Post-traumatic cervical dystonia: a distinct entity?

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The incidence of head/neck trauma preceding cervical dystonia (CD) has been reported to be 5-21%. There are few reports comparing the clinical characteristics of patients with and without a history of injury. Our aim was to compare the clinical characteristics of idiopathic CD (CD-I) to those with onset precipitated by trauma (CD-T). METHODS: We evaluated 114 consecutive patients with CD over a 9-month period. All patients were interviewed using a detailed questionnaire and had a neurological examination. Their clinical charts were also reviewed. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (12%) had mild head/neck injury within a year preceding the onset of CD. Between the two groups (CD-I and CD-T), the gender distribution (F:M of 3:2), family history of movement disorders (32% vs. 29%), the prevalence of gestes antagonistes (65% vs. 64%), and response to botulinum toxin were similar. There were non-specific trends, including an earlier age of onset (mean ages 43.3 vs. 37.6), higher prevalence of neck pain (86% vs. 100%), head tremor (67% vs. 79%), and dystonia in other body parts (23% vs. 36%) in CD-T. CONCLUSIONS: CD-I and CD-T are clinically similar. Trauma may be a triggering factor in CD but this was only supported by non-significant trends in its earlier age of onset.     

Early introduction of allergenic foods for the prevention of food allergy from an Asian perspective—An Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy,Respirology & Immunology (APAPARI) consensus statement

Emerging evidence for the early introduction of allergenic foods for the prevention of food allergies, such as peanut allergy in Western populations, has led to the recent publication of guidelines in the USA and Europe recommending early peanut introduction for high‐risk infants with severe eczema or egg allergy. Peanut allergy is, however, much less prevalent in Asia compared to the West. Varying patterns of food allergy are seen even within Asian countries—such as a predominance of wheat allergy in Japan and Thailand and shellfish allergy in Singapore and the Philippines. Customs and traditions, such as diet and infant feeding practices, also differ between Asian populations. Hence, there are unique challenges in adapting guidelines on early allergenic food introduction to the Asian setting. In this paper, we review the evidence and discuss the possible approaches to guide the timely introduction of allergenic food in high‐risk infants in Asia.     

How Picky Eating Becomes an Illness—Marketing Nutrient-Enriched Formula Milk in a Chinese Society

The essential adaptive food selection behavior of young children has become increasingly medicalized as a kind of disease—the “picky-eating” syndrome in Hong Kong. The researcher used the multiple case studies approach with data collected from in-depth interviews and advertisements to examine the process of the medicalization of picky-eating disorder, which demonstrates how an essential adaptive human behavior can be redefined by the market and medical system as a deviant, abnormal behavior that needs to be eliminated and how the resulting health risks can be resolved by modern medicine produced by this pharmaceutical nexus.     

Brief report: Decreased expression of CD244 (SLAMF4) on monocytes and platelets in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Clinical Rheumatology - The signalling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) family receptors play important roles in modulating immune responses. Previous studies in murine models and patients...     

A comparison of pyelography and various reconstructions of multidetector helical computed tomography urography images for diagnosing urinary obstruction

Radiologists and urologists require practical and helpful image reconstructions for diagnosing urinary obstruction. We performed different types of imaging and reconstruction, then used a self-designed urinary obstruction-specific questionnaire to evaluate the diagnostic outcome of them. Our results suggested that two-dimensional (2D) axial computed tomography (CT) is clinically superior to retrograde pyelography or antegrade pyelography, and to other modes of image reconstruction that are often used for diagnosing urinary obstruction.     

TAp73 depletion accelerates aging through metabolic dysregulation

Aging is associated with impaired scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we show that TAp73, a p53 family member, protects against aging by regulating mitochondrial activity and preventing ROS accumulation. TAp73-null mice show more pronounced aging with increased oxidative damage and senescence. TAp73 deletion reduces cellular ATP levels, oxygen consumption, and mitochondrial complex IV activity, with increased ROS production and oxidative stress sensitivity. We show that the mitochondrial complex IV subunit cytochrome C oxidase subunit 4 (Cox4i1) is a direct TAp73 target and that Cox4i1 knockdown phenocopies the cellular senescence of TAp73-null cells. Results indicate that TAp73 affects mitochondrial respiration and ROS homeostasis, thus regulating aging.