In conclusion, gender differences observed in the treatment of atrial fibrillation cannot be fully explained by differences in clinical characteristics between men and women in the population. Full English text available from: www.revespcardiol.org (C) 2010 Sociedad Espanola de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.”
“Background: Extremes in micronutrient intakes are common in HIV-infected patients in developed countries and may affect the

progression of atherosclerosis in this population.

Objective: We completed a cross-sectional study examining the association between serum micronutrient concentrations and surrogate markers of atherosclerosis in a cohort of HIV-infected adults.

Design: We measured serum selenium, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin E concentrations as well as selleck inhibitor carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and coronary artery calcium (CAC) in 298 Nutrition for Healthy Living participants. We assessed cardiovascular disease risk factors, c-IMT, and CAC for each micronutrient tertile by using a chi-square test for binary variables and analysis of variance for continuous variables. We performed multivariate regression of c-IMT and CAC with each micronutrient

with adjustment for HIV-related and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Results: In the multivariate analysis, the highest tertile of serum vitamin E concentration was associated with higher selleck products common and internal c-IMT and CAC scores (P < 0.05 for c-IMT and CAC). Participants with higher vitamin E concentrations learn more were more likely to have detectable CAC (50% compared with 44% compared with 67% for tertiles 1, 2, and 3, respectively; P = 0.004) and common c-IMT >0.8 mm (5% compared with 4% compared with 17% for tertiles 1, 2, and 3, respectively; P = 0.002). Other than vitamin E, micronutrients had no association with markers of atherosclerosis.

Conclusions: Our study showed that elevated serum vitamin E concentrations are associated with abnormal markers of atherosclerosis and may increase the risk of cardiovascular

complications in HIV-infected adults. Am J Clin Nutr 2010; 91: 1213-9.”
“The authors used a national database to examine the prevalence and incidence of autism spectrum disorders. The National Health Research Institute provided a database of 1 000 000 random participants for study. A population-based sample of 372 642 aged younger than 18 was obtained as a dynamic cohort. Those study participants who had at least one service claim from 1996 to 2005 with a principal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders were identified. The cumulative prevalence of autism spectrum disorders increased from 1.79 to 28.72 per 10 000 from 1996 to 2005. The annual incidence of autism spectrum disorders increased from 0.91 to 4.41 per 10 000 per year from 1997 to 2005.