Rotating and permanent night shiftwork schedules typically result in acute and sometimes chronic sleep deprivation plus acute and sometimes chronic disruption of the circadian time structure. Immune system processes and functionalities are organized as circadian rhythms, and they are also strongly influenced by sleep status. Sleep is a vital behavioral state of living beings and a modulator of immune function and responsiveness. Shiftworkers show increased risk for developing viral infections due to possible compromise of both innate and acquired immunity responses. Short sleep and sleep loss, common consequences of shiftwork, are associated with altered integrity of the immune system. We discuss the possible excess risk for COVID-19 infection in the context of the common conditions among shiftworkers, including nurses, doctors, and first responders, among others of high exposure to the contagion, of sleep imbalance and circadian disruption.

<b><i>Background:</i></b> In patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus, the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) dapagliflozin was recently shown to reduce the risk of worsening HF or death from cardiovascular causes in the dapagliflozin in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (DAPA-HF) trial. Our goal was to investigate how many patients in a real-world setting would be eligible for dapagliflozin according to the DAPA-HF enrolment criteria. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This is a single-center retrospective study enrolling consecutive, unselected patients followed up in an HF clinic from 2013 to 2019. Key DAPA-HF inclusion criteria (i.e., left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] ≤40% and NT-proBNP ≥600 pg/mL [or ≥900 pg/mL if atrial fibrillation]) and exclusion criteria (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] &#x3c;30 mL/kg/1.73 m² and systolic blood pressure [SBP] &#x3c;95 mm Hg) were considered. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Overall, 479 patients (age 76 ± 13 years; 50.5% male; 78.9% hypertensive; 45.1% with an eGFR &#x3c;60 mL/min/1.73 m²; 36.5% with TD2M; and 33.5% with ischaemic HF) were assessed. The median SBP was 128.5 (112.0–146.0) mm Hg, mean eGFR was 50.8 ± 23.7 mL/min/1.73 m², and median NT-proBNP was 2,183 (IQR 1,010–5,310) pg/mL. Overall, 155 (32.4%) patients had LVEF ≤40%. According to the DAPA-HF trial key criteria, 90 patients (18.8%) would be eligible for dapagliflozin. The remainder would be excluded due to LVEF &#x3e;40% (67.6%), eGFR &#x3c;30 mL/min/1.73 m² (19.4%), NT-proBNP below the cutoff (16.7%), and/or SBP &#x3c;95 mm Hg (6.5%). If we center the analysis to those with LVEF ≤40%, 58.1% would be eligible for dapagliflozin. The remainder would be excluded due to an eGFR &#x3c;30 mL/min/1.73 m² (20%), NT-proBNP below the cutoff (16.1%), and/or SBP &#x3c;95 mm Hg (8.4%). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Roughly half of our real-world HFrEF cohort would be eligible for dapagliflozin according to the key criteria of the DAPA-HF trial. The main reason for non-eligibility was an eGFR &#x3c;30 mL/min/1.73 m². However, two-thirds of patients had LVEF &#x3e;40%. These findings show that dapagliflozin is a promising complementary new drug in the therapeutic armamentarium of most patients with HFrEF, while highlighting the urgent need for disease-modifying drugs in mid-range and preserved LVEF and the need to assess the efficacy and safety of SLGT2i in advanced kidney disease patients. The results of ongoing SGLT2i trials in these LVEF subgroups are eagerly awaited.

No abstract

Context: Sleep serves many important functions for athletes, particularly in the processes of learning, memory, recovery, and cognition. Objectives: Define the sleep parameters of Paralympic athletes and identify the instruments used to assess and monitor sleep Paralympic athletes. Evidence Acquisition: This systematic review was carried out based on the PRISMA guidelines. The survey was conducted in April 2020, the searches were carried out again in September 2021 to check whether there were new scientific publications in the area of sleep and Paralympic sport, searches were performed in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, Virtual Health Library (BIREME), and SciELO. This systematic review has included studies that investigated at least one of the following sleep parameters: total sleep time, sleep latency, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings, quality of sleep, daytime sleepiness, and chronotype; the participants were comprised of athletes with disabilities. Studies published at any time in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, were included. Evidence Synthesis: Data extraction and study selection were performed by 2 researchers independently, and a third author was consulted as necessary. The search returned a total of 407 studies. Following the screening based on exclusion and inclusion criteria, a total of 13 studies were considered. Paralympic athletes have a low amount (7.06 h) of sleep with poor quality and sleep latency (28.05 min), and 57.2% have daytime sleepiness, with the majority belonging to the indifferent chronotype (53, 5%). Moreover, 11 studies assess sleep using subjective instruments (questionnaires), and 2 studies used an objective instrument (actigraphy). Conclusions: Sleep disorders are common among Paralympic athletes, poor sleep quality and quantity, and high rates of daytime sleepiness. Subjective methods are most commonly used to assess sleep.

No abstract