‘I believe high blood pressure can kill me:’ using the PEN-3 Cultural Model to understand patients’ perceptions of an intervention to control hypertension in Ghana

Objectives: Currently in Ghana, there is an on-going task-shifting strategy in which nurses are trained in hypertension management. While this study will provide useful information on the viability of this approach, it is not clear how patients in the intervention perceive hypertension, the task-shifting strategy, and its effects on blood pressure management. The objective of this paper is to examine patients’ perceptions of hypertension and hypertension management in the context of an on-going task-shifting intervention to manage blood pressure control in Ghana.

Design: Forty-two patients participating in the Task Shifting Strategy for Hypertension program (23 males, 19 females, and mean age 61. 7 years) completed in-depth, qualitative interviews. Interviews were transcribed, and key words and phrases were extracted and coded using the PEN-3 Cultural Model as a guide through open and axial coding techniques, thus allowing rich exploration of the data.

Results: Emergent themes included patients’ perceptions of hypertension, which encompassed misperceptions of hypertension and blood pressure control. Additional themes included enablers and barriers to hypertension management, and how the intervention nurtured lifestyle change associated with blood pressure control. Primary enabling factors included the supportive nature of TASSH nurses, while notable barriers were financial constraints and difficulty accessing medication. Nurturing factors included the motivational interviewing and patient counseling which instilled confidence in the patients that they could make lasting behavior changes.

Conclusions: This study offers a unique perspective of blood pressure control by examining how patients view an on-going task-shifting initiative for hypertension management. The results of this study shed light on factors that can help and hinder individuals in low-resource settings with long-term blood pressure management.     

Angiopathie amyloïde cérébrale ou atteinte des microvaisseaux cérébraux en rapport avec l’HTA : un challenge clinique

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a entity characterized by degenerative Amyloïd deposits in the walls of the meningeal and cortical vessels. It is considered as the second cause of primitives cerebral hemorrhage in elderly. The differential diagnosis between AAC and hypertension-related cerebral small vessel diseases is difficult and represent a true challenge for the clinician. We report two cases of cerebral small vessel diseases revealed by malignant hypertension.     

ACE2 receptor polymorphism: Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, hypertension,multi-organ failure,and COVID-19 disease outcome

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has emerged in Chinese people in December 2019 and has currently spread worldwide causing the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 150,000 deaths. In order for a SARS-CoV like virus circulating in wild life for a very long time to infect the index case-patient, a number of conditions must be met, foremost among which is the encounter with humans and the presence in homo sapiens of a cellular receptor allowing the virus to bind. Recently it was shown that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, binds to the human angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). This molecule is a peptidase expressed at the surface of lung epithelial cells and other tissues, that regulates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Humans are not equal with respect to the expression levels of the cellular ACE2. Moreover, ACE2 polymorphisms were recently described in human populations. Here we review the most recent evidence that ACE2 expression and/or polymorphism could influence both the susceptibility of people to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the outcome of the COVID-19 disease. Further exploration of the relationship between the virus, the peptidase function of ACE2 and the levels of angiotensin II in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients should help to better understand the pathophysiology of the disease and the multi-organ failures observed in severe COVID-19 cases, particularly heart failure.     

MicroARN: la biología molecular como herramienta de predicción en preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a disease with a significant incidence worldwide that is directly associated with 15% of maternal deaths. This is usually characterized by the presence of hypertension and proteinuria, which manifests itself from the middle of pregnancy. MicroRNAs are single-stranded RNA molecules that act primarily by degrading transcribed messenger RNA or inhibiting microRNA translation. Placental microRNAs play a role in the growth and function of the placenta, their potential use as diagnostic biomarkers is considered feasible due to the ability to enter the maternal circulation and be detectable in maternal plasma.     

同型半胱氨酸对高血压患者脑卒中复发风险的影响

目的探讨高血压合并脑卒中患者的血浆同型半胱氨酸（Hcy）水平与其他危险因素对于脑卒中复发的影响。 方法分析徐州市中心医院心内科和徐州医科大学附属医院神经外科自2012年5月至2013年12月收治的1623例高血压脑卒中患者的基线资料，中位随访4.9年，根据随访事件中是否发生脑卒中分为复发组（312例）与未复发组（1311例）。Kaplan-Meier生存分析比较不同危险因素脑卒中复发率的差异，单因素与多因素Cox回归模型分析影响脑卒中复发的独立危险因素，以及危险因素之间的交互作用。 结果复发组年龄、空腹血糖、Lg Hcy的水平，以及糖尿病、房颤的患病率均高于未复发组（P<0.05）。Kaplan-Meier生存分析显示，糖尿病、房颤、年龄≥60岁、空腹血糖≥7.0 mmol/L、Hcy≥15 μmol/L的脑卒中复发率明显升高（Log-rank检验，P<0.05）。多因素Cox回归模型分析显示，高龄、Lg Hcy水平升高，以及房颤、糖尿病是脑卒中复发的独立危险因素。Lg Hcy分别与糖尿病、空腹血糖、年龄存在交互作用。 结论血浆Hcy水平升高既是高血压合并脑卒中患者卒中复发的独立危险因素，又通过与糖尿病、高龄、空腹血糖水平升高的交互作用显著增加脑卒中复发风险。