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Convergence of a diabetes mellitus, protein energy malnutrition, and TB epidemic: the neglected elderly population

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Infectious Diseases, July 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (74th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (76th percentile)

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8 X users
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3 Facebook pages

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172 Mendeley
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Title
Convergence of a diabetes mellitus, protein energy malnutrition, and TB epidemic: the neglected elderly population
Published in
BMC Infectious Diseases, July 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12879-016-1718-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Sonia Menon, Rodolfo Rossi, Leon Nshimyumukiza, Aibibula Wusiman, Natasha Zdraveska, Manal Shams Eldin

Abstract

On a global scale, nearly two billion persons are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. From this vast reservoir of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection, a substantial number will develop active TB during their lifetime, with some being able to transmit TB or Multi-drug- resistant (MDR) TB to others. There is clinical evidence pointing to a higher prevalence of infectious diseases including TB among individuals with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Furthermore, ageing and diabetes mellitus may further aggravate protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), which in turn impairs T-lymphocyte mediated immunologic defenses, thereby increasing the risk of developing active TB and compromising TB treatment. This article aims to a) highlight synergistic mechanisms associated with immunosenescence, DM and PEM in relation to the development of active TB and b) identify nutritional, clinical and epidemiological research gaps. To explore the synergistic relationship between ageing, DM, tuberculosis and PEM, a comprehensive review was undertaken. The MEDLINE and the Google Scholar databases were searched for articles published from 1990 to March 2015, using different MESH keywords in various combinations. Ageing and DM act synergistically to reduce levels of interferon gamma (IFN- γ), thereby increasing susceptibility to TB, for which cell mediated immunity (CMI) plays an instrumental role. These processes can set in motion a vicious nutritional cycle which can predispose to PEM, further impairing the CMI and consequently limiting host defenses. This ultimately transforms the latent TB infection into active disease. A clinical diagnostic algorithm and clinical guidelines need to be established for this population. Given the increase in ageing population with DM and PEM, especially in resource-poor settings, these synergistic tripartite interactions must be examined if a burgeoning TB epidemic is to be averted. Implementation of a comprehensive, all-encompassing approach to curb transmission is clearly indicated. To this end, clinical, nutritional and epidemiological research gaps must be addressed without a delay.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 8 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 172 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
India 1 <1%
Unknown 171 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 34 20%
Student > Bachelor 22 13%
Researcher 17 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 16 9%
Student > Postgraduate 9 5%
Other 26 15%
Unknown 48 28%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 43 25%
Nursing and Health Professions 16 9%
Immunology and Microbiology 15 9%
Social Sciences 10 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 7 4%
Other 27 16%
Unknown 54 31%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 July 2018.
All research outputs
#5,522,290
of 22,881,154 outputs
Outputs from BMC Infectious Diseases
#1,620
of 7,690 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#94,183
of 365,298 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Infectious Diseases
#43
of 181 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,881,154 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 75th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,690 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 365,298 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 74% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 181 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.