Cardiovascular disease

• Across the continent the urban share of the total population is projected to increase to 50% by 2030 and 60% by 2050.
• Urbanisation is associated with lifestyle changes such as less physical activity and less labour-intensive work.
• This is often accompanied by an increased intake of high-calorie fast foods, snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Food diaries

• Using data from food diaries recorded by 1,506 households over a two-week period, I calculated how many calories, macronutrients and micronutrients were consumed and compared them to the recommended requirements for a healthy life.
• Besides food diaries, our data also included information on household characteristics and their socioeconomic status.

Homegrown or highly processed?

• This was because they were not eating sufficient quantities of food.
• Most food was home-grown, which provided beneficial nutrients, but diets were not diverse enough to provide all the nutrients needed for healthy living.
• At the opposite end of the scale, residents of Dar es Salaam also ate unhealthy diets, but for very different reasons.

Calories, nutrients or a lack thereof

• Rural households primarily consumed starches, cereals, vegetables and fruit, making up 29%, 21%, 12% and 7% of their diet respectively.
• Plantains, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and spinach were the most consumed food items in rural areas.
• Many of these nutrients are found in animal foods, which made up a small share of rural diets.
• In terms of quantity, these households tended to consume more, leading to lower levels of nutritional deficiencies than in rural areas.
• About 26% of households did not meet the recommended calorie intake, but this was significantly better than in rural areas.

Next steps

• At the same time, overconsumption of potentially harmful food substances such as fats and sugars can lead to health risks such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• The findings highlight the need for a varied approach to dealing with nutrient intake and tackling problems such as rising obesity rates.

Hannah Ameye does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• ROSE2 evaluated obicetrapib in combination with ezetimibe as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy; full results from the trial were previously presented at the National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions in June 2023.
• At ACC, NewAmsterdam will share new data demonstrating obicetrapib and ezetimibe’s impact on small dense LDL-C, a robust predictor of residual risk of future cardiovascular events.
• NewAmsterdam recently initiated TANDEM, a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate obicetrapib and ezetimibe FDC (‘fixed-dose combination”) in adult patients with Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (“HeFH”) and/or Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (“ASCVD”) or multiple risk factors for ASCVD, whose LDL-C is not adequately controlled despite being on maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapies.
• Details of the presentation are as follows:
  Presentation at the 2024 American College of Cardiology (ACC) Congress:

• In October 2023, Tourmaline become a publicly-traded company via reverse merger with Talaris Therapeutics, including a concurrent private placement of $75.0 million.
• Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results:
  Cash, cash equivalents and investments were $203.0 million as of December 31, 2023, as compared to $8.3 million as of December 31, 2022.
• Research and development expenses were $8.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, as compared to $3.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.
• General and administrative expenses were $6.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, as compared to $1.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.

• (Nasdaq: PRQR) (ProQR), a company dedicated to changing lives through transformative RNA therapies based on its proprietary Axiomer™ RNA editing technology platform, today reported its financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2023, and provided a business update.
• At December 31, 2023, ProQR held cash and cash equivalents of €118.9 million, compared to €94.8 million at December 31, 2022.
• The Company experienced a net positive cash flow from operating activities in 2023 primarily due to the receipt of the Lilly up-front payment of $60 million in February 2023.
• For further financial information for the period ended December 31, 2023, please refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F and our Statutory Annual Report which will be available on our website, www.