Niveles plasmáticos de Vitamina D en adultos mayores de Lima Metropolitana, Perú

Objetivo. Determinar los niveles plasmáticos de vitamina D y su relación con la ocupación, procedencia y los valores de calcio, leucocitos, hemoglobina y plaquetas en adultos mayores de Lima Metropolitana. Método. Estudio observacional descriptivo de corte transversal, participaron 100 adultos mayores de uno u otro sexo de Lima Metropolitana, ellos fueron reclutados durante las estaciones de invierno-primavera del 2022, los niveles de vitamina D se categorizó como suficiente, insuficiente y deficiente, las concentraciones séricas de vitamina D se midieron por radioinmunoensayo. La relación de variables se realizó con el coeficiente de correlación de Spearman y regresión logística. Resultados. La edad media fue 69.6 años, el 71%, fueron del sexo femenino, la concentración media de vitamina D fue 36.56 ng/ml, el 13% tuvieron niveles de deficiente, y el 32% de insuficiente y el 53% suficientes. Según sexo, el 77,7% de los que tuvieron niveles de deficiente/insuficiente fueron mujeres. En el análisis bivariado no hubo correlación entre los valores de vitamina D con calcio, hemoglobina leucocitos y plaquetas, los que procedieron de distritos de menor temperatura tuvieron 2,25 veces más riesgo de tener niveles insuficientes/deficiente de vitamina D. Conclusiones. El 45% de los adultos mayores tuvieron niveles deficientes/insuficiente de vitamina D, siendo más frecuente en las mujeres y de los procedentes de distritos de menor promedio de temperatura.

Objective. To determine the plasmatic levels of vitamin D and its relationship with the occupation, origin and the values of calcium, leukocytes, hemoglobin and platelets in older adults of Metropolitan Lima. Methods Observational descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 older adults of either sex from Metropolitan Lima participated, they were recruited during the winter-spring seasons of 2022, vitamin D levels were categorised as sufficient, insufficient, and deficient, serum vitamin D concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. The relationship of variables was established with the Spearman correlation coefficient and logistic regression. Results. The mean age was 69.6 years, 71% were women, the mean vitamin D concentration was 36.56 ng/ml, 13% had deficient levels, 32% were insufficient and 53% sufficient. By sex, 77.7% of those with deficient/insufficient levels were women. In the bivariate analysis, there was no correlation between vitamin D values with calcium, hemoglobin, leukocytes and platelets; those who came from districts with lower temperatures had a 2.25 times greater risk of having insufficient/deficient levels of vitamin D. Conclusions. 45% of older adults had deficient/insufficient levels of vitamin D, more frequent in women and those coming from districts with lower average temperatures.

Statins reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19: an updated meta-analysis of 147 824 patients.

OBJECTIVES: There is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of statin use in regard to clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to examine the effect of statin use on mortality in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: The electronic databases were searched, from inception to March 3, 2021. Unadjusted and adjusted effect estimates with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were pooled using random-effects models. RESULTS: Twenty-five cohort studies involving 147 824 patients were included. The mean age of the patients ranged from 44.9 to 70.9 years; 57% of patients were male and 43% were female. The use of statins was not associated with mortality when applying the unadjusted risk ratio (uRR 1.16, 95% CI 0.86-1.57; 19 studies). In contrast, meta-analyses of the adjusted odds ratio (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52-0.86; 11 studies) and adjusted hazard ratio (aHR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58-0.91; 10 studies) showed that statins were independently associated with a significant reduction in mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that only chronic use of statins significantly reduced mortality according to the adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: The use of statins was found to be associated with a lower risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients based on adjusted effects of cohort studies. However, randomized controlled trials are still needed to confirm these findings.

Exclusive breastfeeding as a protective factor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. / Lactancia materna exclusiva como factor protector de la leucemia linfoblástica aguda.

INTRODUCTION: Globally, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), represents more than 30% of all types of cancers in children aged between 0 and 9 years. In Peru, it has not been evaluated whether exclusive breastfee ding (EB) is a protective factor for ALL. OBJECTIVE: To identify the protective and risk factors associa ted with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children aged between 0 and 13 years in a national hospital in Lima, Peru. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Observational, analytical study, case-control design. 112 cases diagnosed with ALL and 229 controls were evaluated. The data were collected by interviews with the mothers of both groups. The magnitude of the association between ALL and EB was estimated using the odds ratio (OR) and multivariate logistic regression in Stata v 12. RESULTS: 50.9% (57/112) of the cases and 51.5% (118/229) of the controls were male. The mean age of the cases was 6.7 ± 3.2 years and of the controls 5.7 ± 3.5 years. The mean age of the mothers of the cases was 35.9 ± 6.5 and of the controls was 34.1 ± 7.1 years. EB reduces the risk of ALL by 44% compared with those who did not receive it, OR 0.56, p = 0.017, 95% CI (0.35-0.90). Complete secondary education reduces the risk of ALL by 62%, OR 0.38 CI 95% (0.15-0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive breastfeeding and the mother's complete secondary education are protective factors for the development of ALL in children and adolescents.