Can cardiovascular health (CVH) assessment based on Life’s Essential 8 framework help prevent non-communicable diseases?

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ningjian Wang, Professor at the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who explains the American Heart Association’s cardiovascular health framework called ‘Life’s Essential 8’ and its association with the risk of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs).

The potential role of Life’s Essential 8 in preventing NCDs and promoting cardiovascular health is the focus of an article by Dr. Wang and collaborators published in Chinese Medical Journal. The article is titled, “Life's Essential 8 and risk of non-communicable chronic diseases: Outcome-wide analyses.”

Guest: Dr. Ningjian Wang
Host: John L

Summary:

We explore the link between cardiovascular health assessed using the Life’s Essential 8 framework and the risk of non-communicable diseases, based on evidence from a study published in Chinese Medical Journal

Is mass drug administration effective against trachoma—a devastating infectious disease that causes blindness—in endemic countries?
 
 We speak with Dr. Tao Xiong, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics from West China Second University Hospital at Sichuan University, who attempts to address this question in a recent systematic review of the current evidence, and discusses how mass drug administration may need to be modified according to the endemicity of trachoma in a particular region. 

In this second episode, we discuss this review article by Dr. Xiong and collaborators published recently in the Chinese Medical Journal. The article is titled, “Effectiveness of azithromycin mass drug administration on trachoma: a systematic review”.

Guest: Prof. Tao Xiong
Host: Dr. Laura Moro 

How do environmental factors influence the onset or incidence of diseases that have a strong genetic component? 

We speak with Yongna Yao, Research Intern at the National Office for Maternal and Child Health Surveillance of China, West China Second University Hospital, as she gives us some interesting insights into how the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in China varies with geography and other factors. 

The discussion is based on her brand-new study published on September 20th, in the 18th 2021 issue of the Chinese Medical Journal. The study is titled “Geographic variations in the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in China: a retrospective study based on 92 million newborns screened in 2013–2018.”

Guest: Yongna Yao
Host: Michael Mallozzi