[Hypertension - affecting both the large and the small cerebral vessels - is the most frequent risk factor for cerebrovascular disorders manifesting in stroke, hypertensive encephalopathy or vascular dementia. The central pressure measured at the proximal part of the aorta has more important role in the development of vascular hypertrophy and carotid atherosclerosis than the pressure measured in the brachial artery. Central aortic pressure more accurately reflects the filling conditions of the left ventricle and thus the pressure conditions affecting the cerebral vascular system, than brachial pressure values, therefore possibly predicts more reliably the risk of cardiovascular events than brachial pressure values. Features of the stiffness of large arteries (like pulse wave velocity) more directly reflect the chronic effect of ageing, hypertension and diabetes than brachial or even central aortic pressure. Therefore in upcoming clinical trials arterial stiffness and central aortic pressure should be considered as possible surrogate endpoints. Antihypertensive treatment is an important part of primary and secondary stroke prevention. Decreasing blood pressure in hypertensive subjects significantly decreases the risk of stroke and other vascular events, and the extent of risk reduction primarily depends on the extent of the decrease in blood pressure. Several factors should be considered when choosing from treatment options. The use of traditional β blockers - partly due to their smaller effects on central blood pressure - decreased recently. Further observations will decide on the role of third generation β blockers in the prevention of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity.]

[Side-effects are critical challenges in cancer therapy. These complications can threaten the quality of life, sometimes the life itself. One of the most frequent side effects is mucositis, the damage of mucosa, either in the oral cavity (oral mucositis, OM), or in the gastrointestinal tract (gastrointestinal mucositis, GIM). Prevention is a key action for the effi cient supportation. Recognition of OM is relative easy, but of GIM is rather diffi cult. The risk factors could come from the patients and/or can be caused by the therapy. The successful management of mucositis mostly depends on the cooperation of the patient, which is highly infl uenced by the success of care (e.g. decreasing the level of pain). In general, mucositis (especially oral mucositis) a well managable disease, burt more informations are required to increase the quality of prevention and therapy. Such expectation could be realized by specifi c and sensitive biomarkers, however, they are still missing]

[This short review will summarize some recent findings on the physiopathology of the endogenous ghrelin/obestatin system by focussing on experimental studies aiming at blocking the effects of endogenous ghrelin and clinical studies investigating genotype/phenotype correlations concerning the genes encoding for ghrelin and its cognate receptor.]

[INTRODUCTION - The correlation between biochemical parameters and sonographic appearance of the liver in children and young adults receiving cytostatic therapy was investigated. PATIENTS AND METHODS - 104 (54 male, 50 female) patients at the hemato-oncologic unit of 2nd Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University Budapest were enrolled into this prospective, single-blind, uncontrolled study: patients’ ages were between 2.0 and 32.7 years (mean 12.2 yrs, ± SD 5.7). 69 patients received chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 35 patiens for osteogenic osteosarcoma (OSC). The time interval between the initiation of the cytostatic therapy and the examination was between 1 month and 16 years (mean 3.9 yrs). Ultrasonography was performed after 5-8 hours of fasting, without sedation. Echogenicity, distal attenuation of liver parenchyma and Doppler waveforms of the hepatic vein branches were evaluated. Alanine-aminotransferase (ALT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity were measured in peripheric blood samples. Statistical correlation was analysed between sonographic appearance and biochemical parameters of the liver. RESULTS - 35 patients had at least one sonographic abnormality: of these, 9 had elevated enzyme activity. Among the 69 patients with normal ultrasound findings, only 2 had increased enzyme activity (Chi square test, p=0.001). When tested against enzyme activity, echogenicity and attenuation showed significant (p=0.002 and p=0.01, respectively), Doppler waveform in the hepatic vein branches showed marginally significant correlation (p=0.05). All three ultrasound parameters had low sensitivity regarding the elevation of enzyme levels, however attenuation and hepatic vein waveform proved to be specific (both 94%) for enzyme level elevation and all three showed high negative predictive values (96%, 93% and 92%, respectively). When combining all three sonographic parameters in a single variable, correlation was even higher (p=0.001), sensitivity became acceptable (82%) and negative predictive value increased further to 97%. CONCLUSIONS - The authors conclude that a correlation exists between three simple sonographic indicators (echogenecity, distal attenuation, Doppler waveforms of the HVs) and liver injury detected by biochemical parameters. Due to the low sensitivity of the ultrasound parameters to confirm of the presence of diffuse liver injury is not possible. However, the combined use of the ultrasound and biochemical parameters a good negative predictive power can be achieved and therefore this is a useful tool in the follow-up for hepatic status.]

[According to the data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), the Hungarian citizens aged over 65 represented in 2001 11.8%, 2011 13.2% and 2019 19.3% of the total population. Providing services for aging (>60 years), aged (>75 years), very old (>90 years) and Matusalem (>100 years) individuals burdens heavily the health system and the socio-economic sector. Maintaining these people’s physical and mental health and self-perceived well-being is a pre-eminently important task. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics based on data providing countries, the number of suicides committed in the population aged 60-79 has risen approximately by 21% between 1987 and 2006. The suicide rate in Hungary has decreased steadily and significantly since 1980 (4809 in 1980, 1656 in 2018, i.e. a decrease of 66%). Thus since 2018, Hungary is not among the top three countries in Europe and the top 15 in the world. However, the number of completed suicides and suicide attempts remains high and shows rising tendency in the elderly. Preventing suicide, exploring the risk factors and caring patients after attempted suicide we need to analyse thoroughly and disseminate widely the results of the recent researches. In this study, we re­viewed international and domestic literature data to find answers primarily to prevention issues. ]