional system who were ≥50 years old (n = 2270) and extracted diagnoses for chronic diseases, mental health, substance use disorders, and functional limitations from an electronic health record. We performed a principal factor analysis (PFA) to identify patterns and chi-square to determine if the multimorbid population (≥3 diagnoses) differed from peer groups in regard to functional limitations.ResultsThree patterns (chronic diseases, geriatric conditions, and mental health/substance use) emerged from PFA. Functional limitations were associated with the chronic disease pattern (p = .03) where the multimorbid group compared to non-multimorbid peers had 1.5 odds, 95% CI [1.0, 2.1], for having a physical impairment. The geriatric (p = .10) and mental health/substance use disorders (p = .07) patterns were not associated with having a functional limitation compared to the population without multiple diagnoses. Controlling for multimorbidity, functional limitations, and overlapping patterns, increasing age was the only significant factor (p = .02) associated with having a physical impairment.ConclusionThe chronic disease pattern was consistent with investigations that included non-imprisoned populations. However, the geriatric pattern was not significant, which was unexpected.     

Multimorbidity in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China

ObjectivesThe primary objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China.MethodsBy a cluster random sampling method, 2452 persons aged 60 years and older were enrolled as the subjects in an urban community in Nanjing, China. Data on 13 chronic diseases were collected by interviews, physical check-ups and support by physicians. Factor analyses and the logistic regression models were performed to analyze the patterns of multimorbidity.ResultsThe prevalence of multimorbidity was 49.4% in the community-dwelling elderly in urban China. The observed prevalence of 6 chronic disease pairs was higher than their expected prevalence, including hypertension and diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, diabetes and cataract, diabetes and hearing disorder, hypertension and stroke. Three patterns were detected as follows: the first pattern with a prevalence of 9.5% covered degenerative diseases (hearing disorder, cataract, joint disease) and cancer; The second pattern with a prevalence of 1.7% was characterized by liver disease, lung disease, gastrointestinal disease; And the third pattern with a prevalence of 22.4% was characterized by cardiovascular diseases (dyslipidaemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease), metabolic diseases (diabetes) and kidney disease. Compared with <70 years, ≥80 years were found as the risk factor of the prevalence of three patterns.ConclusionA significant proportion of elderly populations was affected by multimorbidity in urban China. Specific patterns of multimorbidity were found at group level and the prevalence was associated with age.     

Comprehensive Strategies for the Prevention and Control of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa: Future Directions

The countries of the Sub Saharan African region have insufficient resources and healthcare systems that are poorly adapted to cope with the longstanding burden associated with communicable diseases and the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic. In addition, the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and their risk factors, poses additional challenges. These countries need to urgently develop strategies to address these challenges of disease prevention and control. These strategies will require a new vision and more relevant and ‘suitable’ vocabulary in dealing with healthcare design, planning and implementation (using a cross-sectorial approach). Lessons learnt from the past (e.g. primary health care) in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world may equally prove useful in developing strategies for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Any potential strategy must emphasize the crucial role of economic, social, and environmental health determinants as well as the use of appropriate health technology.     

Apoptosis in Cardiovascular Aging Research: Future Directions

Apoptosis is the process by which cells are induced to activate their own suicide. Programmed cell death occurs in a wide variety of cell types, including cardiovascular tissues. There is increasing evidence of a relationship between apoptosis and cardiovascular disease, particularly ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure, the most frequent heart diseases in the older population. Research directed to the treatment and possible prevention of apoptosis may provide a means of decreasing the incidence of cardiac failure and increasing the survival of endothelial and smooth muscle cells in the elderly.     

Multimorbidity and health-related quality of life among the community-dwelling elderly: A longitudinal study

ObjectivesMultimorbidity is a growing public health problem. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of multimorbidity on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the elderly.MethodsA 24-month longitudinal study was conducted on the community-dwelling elderly. There were 411 elderly persons with complete follow-up. Information on thirteen chronic conditions was collected at baseline. Via a multi-dimensional scale, HRQoL was measured at baseline, 18 and 24 months post-baseline, respectively. Exploratory factor analyses were performed to identify multimorbidity patterns. The linear mixed effects models were conducted to analyze the associations between all dimensions of HRQoL and multimorbidity including distinct multimorbidity patterns.ResultsMultimorbidity was found to be negatively associated with HRQoL except memory function. We identified three multimorbidity patterns, which were mainly labelled as degenerative disorders, digestive/respiratory disorders, cardiovascular/metabolic disorders, respectively. And three multimorbidity patterns were associated with lower HRQoL including general health, body function, self-care ability and social adaptability. Besides, the elderly with the multimorbidity pattern mainly labelled as digestive/respiratory disorders or cardiovascular/metabolic disorders had a decline on emotion than those without multimorbidity. According to the analysis of the longitudinal data of the sample, general health, self-care ability, emotion and social adaptability of the participants decreased in different degrees every month.ConclusionsMultimorbidity was associated with lower HRQoL of the community-dwelling elderly. Distinct multimorbidity patterns had various impacts on different dimensions of HRQoL. Further studies should be carried out to investigate effective measures to improve HRQoL of the elderly with multimorbidity.     

Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Cardiovascular Diseases: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Purpose of the review

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the principal killers of women. In this review, we summarize data regarding CVD and mortality after hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), and highlight clinical, research and policy needs to mitigate this risk.

Recent findings

Robust data indicate that women with HDP have substantially higher risk of future CVD, with a 3.7-fold increase in the risk of chronic hypertension, a 4.2-fold increase in the risk of heart failure, an 81% increase in the risk of stroke, and double the risk of atrial arrhythmias, coronary heart disease, and mortality when compared to women with normotensive pregnancies. Potential explanations include (1) the effect of pregnancy as a “stress test” in women destined to develop CVD, (2) mediation by conventional risk factors, (3) long-term vascular damage sustained during the preeclamptic episode, and (4) preexisting abnormalities in arterial health predisposing women to HDP, and, subsequently, CVD.

Summary

Women with HDP have significantly increased risk of CVD and mortality. Risk scores including obstetric history are necessary to better estimate a woman’s cardiovascular risk. In addition, comprehensive policies promoting systematic risk assessment and modification after HDP are critically needed to improve health, wellness, and survival of affected women.

     

Diabetes multimorbidity combinations and disability in the Mexican Health and Aging Study, 2012–2015

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between specific combinations of chronic conditions and disability in Mexican older adults with diabetes.MethodsThis was a prospective cohort study of Mexican adults (n = 2558) with diabetes and aged 51 or older that used data from the 2012 and 2015 waves of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. The main outcome was an index that measured ability to perform activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. The main independent variables were diabetes multimorbidity combinations, defined as diabetes and at least one other chronic condition. The authors calculated the prevalence of each multimorbidity combination present in the sample in 2012 and used negative binomial regression models to estimate the association of the most prevalent of these combinations with disability incidence in 2015.ResultsThe three most prevalent combinations were: 1) diabetes-hypertension (n = 637, 31.9%) 2) diabetes-hypertension-depression (n = 388, 19.4%) and 3) diabetes-depression (n = 211, 10.6%). In fully adjusted models comparing participants with specific multimorbidity combinations to participants with diabetes alone, the combinations that had an increased association with disability were diabetes-hypertension-depression, diabetes-depression and diabetes-hypertension-arthritis-depression. In nested models, the addition of arthritis to combinations including depression increased this association.ConclusionsConsistent with prior studies, multimorbidity combinations including depression were associated with increased risk of disability. However, the effect size of this relationship was lower than what had been previously been reported internationally. This highlights the need for globally oriented multimorbidity research.     

Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Diseases in Progeroid Syndromes

Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and Werner syndrome (WS) are two of the representative genetic progeroid syndromes and have been widely studied in the field of aging research. HGPS is a pediatric disease in which premature aging symptoms appear in early childhood, and death occurs at an average age of 14.5 years, mainly due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Conversely, WS patients exhibit accelerated aging phenotypes after puberty and die in their 50s due to CVD and malignant tumors. Both diseases are models of human aging, leading to a better understanding of the aging-associated development of CVD. In this review, we discuss the pathogenesis and treatment of atherosclerotic diseases presented by both progeroid syndromes with the latest findings.     

Multimorbidity in Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease

Multimorbidity occurs in adults of all ages, but the number and complexity of comorbid conditions commonly increase with advancing age such that cardiovascular disease (CVD) in older adults typically occurs in a context of multimorbidity. Current clinical practice and research mainly target single disease-specific care that does not embrace the complexities imposed by concurrent conditions. In this paper, emerging concepts regarding CVD in combination with multimorbidity are reviewed, including recommendations for incorporating multimorbidity into clinical decision making, critical knowledge gaps, and research priorities to optimize care of complex older patients.     

Future Impact of mRNA Therapy on Cardiovascular Diseases

The silver lining of the recent pandemic was that it accelerated the emergence of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) therapeutics. The great promise of mRNA therapeutics was highlighted by the speed at which the vaccines were created, tested, and proven to be relatively safe and highly effective. There are a wide variety of mRNA therapeutics now under development, and dozens of these are in clinical trials. These therapeutics are generating a major paradigm shift in medical therapy, including the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Most of the cardiovascular mRNA therapies are still in preclinical development, although a phase 2a trial of mRNA therapy for myocardial ischemia has been completed with promising results.¹ The application of mRNA therapies to cardiovascular diseases is virtually limitless, and ongoing work includes mRNA therapies for myocardial ischemia, heart failure, arrhythmias, hypercholesterolemia, and arterial occlusive diseases. In addition, mRNA may be used to enhance cell therapies. In the future, mRNA therapies for cardiovascular disease are destined to supplant some of our current biologics and pharmacotherapies and will be used to treat previously untreatable cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, mRNA therapies can be personalized, and they can be rapidly generated in current Good Manufacturing Practice facilities with a modest footprint, facilitating the rise of hospital-based regional centers of RNA therapeutics.     

肾酶与心血管疾病

肾酶是一种主要由肾脏分泌的新型黄素腺嘌呤二核苷酸依赖的胺氧化酶,能降解循环中的儿茶酚胺,调节心功能和血压。慢性肾脏疾病和终末期肾病患者血浆肾酶显著降低,其心血管疾病并发症明显增加;肾酶基因多态性与原发性高血压发病易感性增加相关;外源性肾酶能够显著降低大鼠的心肌梗死面积、心率、外周血管阻力和平均动脉压,调节心肌收缩性,改善左心室功能,提示肾酶与心血管疾病密切相关,可能具有良好的生理、病理和药理学应用前景。     

循环microRNAs在心血管疾病中的研究及应用

MicroRNAs（miRNAs）在心脏的生长、发育及心血管疾病的发生、发展等过程中起着十分重要的作用。近年来,在人血浆/血清中检测到稳定性良好的miRNA称之为循环miRNAs。在正常人和各种疾病患者体内循环miRNAs的表达谱存在明显的差异,因此循环miRNAs很可能成为多种疾病的新型诊断标志物。现对循环miRNAs的发现、产生机制、检测方法以及其在心血管疾病领域研究进展及临床应用前景进行综述。     

凝溶胶蛋白与心血管疾病

凝溶胶蛋白是一种钙依赖性的肌动蛋白结合蛋白,对肌动蛋白进行切割、加帽、成核以调节细胞骨架结构和细胞的运动及代谢过程,还参与对细胞信号转导和细胞凋亡的调控。大量研究表明凝溶胶蛋白与临床多种疾病的病理过程密切相关,本文重点介绍了凝溶胶蛋白做为潜在的疾病分子标志物或治疗靶点与血小板活化、冠心病、心力衰竭及心律失常等心血管疾病相关性的研究进展。