Aim: The aim of this study is to highlight the effectiveness of music therapy in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and their caregivers. Methods: The biennial 2019 to 2020, 32 patients, with AD (ICD-10), were examined, by a research group composed by a Neurologist, a GP and a Music-psychotherapist. All patients were under pharmaceutical care. The patients' medical record and musical profile was assessed. The answers were provided by the patients themselves or by their tutors. Then, personal or family sessions were organized with the participation of musical instruments. The patients staging and evaluation were made through MMSE. The test was repeated every six months under the Neurologist's supervision. Finally, 31 totally patients succeeded to complete our intervention and to be estimated. Results: The duration of follow-up of the patients was 30 months. At the beginning and end of the sessions we obtained the following data: In a total of 32 patients with AD, initially 3 patients (9.37%) had Mild AD, 19 patients (59.37%) had Moderate AD, 10 patients (31.25%) severe AD, based on the MMSE evaluation. After 30 months, 11 patients had Mild AD (35.48%), number resulting from the music benefit of cognitive function in patients with moderate AD. 15 patients with Moderate AD (48.38%) were observed, out of the initial 19 (59.37%) patients with Moderate AD, a number attributed to the sum of patients who improved from severe AD and those who were transferred, benefiting from treatment, from Moderate AD disease to Mild AD. Finally 5 patients with severe AD disease were evaluated (16.12%), while before the treatment we had 10 patients (31.25%) with severe AD. Conclusions: Music therapy is a tool to increase the life quality of the participants. The results expected in the treatment of AD are obtained by means of good collaboration among the research team.

BackgroundEarly diagnosis of anaemia represents an important task within primary care settings. This study reports on the frequency of new cases of anaemia among patients attending rural primary care settings in Crete (Greece) and to offer an estimate of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) frequency in this study group.MethodsAll patients attending the rural primary health care units of twelve general practitioners (GPs) on the island of Crete for ten consecutive working days were eligible to participate in this study. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were measured by portable analyzers. Laboratory tests to confirm new cases of anaemia were performed at the University General Hospital of Heraklion.ResultsOne hundred and thirteen out of 541 recruited patients had a low value of Hb according to the initial measurement obtained by the use of the portable analyzer. Forty five (45.5%) of the 99 subjects who underwent laboratory testing had confirmed anaemia. The mean value of the Hb levels in the group with confirmed anaemia, as detected by the portable analyzer was 11.1 g/dl (95% Confidence Interval (CI) from 10.9 to 11.4) and the respective mean value of the Hb levels obtained from the full blood count was 11.4 g/dl (95% CI from 11.2 to 11.7) (P = 0.01). Sixteen out of those 45 patients with anaemia (35.6%) had IDA, with ferritin levels lower than 30 ng/ml.ConclusionKeeping in mind that this paper does not deal with specificity or sensitivity figures, it is suggested that in rural and remote settings anaemia is still invisible and point of care testing may have a place to identify it.

COVID-19 disease constitutes a significant threat to human existence worldwide due to the increased transmissibility, morbidity and mortality caused by the still unknown SARS-COV2 virus. A critical issue is the lack of effectiveness of drug options. In our research, a literature review, we explore the role of bioactive lipids and statins can play, as a main or adjunctive treatment in the COVID-19. We reviewed 150 articles in the Databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Embassy and Cochrane) relatives of the use of bioactive lipids and statins in severe COVID-19 disease and we selected 117 articles that fit with our research question. So, our research constitutes a bibliography review of 117 articles, finally. The administration of exogenous bioactive lipids (BALs), Omega 3 EPA, DHA supplements induces the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the prevention of cytokine storm and enhancing the therapeutic benefit by accelerating recovery. Therefore, they potentially reduce the need for ICU hospitalization and the number of intensive care unit days of stay, accelerating recovery thus also numerically reducing critical cases. The possible harms of lipids should be considered. There are positive and negative effects regarding the use of statins. According to the literature, Statins offer beneficial effects on COVID-19 disease. For de novo statin use in COVID-19 patients, the Benefit/Risk ratio should be taken into account. In conclusion, although lipids and statins seem to benefit patients with severe COVID-19 disease, nevertheless, more double blind randomized studies are needed to determine their safety and efficacy profile.