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Abstract: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition defines gender identity disorder (GID) as a strong and persistent identification with the opposite sex and the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one's experienced or expressed gender and one's assigned gender. The onset of GID commonly begins early in childhood. Gender dysphoria has a higher prevalence of other comorbid psychiatric illnesses, such as mood, anxiety, and adjustment disorders, with increased suicide incidence and self-harming behaviors than the general population. Studies show that some temperamental, environmental, genetic, and psychological factors play a role in developing GID. Approximately 16% of transgender people and 21% of transgender women get incarcerated compared with the general US population. During incarceration, they face many issues, such as victimization, severe verbal harassment, purposeful humiliation, unwanted sexual advances, physical assault, forcible sex, and unwanted strip searches. There is a need for a better understanding of the issues and needs of this population to promote positive outcomes., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the utility of secondary stratification measures to improve the ascertainment of index cases of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)., Design: A retrospective study of genotyped index patients with Simon Broome (SB) FH., Setting: University teaching hospital., Patients: 204 patients aged 55±14 years; 36% had tendon xanthoma (TX), 21% had coronary heart disease (CHD), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was 6.20±2.24 mmol/l and 55% had genetic FH., Interventions: The effects of different staging systems (SB vs Dutch criteria), presence of TX, use of LDL-C level, personal history of CHD and imaging evidence of atheroma by carotid intima-media thickness or coronary artery calcium score to identify genetic FH was explored., Outcome Measures: Changes in C-statistic and net reclassification index (NRI)., Results: SB criteria gave a C-statistic of 0.64 comprising C=0.65 in TX(+) and C=0.5 in TX(-) patients. Genetic FH was present in 75% of TX(+) compared with 44% in TX(-) patients. The Dutch criteria gave C=0.72. Addition of imaging criteria to prior CHD raised C=0.64 to C=0.65 in all patients with a NRI of 19% (p=0.06). In TX(-) patients imaging raised C=0.50 to C=0.65 with a NRI of 0.38 (p=0.001) and a weighted comparison index of 0.28, implying the detection of 14 more FH cases per thousand., Conclusions: Patients with tendon xanthoma (definite FH) should be genotyped. In patients with possible FH, the presence of a personal history of CHD or imaging evidence of increased atheroma offers the best method of identifying index patients likely to have monogenic FH.

Objective: To investigate the long-term efficacy of fibrate-statin combination therapy on cardiovascular events as opposed to lipid levels., Research Design and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of patients attending metabolic clinics. Cardiovascular risk factor, baseline and final lipid data and details of concomitant drug therapies were gathered on all subjects., Outcome Measure: The occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) was recorded and major prognostic factors associated with outcome determined., Results: A total of 318 patients with mixed dyslipidaemia were identified on fibrate-statin therapy. Follow-up comprised an average of 7.5 years totalling 2400 patient-years. Patients were 78% male aged 62 years and 68% had evidence of previous cardiovascular disease (CVD). Smoking was present in 17%, hypertension in 41% and 32% had established diabetes. Baseline lipid parameters were total cholesterol (TC) 6.84 mmol/L, triglycerides (TG) 6.09 mmol/L and HDL-C 1.09 mmol/L. Fibrate-statin combination reduced TC by 27% to 4.64 mmol/L, TG by a median 42% to 2.33 mmol/L and increased HDL-C by 21% to 1.22 mmol/L. Non-HDL-C was reduced by 35% and apolipoprotein B by 17%. MACE occurred in 25%. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients with MACE had higher initial TC (7.02 vs. 6.80 mmol/L; p = 0.002), established CVD (65 vs. 57%; p = 0.05) and a lesser atherogenic index response (31 vs. 38%; p = 0.008). Cox regression analysis showed that age (p = 0.002), and previous CVD (p < 0.001) were determinants of outcome allied either to reduction in TG (p = 0.009), TC (p = 0.04) and increase in HDL-C (p = 0.05) or change in TG (p = 0.002) and non-HDL-C (p = 0.01)., Conclusion: Fibrate-statin therapy in a population with mixed dyslipidaemia resulted in an improved lipid profile with few side-effects. Consistent with its effects, decreases in TG allied with modest decrease in cholesterol and an increase in HDL-C, were associated with better prognosis.