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Purpose: The provision of informal care plays a crucial role in supporting those with long term illness such as MS to stay in the community, but there is no recent United Kingdom (UK) research into the nature of this care provision and how it interacts with professional community care. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of informal and professional care in a community population of people with MS living in the UK from the perspectives of people with MS.Method: Data on the Standard Day Dependency Record (SDDR), Barthel Index, a measure of disability, and SF-36 were collected from a community sample of volunteers with MS from a postal questionnaire and visits from researchers.Results: The response rate was 61%, (n=169). Respondents in this study were most likely to be assisted by family rather than health or social service professionals and the help was considered essential for approximately 70% of individuals. Only 15% of respondents in this survey received visits from a professional in the preceding 24 h. There was a subgroup who considered help to be significantly more essential and who required assistance on more occasions by the SDDR (t=13.01, df=622, p<0.001, t=10.38, df=36.4, p<0.001). Other subgroups were also identified who may be in need of support from professionals but who were not receiving it.Conclusions: There are reports of considerable amounts of care being provided by families to people with MS who may not be receiving the support required from professional caregivers. Further work needs to establish which groups need assistance and what form this assistance should take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the study was to obtain the views and priorities of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to inform the design of a professionally guided self-care programme. Design: A three-round postal Delphi survey was used as a research tool. Setting: The study was conducted at the Centre for Research in Rehabilitation at Brunel University in London. Subjects: The respondent panel consisted of 200 volunteers with MS of whom 136 responded to the survey (68%). Respondents were recruited through voluntary organizations throughout the UK. The only selection criterion was that the diagnosis of MS was confirmed by the general practitioner. Main outcome measures: The results from each of the three rounds of the Delphi survey were the outcome measures. Results: One hundred and one people used ten or more self-care strategies (74%). Round 1 data revealed the diversity of practices reported, crossing many domains of life such as daily chores, leisure, relationships and physical and mental health. The top five priorities identified in rounds 2 and 3 concerned coping strategies, social support, independence in daily living, rest and mobility. Complete consensus about priorities was not achieved. However, agreement about priorities approached stability across rounds 2 and 3 and a highly significant Kendall’s coefficient of concordance indicated there was good agreement within round 3 group rankings (W = 0.46, chi-squared = 499.37, df = 9, p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor about the absence of glycopeptide-reisistant enterococci by at risk hospitalized patients.

Introduction: Certain trace elements are essential for life and affect immune system function, and their intake varies by region and population. Alterations in serum Se, Zn and Cu have been associated with COVID-19 mortality risk. We tested the hypothesis that a disease-specific decline occurs and correlates with mortality risk in different countries in Europe., Methods: Serum samples from 551 COVID-19 patients (including 87 non-survivors) who had participated in observational studies in Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) were analyzed for trace elements by total reflection X-ray fluorescence. A subset (n=2069) of the European EPIC study served as reference. Analyses were performed blinded to clinical data in one analytical laboratory., Results: Median levels of Se and Zn were lower than in EPIC, except for Zn in Italy. Non-survivors consistently had lower Se and Zn concentrations than survivors and displayed an elevated Cu/Zn ratio. Restricted cubic spline regression models revealed an inverse nonlinear association between Se or Zn and death, and a positive association between Cu/Zn ratio and death. With respect to patient age and sex, Se showed the highest predictive value for death (AUC=0.816), compared with Zn (0.782) or Cu (0.769)., Discussion: The data support the potential relevance of a decrease in serum Se and Zn for survival in COVID-19 across Europe. The observational study design cannot account for residual confounding and reverse causation, but supports the need for intervention trials in COVID-19 patients with severe Se and Zn deficiency to test the potential benefit of correcting their deficits for survival and convalescence., Competing Interests: LS holds shares of selenOmed GmbH, a company involved in selenium status assessment. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Demircan, Chillon, Bracken, Bulgarelli, Campi, Du Laing, Fafi-Kremer, Fugazzola, Garcia, Heller, Hughes, Ide, Klingenberg, Komarnicki, Krasinski, Lescure, Mallon, Moghaddam, Persani, Petrovic, Ruchala, Solis, Vandekerckhove and Schomburg.)

Selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) are essential trace elements needed for appropriate immune system responses, cell signalling and anti-viral defence. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at two hospitals in Ghent, Belgium, to investigate whether Se and/or Zn deficiency upon hospital admission correlates to disease severity and mortality risk in COVID-19 patients with or without co-morbidities. Trace element concentrations along with additional biomarkers were determined in serum or plasma and associated to disease severity and outcome. An insufficient Se and/or Zn status upon hospital admission was associated with a higher mortality rate and a more severe disease course in the entire study group, especially in the senior population. In comparison to healthy European adults, the patients displayed strongly depressed total Se (mean ± SD: 59.2 ± 20.6 vs. 84.4 ± 23.4 µg L -1 ) and SELENOP (mean ± SD: 2.2 ± 1.9 vs. 4.3 ± 1.0 mg L -1 ) concentrations at hospital admission. Particularly strong associations were observed for death risk of cancer, diabetes and chronic cardiac disease patients with low Se status, and of diabetes and obese patients with Zn deficiency. A composite biomarker based on serum or plasma Se, SELENOP and Zn at hospital admission proved to be a reliable tool to predict severe COVID-19 course and death, or mild disease course. We conclude that trace element assessment at hospital admission may contribute to a better stratification of patients with COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases, support clinical care, therapeutic interventions and adjuvant supplementation needs, and may prove of particular relevance for patients with relevant comorbidities.

Introduction: Single-anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S) surgery is a modification of the traditional duodenal switch (DS) surgery. SADI-S is relatively a new bariatric surgical procedure and has gone by many names depending on the length of the common channel. In this study, we report our initial experience with this novel technique in the Australian population., Methods: The medical records of 91 patients who underwent laparoscopic primary SADI-S surgery by one surgeon at a single Australian center from January 2017 through May 2019 were retrospectively studied., Results: Ninety-one patients were identified for analysis. The mean age and preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 46.2 ± 9 years and 43.2 ± 5.7 kg/m 2 , respectively. The mean operative time and length of stay were 121.8+/- 25 minutes and 1.4 ± 0.8 days, respectively. At 12 and 24 months, the patients lost an average BMI of 15.2 ± 5.2 kg/m 2 and 17.2 ± 5.9 kg/m 2 , respectively. The short-term and long-term complication rates were 4.3% and 0%, respectively. The mortality rate was 0%. Postoperatively, the obstructive sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease resolution rates were 94, 94, 75, 68, and 13%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between most of the preoperative and postoperative nutritional data., Conclusions: SADI-S appears to be a safe bariatric surgical procedure with favorable outcomes at 2 years in the Australian population.

A 66-year-old Caucasian female presented with insidious sciatic pain leading to an uncommon diagnosis of tuberculous osteomyelitis with unknown portal entry. The patient did not report a history of a previous tuberculosis (TB) infection and her chest X-ray was negative for TB. Considering TB in the differential diagnosis of a 'bone abscess', it is of paramount importance to come to a correct diagnosis. Conventional radiographs still remain the first-line imaging modality for evaluation of skeletal symptomatology. However, biopsies or aspirates are often needed to yield the definitive diagnosis. The lack of awareness of the potential extrapulmonary involvement of TB leads to an important delay in diagnosis and treatment. Antituberculous drugs should be started at the time of biopsy and continued during 12-18 months, due to poor drug penetration into osseous and fibrous tissues.

Aims/hypothesis: We sought to assess the frequency, determinants and prognosis for future diabetes in individuals with islet autoimmunity and whether these factors differ depending on the age of onset of islet autoimmunity., Methods: A prospective cohort (n = 2547) of children from the general population who had a high-risk HLA genotype and children who had a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes were followed for up to 21 years. Those with the persistent presence of one or more islet autoantibodies were categorised as early-onset (<8 years of age, n = 143, median 3.3 years) or late-onset (≥8 years of age, n = 64, median 11.1 years), and were followed for a median of 7.4 and 4.7 years, respectively. Progression to diabetes was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis with logrank test. Factors associated with progression to diabetes were analysed using the parametric accelerated failure time model., Results: Children with late-onset islet autoimmunity were more likely to be Hispanic or African-American than non-Hispanic white (p = 0.004), and less likely to be siblings of individuals with type 1 diabetes (p = 0.04). The frequencies of the HLA-DR3/4 genotype and non-HLA gene variants associated with type 1 diabetes did not differ between the two groups. However, age and HLA-DR3/4 were important predictors of rate of progression to both the presence of additional autoantibodies and type 1 diabetes. Late-onset islet autoimmunity was more likely to present with a single islet autoantibody (p = 0.01) and revert to an antibody-negative state (p = 0.01). Progression to diabetes was significantly slower in children with late-onset islet autoimmunity (p < 0.001)., Conclusions/interpretation: A late onset of islet autoimmunity is more common in African-American and Hispanic individuals. About half of those with late-onset islet autoimmunity progress to show multiple islet autoantibodies and develop diabetes in adolescence or early adulthood. Further investigation of environmental determinants of late-onset autoimmunity may lead to an understanding of and ability to prevent adolescent and adult-onset type 1 diabetes.

The aim of this study was to compare serum lipid profiles and ovarian gene expression between aged and younger female mice fed a control or a high-fat diet for 2 months. For this 16 female mice (C57BL/6) of 4 months (Young, n = 8) or 13 months (Old, n = 8) of age were used. The females were divided into four groups: (i) young females fed a normal diet; (ii) young females fed a high-fat diet; (iii) old females fed a normal diet; and (iv) old females fed a high-fat diet. Food intake was reduced (P < 0.05) in mice fed with a high-fat (2.9 ± 0.1 g) diet in comparison with control mice (3.9 ± 0.1 g). Body weight was higher for old females on the high-fat diet (35.1 ± 0.3 g) than for young females on the same diet (23.3 ± 0.4 g; P < 0.05). PON1 activity was lower in the high-fat than control diet group (114.3 ± 5.8 vs. 78.1 ± 6.0 kU/L, respectively) and was higher in older than younger females (85.9 ± 6.4 vs. 106.5 ± 5.3; P < 0.05, respectively). Females fed a high-fat diet had lower expression of Igf1 mRNA (P = 0.04). There was an interaction between age and diet for the expression of Gdf9 and Survivin, with lower expression in older females in both diets and young females that received the high-fat diet (P < 0.05). Concluding, the high-fat diet reduced the expression of ovarian Igf1 mRNA, and Gdf9 and Survivin mRNA in younger females, which can indicate lower fertility rates. High-density lipoprotein concentration and PON1 activity were higher in aged female mice.