‘What kind of life is this?’ Diabetes related notions of wellbeing among adults in eastern Uganda and implications for mitigating future chronic disease risk

Background

Effective prevention and care for type 2 diabetes requires that people link healthy behaviours to chronic disease-related wellbeing. This study explored how people perceive current and future wellbeing, so as to inform lifestyle education.

Methods

Eight focus group discussions and 12 in-depth interviews were conducted in Iganga and Mayuge districts in rural Eastern Uganda among people aged 35–60?years in three risk categories (1) People with diabetes, (2) people at higher risk of diabetes (with hypertension or overweight) and (3) community members without diabetes.

Results

People define wellbeing in three notions: 1) Physical health, 2) Socio-economic status and 3) Aspirational fulfilment. Most people hold the narrower view of wellbeing that focuses on absence of pain. Most overweight participants did not feel their condition as affecting their wellbeing. However, for several people with hypertension, the pains they describe indicate probable serious heart disease. Some people with diabetes expressed deep worry and loss of hope, saying that ‘thoughts are more bothersome than the illness’. Wellbeing among people with diabetes was described in two perspectives: Those who view diabetes as a ‘static’ condition think that they cannot attain wellbeing while those who view it as a ‘dynamic’ condition think that with consistent treatment and healthy lifestyles, they can be well. While many participants perceive future wellbeing as important, people without diabetes are less concerned about it than those with diabetes. Inadequate knowledge about diabetes, drug stock-outs in health facilities, unaffordable healthier food, and contradictory information were cited as barriers to future wellbeing in people with diabetes.

Conclusions

To make type 2 diabetes prevention relevant to healthy people, health education messages should link current lifestyles to future wellbeing. Diabetes patients need counselling support, akin to that in HIV care, to address deep worry and loss of hope.

     

Imaging of intramuscular haemangiomas of the extremities

Intramuscular haemangiomas are benign soft tissue tumours that are more frequently seen in children and young adults. As they may be difficult to diagnose clinically, imaging has an important role in the detection, diagnosis and preoperative planning of these lesions. Haemangiomas of the extremities may be classified into capillary, cavernous, venous and mixed types, with or without an arteriovenous shunt, depending on the predominant vascular channels. Nonvascular components such as fat, smooth muscle, fibrous tissue and thrombus may also be present. This pictorial essay highlights the imaging features of intramuscular haemangiomas, with an emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging.     

Explanations of socioeconomic differences in excess risk of type 2 diabetes in Swedish men and women

OBJECTIVE: We investigated to what extent socioeconomic differences in type 2 diabetes risk could be explained by established risk factors (obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, and heredity) and psychosocial factors (low decision latitude at work and low sense of coherence). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study comprised 3,128 healthy Swedish men and 4,821 women, aged 35-56 years, living in the Stockholm area. An oral glucose tolerance test identified 55 men and 52 women with type 2 diabetes. The relative contribution of established and psychosocial factors to socioeconomic differences in diabetes risk was assessed by comparing analyses with adjustment for different sets of these factors. RESULTS: The relative risks (RRs) for type 2 diabetes in middle and low socioeconomic groups in men were 2.4 (95% CI 1.0-5.3) and 2.9 (1.5-5.7), respectively, and in women 3.2 (1.5-6.6) and 2.7 (1.3-5.9), respectively. In men, the RRs decreased to 1.9 (0.8-4.4) and 2.1 (1.0-4.2) after adjustment for established risk factors; no further change was found when psychosocial factors were included. In women, the RRs changed to 2.4 (1.1-5.2) and 1.6 (0.7-3.8) by including established risk factors and to 2.3 (1.0-5.1) and 1.9 (0.8-4.3) by inclusion of psychosocial factors. After adjustment for both established and psychosocial factors, the RRs were 1.4 (0.6-3.6) and 1.0 (0.4-2.5), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In men, the excess risk of type 2 diabetes was partly explained by established risk factors (36-42%), whereas psychosocial factors had no effect. In women, most of the socioeconomic differences in type 2 diabetes were explained by simultaneous adjustment for established risk factors and psychosocial factors (81-100%).     

Nonobstructive Dysphagia in Reflux Esophagitis

Dysphagia in the absence of organic esophageal stricture may occur in patients with reflux esophagitis. Although the exact mechanism of this "nonobstructive dysphagia" (NOD) is not known, it is believed to be related to transient segmental esophageal motor disorder. The goals of this study were to determine the frequency of NOD in patients with reflux esophagitis and correlate it with esophageal pH and motility changes. Sixty-three consecutive patients with symptoms of esophageal dysfunction were studied with endoscopy, infusion esophageal manometry, and 24-h ambulatory esophageal pH monitoring. Forty-seven had severe erosive esophagitis unresponsive to medical therapy; 16 with esophageal motility disorders were used as symptomatic controls. Twenty-eight of 63 patients studied experienced NOD during the 24-h pH study; 22 had esophagitis and six had esophageal dysmotility without esophagitis. NOD was noted with similar frequency in the two groups; 22/47 (46.8%) of patients with esophagitis and 6/16 (37.5%) with esophageal dysmotility experienced NOD during the period of study. NOD correlated with pH less than 4.0 in 88.6% of patients with esophagitis but in only 7% of patients with esophageal dysmotility (p less than 0.001). There was no difference in acid reflux patterns in esophagitis patients who experienced NOD (22/47), and in those who did not (25/47). There was no correlation between NOD and baseline esophageal motility abnormalities. In summary, 1) NOD is a common, intermittent symptom that occurred in up to 46.8% of esophagitis patients and 37.5% of symptomatic controls during the 24-h period of this study; 2) NOD correlates with esophageal pH less than 4.0 in patients with esophagitis and not in patients with esophageal dysmotility. These data strongly suggest that acid in the distal esophagus frequently triggers the sensation of dysphagia in esophagitis patients, but not in patients with esophageal motility disorders. Combined ambulatory intraesophageal motility and pH monitoring may further elucidate the mechanism of dysphagia in these patients.     

Exercise testing in pulmonary sarcoidosis

The change in transfer coefficient (Kco) with increasing heart rate during exercise was studied in 25 normal subjects and in 21 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. The slope of the Kco response against heart rate was found to be 0·0053 mmol min⁻¹ kPa⁻¹ l⁻¹ per beat in the normal group but in many of the patients was two standard deviations or more below this normal slope, even when their routine function tests were normal. This response of Kco to exercise is a more sensitive index of changed function than more routine function tests in pulmonary sarcoidosis.     

Giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath of the hand: A pictorial essay

Giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath is a soft tissue mass found occasionally in the hand. Its diagnosis can be readily made preoperatively if the characteristic MRI features are appreciated. This pictorial essay demonstrates and describes the imaging findings correlated with histopathological findings in a group of patients with proven giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath.     

Magnetic resonance imaging of cervical ligamentous anatomy and traumatic ligamentous injuries

Cervical spine trauma accounts for majority of spinal injuries, and approximately one‐third involve the craniocervical junction (CCJ). Due to its high sensitivity, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the standard tool for imaging suspected ligamentous injuries in an unstable spine and in patients with neurological deficits having a normal CT. The ligamentous anatomy of the CCJ is complex, and thorough knowledge is a prerequisite for accurate interpretation of the MRI findings. This pictorial essay aims to familiarise radiologists with the ligamentous anatomy, mechanisms of injury and MRI appearances of injuries in the cervical spine, with emphasis on the CCJ.