Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among undergraduate students aged 18 years old and above. Anthropometric measurements, such as weight, height, body composition, and blood pressure measurements, were collected. Hypertension was defined as equal or more than 140/90 mmHg. Statistical analyses were done using IBM SPSS version 20.
Results: A total of 354 respondents participated in the study. Mean age for the respondents was 21 years (SD 1.18 years). About 40% of the respondents were overweight or obese. Prevalence of hypertension was 8.2%. Mean systolic blood pressure was 119.1mmHg (SD14.36mmHg), and the mean diastolic blood pressure was 72.6mmHg (SD 9.73mmHg). There is a significant association between male gender (odds ratio =3.519, 95% CI is 1.886-6.566), body fat percentage (odds ratio = 1.944, 95% CI is 1.050-3.601), visceral fat (odds ratio = 2.830, 95% CI is 1.346-5.951), and family history of hypertension (odds ratio= 2.366, 95% CI is 1.334-4.194) and hypertension.
Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension was less than 10% and is associated with male gender, body composition, and family history of hypertension.
Methods: This intervention study was carried out using selected overweight and obese adults in Sarawak. A total of 75 participants were placed in the intervention group, and 80 respondents were placed in the control group participated. Respondent-determined weekly aerobic exercise sessions were conducted for six months. The Malay version of the long-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Transtheoretical model of change (TTM) questionnaire were used, together with anthropometric measurements and the collection of venous fasting blood profiles. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 20.
Results: The intervention group had significant better stage transitions compared to the control group (p<0.01). They also had significantly lower total cholesterol, although both groups showed significant results (difference= 0.53, p<0.01; difference= 0.38, p=0.01). The respondent-determined intervention program was effective in improving stage transition; however, an intervention of longer duration could provide more conclusive health outcomes.
Conclusion: Physical activity plays a role in assisting overweight and obese adults to be more active and healthier.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study undertaken at a public tertiary care centre in the state of Perak, Malaysia. Information of obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery was obtained from their medical records. The changes in the BMI, HbA1C, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and lipid levels between three months before and after the surgery were assessed.
RESULTS: The patients (n=106) were mostly Malay (66.0%), had at least one comorbidity (61.3%), and had a mean age of 40.38±11.75 years. Following surgery, the BMI of the patients was found to reduce by 9.78±5.82kg/m2. For the patients who had diabetes (n=24) and hypertension (n=47), their mean HbA1C, SBP and DBP were also shown to reduce significantly by 2.02±2.13%, 17.19±16.97mmHg, and 11.45±12.63mmHg, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein levels of those who had dyslipidaemia (n=21) were, respectively, lowered by 0.91±1.18mmol/L, 0.69±1.11mmol/L and 0.47±0.52mmol/L.
CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that in addition to weight reduction, bariatric surgery is helpful in improving the diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia control among obese patients. However, a large-scale trial with a control group is required to verify our findings.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single-center, single-dose, open-label, randomized, 2-treatment, 2-sequence and 2- period crossover study with a washout period of 7 days. All 28 adult male subjects were required to fast for at least 10 hours prior to drug administration and they were given access to water ad libitum during this period. Thirty minutes prior to dosing, all subjects were served with a standardized high-fat and high-calorie breakfast with a total calorie of 1000 kcal which was in accordance to the EMA Guideline on the Investigation of Bioequivalence. Subsequently, subjects were administered either the test or reference preparation with 240mL of plain water in the first trial period. During the second trial period, they received the alternate preparation. Plasma levels of glibenclamide and metformin were analysed separately using two different high performance liquid chromatography methods.
RESULTS: The 90% confidence interval (CI) for the ratio of the AUC0-t, AUC0-∞, and Cmax of the test preparation over those of the reference preparation were 0.9693-1.0739, 0.9598- 1.0561 and 0.9220 - 1.0642 respectively. Throughout the study period, no serious drug reaction was observed. However, a total of 26 adverse events (AE)/side effects were reported, including 24 that were definitely related to the study drugs, namely giddiness (n=17), while diarrheoa (n=3), headache (n=2) and excessive hunger (n=2) were less commonly reported by the subjects.
CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the test preparation is bioequivalent to the reference preparation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A two-arm prospective cohort study was conducted among adult patients with COVID-19 categories 2 and 3 treated with Paxlovid® and a matched control group. A standard risk-stratified scoring system was used to establish Paxlovid® eligibility. All patients who were prescribed Paxlovid® and took at least one dose of Paxlovid® were included in the study. The control patients were selected from a centralised COVID-19 patient registry and matched based on age, gender and COVID-19 stage severity.
RESULTS: A total of 552 subjects were included in the study and evenly allocated to the treatment and control groups. There was no statistically significant difference in 28-day hospitalisation after diagnosis [Paxlovid®: 26 (9.4%), Control: 34 (12.3%), OR: 0.74; 95%CI, 0.43-1.27; p=0.274] or all-cause death [Paxlovid®: 2 (0.7%), Control: 3 (1.1%), OR 1.51; 95%CI, 0.25-9.09; p=0.999]. There was no significant reduction in hospitalisation duration, intensive care unit admission events or supplementary oxygen requirement in the treatment arm. Ethnicity, COVID-19 severity at diagnosis, comorbidities and vaccination status were predictors of hospitalisation events.
CONCLUSION: In this two-arm study, Paxlovid® did not significantly lower the incidence of hospitalisation, all-cause death and the need for supplemental oxygen. Adverse effects were frequent but not severe. Paxlovid® efficacy varied across settings and populations, warranting further real-world investigations.