Clinical medicine (London, England)
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COVID-19 is still around, and in the most severe cases can rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome. When mechanical ventilation fails to improve oxygenation, we desperately shift our management to venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO). In this opinion article, we discuss which patients are the most suitable to select for this technique, reiterate previous observations in acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the options for the patients judged not fitting for ECMO.
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Obesity is a chronic, progressive and relapsing disease, characterised by the presence of abnormal or excess adiposity that impairs health and social wellbeing. It is associated with obesity-related disease complications, health inequalities and premature death. ⋯ Increased awareness and knowledge will help reduce weight stigma and biases. A focused non-judgemental assessment will help guide further investigations, timely referral and management.
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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the most frequently diagnosed primary conditions of the heart muscle. It is considered to be inherited, caused by genetic mutations encoding for sarcomere proteins. ⋯ Its prevalence is increased in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the two conditions share some similar pathophysiological and clinical characteristics. In this review, we aim to summarise the effects of obesity in the cardiac phenotype, the symptoms and management in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
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Obesity research is advancing swiftly, but the increase in obesity prevalence is faster. Over the past three decades, researchers have found that biopsychosocial factors determine weight gain much more than personal choices and responsibility. Various genes have found to predispose people to obesity by interacting with our obesogenic environment. In this review, we discuss the impact of physical inactivity, excessive caloric intake, intrauterine environment, postnatal influences, insufficient sleep, drugs, medical conditions, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, psychosocial stress, endocrine disrupting chemicals and the gastrointestinal microbiome, on the occurrence of obesity.