María Escasany’s research while affiliated with Hospital General De Aguidos Juan A. Fernandez and other places

Objetivos: Estimar la prevalencia de síndrome metabólico (SM) entre las enfermeras del Hospital Juan A. Fernández (HJAF) y determinar si trabajo, descanso, dieta y estado de salud son sus predictores. Material y métodos: Para el primer objetivo, el diseño del estudio es descriptivo, observacional y transversal. Para el segundo, comparación de muestras independientes, multivariable, observacional y transversal. Se estudió a 192 enfermeras entre octubre de 2008 y marzo de 2009. Se les realizó una encuesta autoaplicable con indicadores que podrían ser predictores de SM. Se tomaron mediciones antropométricas, presión arterial y extracción sanguínea para analizar glucemia en ayunas, colesterol unido a lipoproteínas de alta densidad y triglicéridos plasmáticos. Resultados: El 35 y el 41% del personal de enfermería tenían sobrepeso y obesidad respectivamente. Un 92% del total tenía obesidad centroabdominal. La prevalencia de SM hallada es del 33,3% (intervalo de confianza del 95%, 26,7%-40,5%). Las afectas de SM tenían una media de edad de 53 ± 9 años. En el análisis bivariable se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el SM y las variables edad, tiempo de ejercicio profesional, tiempo trabajado en turno de noche y estudios realizados. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de SM de enfermeras del HJAF fue de 64/192 (33,3%; intervalo de confianza del 95%, 26,7%-40,5%). Frente a la edad, los indicadores tiempo trabajado durante turno noche y estudios realizados no muestran diferencias estadísticamente significativas. Estos resultados indicarían que la edad es la variable más relevante para predecir la aparición de SM en la población de enfermeras.

Objectives To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in female nurses in the Hospital Juan A. Fernandez (HJAF), Buenos Aires, Argentina, and to determine whether work, rest, diet, and health, are predictive of it.Materials and methodsFor the first objective, a descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study was conducted, and for the second, a multivariate cross-sectional observational multivariate analysis was made comparing independent samples. A total of 192 nurses were studied between October 2008 and March 2009. They completed a questionnaire that include indicators that could be predictors of MS. Anthropometric measurements, including blood pressure were taken, was well as a blood sample to analyze fasting glucose, HDL-C and plasma triglycerides.ResultsIt was found that 35% and 41% of nurses were overweight and obese, respectively. A total of 92% had centro-abdominal obesity. The prevalence of MS found was 33.3% (95%CI, 26.7 to 40.5). Those who had this disease were between 53±9 years. Statistically significant differences were found in the bivariate analysis between MS and the variables, age, length of service, time worked during night shift, and academic studies.Conclusions The prevalence of MS was 64/192 in HJAF nurses (33.3% I 95%CI, 26.7–40.5). There were no statistically significant differences with the indicators of, age, “time worked during night shift”, and “studies”. These results suggest that age is the most important variable in predicting the onset of MS in the population of nurses.

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic vasculitis of unknown etiology. Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease caused by the ingestion of gluten. TA and CD have been associated with many other autoimmune conditions. However, only five cases with this association have been reported. In this series, three patients with TA and CD were included; all were female, 21, 30 and 54 years old. TA clinical manifestations preceded CD diagnosis in all patients. Aortic arch branches were affected in all of them. Serologic markers were positive and a small intestine biopsy showed typical findings of CD in the three patients. Special attention should be given to this possible association because these entities may be asymptomatic; the recognition of new disease variants modifies treatment, and sometimes CD constitutes a differential diagnosis of mesenteric ischemia.

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic vasculitis of unknown etiology. Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease caused by the ingestion of gluten. TA and CD have been associated with many other autoimmune conditions. However, only five cases with this association have been reported. In this series, three patients with TA and CD were included; all were female, 21, 30 and 54 years old. TA clinical manifestations preceded CD diagnosis in all patients. Aortic arch branches were affected in all of them. Serologic markers were positive and a small intestine biopsy showed typical findings of CD in the three patients. Special attention should be given to this possible association because these entities may be asymptomatic; the recognition of new disease variants modifies treatment, and sometimes CD constitutes a differential diagnosis of mesenteric ischemia.