Leading causes of death in England and Wales--how should we group causes?

This article examines how best to identify the leading causes of mortality in England an Wales, by using different way of grouping causes of death, based on a list developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Four different versions of this list are compared. The leading cause of death across all age groups depends on the ways in which common diseases and external causes are aggregated or disaggregated into groups. Areas of particular debate, examined in this article, are the grouping or splitting of accidents by mechanism and cancers by site within leading cause lists. These affect which causes appear in the top ten, and their order in different age groups.     

Keratinocytes produce IL-6 in response to desmoglein 1 cleavage by Staphylococcus aureus exfoliative toxin A

Immunologic Research - Many skin infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial pathogen that produces virulence factors associated with these conditions such as exfoliative toxins A...     

Survivors of torture and organized violence: Demography and diagnosis

Sixty patients, with a history of torture or other repressive state violence, newly referred to two psychiatrists, were assessed using a standard instrument. Thirty one met the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 21 met the criteria for MDD. Relationships between these diagnoses and history of trauma, loss of health, and social losses were investigated. Sexual torture is associated with an avoidance reaction.     

Self-care management in adults undergoing hemodialysis.

The research literature on self-care management for adults with end stage renal disease being treated with hemodialysis was reviewed to ascertain the current state of knowledge, identify gaps, and propose future research. Sixty-four studies were reviewed. Many studies focused on compliance and whether subjects were meeting predetermined values of outcome variables set by professionals. Self-care management of ESRD is multidimensional and warrants further research from the client professional, and health care system perspectives.     

Diversity of congenital cardiac defects and skeletal deformities associated with the Holt–Oram syndrome

INTRODUCTION

The Holt–Oram syndrome is a rare congenital disorder involving the skeletal and cardiovascular systems. It is characterized by upper limb deformities and cardiac malformations, atrial septal defects in particular.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

Four consecutive patients 1–15 years old with the Holt–Oram syndrome presented over a 10 year span for surgical treatment of their cardiac maladies. The spectrum of the heart defects and skeletal deformities encountered in these patients are described and discussed.

DISCUSSION

The Holt–Oram syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition; however absence of the morphological features of the trait in close family members is not rare. Although patients are known to predominately present with atrial septal defects, other cardiovascular anomalies, including rhythm abnormalities, are not uncommon. Skeletal disorders vary as well.

CONCLUSION

Cardiovascular disorders, skeletal malformations and familial expression of the Holt–Oram syndrome, vary widely.     

The antioxidants vitamins A and E and selenium do not reduce the incidence of asbestos-induced disease in a mouse model of mesothelioma

Epidemiological evidence indicates that supplementation with some dietary factors is associated with a lower incidence of cancer. An effective cancer prevention strategy for the millions of people worldwide who have been exposed to asbestos could have enormous benefit. We tested whether dietary supplementation of the antioxidants vitamin A, E, and selenium could alter the pattern of disease in the MexTAg transgenic mouse model, in which mice uniformly develop mesothelioma after asbestos exposure. We focused on antioxidants because one of the most widely accepted hypotheses for the mechanism by which asbestos fibers cause cancer proposes the involvement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. We compared the survival of MexTAg mice that had been inoculated with asbestos fed on diets supplemented with 250,000 IU/kg vitamin A (retinoic acid), or 1,000 mg/kg vitamin E (α-tocopherol acetate) or 3 mg/kg selenium, or both vitamin E and selenium concurrently and, additionally, diets deficient in each antioxidant. We found that neither the time to develop symptoms of disease nor overall survival times were altered by any of the diets. We conclude that the data do not support the notion that dietary antioxidants will moderate the rate of mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed populations.