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Health policies worldwide emphasize managing chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension through medication and lifestyle modifications. However, translating guidelines into practical application remains challenging, leading to suboptimal care and poor health outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings. This study aims to reveal significant differences between rural and urban patients requiring personalized approaches to chronic disease management based on geographical location and demographic data, considering the impact of emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from rural and urban general practitioner (GP) practices in Poland, covering four years from 2018 to the first quarter of 2021, focusing on diabetes and hypertension epidemiology, risk factors, comorbidities, resource consumption, and disease burden. The findings revealed significant differences between rural and urban patients regarding age, number of patient visits, gender distribution, and types of diagnoses and visit modalities. Rural patients tended to be older, had a higher median number of visits, and exhibited different patterns of diagnoses and visit types compared to urban patients. The study also investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on chronic disease treatment, finding that while age at visits increased during the pandemic, there were no significant changes in gender distribution, but a noticeable shift in diagnoses and visit modalities with an increase in remote visits and changes in the prevalence of specific diagnoses. These disparities highlight the need for tailored approaches to chronic disease management based on geographic location and patient demographics. The study underscores the importance of understanding the unique challenges and opportunities in managing chronic diseases across different settings and during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, aiding healthcare providers and policymakers in developing targeted interventions to improve chronic disease prevention and management, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for individuals and communities. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of the pandemic on chronic disease treatment and assess the effectiveness of interventions to mitigate its impact.

Introduction : HIV is a severe and incurable disease that has a devastating impact worldwide. It affects the immune system and negatively affects the nervous system, leading to various cognitive and behavioral problems. Scientists are actively exploring different therapeutic approaches to combat these issues. One promising method is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive technique that stimulates the brain. Methods : This review aims to examine how tDCS can help HIV patients. Searches were conducted in the Pubmed/Medline, Research Gate, and Cochrane databases. Results : The literature search resulted in six articles focusing on the effects of tDCS on cognitive and behavioral measures in people with HIV. In some cases, tDCS showed positive improvements in the measures assessed, improving executive functions, depression, attention, reaction time, psychomotor speed, speed of processing, verbal learning and memory, and cognitive functioning. Furthermore, the stimulation was safe with no severe side effects. However, the included studies were of low quality, had small sample sizes, and did not use any relevant biomarkers that would help to understand the mechanisms of action of tDCS in HIV. Conclusions : tDCS may help patients with HIV; however, due to the limited number of studies and the diversity of protocols used, caution should be exercised when recommending this treatment option in clinical settings. More high-quality research, preferably involving neurophysiological and neuroimaging measurements, is necessary to better understand how tDCS works in individuals with HIV.