[Affective temperaments (cyclothymic, hypertymic, depressive, anxious, irritable) are stable parts of personality and after adolescent only their minor changes are detectable. Their connections with psychopathology is well-described; depressive temperament plays role in major depression, cyclothymic temperament in bipolar II disorder, while hyperthymic temperament in bipolar I disorder. Moreover, scientific data of the last decade suggest, that affective temperaments are also associated with somatic diseases. Cyclothymic temperament is supposed to have the closest connection with hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension is higher parallel with the presence of dominant cyclothymic affective temperament and in this condition the frequency of cardiovascular complications in hypertensive patients was also described to be higher. In chronic hypertensive patients cyclothymic temperament score is positively associated with systolic blood pressure and in women with the earlier development of hypertension. The background of these associations is probably based on the more prevalent presence of common risk factors (smoking, obesity, alcoholism) with more pronounced cyclothymic temperament. The scientific importance of the research of the associations of personality traits including affective temperaments with somatic disorders can help in the identification of higher risk patient subgroups.]

[Elevated LDL-C and/or triglycerides and decreased HDL-C levels contribute to development of vascular lesions. In the absence of detectable vascular disease the lipid values of providing vascular protection preferably with a healthy diet, regular physical activity and by trying to get out of harmful passions. If the healthy lifestyle is not effective enough, lipid-lowering medication may also be necessary in primary prevention. In the cases of inherited lipid disorders and in patients with high or very high cardiovascular risk it is necessary to take lipid lowering medications in effective dose. The Hun­ga­rian and the international guidelines have been formulated the targets of lipid values for vascular protection. The paper is trying to help for everyday medical practice, how to treat the dyslipidemic patients with the application of widely available lipid parameters and lipid lowering medications effectively. ]

[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most common pain relief and anti-inflammatory medications all over the World, and many formulations are also available over-the-counter. Beyond the well-known gastrointestinal risks, emerging evidence supports increased incidence of cardiovascular events associated with the use of NSAIDs. This cardiovascular risk seems to be independent of the cyclooxygenase selectivity of these drugs. Distinct side effect profiles of various NSAIDs were summarized in a former issue of the Journal: LAM 2014;24(7): 327. In this paper, we aimed to summarize some of the yet unpublished results of a major research project of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), that was conducted in order to establish the relative risk of CV outcomes (myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke and hospitalization for heart failure) associated with the use of various NSAIDs. In this epidemiological study, seven European healthcare databases on a source population of 35 million subjects were linked and analyzed. Most of the results are currently only available on the project homepage; however, analyses of heart failure data have already been published in a recent issue of The BMJ. ]

[Prevalence of renal anaemia due to insufficient production of erythropoietin increases progressively in the course of renal function deterioration. Renal anaemia is treated by erythropoesis stimulating agents (ESA). Outcomes of randomized clinical trials have taught us to avoid the strategy of normalization of hemoglobin (HGB) levels by ESA therapy as it may increase the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Clinical Practice Guideline for Anaemia published in 2012 recommends to start ESA therapy in the 90-100 g/l HGB range and suggests to keep HGB concentrations below 115 g/l. It is an inappropriate strategy to aim at normalizing hemoglobin (HGB) levels by ESA therapy because it may lead to progressive escalation of ESA doses even in the presence of diminished ESA responsiveness. High ESA doses and diseases causing ESA hyporesponsiveness eg. infections, chronic inflammation, malnutrition, insufficient dose of dialysis, severe hyperparathyroidism, iron deficiency are related to increased risk of mortality. KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for Anaemia emphasizes the importance of assessing and treating causes of ESA hyporesponsiveness, limits ESA dose escalation and recommends gradually changing ESA doses to avoid high amplitude HGB oscillation.]

[INTRODUCTION - Official mortality statistics underestimate the etiological role of diabetes in mortality. METHODS - With the use of attributable risk ratio we estimated the proportion of total mortality and mortality under age 65 years due to diabetes in Hungary in 2000-2009. We corrected the analysis for the co-occurrence of diabetes and hypertension. The prevalence figures of diabetes were taken from the National Health Interview Surveys 2000, 2003 and 2009; the relative mortality figures in patients with diabetes from the Canadian Chronic Disease Sur­veillance System of the Public Health Agency Canada; and the Hungarian age-, and sex-specific mortality figures from the Demographic Yearbooks of the Central Statistical Office. RESULTS - The total mortality decreased by 15%, mortality under age 65 years by 16% in the studied period in Hungary. Mean­while diabetes attributable mortality corrected for hypertension decreased by only 6%, premature mortality increased by 4%. As a consequence, the proportion of diabetes attributable mortality within total mortality increased from 4.6% to 5%, premature mortality from 4.3% to 5.5% by 2009, as the prevalence of diabetes increased from 6.9% in 2000 to 8.2% in 2009. Diabetes attributable mortality is approximately 2.5 times higher than the figures in the official mortality statistics. CONCLUSION - Diabetes and its main risk factors, overweight and obesity due to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity are one of the most important public health challenges nowadays. The burden of diabetes and its complications is already enormous. Mortality attributable to diabetes is much higher than it is reflected in the official mortality statistics. ]