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Sharook A Alhawaj,1 Alia Saeed Almuhanna,1 Fatimah Saeed Alabbad,1 Hadeel Hisham Almomattin,1 Ragad S Alsultan,1 Zahra Abdulla Shaiban,1 Chittibabu Vatte,2 Cyril Cyrus2 1College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 2College of medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Sharook A Alhawaj, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal university, Dammam, 34212, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966595292920, Email shroog7676@gmail.comBackground: COVID‐19 vaccines were developed to control the pandemic spread as they have been proven to be efficient and safe. However, the likelihood of such postvaccination effects as poor glycemic control and adverse events has been noted in several studies.Objective: To determine the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on the glycemic control and the development of hyperglycemic emergencies among type 1 and 2 diabetes patients.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 409 participants aged 18 years and above with type 1 or 2 diabetes who had received at least a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine.Results: Among the 409 diabetes patients, a majority reported general mild postvaccination symptoms regardless of diabetes duration or type. After vaccination, severe diabetic emergencies were mostly reported in long-standing diabetes patients. Diabetes-related complications and emergencies were more profound among those who had received the Pfizer vaccine. Nonetheless, occurrence of adverse events could possibly be due to various factors, including the duration of diabetes and COVID-19 infection status.Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccinations have the potential to influence diabetic patients in regard to acute glycemic complications. However, vaccine efficiency and benefits are superior to the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as these adverse events only affect a small number of individuals. A need for postvaccination monitoring of diabetes patients is suggested.Keywords: diabetes, vaccine, COVID-19, hyperglycemic emergencies, diabetes complications more...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may inflict a post-viral condition known as post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) or long-COVID. Studies measuring levels of inflammatory and vascular biomarkers in blood, serum, or plasma of COVID-19 survivors with PCS versus non-PCS controls have produced mixed findings. Our review sought to meta-analyse those studies. A systematic literature search was performed across five databases until 25 June 2022, with an updated search on 1 November 2022. Data analyses were performed with Review Manager and R Studio statistical software. Twenty-four biomarkers from 23 studies were meta-analysed. Higher levels of C-reactive protein (Standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.02-0.39), D-dimer (SMD = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.09-0.46), lactate dehydrogenase (SMD = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.05-0.54), and leukocytes (SMD = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.02-0.66) were found in COVID-19 survivors with PCS than in those without PCS. After sensitivity analyses, lymphocytes (SMD = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.12-0.48) and interleukin-6 (SMD = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.12-0.49) were also significantly higher in PCS than non-PCS cases. No significant differences were noted in the remaining biomarkers investigated (e.g., ferritin, platelets, troponin, and fibrinogen). Subgroup analyses suggested the biomarker changes were mainly driven by PCS cases diagnosed via manifestation of organ abnormalities rather than symptomatic persistence, as well as PCS cases with duration of <6 than ≥6 months. In conclusion, our review pinpointed certain inflammatory and vascular biomarkers associated with PCS, which may shed light on potential new approaches to understanding, diagnosing, and treating PCS., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.) more...

Fasting is associated with improvements in cognitive function, and triggers weight loss in human and animal models. In recent years, the connection between fasting, brain health, and cognitive function has increasingly proven deserving of attention from researchers. The objective of this review work is to highlight evidence supporting a positive association between fasting and enhanced cognition. We looked at the following database sources "The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar" for present review article. All the studies based on the key words "impact of fasting", or "cognitive function" or "brain stimulation". Much of this evidence demonstrates that fasting results in enhanced performance in cognitive tests of memory and visuospatial processing, which rely heavily on hippocampal function. The mechanisms responsible for the cognitive improvements associated with fasting are not fully understood, although current evidence suggests neuroplasticity plays an important role. Maintaining the health and the functionality of neurologically and cognitively impaired individuals can be extremely costly. Higher life expectancy and ageing populations globally is anticipated to increase the prevalence of many non-communicable, chronic, progressive conditions including neurological disorders. more...