Expanding family planning options: offering the Standard Days Method to women in Istanbul

BACKGROUND: This study introduced the Standard Days Method (SDM), a fertility awareness-based method of family planning, to couples in a region of Istanbul, Turkey who were using a method of low effectiveness or no family planning method. The objective was to determine potential demand for, and satisfaction with, the SDM. METHODS: A total of 657 couples were selected by systematic sampling and offered the SDM. Those accepting this method were interviewed 1 and 3 months after starting the SDM. RESULTS: Some 47% of the participants were satisfied with the method and intended to continue using it. CONCLUSIONS: Potential demand for the SDM was 80.3% (278/346 eligible women) among couples who were using a method of low effectiveness or no family planning method. Our results suggest that adding the SDM to the contraceptive method mix may benefit Turkish women.     

Association of food allergy with asthma severity and atopic diseases in Jewish and Arab adolescents

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of reported food allergy and its association with atopic diseases and asthma severity among Jewish and Arab adolescents. Subjects and methods: The self‐report questionnaire of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was administered to adolescents aged 13–14 years from randomly selected junior high schools in Israel. Questions regarding food allergy were added. Results: A total of 11 171 questionnaires were available for analysis. Food allergy was reported by 3.6% of participants: 1.9% milk, 0.6% egg, 0.6% peanut and 0.4% sesame. On multivariate analysis, food allergy was strongly associated with current asthma (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.8–3.3), atopic eczema (OR, 3.2; 95% CI, 2.4–4.3) and allergic rhinitis (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.8–3.1). Arabs were significantly more allergic to peanut (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5–4.1), egg (OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.1–5.9) and sesame (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.2–4.5) than Jews, and less allergic to milk (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4–0.9). Asthmatic subjects with food allergy had significantly more parameters of severe asthma than those without food allergy (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of allergy to specific foods differs between Jews and Arabs. Asthmatic adolescents with food allergy report more severe asthma than those without food allergy.     

Probiotics and the gastrointestinal tract： Where are we in 2005？

Probiotic agents are live microbes or components ofmicrobes that have a positive effect on the host.Theyexert their action through interplay with the immunesystem of the host.Some of this effect is local andsome is systemic.The full story is yet to be discovered.Probiotics have a definite positive effect on rotavirusdiarrhea,post antibiotic diarrhea and pouchitis.Theirexact role in inflammatory bowel disease,irritablebowel syndrome,other forms of infectious diarrhea,and prevention of cancer is yet to be determined.Thisreview summarizes the data about probiotics in theseconditions.     

Ocular complications in children and adolescents following renal transplantation

Krause I, Snir M, Cleper R, Fraser A, Kovalski Y, Axer Siegel R, Bar-Nathan N, Davidovits M. Ocular complications in children and adolescents following renal transplantation.
Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14: 77–81. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Abstract:  Ocular complications after renal transplantation are common in adults. Nevertheless, data regarding these complications in children are insufficient. The purpose of the present study was to assess ocular morbidity in pediatric renal graft recipients. A retrospective observational study of 71 patients aged 11.2 ± 5.5 yr was conducted. Mean duration of follow-up was 5.6 ± 3.5 yr. A total of 16 ocular complications were found in 12 (17%) of the patients. Three patients suffered from more than one complication. Cataract was the most common finding (six patients, 8.4%) followed by swollen disk and hypertensive retinopathy in four patients (5.7%) each and increased intra-ocular pressure in two patients (3%). Mean time interval between transplantation and occurrence of first abnormal ocular finding was 37 ± 34.5 months. The follow-up time was significantly longer in patients with ophthalmological problems than in those without complications (7.8 yr vs. 5.2 yr, p < 0.02). No statistically significant association was found between the occurrence of ocular complications and the age of the patients at transplantation, donor source, duration of dialysis prior to transplantation, previous corticosteroid therapy or presence of acute rejection episodes. The results of the study point to the importance of regular concurrent ophthalmological follow-up in pediatric renal graft recipients to reduce/prevent ocular morbidity.     

Neonatal blood glucose concentrations in caesarean and vaginally delivered term infants

Background: Little is known about the glucose concentrations at and after birth of infants delivered by caesarean section (CS), when compared with infants born vaginally (VD). Aim: To compare venous cord blood glucose concentrations of term infants born after elective CS to infants born by VD. We studied the null hypothesis that mode of delivery does not affect neonatal blood glucose values. Methods: We compared cord blood glucose concentrations in healthy term infants born after VD (n = 16) or by elective CS (n = 21). Glucose concentrations were obtained immediately at birth from the umbilical cord. Kruskal–Wallis was used to compare glucose concentrations and demographic variables between the groups. Results: Gestational age was 39.6 ± 0.8 weeks in VD group vs. 38.7 ± 0.9 weeks in CS group, and birthweight was 3359 ± 494 vs. 3500 ± 528 g. Cord blood glucose concentration was higher in VD (81.3 ± 16.9 mg/dL) than CS infants (70.3 ± 9.7 mg/dL, p = 0.039). The change in blood glucose concentration over the first 2‐h of life differed significantly between the two groups, being an increase in CS versus a decrease in VD infants (?3.5 ± 15.2 vs. ?15.4 ± 24.6 mg/dL, p = 0.013). Conclusions: Glucose concentrations in VD infants are higher than in infants born by elective CS without labour.     

Effects of tomatoes on the lipid profile

PURPOSE: The Mediterranean diet has been reported to reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity considerably. Tomatoes and lycopene are considered potent antioxidants. Our purpose was to study the effects of a tomatoe-rich diet on the lipid profile following 300g daily of tomatoes for one month. METHODS: Plasma concentrations of triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and VLDL-cholesterol were determined in 98 apparently healthy volunteers (mean age 45.5+/-14.1 yr) before and after one month of follow-up. Fifty volunteers (34 women and 16 men) ate tomatoes 300g daily and 48 volunteers (32 women and 16 men) continued their regular diet without eating tomatoes for a month. RESULTS: In the regular diet group, there were no changes in the lipid profile: triglyceride level (169.6+/-156.8 vs. 147.6+/-93.4mg/dl; P=0.33), total cholesterol level (198.3+/-41.2mg/dl vs. 204.2+/-70.9mg/dl; P=0.23), HDL-cholesterol level (50.6+/-12.2mg/dl vs. 47.6+/-10.8mg/dl; P=0.79), and LDL-cholesterol level (122.7+/-39.4mg/dl vs. 120.2+/-32.2mg/dl; P=0.24) before and after the 1 month offollow-up. In the tomato-rich diet group: triglyceride level 170.8+/-85.4mg/dl to 167.4+/-99.4mg/ dl (P=0.98), total cholesterol level 207.5+/-44.3mg/ dl to 204.1+/-45.1mg/dl (P=0.68), HDL-cholesterol level 46.1+/-10.6mg/dl to 53.4+/-13.3mg/dl (P=0.03), and LDL-cholesterol level 127.7+/-41.8mg/dl to 119.1+/-41.7mg/dl (P=0.57). CONCLUSION: We found that tomatoes'-rich diet (300g daily for one month) increased HDL-cholesterol level significantly by 15.2%.     

The effect of reboxetine co-administration with olanzapine on metabolic and endocrine profile in schizophrenia patients

Rationale

We previously demonstrated that the addition of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine attenuates olanzapine-induced weight gain. Using the same study sample, we also sought to determine whether reboxetine’s weight-attenuating effect was accompanied by a beneficial effect on metabolic and endocrine parameters relevant to antipsychotic-induced weight gain and obesity.

Method

Blood samples at baseline and at the end of the 6-week trial were available for 54 participants who participated in previous double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of reboxetine (4 mg BID) addition to olanzapine-treated schizophrenia patients. Fasting glucose, lipid profile, insulin, leptin, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), prolactin, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were analyzed.

Results

In contrast to the olanzapine/placebo group, the olanzapine/reboxetine group exhibited a reduction in blood triglyceride (p?<?0.05) and leptin (p?<?0.05) levels, and elevation in cortisol (p?<?0.05) and DHEA (p?<?0.008) levels. No significant between-group differences were detected in the changes in cholesterol, glucose, insulin, TSH, and prolactin.

Conclusions

Reboxetine addition resulted in meaningful improvement of some metabolic and endocrine measures associated with olanzapine-induced weight gain. The potential role of reboxetine in the prevention of olanzapine-induced weight gain and cardio–metabolic morbidity merits further large-scale, long-term investigation.