AIM To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of exenatide once weekly (EQW) compared with basal insulin (BI) among injectable-drug-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who are elderly or have renal impairment (RI). MATERIALS AND METHODS Initiators of EQW and BI with T2DM were identified for the period 2012 to 2015 within a US electronic health record database and matched ...

A number of misunderstandings about modeling the apparent accelerated expansion of the Universe and about the ‘weak singularity’ are clarified: (1) Of the five definitions of the deceleration parameter given by Hirata and Seljak (HS), only q1 is a correct invariant measure of acceleration/deceleration of expansion. The q3 and q4 are unrelated to acceleration in an inhomogeneous model. (2) The a...

BACKGROUND There is a popular belief that out-of-home eating outlets, which typically serve energy dense food, may be more commonly found in more deprived areas and that this may contribute to higher rates of obesity and related diseases in such areas. METHODS We obtained a list of all 1301 out-of-home eating outlets in Glasgow, UK, in 2003 and mapped these at unit postcode level. We categori...

AIM Cardiac troponins and natriuretic peptides are established for risk stratification in light-chain amyloidosis. Data on cardiac biomarkers in transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) are lacking. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients (n = 1617) with any of the following cardiac biomarkers, BNP (n = 1079), NT-proBNP (n = 550), troponin T (n = 274), and troponin I (n = 108), available at baseline in the Tran...

BACKGROUND The rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) is representative of the natural history of COPD. Sparse information exists regarding the associations between the magnitude of annualised loss of FEV1 with other endpoints. METHODS Retrospective analysis of UPLIFT® trial (four-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of tiotropium 18 μg daily in chr...

BACKGROUND/AIMS We evaluated whether serum bilirubin levels can predict the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS This was a retrospective observational longitudinal study of patients presenting at the Pusan National University Hospital. A total of 349 patients with T2DM and preserved kidney function (estimated glomerular filtrat...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the severity of left ventricular remodeling predicts the response to treatment and outcomes in chronic heart failure. BACKGROUND Reversal of remodeling should produce the most favorable outcome in patients with the most severe remodeling. METHODS In 5010 heart failure patients on background therapy and randomized to vals...

Low-carbohydrate diets have become increasingly popular for weight loss. Although they may improve some metabolic markers, particularly in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) or the metabolic syndrome (MS), their net effect on arterial wall function remains unclear. The objective was to evaluate the relation between dietary macronutrient composition and the small artery reactive hyperaemia index (sa...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The aim was to evaluate the relationship between the magnitude of the variation in the level of glycemia during hospitalization and in-hospital and long-term mortality and postdischarge endpoints in two groups of patients with acute coronary syndrome: those with and those without a previous diagnosis of diabetes. METHODS The study included 1210 patients admitted fo...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The red-blood-cell distribution width (RDW) is a newly recognized risk marker in patients with cardiovascular disease, but its role in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been well defined. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between RDW values and the level of fibrosis in NAFLD according to BARD and FIB-4 scores. METHODS This study inclu...