Browsing by Author "Gostimirovic, Milos (57215936089)"

Climate change is considered to have great impact on human health. The heat waves have been associated with excess morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) across various populations and geographic locations. Important role in the heat-induced cardiovascular damage has endothelial dysfunction. It has been noticed that hot weather can impair tone and structure of the blood vessels via interfering with variety of biological factors such as nitric oxide synthesize, cytokine production and systemic inflammation. Also, due to dehydration and increased blood viscosity, by promoting thrombogenesis, heat has important impact on patients with atherosclerosis. During chronic exposure to the cold or hot weather cardiovascular function can be decreased, leading to a higher risk of developing heart attack, malignant cardiac arrhythmias, thromboembolic diseases and heat-induced sepsis like shock. It has been shown that changes in the ambient temperature through increasing blood pressure, blood viscosity, and heart rate, contribute to the cardiovascular mortality. The majority of deaths due to heat waves especially affect individuals with preexisting chronic CVD. This population can experience a decline in the health status, since extreme ambient temperature affects pharmacokinetic parameters of many cardiovascular drugs. Increased mortality from ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke can also be related to extreme temperature variations. On a cellular level, higher ambient temperature can limit storage of ATP and O2increase amount of free radicals and toxic substances and induce neuronal apoptotic signal transduction, which all can lead to a stroke. Preserving cardiovascular function in context of extreme climate changing tends to be particularly challenging. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Climate change is considered to have great impact on human health. The heat waves have been associated with excess morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) across various populations and geographic locations. Important role in the heat-induced cardiovascular damage has endothelial dysfunction. It has been noticed that hot weather can impair tone and structure of the blood vessels via interfering with variety of biological factors such as nitric oxide synthesize, cytokine production and systemic inflammation. Also, due to dehydration and increased blood viscosity, by promoting thrombogenesis, heat has important impact on patients with atherosclerosis. During chronic exposure to the cold or hot weather cardiovascular function can be decreased, leading to a higher risk of developing heart attack, malignant cardiac arrhythmias, thromboembolic diseases and heat-induced sepsis like shock. It has been shown that changes in the ambient temperature through increasing blood pressure, blood viscosity, and heart rate, contribute to the cardiovascular mortality. The majority of deaths due to heat waves especially affect individuals with preexisting chronic CVD. This population can experience a decline in the health status, since extreme ambient temperature affects pharmacokinetic parameters of many cardiovascular drugs. Increased mortality from ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke can also be related to extreme temperature variations. On a cellular level, higher ambient temperature can limit storage of ATP and O2increase amount of free radicals and toxic substances and induce neuronal apoptotic signal transduction, which all can lead to a stroke. Preserving cardiovascular function in context of extreme climate changing tends to be particularly challenging. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Background: Hiking is a physical activity recommended for people of all ages. In an era of increased incidence of cardiovascular and psychiatric diseases, directing individuals to hiking can be very important from both public health and socioeconomic perspectives. Since the health status of recreational hikers and the general population in the Republic of Serbia has not been compared yet, our objectives are to compare the health-related characteristics of those two groups, including the prevalence of comorbidities, pharmacotherapy, and drug consumption. Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted. Research questions were asked via two specially prepared questionnaires distributed through the Google Forms platform. The means of the two groups were tested by a two-sample Student t-test for independent variables. Results: The sample consisted of 259 hikers and 292 people from the general population. A total of 199 hikers (76.8%) and 218 people from the general population group (74.7%) were declared as healthy. The statistically significant differences between the groups included age, sex, education level, and body mass index. In both groups, the majority of those with pre-existing medical conditions had at least one cardiovascular disease (23.5% of the hikers and 19.5% of the individuals in the general group). Pre-existing psychiatric diseases were noted in 6% of the hikers and in 12% of those in the general group. The average durations of the disease in the hiker and general population were 11.9 and 8.4 years, respectively (p < 0.05), whereas, there were no differences in drug consumption. Conclusions: This pilot study represents the comparison of the cardiovascular and mental health among hikers and the general population in the Republic of Serbia. Although psychiatric diseases were clearly less prevalent among hikers, the prevalence and burden of cardiovascular diseases must be interpreted with caution, due to big age difference between the respondents from both groups. However, our future studies will employ objective measurements and clinical parameters rather than self-reported surveys, so that the health benefits of hiking appear more clearly. © 2025 by the authors.

Background: Hiking is a physical activity recommended for people of all ages. In an era of increased incidence of cardiovascular and psychiatric diseases, directing individuals to hiking can be very important from both public health and socioeconomic perspectives. Since the health status of recreational hikers and the general population in the Republic of Serbia has not been compared yet, our objectives are to compare the health-related characteristics of those two groups, including the prevalence of comorbidities, pharmacotherapy, and drug consumption. Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted. Research questions were asked via two specially prepared questionnaires distributed through the Google Forms platform. The means of the two groups were tested by a two-sample Student t-test for independent variables. Results: The sample consisted of 259 hikers and 292 people from the general population. A total of 199 hikers (76.8%) and 218 people from the general population group (74.7%) were declared as healthy. The statistically significant differences between the groups included age, sex, education level, and body mass index. In both groups, the majority of those with pre-existing medical conditions had at least one cardiovascular disease (23.5% of the hikers and 19.5% of the individuals in the general group). Pre-existing psychiatric diseases were noted in 6% of the hikers and in 12% of those in the general group. The average durations of the disease in the hiker and general population were 11.9 and 8.4 years, respectively (p < 0.05), whereas, there were no differences in drug consumption. Conclusions: This pilot study represents the comparison of the cardiovascular and mental health among hikers and the general population in the Republic of Serbia. Although psychiatric diseases were clearly less prevalent among hikers, the prevalence and burden of cardiovascular diseases must be interpreted with caution, due to big age difference between the respondents from both groups. However, our future studies will employ objective measurements and clinical parameters rather than self-reported surveys, so that the health benefits of hiking appear more clearly. © 2025 by the authors.