Medical Bulletin 30/June/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Continuous glucose monitor clinically effective tool for individuals with diabetes on peritoneal dialysis

A recent report study published in Diabetes Care showed satisfactory performance of a real-time CGM sensor in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with diabetes in detecting asymptomatic glucose excursions.

The study by Jack KC Ng and team, a single-center, prospective, open-label study of Guardian Connect with Guardian Sensor 3, included 30 participants with diabetes undergoing continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) enrolled between 8 March 2021 and 15 August 2022. The researchers compared Medtronic Guardian Sensor 3 with the gold standard reference Yellow Spring Instrument [YSI] glucose analyzer to assess CGM accuracy to capture a wide range of glucose levels with diet/insulin manipulation.

Out of 30 participants,29 completed the in-clinic session, and One participant was withdrawn before the YSI session due to repeated sensor failure.

Reference: Jack KC, Ling J et al. Evaluation of a Fourth-Generation Subcutaneous Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) in Individuals with Diabetes on Peritoneal Dialysis. Diabetes Care 2023;46(6):1191–1195.

Vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events in older people

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels and is one of the main causes of death globally. CVD events such as heart attacks and strokes are set to increase as populations continue to age and chronic diseases become more common.

Vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks among people aged over 60, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today.

The researchers stress that the absolute risk difference was small, but say this is the largest trial of its kind to date, and further evaluation is warranted, particularly in people taking statins or other cardiovascular disease drugs.

D-Health Trial was carried out from 2014 to 2020 and involved 21,315 Australians aged 60-84 who randomly received one capsule of either 60,000 IU vitamin D (10,662 participants) or a placebo (10,653 participants) taken orally at the beginning of each month for up to 5 years.

Reference: https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj-2023-075230

Study reveals significant RBCs alterations after COVID-19 infection in children

A team of researchers conducted a study to understand the relationship between alterations in RBCs and the clinical course of COVID-19 in this age group. This article was published in Scientific Reports on 17 June 2023.

They investigated red blood cells' morphological and mechanical characteristics (RBCs) in children and adolescents following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The researchers analyzed whole blood samples from 121 students from secondary schools in Saxony, Germany, who had participated in the ImmunCoviDD19-study. The participants were divided into SARS-CoV-2-seropositive and SARS-CoV-2-seronegative based on their SARS-CoV-2 antibody status. The measurement of morphological and mechanical properties of cells RBCs of the participants was examined using a technique called real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC).

The study found that the median RBC deformation significantly increased in SARS-CoV-2-seropositive children and adolescents compared to seronegative ones. However, this difference was only observed within six months after the COVID-19 infection and was insignificant when the infection occurred more than six months prior. There was no difference in the median RBC area between seropositive and seronegative adolescents.

Reference: Eder, J., Schumm, L., Armann, J.P. et al. Increased red blood cell deformation in children and adolescents after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sci Rep 13, 9823 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35692-6