Prolonged exclusive breastfeeding is associated with increased atopic dermatitis: a prospective follow-up study of unselected healthy newborns from birth to age 20 years

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is recommended by the World Health Organization and considered allergy preventive. However, it is not known whether prolonging exclusive breastfeeding for over 6 months provides further benefit in allergy prevention. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective 20-year follow-up study was to find out whether the allergy protective effect can be enhanced by prolonging strictly exclusive breastfeeding for > or =9 months of age. A total of 200 unselected healthy newborns were enrolled in the study. Their mothers were encouraged to maintain exclusive breastfeeding for as long as possible. The number of infants on strictly exclusive breastfeeding was 167 at 2, 116 at 6, 36 at 9 and 7 at 12 months of age. Of the 200 infants, 42% had a family history of allergy. The children were re-assessed at ages 5 (n=163), 11 (n=150) and 20 years (n=164) with clinical examination, skin prick testing, and parental and personal structured interviews. RESULTS: Exclusive breastfeeding prolonged for > or =9 months was associated with atopic dermatitis (P=0.002) and symptoms of food hypersensitivity (P=0.02) at age 5 years, and with symptoms of food hypersensitivity at age 11 years (P=0.01), in children with a family history of allergy. CONCLUSION: Prolonging strictly exclusive breastfeeding for > or =9 months was not helpful in atopy prevention, instead, it was associated with increased atopic dermatitis and food hypersensitivity symptoms in childhood.     

体重、体质指数、腰围和腰臀比对正常成人骨密度的影响

目的探讨体重、体质指数(BMI)和腰围、腰臀比(WHR)对正常成人骨密度的影响。方法采用MarcomMx8000多层螺旋CT测定560例正常成人腰椎松质骨密度,将受试者按年龄不同分为青年组、中年组和老年组,然后在同年龄组根据BMI及腰围的不同将受试者分为肥胖组和正常体重组,分析骨密度与体重、BMI、腰围及WHR的关系。结果①以BMI分组,老年肥胖组BMD高于体重正常组(P<0.05);②以腰围分组,中年女性肥胖组BMD低于非肥胖组(P<0.05);③青年组和中年组BMD与腰围及WHR呈负相关,老年组BMD与体重和BMI呈正相关与腰围和WHR不相关。结论预防骨质疏松症在中青年应提倡运动锻炼,避免肥胖,在老年人不应该过分强调降低体重减少肥胖以避免骨量的丢失。     

Status of Women and Infants in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

Women and children bear the greatest burden in the midst of war and long‐term disasters. Complex humanitarian emergencies are characterized by social disruption, armed conflict, population displacement, collapse of public health infrastructure, and food shortages. Humanitarian assistance for refugees and internally displaced populations requires particular attention to the common issues affecting morbidity and mortality in women and infants. Gender‐based violence and reproductive health concerns are discussed within the context of populations affected by conflict and forced migration. Recommendations for midwives and women's health care providers engaging in care for women and children in complex humanitarian emergencies are discussed.     

TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN LOW VISION PRACTICE

The Low Vision Clinic at the Palmerston North Hospital has now been oerating for 70 years. Over the course of these ten years a number of factors have emerged which can be as readily applied to general ophthalmological practice as to low vision practice. The philosophy of low vision care is one of which all ophthalmologists should be aware and includes factors to be taken into account when dealing with children, people in the workplace, and everyday factors involved in daily living activities, all of which are equally relevant in routine ophthalmological practice. This paper endeavours to share some thoughts on these factors and also discusses means by which the visually handicapped can be helped in areas where specialist low vision services are not readily available.     

腰椎全板减压术后顽固下腰痛的原因分析

[目的]分析腰椎全板切除术后残留下腰痛的原因,指导选择合理的手术方法。[方法]回顾分析1996～2000年作者采用全椎板切除减压治疗的腰椎管狭窄症患者临床资料,69例获得5年以上随访的患者作为本组研究对象,使用日本骨科学会(JOA)标准对患者的神经功能和下腰痛程度进行评分,根据手术前后下腰痛程度的变化将病例分为无残存下腰痛(lowbackpain,LBP)组和残存LBP组,针对术前的临床和影像学参数,使用软件包SPSS13.0进行对数回归分析,确定术后残存下腰痛的临床预测因素,并对这些影响因素进行两组间比较和统计分析。[结果]术前腰椎前突角、腰椎活动度和手术减压范围与术后残存下腰痛密切相关。残存LBP组患者术前腰椎生理前突和活动度分别为(22.27°±3.12°)和(22.91°±2.31°),显著低于无残存LBP组患者的腰椎前突和活动度(37.23°±2.19°)和(31.66°±1.52°),P值分别为0.000和0.002;而残存LBP组的减压节段(2.77±0.19节)明显高于无残存LBP组(1.70±0.10节),P值为0.000。[结论]对于术前腰椎前突减小,腰椎活动度下降的椎管狭窄症患者单纯施行多节段的腰椎全板减压容易导致术后顽固性下腰痛的出现,应引起作者重视。     

The effect of seamustard on blood lipid profiles and glucose level of rats fed diet with different energy composition

Recently, Korean people are consuming seaweeds almost 3.5 times more now than three decades ago. It is well known that seaweeds contain lots of soluble dietary fiber in addition to micronutrients such as β-carotene, iodine and some bioactive components. Seaweeds are considered to be effective for preventing chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, cancer or constipation. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of seamustard intake on body weight gain, blood glucose level and lipid profiles in rats fed diets with different energy nutrient composition. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (average initial weight 103.7 g) were divided into groups for two experiments as follows; Control, M2.5 & M5 groups (Exp. I) and M5, M10, HCM5, HCM10, HFM5 & HFM10 groups (Exp. II). The rats were fed diet and water ad libitum for 4 weeks. In general, there was no significant difference in blood glucose and triglyceride concentration among groups. In Exp. I, serum LDL-cholesterol level of rats fed diet with 5% seamustard powder (M5) was significantly lower than that of control group, while HDL-cholesterol level, TC/LDL ratio and weight of adrenal gland were higher. In Exp. II, food intake, body weight gain and EER of high fat diet with 10% seamustard group (HFM10) were the lowest among groups. Except gastrocnemius muscle, all organ weights of HFM10 group were the lowest. Fecal cholesterol excretion and serum LDL-cholesterol concentration of HFM10 group were the highest, while serum HDL-cholesterol level was the lowest among groups. Interestingly, HDL-cholesterol concentration was the highest in HCM5 group among groups. From these results, it was suggested that seamustard intake might be more effective for body weight control, but not for improving blood lipid profiles in high fat diet than in high carbohydrate diet.     

妊娠高血压综合征尿蛋白的丢失对新生儿出生体重的影响

目的: 几乎没有研究报道妊娠高血压综合征 (妊高征 ) 患者尿蛋白对新生儿出生体重的影响, 该研究欲探讨妊高征患者不同水平尿蛋白对新生儿出生体重的影响关系。方法: 1997年 1月 ~2004年 6月期间, 住院分娩患中、重度妊高征产妇 136例, 对新生儿出生体重与各种因素进行回归分析及t检验分析。结果: 单变量回归分析尿蛋白、孕龄分别与新生儿出生体重有高度显著性关系 (P<0. 01); 尿蛋白和孕龄一起进入多元回归分析, 校正影响因素, 尿蛋白和孕龄仍然是影响新生儿出生体重显著性因素 (P<0 .01); 与妊高征尿蛋白 ( +) 比较, 尿蛋白 无显著性影响新生儿出生体重 (P>0. 05), 尿蛋白 有显著性影响新生儿出生体重 (P<0. 01)。结论: 新生儿出生体重与妊高征患者尿蛋白丢失有关, 尿蛋白 丢失将严重影响新生儿出生体重。     

Disability,depression and somatization in a low back pain population

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a primary care setting population and examine its association with the symptoms of depression and somatization. Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study, utilising a survey carried out in primary health care clinics (PHCs) in Al‐Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multistage stratified sampling design was used and a representative sample of 1304 UAE nationals aged 18–65 years who attended PHC clinics for any reason were included and 1103 (84.5%) subjects agreed to participate and responded to the questionnaire during a period from June 2001 to January 2002. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for the data collection: socio‐demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland‐Morris scale for evaluating back‐related functional disability and SCL‐90 R for depression and somatization subscales was used to assess depressive and somatic symptoms. Results: Of the total number of subjects surveyed (1103), 586 (53.1%) were men and 517 (46.9%) women. The mean age was 34.9 ± 13.4 years for men and 33.5 ± 11.8 years for women. The prevalence of LBP in the studied subjects was 64.7% (95% CI, 60.7–68.5] with 46.7% among men and 53.3% among women. There were a significant differences between the subjects with LBP and without LBP with respect to gender (P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), occupational status (P < 0.001) and living environment (P = 0.016). Functional disability was higher in patients with LBP. Young patients in aged 15–34 years, patients with preparatory/secondary educational level and students showed higher depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in patients with somatic symptoms. Factor analysis revealed a strong association between depression and somatization in LBP patients. Conclusions: Functional disability was higher in with LBP. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and somatization are prevalent among LBP patients.     

Circumscribed low grade astrocytomas in the dominant opercular and insular region: A pilot study

Summary Intraoperative mapping techniques allow a reliable identification or exclusion of eloquent brain areas and are well tolerated by the patients. In dominant opercular tumours radical surgery can only be achieved without lasting deficits with intraoperative histological examination of the resection line and mapping. If an early post-operative MRI shows residual opercular tumour in non-eloquent areas re-operation is recommended.In large dominant insular or opercular-insular tumours only biopsy is recommended, because only an incomplete removal can be accomplished, because the trial of radical removal carries a high risk of postoperative deficits due to possible vascular damage of the lenticulo-striate arteries or internal capsule. Because subtotal removal of low grade gliomas does not increase the progression free interval, we would not recommend surgery in these cases, as they carry a significant risk of a further deficit.     

MRI of the fingers in patients with systemic scleroderma. Early results of contrast-enhanced examinations on a dedicated MRI system

Purpose. To estimate disease activity in patients with systemic sclerosis using contrast-enhanced MRI of the skin. Material and Methods. In a pre-study, sequences of a low-field (0.2 T) scanner (Artoscan, Esaote, Genova, Italy) were optimized for detection of intravenous contrast (0.1 mmol/l Gd-DTPA) in six patients with the autoimmune disease systemic scleroderma. Based on the results of the pre-study, 17 patients with scleroderma (7 sclerotic/10 active inflammatory disease) were scanned using gradient-spoiled 3D GRE sequences (FA 90 °, TR 100 ms, TE 18 ms), which had been established as most sensitive for intravenous contrast. Contrast enhancement of the skin was determined quantitatively by contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR), comparing post- to pre-contrast and dynamic scans (for 6 min, 1 acquisition/min). Patients in the chronic state with sclerodactylia and active inflammation of the hands were considered separately and compared to a control group (n = 10) matched according to age. Results. CNR increase after intravenous contrast was significantly higher in patients with active disease (86 ± 16 % increase) than sclerosing disease (29 ± 3 %, p < 0.05) and the control group (4 ± 2 %, p < 0.05). The dynamic examination showed a significantly slower decrease after the peak rise in the first minute in patients with active disease (CNR 15.4 ± 0.7 to 14.2 ± 1.4) than in those with chronic disease (14.1 ± 0.5 to 11.3 ± 0.9, p < 0.05). Discussion. Capillary leakage is the most likely explanation for the increased enhancement in patients with active scleroderma. Using sequences optimized for contrast detection, disease activity in the course of scleroderma and response to therapy can be determined by MRI in the future.