Development and pretesting of “Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly”: Empowering governments for global scaling up of breastfeeding programmes

Scaling up breastfeeding programmes has not been highly prioritized despite overwhelming evidence that breastfeeding benefits the health of mothers and children. Lack of evidence‐based tools for scaling up may deter countries from prioritizing breastfeeding. To fill this gap, Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) was developed to guide countries in effectively scaling up programmes to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. BBF includes an evidence‐based toolbox that consists of a BBF Index, case studies, and a 5‐meeting process. These three interrelated components enable countries to assess their breastfeeding scaling up environment, identify gaps, propose policy recommendations, develop a scaling up plan, and track progress. The toolbox was developed based on current evidence and expert guidance from a Technical Advisory Group, which was composed of global breastfeeding and metric experts with experience in the scaling up of health and nutrition programmes in low‐, middle‐, and high‐income countries. The BBF toolbox required a step‐by‐step iterative approach to describe and systematize each component, thus an operational manual was developed. The BBF toolbox and BBF operational manual underwent intensive pretesting in two countries, Ghana and Mexico, resulting in the modification of each component plus the operational manual. Pretesting continues in six additional countries demonstrating that BBF is a robust and dynamic multi‐sectoral process that, with relatively minor adaptations, can be successfully implemented in countries across world regions.     

口腔溃疡分布与脏腑辨证的关系探析

【目的】探讨口腔溃疡分布与脏腑辨证的关系。【方法】收集2015年1月~2016年6月口腔溃疡患者65例,比较发生于舌及唇颊部位溃疡患者的情绪、饮食、睡眠、消化道病史和家族史,以及唇颊溃疡、舌尖溃疡及舌后缘溃疡的分布与脏腑辨证的相关性,并用统计软件SAS 9.2进行统计分析。【结果】(1)舌溃疡组焦虑患者的比例比唇颊溃疡组高(P0.01),有消化道病史的比例也比唇颊溃疡组高(P0.05)。(2)唇颊溃疡多与脾虚有湿或胃肠积热有关,舌尖溃疡多以心火上炎为主,舌后缘溃疡多以肝郁化火为主,3组间比较,差异均有统计学意义(P0.01)。【结论】口腔溃疡的分布与脏腑辨证有关。     

Improving the quality of transition and transfer of care in young adults with congenital heart disease

The transition and transfer from pediatric to adult care is becoming increasingly important as improvements in the diagnosis and management of congenital heart disease allow patients to live longer. Transition is a complex and continuous process that requires careful planning. Inadequate transition has adverse effects on patients, their families and healthcare delivery systems. Currently, significant gaps exist in patient care as adolescents transfer to adult care and there are little data to drive the informed management of transition and transfer of care in adolescent congenital heart disease patients. Appropriate congenital heart disease care has been shown to decrease mortality in the adult population. This paper reviews the transition and transfer of care processes and outlines current congenital heart disease specific guidelines in the United States and compares these recommendations to Canadian and European guidelines. It then reviews perceived and real barriers to successful transition and identifies predictors of success during transfer to adult congenital heart disease care. Lastly, it explores how disease‐specific markers of outcomes and quality indicators are being utilized to guide transition and transfer of care in other chronic childhood illnesses, and identifies existing knowledge gaps and structural impediments to improving the management of transition and transfer among congenital heart disease patients.     

健身气功锻炼对帕金森病患者的疗效观察

目的探讨健身气功锻炼对帕金森病(PD)患者的临床疗效。方法将41例PD患者随机分为健身气功组23例,对照组18例。2组均给予神经内科基础药物治疗,健身气功组患者在对照组治疗的基础上进行10周健身气功干预,每周5次,每次60min。对两组患者干预前、中、后分别进行起立-走计时(TUG)、单脚闭目站立测试,采用统一帕金森病评定量表-Ⅲ(UPDRS-Ⅲ)、Hoehn-Yahr(H-Y)评分、贝克焦虑量表(BAI)评价运动功能及情绪变化。结果锻炼10周后,健身气功组H-Y分级、UPDRS-Ⅲ评分、BAI评分较治疗前呈降低趋势(P0.05,P0.01),而对照组治疗前后变化无统计学差异(P0.05)。健身气功组TUG计时测试时间在第5周、第10周均较治疗前下降(P0.05),两侧单脚闭目站立测试时间在第5周、第10周均较治疗前延长(P0.05)。结论健身气功锻炼可改善轻中度PD患者运动功能,尤其是患者的平衡能力,对患者的焦虑情绪亦能起到一定程度缓解作用,值得临床推广。     

Posterior cortical atrophy: a single case cognitive and radiological follow-up

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a rare neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by initial predominant visuoperceptual deficits followed by a progressive decline in other cognitive functions. This syndrome has not been as thoroughly described as other dementias, particularly from a neuropsychological evolution perspective with only a few studies describing the evolution of its cognitive progression. In this investigation we review the literature on this rare condition and we perform a 7-year neuropsychological and neuroradiological follow-up of a 64-year-old man with PCA. The subject’s deficits initially appeared in his visuoperceptual skills with later affectation appearing in language and other cognitive functions, this being coherent with the patient’s parieto-temporal atrophy evolution.