Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità
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Publications from International Organizations on Public Health
Get PDFThe Publications from International Organizations on Public Health section includes a wider selection of the most recent publications edited by the main international organizations active in the field of public health, such as: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Publications from International Organizations on Public Health
Get PDFThe Publications from International Organizations on Public Health section includes a wider selection of the most recent publications edited by the main international organizations active in the field of public health, such as: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Stability/Flexibility: the tightly coupled homeostasis generator is at the same time the driver of change
Get PDFThere is “no Flexibility without Stability and no Stability without Flexibility”: this is a crucial feature common to any system interacting with its environment. This tight link between two apparently opposite features is at the basis of the time-honoured concept of homeostasis (the tendency of any adaptive system to go back to its “comfort zone” contrasting the incoming perturbations) and is widely recognized since long time. On the contrary, the fact that the escape from a stable attractor state is a consequence of the same homeostasis mechanisms is often overlooked. In this brief note, we will try to give a proof-of-concept of the relation existing between stability/flexibility based homeostasis and the state changes at all the levels of biological organization. The ubiquity of the same principles across very different systems is a signature of a new attitude to look at scientific enterprise from a network-based viewpoint
Children’s diet assessed with the Mediterranean Diet Index: the finding of new eating habits and their impact on a cohort of Italian children
Get PDFObjectives. Mediterranean Diet (MD) has been inversely associated with many diseases: it reduces total mortality and lowers cardiovascular risk. Despite the known benefits of MD, variations of dietary habits have occurred in recent years especially in young people. The aim of our study is to evaluate MD adherence in a cohort of Italian children and adolescents living in Southern Italy.Methods and results. Adherence to MD was evaluated with the Mediterranean Diet Index (KIDMED). Sex, age, and anthropometric measures were recorded on a population of 132 children; of those 71.2% showed poor adherence to MD, 26.5% average adherence and only 2.3% good adherence. Higher prevalence of poor adherence was recorded in obese children and there was statistically significant inverse correlation between age and adherence score.Conclusions. Our results highlight low adherence to MD in a cohort of Italian children. These findings support the importance of monitoring dietary habits, especially in adolescents
Publications from International Organizations on Public Health
Get PDFThe Publications from International Organizations on Public Health section includes a wider selection of the most recent publications edited by the main international organizations active in the field of public health, such as: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Diet and lifestyles of young women of childbearing age: an Italian survey: Lifestyles and behaviours in Italian young women
No full textBackground. Daily lifestyles play a pivotal role in influencing the preconception health of women in their childbearing years. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to delineate, within the Italian context, the lifestyles of young women of childbearing age, that may have repercussions on their preconception health.Methods. From July 2020 until April 2021, an anonymous online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 340 women aged 18-25 years attending secondary grade schools and universities in Italy.Results. Over the course of the preceding three days, 90.29% of women had meat, 45.59% had fish. 28.24%, 38.82% and 18.53% of women reported tobacco, alcohol and drugs consumption, respectively. The mean amount of folic acid taken through foods consumed was 341 μg/day. Only 53.53% of women did sports. Smokers were more frequently consuming alcohol and drugs. Women who never did sports, were more likely to use drugs.Conclusions. Young women in our sample had suboptimal dietary habits. It is imperative to advocate for policies and interventions that endorse healthy dietary patterns and physical activity, improve knowledge and discourage young women from smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use
How to conduct research in palliative care? A perspective from Italy
Get PDFBackground. In western countries, the increasing life expectancy and the growing number of individuals with advanced chronic conditions have resulted in a greater demand for palliative care. Specifically, Italy has witnessed substantial growth in the palliative care field, marked by the establishment of Palliative Care Networks and an academic fellowship program in 2022. To further enhance this field, it is crucial to conduct highquality scientific research that produces results applicable in clinical practice.Aim. This article explores challenges and potential solutions in conducting effective palliative care research, considering sample definition, research settings, outcomes, and ethical concerns. While focusing on the Italian context, the presented research framework can be applied to other contexts and regions.Results. Palliative care research is complex and challenging due to its holistic approach, which encompasses various vital dimensions of patients and their families, including physical, emotional, and social needs. The Italian and worldwide experience provides insights into managing these challenges and enhancing the methodological rigor of studies and the practical application of research findings. Conclusions. This article emphasizes the importance of developing protocols tailored to palliative care’s unique characteristics, and the necessity of dedicated funding for palliative care research, calling for increased support and recognition. The article advocates for improvement of the quality and relevance of palliative care studies, promoting better patient outcomes and enhanced caregiving
AI will not give us precision medicine
Get PDFThe completion of human DNA sequencing in the early 2000s initially generated widespread excitement and hope that it would revolutionize medicine. Over time, however, it revealed major limitations due to a lack of understanding of the highly complex genotype-phenotype pathway. Precision medicine has emerged as a response to these biotechnological innovations, tailoring treatments based on an array of new molecularand clinical “omics” data. However, the large volume and heterogeneity of data available today requires the use of dedicated and highly efficient computational analyses. Widely used today are artificial intelligence techniques (such as machine learning) based on artificial neural networks, i.e., a mathematical model of how biological neurons work. Here, we show that artificial neural networks have nothing to do with biology, although their popularity is largely due to their alleged ability to simulate the human brain. Furthermore, we argue that the analysis of large molecular datasets cannot be left to the computational side alone, i.e., to be exclusively data-driven, but on the contrary must meet the challenge of integrating data and expertise, of getting clinicians and data analysts to work together to take into account the absolute and ineradicable uniqueness of each patient’s characteristics
Dangerous exposures to chemicals managed by Poison Centers all around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and proportional meta-analysis
Get PDFIntroduction. During COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning/disinfection activities were highly recommended. This study summarizes the state of art and estimates the prevalence of dangerous exposures to specific chemicals managed by Poison Centers (PCs) from all over the world during 2020 vs 2019, trying to overcome the critical aspects of the product categorization systems used by PCs.Materials and methods. A systematic research was conducted in 3 major databases and 2 websites of PCs associations. Proportional meta-analyses were performed to estimate the prevalence of exposures to disinfectants, household products and hand sanitizers in 2020 vs 2019.Results. The pooled prevalence of exposures to disinfectants, household products and hand sanitizers were respectively 5.9% (95% CI 4.9-7.0) (2019: 4.4% vs 2020: 7.8%; p=0.22), 25.9% (95% CI 24.0-27.7) (2019: 25.0% vs 2020: 28.6%; p=0.71) and 1.6% (95% CI 1.3-1.9) (2019: 0.6% vs 2020: 2.8%; p<0.001).Conclusions. This study detected overall increases of exposures to specific chemicals in 2020, suggesting that the awareness on topics related to the safe use of these products should be improved, especially during health emergencies, highlighting the need to develop standardized systems to better compare data coming from PCs all over the world