São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Falls among the elderly are one of the main public health problems that have direct consequences for their health. They reduce these individuals' autonomy and functional independence. ⋯ Higher occurrence of falls was observed among female elderly individuals who suffered recurrent falls, had had low levels of schooling, presented comorbidities, had comorbidities and made use of drugs. These conditions predisposed these individuals to greater vulnerability to the risk of falls.
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Lower urinary tract symptoms significantly worsen quality of life. The hypothesis that they might lead to serious systolic blood pressure alterations through inducing sympathetic nervous activity has not been studied so far. ⋯ With increasing numbers of urine storage symptoms, systolic blood pressure also increases, while the opposite occurs for voiding symptoms in patients with benign prostate enlargement. We conjecture that storage symptoms may lead to this increase through inducing sympathetic hyperactivity. Further prospective studies with larger groups are needed to confirm these findings.
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Vegetables have some beneficial effects on human health due to their antioxidant compounds, like polyphenols. Cooking leads to many physical and chemical changes to plant structure that can alter the phytochemical compounds of vegetables. ⋯ Heat treatment and freezing exhibit different effects on the antioxidant properties of broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and onion. Convenient cooking and storage patterns should be identified for each vegetable, to obtain the best nutritional benefit from the antioxidant compounds of vegetables.
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Ultrasonography is currently used in investigating many vascular diseases, especially for guiding vascular access. ⋯ Evidence of low to moderate quality showed that ultrasound-guided vascular access seems to reduce the total rate of perioperative and postoperative complications/adverse effects, number of punctures, time needed to achieve success and rate of failure to perform venous catheterization in adults and arterial punctures in children. There is a lack of information regarding ultrasound-guided arterial puncture in adults. Further studies are still imperative for reaching solid conclusions, especially regarding arterial ultrasound-guided access.