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Background: Empirical evidence on the epidemiology of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia is limited in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. We aimed to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Lithuania, and to identify the risk factors for the three chronic conditions.Methods: We analysed cross-sectional data from the HAPIEE study, including adults aged 45-69 years in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Lithuania, collected between 2002 and 2008 (total sample N = 30,882). Among prevalent cases, we estimated awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia by gender and country. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify associated risk factors.Results: In each country among both men and women, we found high prevalence but low control of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. Awareness rates of hypertension were the lowest in both men (61.40%) and women (69.21%) in the Czech Republic, while awareness rates of hypercholesterolemia were the highest in both men (46.51%) and women (51.20%) in Poland. Polish participants also had the highest rates of awareness (77.37% in men and 79.53% in women), treatment (71.99% in men and 74.87% in women) and control (30.98% in men and 38.08% in women) of diabetes. The common risk factors for the three chronic conditions were age, gender, education, obesity and alcohol consumption.Conclusions: Patterns of awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia differed by country. Efforts should be made in all four countries to control these conditions, including implementation of international guidelines in everyday practice to improve detection and effective management of these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The first line treatment for hypercholesterolemia is statin therapy. When the expected low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration is not achieved, the pharmacotherapy may be extended by combining the statin with the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe.Methods/design: The study is designed as a randomized, open-label, single-center, crossover study evaluating the effectiveness of combined therapy with rosuvastatin and ezetimibe for hypercholesterolemia. The study is planned to include 200 patients with hypercholesterolemia ineffectively treated with statins for at least 6 weeks. After enrollment participants are randomized into one of two arms receiving rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. In the first arm the study drug is administered in the morning (8:00 am) for 6 weeks and then in the evening for the next 6 weeks; in the second arm the study drug is administered at first in the evening (8:00 pm) for the first 6 weeks and then in the morning for the following 6 weeks. In order to minimize non-adherence to the treatment, all patients will receive the study drug free of charge. The primary outcome of the study is change in LDL-C at 6 and 12 weeks of the treatment, depending on the time of day of study drug administration. The secondary endpoints include change in total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins ApoB and Apo AI, non-HDL cholesterol, small, dense (sd)-LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), glucose, glycated hemoglobin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and creatine kinase at 6 and 12 weeks of the study drug treatment, as well as assessment of plasma fluorescence using stationary and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks of the therapy.Discussion: The RosEze trial is expected to demonstrate whether there is a significant difference in the effectiveness of the lipid-lowering therapy in reducing the concentration of cholesterol when the medications are taken in the morning compared with the evening time of day.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02772640 . Registered on 28 March 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Web information systems may serve as a diagnostic tool for the Internet users and they also support the epidemiological work of doctors and health care providers. As part of this study, a system has been created for detecting and calculating cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study has been the comparison of cardiovascular risk factors and calculated fatal cardiovascular risk in 2 periods of time: 2004-2009 and 2010-2015 in Poland, as determined via the Internet.Material and Methods: The "Ryzyko program" ("Risk program") is available on the website of the Medical University of Gdańsk. To assess the cardiovascular death risk in a 10-year period, the algorithm of the SCORE (Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) project was used and 30 402 results of the algorithm have been analyzed.Results: Over 30 402 webpage visitors entered the required data and received the outcome. More than 78% of the Internet users who had entered the data, received a recommendation for medical check-up. Significant differences between the data collected in 2004- 2009 and 2010-2015 were noticed. Hypercholesterolemia prevalence (67.3% vs. 70.8%; p < 0.001), mean total cholesterol concentration in blood (5.60±1.65 mml/l vs. 5.66±1.35 mml/l; p < 0.001), prevalence of hypertension (36.6% vs. 35.3%; p = 0.039), mean systolic blood pressure (131.5±20.3 mm Hg vs. 132.6±18.0 mm Hg; p < 0.001), prevalence of declared smoking (30.7% vs. 26.5%; p < 0.001), declared diabetes mellitus (DM) (6.4% vs. 9.7%; p < 0.001), and declared coronary artery disease (CAD) (7.2% vs. 14.1%; p < 0.001), respectively.Conclusions: The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors has changed during the observed period of time. Online automatic gathering of new data by "Ryzyko program" provides up-to-date observations. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(3):499-510. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]