Antonio Vittorino Gaddi

Italian Society of Digital Health and Telemedicine

After almost a year in the COVID-19 era, nothing has been done to assess facial masks currently available for professionals and for the general public, to improve the efficacy of the masks or to promote their correct use.

COVID-19 struck the world in early 2020 changing the same perception of reality as we have known it in the last decades. The onset of a novel completely unknown infection presented some challenges no one was ready to deal with. In this very complex scenario, the first step is to understand the enemy in an attempt of finding its soft spots. Then, we...

BACKGROUND: Pasta plays an important role in human nutrition, nevertheless its organoleptic, structural and bromatologic properties have not been completely studied. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to compare the ultrastructure pasta cross-sections produced with reduced mechanic stress and low heat exposure technique (Pietro Massi Technology ™) to common...

“Online guidelines for face mask use to prevent COVID-19 in the general public are currently inconsistent across nations and regions, and have been changing often. Efforts to create greater standardization and clarity should be explored in light of the status of COVID-19 as a global pandemic” (Laestadius Linnea et al, JMRI May 25, 2020) Non si può...

Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, including the precursor α-linolenic acid (ALA) is often sub-optimal and not in line with international guidelines. Supplementation is debatable, but some individuals, e.g., pre-diabetic, low-grade inflammation, cardiometabolic yet otherwise healthy subjects, might benefit from supra-physiological omega-3 intake,...

Our work concerns the actual problem of spread of SARS- CoV-2 outbreak which requires fast and correct as possible answer. In current scenario, the need of rapid answer put away the imperative of proper methodology. We focus on the serogical immunoassay for diagnosis of Covid-19 as an important weapon not only for diagnostic purpose, but also for e...

Russo La pandemia causata dal SARS-CoV-2 ha trovato impreparati i sistemi sanitari di tutto il mondo; la velocità di diffusione del virus, la sua fatalità, la sua resistenza, hanno prodotto, in soli due mesi, un radicale sconvolgimento delle abitudini e degli stili di vita di quasi tutte le popolazioni del mondo. Ai problemi correlati direttamente...

COVID-19 is a viral disease secondary to the infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that can lead to a severe respiratory distress. The diagnosis of COVID-19 represents a major challenge. Currently the nasopharyngeal or throat swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is considered the only validated method for the con...

Functional food is considered to be effective in promoting health and wellbeing. Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus strongly depend on diet to achieve better glycaemic control and to reduce the burden of the disease. However, adherence to a controlled diet and to proper monitoring of the disease may be challenging for the patients and their fam...

As the tide of Covid-19 flood the world, health authorities are implementing a number of measures that have deeply changed the way people live. However, there is no shared consensus on how to communicate to the public what is happening, and why these extreme interventions are needed. Instead, people received in the latest weeks contrasting messages...

As Covid-19 spreads around the world, the level of uncertainty related to this infection remains high. Governments and health systems are following different and uncoordinated strategies to contain the epidemic. The use of personal protective devices aimed to protect people from air pollution may help to contain the spreading of the disease. Unfort...

Tra confusione mediatica volontaria (fake news dolose e colpose), involontaria (spesso legata alla superficialità), insufficienze nel settore della comunicazione del rischio, eccessiva prudenza politica di alcuni esperti, incapacità decisionali ai vertici della catena di comando e dubbi reali della scienza (=assenza di conoscenze e di misure; assen...

In year 2000 the Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg wrote in a famous statement: “It’s our wits versus their genes” [1]. The imbalance of powers in the fight against microbes is coming to light, as the Covid-19 infection is striking the world. Not by chance, Lederberg’s lament concluded a recent paper with the evocative title of “Escaping Pandora’s bo...

Peripheral arterial disease is associated with very high cardiovascular risk. The main symptom is intermittent claudication, which strongly affects the quality of life. Therefore, treatment goals in peripheral arterial disease consist of the reduction of cardiovascular events and the relief of symptoms. An increase in pain-free walking distance, ev...

BACKGROUND:Lipoprotein separation and analysis is critical for the classification of different atherogenic dyslipidemias. Several methods are used in clinical practice to assess lipoprotein profile. Yet, those may give different diagnostic outcomes, as no standardization scale is currently available; thus, no effective comparison is possible. Combi...

Air pollution is a complex matter because of its inner features; because of its social, economic, political, and ethical implications; and because of the complex interactions between pollutants and the human organism. The effects of air pollution, in fact, are still largely unknown; some are, and will remain, unpredictable. The promotion of medical...

This book examines in detail the clinical implications of those diseases that either are primarily triggered by air pollution or represent direct consequences of air pollutants. The aim is to provide medical practitioners with practical solutions to issues in diagnosis and treatment while simultaneously furnishing other interested parties with cruc...

Air pollution is a global concern. The Earth has gone through a number of phases and natural selections that have marked the history of our species. Epochal changes have influenced those processes, such as major catastrophes, plagues, famines, and pandemics. Air pollution, although not new, may signal the rise of a new era, being able to modify loc...

Air pollution can be considered a model to describe complexity and its implication in medicine. The number of components and interactions, the distribution of airborne pollutants through space and time and the possible short-and long-term effects on cells, tissues, organs and apparatus are an exhaustive example. The whole human being is more comple...

Air pollution remains a major issue in terms of health promotion. Many are the implications and the possible strategies aimed to solve the problem. Those are mainly related to the need to prevent the exposure or effectively reduce the effects on exposed people (pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention).

Several researches provide compelling evidences on the cardiovascular effects of fine particulate matter (PM) for the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease and in triggering acute cardiac events. PM10, PM2.5 and PM0.3 are strongly associated with increased incidence of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, arrhythmias and vascular...

Systematic review on the effects of sulodexide on claudication in patients with peripheral vascular diseases

To overcome problems related to air pollution, and for protection against its negative effects on health, a number of actions are required at the individual, local, national, and international levels. The role of prevention is crucial, as the effects of pollution on health are still largely unknown; some of them could show up years after exposure....

In this chapter, we speak about the global problem of pollution, and we want to suggest the strategy that governments and citizens should adopt to oppose it. We want to explain the logic, ethical and scientific bases of air pollution prevention also inspired by that wisdom that should induce the community to use effective tools to protect themselve...

In Italy the military research aims to introduce, as secondary, a technology transfer practice for civilian-use purposes. Specifically, the developed wireless body sensor network (WBSN), which started as a research to improve soldiers’ protection, has the potential to be beneficial also to the civilian population. Our advanced prototypical sensors...

This chapter is about the state of the art for the creation of a good and sharable in medical record. This kind of record should take into account the inception point; that means that it has to start with the first encounter with the patient, where his or her history has to be properly taken. To achieve such a result, the record is supposed to star...

Background: Creatine phosphate (CrP) plays a fundamental physiological role by providing chemical energy for cell viability and activity, especially in muscle tissue. Numerous pathological conditions, caused by acute or chronic ischaemic situations, are related to its deficiency. For these reasons, it has been used as a cardioprotective agent in h...

Background. Acute gastroenteritis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in youth age in developing and developed countries, with a bacterial origin detected in a significant percentage of cases. A meta-analysis on the use of rifaximin in children in case of gastroenteritis has been performed. Search methods. All the available publications rel...

The debate over eHealth is alive as never before. Supporters suggest that it will result in dramatic innovations in healthcare, including a giant leap towards patient-centered care, new opportunities to improve effectiveness, and enhanced wellness and quality of life. In addition, the growing market value of investments in health IT suggests that e...

The future of eHealth and telemedicine has recently become a much debated and controversial subject. It is widely believed that eHealth will play an increasingly important role in shaping healthcare systems in the twenty-first century. The rising burden of chronic diseases and the potential of eHealth for cutting costs and improving quality and saf...

Education has a crucial role in the development and implementation of eHealth systems. The spread of knowledge among the different stakeholders involved in those process is crucial, provided that the correct target and the proper educational models are chosen. In a continous mutating scenario like the one of the ICT is, a traditional approach canno...

To define the main features of patients treated with oral antidiabetics, evaluating monotherapy (MT), loose-dose combination therapy (LDCT) and fixed-dose combination therapy (FDCT); to describe medication adherence to the different therapies; and to evaluate the differences in compliance with the prescribed therapy regimen among prevalent and inci...

Questa storia inizia da molto lontano. In un tempo in cui l’uomo viveva circondato da una natura indomita, e dove ogni giorno era l’inizio di una nuova lotta per la sopravvivenza. Come gli animali che lo circondavano, egli era costretto a procacciarsi il cibo ogni giorno, a rintanarsi in ripari naturali, e ad affrontare passivamente le intemperie....

Type 2 diabetes has become a disease with a high economic and social impact. The ARNO Observatory is a clinical data warehouse consisting of a network of local health care units (ASL) scattered throughout the Italian territory which collects data on health care consumption for about 10.5 million people. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the...

ICTs offer great opportunities for delivering telemedicine and social care in a number of domains including services for the elderly. This area of application, however, presents many challenges at many different levels. The purpose of this chapter is to describe an approach followed, and explore some lessons learned in Bologna (Italy). The stated o...

Oxidized LDL (oxLDL) is a highly immunogenic particle that plays a key role in the development of atherosclerosis. Some data suggest a protective role of OxLDL autoantibodies (OLAB) in atherosclerosis. Our aim was to assess the effect of olive oil polyphenols on the immunogenicity of oxLDL to autoantibody generation. In a crossover, controlled tria...

Il lavoro sintetizza le più recenti acquisizioni sugli effetti delle proteine vegetali, e in particolare delle proteine della soia, sul metabolismo delle lipoproteine e sulla prevenzione cardiovascolare. Viene sottolineato il ruolo determinane della ricerca sperimentale e dei trial clinici, che, negli ultimi 20 anni, hanno documentato in modo molto...

It is widely believed that e-Health will play an increasingly important role in shaping healthcare systems in the twentyfirst century. The raising burden of chronic diseases and the potential of e-Health in improving the quality and safety of preventive health services make e-Health a great opportunity to apply to widespread preventive intervention...

Several studies claim that psychophysical stress and depression contribute significantly to cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. The aim of our research is to discover and analyse a possible relationship between two psychosocial disorders (depression and perceived mental stress) and traditional cardiovascular risk markers. We selected 106 subj...

A relatively large body of evidence supports the notion that glomerular capillary wall and mesangial alterations in diabetic nephropathy involve biochemical alterations of glycoproteins in these structures. Evidence in experimental animals rendered diabetic reveals that the administration of heparin and other anionic glycoproteins can effectively p...

We aimed to verify the extent of a previously cited relationship between tympanosclerosis and atherosclerosis by investigating subjects with dysfunction in lipid metabolism but no clinically apparent symptoms of atherosclerotic disease. Forty hypercholesterolemic patients were submitted to Doppler ultrasound examination of carotid and vertebrobasil...

Recent evidence suggests that at least a part of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) heart protective effect is mediated by a relatively small but significant decrease in blood pressure level. We retrospectively evaluated the long-term effect of a PUFA supplementation on the blood pressure level of 111 hypertriglyceridemic subjects with untreat...

In human LDL, the bioactivity of olive oil phenols is determined by the in vivo disposition of the biological metabolites of these compounds. Here, we examined how the ingestion of 2 similar olive oils affected the content of the metabolic forms of olive oil phenols in LDL in men. The oils differed in phenol concentrations as follows: high (629 mg/...

Novel Mutation in the Apob Gene (Apo B-15.56): A Case Report Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) is a rare co-dominant genetic disorder characterized by decrease of plasma low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) or apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) equal to or less than the 5 th percentile for the population. We describe a 48-year-old male who prese...

Cardiovascular disease is a dominant cause of global death, and atherosclerosis is its pre-eminent precursor, which begins with the loss of endothelium integrity, increased permeability to atherogenic lipoproteins and other pathological phenomena which result in intima-media thickness increase. We describe the case of a 48-year-old woman affected b...

To evaluate whether a nutritional education intervention on a general population cohort is able to balance the metabolic effects of incident menopause in a large sample of perimenopausal women. We measured body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, plasma lipids, fasting plasma glucose, and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in two groups of perimenopaus...

It is not known whether serum level of vascular remodelling parameters, such as matrix metalloproteinases could be modulated by physical activity and whether the eventual change could be influenced by metabolic syndrome (MS) diagnosis. Open, intervention study to evaluate the effects of a sequential physical activity training on inflammatory, proth...

The elderly care is characterized by integration of health and social care, is performed by several different agencies, requires a continuum of assistance and not episodic approach. These considerations has led us to overcome the traditional ICT approach done by several applications connected with property mechanism towards new solutions proposed b...

The aim of our study was to test the long-term effectiveness and tolerability of a nutraceutical based approach in reducing cholesterolemia in statin intolerant subjects with and without metabolic syndrome in primary prevention for cardiovascular disease. We carried out a prospective, clinical trial enrolling 48 subjects intolerant to more than one...

Recent evidences suggest that modulation of vascular structure by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) could be a main determinant of acute cardiovascular events in high-risk subjects. The authors consecutively selected 46 subjects affected by familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH), 44 by metabolic syndrome (MS), 44 by FCH and MS, and 40 healthy subjec...

To evaluate the short-term cardiometabolic effect of a sequential physical activity programme on pharmacologically untreated hypertensive overweight women and on age-matched men. We enrolled 80 overweight patients with newly diagnosed hypertension, not treated with antihypertensive nor antihyperlipidaemic drugs or under stabilized treatment. After...

The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the long-term effects of psyllium husk and guar gum supplementation on metabolic syndrome (MS) components. We randomised 141 MS patients to soluble psyllium husk powder or guar gum 3.5 g t.i.d. to be taken 20 min before the main 2 meals, or to a standard diet for a cumulative period of 6 months. B...

The aim of our study was to directly compare the metabolic effect of monounsaturated fatty acid rich oils and polyunsaturated fatty acid rich oils on the plasma lipid pattern of moderately hypercholesterolaemic subjects under controlled isocaloric condition. After a 30-day run-in diet, 44 healthy Caucasian subjects with moderate hypercholesterolaem...

Objective: Several Studies claimed that Psychophysical stress can be considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. We administered the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) to elderly people to disclose a possible relation between stress and metabolic parameters. Methods: We selected 57 subjects over 75 years old (M:39, F...

Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia (FCH) is a common metabolic disorder characterized by: a) increase in cholesterolemia and/or triglyceridemia in at least two members of the same family, b) intraindividual and intrafamilial variability of the lipid phenotype, and, c) increased risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD). FCH is one of the most co...

The aim of our study was to test the long-term effectiveness and tolerability of a nutraceutical based approach in reducing cholesterolemia in statin intolerant subjects with and without metabolic syndrome in primary prevention for cardiovascular disease. We carried out a prospective, clinical trial enrolling 48 subjects intolerant to more than one...