Search results for "Smok"
showing 10 items of 769 documents
Factors reducing omalizumab response in severe asthma
2018
Background: Despite adding Omalizumab to conventional therapy, several severe asthmatics still show poor disease control. We investigated the factors that may affect a reduced Omalizumab response in a large population of severe asthmatics. Methods: 340 patients were retrospectively evaluated. FEV1%, FVC%, Asthma Control Test (ACT), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), possible step-downs/step-ups of concomitant therapies, exacerbations, disease control levels, ICS doses and SABA use, observed at the end of treatment, were considered as a response to Omalizumab. Results: Age was an independent risk factor for a reduced response concerning FEV1%, FVC%, ACT and for a lower asthma control. O…
Factors associated with risky consumption of alcohol in a sample of university students
2019
During the university period, student wellbeing is exposed to the negative effects of many stressful factors, including the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages. The aim of this study is to estimate the risky alcohol consumption within the student population of the University of Palermo.An anonymous online questionnaire was provided to students enrolled in the mailing list of the Regional Agency for the Right to University Study (ERSU) of the University of Palermo. the first section investigated demographic and social data, while in the second section the A.U.D.I.T. C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption) test was administered.539 subjects agreed to the informed consent an…
Testing direct and indirect effects of sports participation on perceived health in Spanish adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age.
2003
This paper examines the direct and indirect effects of sports participation on perceived health. It is based on a representative sample of middle adolescents aged 15-18 (N=1038, M age=16.31, S.D.=0.92; 510 boys and 528 girls) from the Valencian Community (Spain). This study used two different models; Model A is an adaptation of Thorlindsson, Vilhjalmsson and Valgeirsson's (Social Science and Medicine 31 (1990) 551) model which introduces smoking, alcohol use, feelings of anxiety, feelings of depression and psychophysiological symptoms as mediator variables; Model B is an extension of Model A with perceived physical fitness as an added mediator variable. Both models show a good fit to the da…
Estimating adjusted NNT measures in logistic regression analysis
2007
The number needed to treat (NNT) is a popular measure to describe the absolute effect of a new treatment compared with a standard treatment or placebo in clinical trials with binary outcome. For use of NNT measures in epidemiology to compare exposed and unexposed subjects, the terms 'number needed to be exposed' (NNE) and 'exposure impact number' (EIN) have been proposed. Additionally, in the framework of logistic regression a method was derived to perform point and interval estimation of NNT measures with adjustment for confounding by using the adjusted odds ratio (OR approach). In this paper, a new method is proposed which is based upon the average risk difference over the observed confou…
Inflammatory and immunological profile in COPD secondary to organic dust exposure.
2021
Inflammatory response in patients with COPD secondary to organic dust exposure (OD-COPD) is poorly understood. We therefore aimed to characterize inflammatory and immune profile from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in a group of patients with mild-to-moderate COPD secondary to organic dust exposure (OD-COPD), tobacco smoking (T-COPD), or both. We compared T, B and NK cells distribution and inflammatory (TNF-α, Il-1β, IL-6), type 1 (IFN-γ), type 2 (IL-4, IL-13) and type 3 (IL-17) immunity related cytokines at baseline, and after stimulation with LPS, flagellin and CD3/CD28 beads in all COPD groups. OD-COPD displayed significantly lower NK cells and CD8+ T cells compared with contro…
Effects of Smoking on Pegylated Interferon alpha 2a and First Generation Protease Inhibitor-based Antiviral Therapy in Naïve Patients Infected with H…
2016

 
 
 
 
 
 Background & Aims: Smoking has multiple effects on factors influencing hepatitis C and antiviral therapy, including lipid metabolism, fibrosis, platelet count and adherence aspects. The aim of this analysis was to determine the impact of smoking on hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy.
 Methods: Data of two cohorts of an observational multicenter study including therapy-naïve patients infected with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) treated with dual antiviral therapy (n=7,796) with pegylated interferon alpha 2a in combination with ribavirin, or triple antiviral therapy (n=1,122) containing telaprevir or boceprevir, were analysed.
 Resu…
T helper type 17-related cytokine expression is increased in the bronchial mucosa of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.
2009
Summary There are increased numbers of activated T lymphocytes in the bronchial mucosa of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. T helper type 17 (Th17) cells release interleukin (IL)-17 as their effector cytokine under the control of IL-22 and IL-23. Furthermore, Th17 numbers are increased in some chronic inflammatory conditions. To investigate the expression of interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22 and IL-23 and of retinoic orphan receptor RORC2, a marker of Th17 cells, in bronchial biopsies from patients with stable COPD of different severity compared with age-matched control subjects. The expression of IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23 and RORC2 was measure…
Hypertension and Impotence
1991
In a group of 472 impotent patients who were evaluated with pharmacologic duplex sonography, 117 patient (24.8%) had a history of hypertension, 26 of them (22.2%) for more than 10 years. Objective data about the changes in pulsation, diameter and blood flow velocity of the penile arteries after papaverine injection and the resulting erectile response allowed indirect assessment of the penile venous function. Varying degrees of impaired arterial function were diagnosed in 85% of the patients. The duration of hypertension had less deteriorating effects on the penile arterial system than second risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (n = 31) or smoking (n = 26). Patients on antihypertensive me…
Bacterial load and inflammatory response in sputum of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency patients with COPD
2019
Bruno Balbi,1 Claudia Sangiorgi,1 Isabella Gnemmi,1 Ilaria Ferrarotti,2 Davide Vallese,1 Elena Paracchini,1 Lorena Delle Donne,1 Luciano Corda,3 Paolo Baderna,4 Angelo Corsico,2 Mauro Carone,1 Paola Brun,5 Francesco Cappello,6,7 Fabio LM Ricciardolo,8 Paolo Ruggeri,9 Sharon Mumby,10 Ian M Adcock,10 Gaetano Caramori,9 Antonino Di Stefano11Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS, Division of Pneumology and Laboratory of Cytoimmunopathology of the Heart and Lung, Veruno, Italy; 2Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Therapy, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; 3Medicina Respiratoria, Seconda Medicina Interna, Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy; 4Division of Pneumology, Aosta Hospital, Aos…
Relative Telomere Length and Cardiovascular Risk Factors
2019
(1) Background: Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences located at the extremities of chromosomes that maintain genetic stability. Telomere biology is relevant to several human disorders and diseases, specifically cardiovascular disease. To better understand the link between cardiovascular disease and telomere length, we studied the effect of relative telomere length (RTL) on cardiovascular risk factors in a large population-based sample. (2) Methods: RTL was measured by a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in subjects of the population-based Gutenberg Health Study (n = 4944). We then performed an association study of RTL with known cardiovascular risk factors of smoking status…