Vitamins in dialysis: who,when and how much?

Despite the significant technical evolution of the blood purification methods, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients is still several times higher than that observed in the general population. Vitamins are playing a crucial role in multiple key metabolic pathways. Due to multiple factors, dialysis patients present very often hypo- or hypervitaminosis for a broad range of vitamins. Dialysis in the context of renal replacement therapy is associated with a non-physiological potassium-sparing dietetic regime. Additionally, there is a non-selective intradialytic loss of micro- and macronutrients, deranged intracellular kinetics and gastrointestinal malabsorption due to uratemia. Frequent treatment with antibiotics due to infections associated with the acquired uremia-related immunosuppression may derange the vitamin-producing intestinal microflora. Certain agents prescribed in the context of renal failure or other conditions may reduce the absorption of vitamins from the gastrointestinal tract. These factors may deplete a dialysis patient from vitamins, especially the ones with antioxidant activity that may be associated with cardioprotective properties. In other cases, vitamins metabolized and excreted by the kidneys may be accumulated and exert toxic effects. The scope of this paper is to describe the main issues on vitamin therapy in dialysis patients in view of the ever contradictory opinions and practices.     

Therapeutic options for HER-2 positive breast cancer: Perspectives and future directions

During the last 15 years we have witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the drugs developed to target human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab, pertuzumab, ado-trastuzumab emtansine and lapatinib are currently food and drug administration (FDA)-approved for the treatment of breast cancer patients with HER-2 over-expressed. However, given the amount of information gathered from years of uninterrupted clinical research, it is essential to have periodic updates that succinctly recapitulate what we have learnt over these last years and help us to apply that information in our daily practice. This review will pursue that objective. We will summarize the most relevant and updated information related to the state of the art management of HER-2 positive breast cancer in all the clinical scenarios including the adjuvant, neoadjuvant and metastatic settings. But we will also critically appraise that literature in order to highlight some key clinical concepts that should not be overlooked. Lastly, this review will also point out some of the most promising strategies that are currently being tested and may soon become available.     

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Review of the literature

Obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome is characterized by repeated airway collapse during sleep. The li-terature describes multiple causes of the disease. The main cause is a reduction of the expansion forces of the pharyngeal dilator muscles, as in situations of genioglossal muscle dysfunction, and discoordination between the inspiratory activity of the muscle and respiratory effort, which play an important role in progression of the disease. Other described causes are soft tissue disorders, such as macroglossia or tonsillar hypertrophy, and skeletal structural alterations such as micrognathia and retrognathia. The syndrome is also more frequent in obese people, where the accumulation of fat in the neck region produces narrowing of the pharyngeal airway, thereby diminishing the passage of air. This review focuses on the pathogenesis, epidemiology, main features and diagnosis of the disease, and on its main forms of treatment. Key words:Sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.     

La inervación del disco intervertebral

Until very recently, intervertebral disc innervation was a subject of considerable debate.Nowadays, the introduction of inmunohistochemical techniques associated to specific antibodies and studies with retrograde tracers in nerves have allowed greater understanding of disc innervation in physiological and pathological conditions and also endings characteristics and their patterns of distribution in both situations. The existing controversies regarding structural basis of discogenic pain, have raised the interest of knowing the influence of innervation in back pain from discal origin and its characteristics.Today, we know that pathologic neoinnervation accompanying radial fissures is an important factor in the genesis of discogenic pain; within a complex mechanism in which other neurobiomechemical, inflammatory and biomechanical factors are involved.     

Checklist para pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en consulta telemática

Las circunstancias actuales provocadas por la COVID-19 nos obligan a los profesionales de atención primaria a idear nuevas formas de garantizar la atención sanitaria de nuestros pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 (DM2). Existen evidencias que respaldan la eficacia de la telemedicina en el control glucémico de los pacientes con DM2. Ante la rápida adaptación de la práctica clínica al uso de la telemedicina, el Grupo de Trabajo de Diabetes de la Sociedad Española de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria (SemFyC) optó por elaborar un documento de consenso plasmado en un algoritmo de actuación/seguimiento telemático en la atención de los pacientes con DM2.Palabras clave: Telemedicina, Diabetes mellitus tipo 2, COVID-19