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Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) remains a major global health challenge, with significant morbidity and mortality associated with chronic infections. Methods: This study examines the epidemiology, screening, and risk factors associated with HBV in Romania, focusing on a comprehensive national screening program, LIVE(RO)2, involving 320,000 individuals (majority of them considered vulnerable population). A questionnaire was used to collect information on the potential risk factors for HBV transmission. Results: The overall prevalence rate of HBV chronic infection among all the participants tested was 1.67% (confidence interval: 1.63–1.72%), with significant differences (p = 0.0001) between participants from the main geographical regions of residence (North-East 1.89%, South 1.38%, South-East 2.06%, and South-West 1.54%). Male persons aged 30–49 or 60–69 years old, from the rural and Eastern parts of Romania and non-Romanian ethnia, with a low level of education, unvaccinated, not married, unemployed, with family members with hepatitis, with personal histories of blood or blood product transfusion, surgical interventions, tattooing, hospitalizations, imprisonment, haemodialysis, unsafe sexual contacts, or with sexual transmitted infectious diseases were risk factors associated with HBsAg seropositivity. Conclusions: Our findings highlight significant demographic and epidemiological patterns of reduced HBV prevalence even in vulnerable persons, as well as modified risk factors and the impact of socio-economic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a tool designed to measure disability in accordance with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Measuring disability is becoming increasingly important due to its high prevalence, which continues to rise. Rehabilitation interventions can reduce disability and enhance functioning. (2) Objective: The present study aims to assess the impact of rehabilitation interventions on reducing disability, as measured by the WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire. It also seeks to identify which specific rehabilitation interventions are more effective and to explore other disability assessment questionnaires. (3) Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, we conducted a systematic review, with the protocol registered with the identifier CRD42023495309, focused on "WHODAS" and "rehabilitation" using PubMed and Web of Science electronic databases. (4) Results: We identified 18 articles from various regions encompassing patients with various health conditions, related to stroke, the cardiovascular system (cardiovascular disease, chronic heart failure), the pulmonary system (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), the neurologic system (Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, neurodegenerative disease), the musculoskeletal system (orthopaedic surgery), cancer, and chronic pain, and among frail elderly. These patients have received a wide range of rehabilitation interventions: from conventional therapy to virtual reality, robot-assisted arm training, exergaming, and telerehabilitation. (5) Discussion and Conclusions: A wide range of rehabilitation techniques can effectively improve disability with various comorbidities, offering numerous benefits. The WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire proves to be an efficient and reliable tool for measuring disability, and scores have a tendency to decrease after rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative consequences of microgravity for the human body are central aspects of space travel that raise health problems. Altered functions of the same systems and treatment options are common points of spaceflight physiology, age-related diseases, and oral medicine. This work emphasizes the convergence of knowledge between pathophysiological changes brought on by aging, physiological reactions to microgravity exposure, and non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment methods that can be used in spaceflight. Sarcopenia, peripheral nerves alterations, neuromotor plaque in the masticatory muscles, lingual, labial, and buccal weakness, nociplastic pain in oral mucosal diseases, and microgravity, as well as soft tissue changes and pathologies related to chewing and swallowing, corticomotor neuroplasticity of tongue, and swallowing biomechanics, are of particular interest to us. Neurologic disease and other pathologies such as recovery from post-stroke dysphagia, nociplastic pain in glossodynia, sleep bruxism, and obstructive sleep apnea have been studied and, in some cases, successfully treated with non-invasive direct and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) methods in recent decades. An interdisciplinary team from medical specialties, engineering, and biophysics propose an exploratory study based on the parallelism of ageing and space physiology, along with experiment scenarios considering TMS and non-invasive direct methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After almost 50 years of data analysis, screening for colorectal cancer has proven to be an effective tool in reducing colorectal cancer mortality. However, implementing the optimal strategy represents a challenge for many healthcare facilities around the world. There is much discussion regarding how screening should be done, the optimal tools that should be used, and the proper timing for screening procedures. Another essential step is to maintain the adherence of patients to screening programs. Also, the recommendation for lowering the age to initiate screening is in progress, as there is an increase in colorectal incidence in people born after 1970. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of the paper is to present the outcomes of the HepHIV 2019 conference, held in Bucharest under the Romanian EU Presidency and focusing on challenges of timely and integrated testing and care. Methods: The conference programme was put together by the organizing committee. It consisted of invited talks and peer‐reviewed abstracts. Results: In all, 65 abstracts from 20 countries were presented during the conference, which had nearly 250 delegates, including high‐profile political representation. The conference highlighted the need to shift towards further disease integration because of the epidemiological characteristics of the hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STIs) and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in the WHO European region. Integration should be a priority in the response to the epidemics to better reach key populations and to ensure better testing coverage. This relates to both the integration of services in shared care models and the integration of different settings and stakeholders in national strategies. Conclusions: The conference demonstrated the need for greater political support for the policy changes required to implement integration. Testing normalization efforts are key to maximizing the impact of integration efforts. The conference call to action can help to guide developments in testing and linkage‐to‐care interventions across the European region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Farmacia is the property of Societatea de Stiinte Farmaceutice Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Farmacia is the property of Societatea de Stiinte Farmaceutice Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of our paper is to highlight the main therapeutic principles and the management options in the case of a diabetic patient who has had a sudden hearing loss. Mainly, the aim is to underline the sudden hearing loss treatment adjustment of the diabetic patient compared to the non-diabetic patient. By understanding the mechanism of sudden hearing loss in a diabetic patient, namely the impact of glycemic variations and their implication on the microvascular structures of the inner ear, we try to underline the treatment principles and management options of the previously mentioned combined pathologies. Thus, it is necessary to adapt the classes of drugs used in the case of sudden sensorineural hearing loss of the diabetic patient in comparison with the non-diabetic patient, in order not to aggravate or complicate the patient's functional status. Therefore, the treatment will need to be adapted both by classes of medication and by the type of administration used. Adequate control of the progression, treatment and complications of diabetes mellitus ensures optimal treatment management in case of a sudden hearing loss and therefore interferes with the favorable functional hearing outcomes. The role of this paper is not only to state the therapeutic principles in the case of sudden hearing loss in a diabetic patient, but also to analyze the impact on the management of potential local and systemic risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary gastric lymphoma (PGL) represents a rare pathology, which can be easily misdiagnosed because of unspecific symptoms of the digestive tract. Histologically, PGL can vary from indolent marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) to aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). During the years, clinical trials revealed the important role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the pathogenesis of gastric MALT lymphoma. Infection with Helicobacter pylori is an influential promoter of gastric lymphomagenesis initiation. Long-term studies revealed that eradication therapy could regress gastric lymphomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]