Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This review deals with the changes in disease prevalence in the developed and developing world. It highlights the changes brought about by control of infectious diseases and records remaining problems, particularly in tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. The new thinking on risk factors for chronic diseases are described, including evidence on the need for changes in diet, e.g. free radicals, rather than cholesterol screening for the control of coronary heart disease. The current evidence on cancer and diet is described as well as the influence of electromagnetic fields in the aetiology of cancer. The need to develop better methods of assessment of the outcome of health care, rather than purely variations in frequency of treatment, is highlighted. The current concepts on the effects of ozone depletion and greenhouse warming are considered. The need for improved methods of communication of risks is highlighted.
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PMID:Advances in epidemiology and disease prevention. 765 65

In pre-colonial times, health in some Pacific countries was good compared with that of Europe. Illnesses such as scrofula, rheumatism, and filariasis often received herbal treatment. More recently, however, traditional diet throughout the region have been replaced by canned fish, biscuit, white flour products, and sugar-laden food. New illnesses and diseases have emerged in Pacific countries since European intrusion. Though malaria is still the primary cause of death in Vanuatu, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and coronary heart disease are prime health concerns in most Pacific countries. In Kiribati, health educators use materials in discussion groups and schoolteachers use special materials on AIDS in their teaching, Calendars are produced in cooperation with national nutrition and family planning (FP) groups and agencies that highlight health topics such as AIDS and vitamin-A deficiency. Material produced by the Vanuatu health education unit features nutrition, the environment, FP, and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The government's Women's Affairs Department the International Labor Organization and other agencies are involved in FP and family life education. In Fiji and the Solomon Islands, nutrition has been highlighted in health education campaigns. In both countries surveys indicated alarming levels of diet-related disease. Another important nutrition project in the Solomon Islands is the village education program. At a training center, trainers conduct 15 practical courses for mobile workers, community workers, and village resource persons. Under this program, 60 village-level workshops are held each year focusing on nutrition, cooking, and gardening. Nutrition is now a major focus of health in the Pacific. The health, nutrition, education, fisheries, and agricultural sectors work with other agencies for success through community participation and through an integrated approach.
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PMID:Popular participation in community health programmes. 818 58

In a study of the disease pattern of the elderly in Rwanda, all patients aged 60 or more, hospitalized in a one-year period at the Medical Department, University Hospital, Butare, were examined prospectively. One hundred and ninety-two patients were included; most were subsistence farmers having a mainly vegetarian diet and living in large families. Infections (37.5% of the patients) and liver cirrhosis (31.8%) were the problems most frequently encountered. Primary hepatocellular cancer was diagnosed in 5.7% of the patients and was the most frequent malignancy. The hospitalized elderly occupied 17.5% of the available beds in the Medical Department. Their disease pattern was different from that of younger patients, making heavier demands on the medical resources. Malaria and upper intestinal inflammation were less frequent in the elderly; liver cirrhosis, primary hepatocellular cancer, pneumonia, prostatic cancer, cardiovascular pathology, chronic renal pathology and chronic lung disease were more prevalent. Several age-related conditions frequently observed in industrialized countries (e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke, gallstones, renal cysts, dementia) were rare. The study thus illustrates the concept of 'secondary aging': to the primary changes induced by the aging process, additional alterations are added which depend upon the environment and the lifestyle, resulting in a varying disease pattern. Health policies thus must take into account that the demographic transition in developing countries may result in a pattern of diseases different from that seen in industrialized countries; care must be taken when transposing data obtained from elderly populations in industrialized countries.
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PMID:The disease pattern of elderly medical patients in Rwanda, central Africa. 841 4

This study explored the value of informing beta-thalassaemia carriers of the advantages, as well as the disadvantages of carrier status. Twenty-eight carriers of beta-thalassaemia were interviewed immediately after counselling, and again 2 weeks later. Both interviews included administration of a psychological scale (previously used for cystic fibrosis). Immediately after the first interview the intervention group (n = 18) were informed of the protective effect of the beta-thalassaemia trait against malaria and coronary heart disease. The control group (n = 10) was given the same information after the second interview. The effect of giving the positive information was assessed by comparing participants' scores at the first and second interview. Knowledge of carrier status aroused several negative feelings, including shock, sadness, and anger, but little feeling of stigmatization. Two weeks later, negative feelings were unchanged in the control group, but they were reduced in all members of the intervention group. All members of the intervention group considered it important to inform carriers of the positive aspects as well as the risks associated with carrier status. Carriers of recessive disorders with a known heterozygote advantage should be informed of the advantage. This information has now been incorporated into the comprehensive information system for hemoglobin disorders available at http://www.chime.ucl.ac.uk/ApoGI/.
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PMID:Informing carriers of beta-thalassemia: giving the good news. 1534 6

Cholesterol is important for cell membrane structure and functions as well as for production of steroid hormones and bile acids. It is transported through the body as lipoprotein particles of varying density and composition. Cholesterol homeostasis is maintained through finely tuned mechanisms regulating dietary uptake, hepatic biosynthesis and secretion as well as plasma clearance. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) reduces cellular uptake of plasma low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) by promoting LDL receptor (LDLR) degradation. Two nonsense single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the PCSK9 locus have been associated with life-long hypocholesterolemia and a remarkable reduction of the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in African-Americans. These loss-of-function SNPs presumably render PCSK9 less capable of inducing LDLR catabolism, effectively increasing LDLR availability and allowing efficient removal of plasma LDL-C. The combined frequency of heterozygosity for these nonsense SNPs is approximately 3-4% in populations of African descent. Homozygosity for either SNP, which would aggravate hypocholesterolemia, is reportedly rare. Whether such an aggravation would represent a health risk is still a matter of debate. From an evolutionary point of view, the cardioprotective effect of these nonsense SNPs may be a secondary phenotype made evident by the dyslipidemia-inducing lifestyle of today's North America. Their relatively high frequency in African-Americans must be interpreted in the context of the ancestral environment of these subjects in Africa, where diet and lifestyle were presumably less predisposing to atherosclerosis and where parasitic infections were major causes of morbidity and mortality before reproductive age. Parasites feed on host cholesterol for successful infection. The nonsense PCSK9 SNPs may have been positively selected because they reduced susceptibility to severe parasitic infections through cholesterol restriction. If so, these SNPs should be significantly more frequent in Sub-Saharan Africa where parasitic diseases, malaria in particular, have been and still are major selective forces.
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PMID:Of PCSK9, cholesterol homeostasis and parasitic infections: possible survival benefits of loss-of-function PCSK9 genetic polymorphisms. 1750 26

This study investigated the role of hyperhomocysteinaemia as a risk factor in Sudanese adults suffering from cardiovascular disease or malaria and children with protein-energy malnutrition. Mean total plasma homocysteine levels (micromol/L) were significantly higher in patients with coronary heart disease (17.64; SD 11.68) recurrent venous thrombosis (5.06; SD 10.55) and recurrent malaria (13.61; SD 4.82) than in healthy adult controls (7.85; SD 3.39). The mean homocysteine level was also significantly higher in children with protein-energy malnutrition (8.41; SD 1.61) than in healthy control children (5.72; SD 1.99).
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PMID:Plasma homocysteine levels in cardiovascular disease, malaria and protein-energy malnutrition in Sudan. 2021 35

This article describes the methodology of this bibliography. A search was conducted on the following: (1) bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and other databases) using search terms that maximize the retrieval of Malaysian publications; (2) Individual journal search of Malaysian healthrelated journals; (3) A targeted search of Google and Google Scholar; (4) Searching of Malaysian institutional repositories; (5) Searching of Ministry of Health and Clinical Research Centre website. The publication years were limited to 2000- 2013. The citations were imported or manually entered into bibliographic software Refworks. After removing duplicates, and correcting data entry errors, PubMed's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms) were added. Clinical research is coded using the definition "patient-oriented-research or research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin) for which the investigator directly interacts with the human subjects at some point during the study." A bibliography of citations [n=2056] that fit the criteria of clinical research in Malaysia in selected topics within five domains was generated: Cancers [589], Cardiovascular diseases [432], Infections [795], Injuries [142], and Mental Health [582]. This is done by retrieving citations with the appropriate MESH terms, as follow: For cancers (Breast Neoplasms; Colorectal Neoplasms; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms), for cardiovascular diseases (Coronary Disease; Hypertension; Stroke), for infections (Dengue; Enterovirus Infections, HIV Infections; Malaria; Nipah Virus; Tuberculosis), for injuries (Accidents, Occupational; Accidents, Traffic; Child Abuse; Occupational Injuries), for mental health (Depression; Depressive Disorder; Depressive Disorder, Major; Drug Users; Psychotic Disorders; Suicide; Suicide, Attempted; Suicidal Ideation; Substance- Related Disorders).
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PMID:Bibliography of clinical research in malaysia: methods and brief results. 2541 46

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the main cause of mortality in heart patients following stroke, rheumatic heart disease and myocardial infarctions. Approximately 80% of individuals succumb to CVDs, due to poor living conditions in low and middle income families and malnutrition. Infectious diseases, human immunodeficiency, tuberculosis, malaria, high blood pressure or hypertension, obesity and overweight, and nutritional disorders including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, high salt and sugar intake, as well as other factors are responsible for CVDs and CHDs in young as well as elderly individuals. The focus of the present review are recent epidemiological aspects of CVD and CHD as well as the usefulness of a Mediterranean diet for heart patients and the prevention of heart diseases.
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PMID:Epidemiological aspects of heart diseases. 2760 82

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is rising disproportionately in comparison to the rest of the world, affecting urban, semi-urban and rural dwellers alike. NCDs are predicted to surpass infections like human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis and malaria as the leading cause of mortality in SSA over the next decade. Heart failure (HF) is the dominant form of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and a leading cause of NCD in SSA. The main causes of HF in SSA are hypertension, cardiomyopathies, rheumatic heart disease, pericardial disease, and to a lesser extent, coronary heart disease. Of these, the cardiomyopathies deserve greater attention because of the relatively poor understanding of mechanisms of disease, poor outcomes and the disproportionate impact they have on young, economically active individuals. Morphofunctionally, cardiomyopathies are classified as dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive and arrhythmogenic; regardless of classification, at least half of these are inherited forms of CVD. In this review, we summarise all studies that have investigated the incidence of cardiomyopathy across Africa, with a focus on the inherited cardiomyopathies. We also review data on the molecular genetic underpinnings of cardiomyopathy in Africa, where there is a striking lack of studies reporting on the genetics of cardiomyopathy. We highlight the impact that genetic testing, through candidate gene screening, association studies and next generation sequencing technologies such as whole exome sequencing and targeted resequencing has had on the understanding of cardiomyopathy in Africa. Finally, we emphasise the need for future studies to fill large gaps in our knowledge in relation to the genetics of inherited cardiomyopathies in Africa.
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PMID:Genetics of inherited cardiomyopathies in Africa. 3242 Jan 9

Oxidative stress (OS) refers to the physiological imbalance between oxidative and antioxidative processes leading to increased oxidation, which then results in the inflammatory infiltration of neutrophils, increased protease secretion, and the production of a large number of oxidative intermediates. Oxidative stress is considered an important factor in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). At present, active components of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have been widely used for the treatment of CVD, including coronary heart disease and hypertension. Since the discovery of artemisinin for the treatment of malaria by Nobel laureate Youyou Tu, the therapeutic effects of active components of CHM on various diseases have been widely investigated by the medical community. It has been found that various active CHM components can regulate oxidative stress and the circulatory system, including ginsenoside, astragaloside, and resveratrol. This paper reviews advances in the use of active CHM components that modulate oxidative stress, suggesting potential drugs for the treatment of various CVDs.
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PMID:Natural Drugs as a Treatment Strategy for Cardiovascular Disease through the Regulation of Oxidative Stress. 3306 42


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