BackgroundThe high amount of saturated fatty acids (SFA) coupled with the rising availability and consumption of palm oil have lead to the assumption that palm oil contributes to the increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases worldwide. We aimed at systematically synthesising the association of palm oil consumption with cardiovascular disease risk and cardiovascular disease-specific mortality.MethodsWe systematically searched Central, Medline and Embase databases up to June 2017 without restriction on setting or language. We performed separate searches based on the outcomes: coronary heart disease and stroke, using keywords related to these outcomes and palm oil. We searched for published interventional and observational studies in adults (Age: >18 years old). Two investigators extracted data and a consensus was reached with involvement of a third. Only narrative synthesis was performed for all of the studies, as the data could not be pooled.ResultsOur search retrieved 2,738 citations for stroke with one included study and 1,777 citations for coronary heart disease (CHD) with four included studies. Palmitic acid was reported to be associated with risk of myocardial infarction (MI) (OR 2.76; 95%CI = 1.39–5.47). Total SFA intake was reported to be not significant for risk of MI. Varying intake of fried foods, highest contributor to total SFA with 36% of households using palm oil for frying, showed no significant associations to risk of MI. Odds of developing first non-fatal acute MI was higher in palm oil compared to soybean oil with 5% trans-fat (OR = 1.33; 95%CI = 1.09–1.62) than palm oil compared to soybean oil with 22% trans-fat (OR = 1.16; 95%CI = 0.86–1.56). Nevertheless, these risk estimates were non-significant and imprecise. The trend amongst those taking staple pattern diet (characterised by higher palm oil, red meat and added sugar consumption) was inconsistent across the factor score quintiles. During the years of 1980 and 1997, for every additional kilogram of palm oil consumed per-capita annually, CHD mortality risk was 68 deaths per 100,000 (95% CI = 21–115) in developing countries and 17 deaths per 100,000 (95%CI = 5.3–29) in high-income countries, whereas stroke was associated with 19 deaths per 100,000 (95%CI = -12–49) and 5.1 deaths per 100,000 (95% CI: -1.2–11) respectively.The evidence for the outcomes of this review were all graded as very low. The findings of this review should be interpreted with some caution, owing to the lack of a pooled effect estimate of the association, significant bias in selection criteria and confounding factors, inclusion of other food items together with palm oil, and the possible out-dated trend in the ecological study.ConclusionIn view of the abundance of palm oil in the market, quantifying its true association with CVD outcomes is challenging. The present review could not establish strong evidence for or against palm oil consumption relating to cardiovascular disease risk and cardiovascular disease-specific mortality. Further studies are needed to establish...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still evolving and affecting millions of lives. E-government and social media have been used widely during this unprecedented time to spread awareness and educate the public on preventive measures. However, the extent to which the 2 digital platforms bring to improve public health awareness and prevention during a health crisis is unknown. In this study, we examined the influence of e-government and social media on the public's attitude to adopt protective behavior. For this purpose, a Web survey was conducted among 404 Malaysian residents during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) period in the country. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS software. Social media was chosen by most of the respondents (n = 331 or 81.9%) as the source to get information related to COVID-19. Multiple regression analysis suggests the roles of e-government and social media to be significantly related to people's attitudes to engage in protective behavior. In conclusion, during the COVID-19 outbreak, public health decision makers may use e-government and social media platforms as effective tools to improve public engagement on protective behavior. This, in turn, will help the country to contain the transmission of the virus.

Background Patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) usually experience worsening of both motor and non-motor symptoms. Dancing has been postulated to help patients with Parkinson’s via several mechanisms that lead to improved physical, cognitive and social functions. Methods This systematic review was conducted following Cochrane methodology and reported following the PRISMA guideline. Four databases (up to June 2021) were searched for RCTs comparing dance to standard or other physical therapy for improvements in disease severity, quality of life, cognitive and physical outcomes as well as adverse events in patients with PD. We synthesised data using RevMan and included certainty-of-evidence rating (GRADE) for major outcomes. Results A total of 20 RCTs (N = 723) articles that evaluated Tango, Ballroom, Irish, Waltz-Foxtrot, Folk, Turo, mixed dances and a PD-tailored dance were included. Dancers (versus non-dancers) had better motor experience (MDS-UPDRS 3) (MD -6.01, 95 % CI -9.97 to -3.84; n = 148; 5 RCTs) and improved balance (MiniBest Test) (MD 4.47, 95 % CI 2.29 to 6.66; n = 95; 3 RCTs), with no consistent differences on gait, agility and cognitive outcomes. Small samples and methodological limitations resulted in low-certainty-evidence across outcomes. Conclusions Apart from a suggestion that dance intervention modestly reduced motor disease severity and improved certain aspects of balance, there is insufficient evidence on all other outcomes, such as agility and motor function, cognitive, mood and social outcomes, quality of life as well as adverse events including the risk of fall. As evidence is insufficient to inform practice, evidence of benefits on motor disease severity and balance needs to be considered in the context of user-perception of benefit versus harm and acceptability in the development of practice guideline recommendations.

Introduction Vegetable oil is an important source of fatty acids, and as palm oil being the highest consumed vegetable oil in many countries, its high saturated fatty acid content has led many concerns on cardiometabolic health. Dietary fatty acids has also been linked to affect glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. This systematic review is aimed at critically evaluating the available evidence on the association of palm oil with the biomarkers of glucose metabolism as compared to other vegetable oils. Methods We systemically searched PubMed, CENTRAL and Scopus up to June 2018. We searched for published interventional studies on biomarkers of glucose metabolism (defined as fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA, 2-hour post prandial glucose and HbA1C) that compared palm oil- or palm olein-rich diets with other edible vegetable oils (such as olive oil, canola oil and soybean oil). Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study risks of bias. Mean differences of outcomes were pooled for the meta-analysis. Results We identified 1921 potentially eligible articles with only eight included studies. Seven randomised cross-over trials and one parallel trial were included. Study population were among young to middle-aged, healthy, non-diabetic, and normal weight participants. Intervention duration ranged from three to seven weeks, and fat substitution ranged from 15% to 20% energy. There were insignificant differences in fasting glucose when compared to partially hydrogenated soybean oil [-0.15mmol/L (-0.46,0.16) P = 0.33, I 2 = 48%], soybean oil [0.05mmol/L (-0.09,0.18) P = 0.49, I 2 = 0%] and olive oil [0.04mmol/L (-0.09,0.17) P = 0.76, I 2 = 0%]. Insignificant effects were also seen on fasting insulin when compared to partially hydrogenated soybean oil [1.72pmol/L (-11.39,14.84) P = 0.80, I 2 = 12%] and olive oil diet [-0.14pmol/L (-4.87,4.59) P = 0.95, I 2 = 0%]. Conclusion Current evidence on the effects of palm oil consumption on biomarkers of glucose metabolism is poor and limited to only healthy participants. We conclude that little or no additional benefit will be obtained by replacing palm oil with other oils rich in mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids for changes in glucose metabolism.