Eating difficulties, complications and nursing interventions during a period of three months after a stroke

AIM: The aim of this study was to describe eating difficulties and especially swallowing in patients with dysphagia, types of nursing intervention, and the development of complications over 3 months. The aim was also to explore common characteristics of eating difficulties that influenced the ability to finish meals. METHODS: Twenty-four consecutive patients admitted because of stroke and dysphagia were included. Nursing interventions, based on assessments, were individually designed. RESULTS: Three subgroups could be identified: those (n=9) who were unable to complete a meal, despite assisted feeding, because of reduced alertness/energy and impaired swallowing function; those (n=5) who could complete a meal, despite suffering from reduced alertness/energy; and those (n=10) who could complete meals with minor difficulties. Patients in the first two groups developed complications such as respiratory infections and/or malnutrition. There was a tendency towards that complications in the third group were less frequent and the hospital stay was significantly shorter than in the other groups. CONCLUSION: The level of alertness/energy in patients with dysphagia after stroke was important for the ability to eat and swallow and the development of complications over time, and thus of great importance for the interventions applied.     

Coping with post-lingual severe-profound hearing impairment: a grounded theory study

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of coping with demanding auditory situations in everyday life from the perspective of individuals with severe-profound hearing impairment. Seventeen individuals (11 women and 6 men), with post-lingual severe-profound hearing impairment participated in the study. All were patients at the Department of Audiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital in G?teborg, Sweden. Inclusion criteria were a hearing impairment exceeding 70 dB HL at the frequency of 1 kHz in the better ear, and full-time employment. Data were assessed by in-depth interviews lasting about one hour. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed line-by-in line in accordance with the grounded theory tradition. Six theoretical constructs, or categories, were grounded in the data. These categories were labelled 'coaching', 'belonging to two worlds', 'self-efficacy', 'hardiness' and 'directing coping strategies'. In a grounded theory the central phenomenon on which all the other categories are integrated is known as the 'core category'. The core category, which emerged in the present study, was labelled 'finding flow and entering a positive circle'. This was described as a condition necessary for successful coping with the demanding situation of being a profoundly hearing-impaired person working full-time. According to the core category, there is a small 'margin' within the positive circle (a space where smaller mistakes may occur). However, if mistakes are too severe, or too many, individuals will no longer find flow in the positive circle, rather they enter a negative circle. In the present study subjects' personalities were characterized by hardiness. It is suggested that coaching behaviour and the hearing-impaired individuals' personality dispositions of hardiness and self-efficacy function as resistance resources, buffering stressful events in everyday life.     

The nitrate contamination of private well water in Iowa.

The State-Wide Rural Well-Water Survey was conducted between April 1988 and June 1989. About 18% of Iowa's private, rural drinking-water wells contain nitrate above the recommended health advisory level (levels of NO3-N greater than 10 mg/L); 37% of the wells have levels greater than 3 mg/L, typically considered indicative of anthropogenic pollution. Thirty-five percent of wells less than 15 m deep exceed the health advisory level, and the mean concentration of nitrate-nitrogen for these wells exceeds 10 mg/L. Depth of well is the best predictor of well-water contamination. Individually, NO3-N levels of more than 10 mg/L occurred alone in about 4% of the private wells statewide; pesticides were present alone in about 5%. Total coliform positives occurred alone at 27% of the sites. In a cumulative sense, these three contaminants were detected in nearly 55% of rural private water supplies.     

Hydatidiform mole: a chromosomal search for a recessive mutation

In a search for minute structural aberrations indicating chromosomalregions of importance for the development of a hydatidiformmole, five diploid androgenetic moles and two partial dispermicmoles were examined by high resolution banding technique. Theabsence of consistent aberrations suggests that either submicroscopicallesion(s) or the ratio of paternal to maternal chromosome complement(s)could be the decisive factor for molar development.     

Nursing assessment of dysphagia among patients with stroke

The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of dysphagia among patients with acute stroke and compare non-dysphagic and dysphagic stroke patients regarding demographic aspects, performance in activities of daily living and type of neurological deficiency and to test a bedside screening tool to identify patients with dysphagia. The frequency of dysphagia was found to be 27%, or 40% if those patients who were unconscious, terminally ill or had a previous history of dysphagia were included. Overall stroke severity seemed to be an indicator for dysphagia, i.e. being significantly more drowsy, more dependent in activities of daily living, suffering more often from dysarthria, expressive dysphasia, taking antidepressive medication, staying significantly longer in hospital and being discharged to a higher level of formal care than non-dysphagic patients. The screening method proved to be useful, in that it detected 77% of those with dysphagia using a review of medical charts and continuous observations as a method to check the reliability of the bedside method. It is concluded that most patients with dysphagia can be identified through systematic interviews, observations and test swallows. These have to be repeated and included in nursing care assessment. Overall stroke severity is an indicator of dysphagia.     

Meal-induced thermogenesis in obese patients before and after weight reduction

The purpose of this study was to find out whether human obesity is associated with a diminished meal-induced thermogenesis and, if so, to what extent this response is influenced by weight reduction. Ten obese subjects (body mass index 42 +/- 2) and 10 age- and sex-matched non-obese volunteers were studied with continuous indirect calorimetry in the basal state and after the ingestion of a standardized test meal. Six obese subjects (body mass index 44 +/- 2) were examined on two occasions, once before and once after gastric banding and an average weight reduction of 18 +/- 3 kg. Basal oxygen uptake and energy expenditure were 30% (P less than 0.001) greater in the obese subjects compared to non-obese controls. After the meal, pulmonary oxygen uptake and energy expenditure increased rapidly and reached a relatively constant level after 60 min; for pulmonary oxygen uptake the average rise above basal was less in the obese (17.7 +/- 1.6%) than the non-obese (27.8 +/- 1.9%, P less than 0.001); the increase in energy expenditure was 18.5 +/- 1.7% in obese and 30.8 +/- 2.1% in non-obese subjects (P less than 0.001). After weight reduction, oxygen uptake and energy expenditure in the basal state were 20% lower (P less than 0.05) than before weight reduction. The average post-prandial increase in oxygen uptake was greater after weight reduction (24.8 +/- 2.0%) than before (16.7 +/- 1.6%, P less than 0.001). Corresponding values for energy expenditure were 27.2 +/- 2.2 and 18.2 +/- 2.2% (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that: (1) the thermogenic response to a mixed meal is lower in obese compared to non-obese individuals; and, (2) this impaired response is partly normalized after weight reduction. These findings suggest that a diminished meal-induced thermogenesis is a secondary phenomenon rather than a primary pathogenic factor in human obesity.     

Iron metabolism and "sports anemia". II. A hematological comparison of elite runners and control subjects

A hematological comparison was performed between 43 middle and long distance male runners and 119 male controls. The hematocrit, serum iron, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin values were significantly lower in the athletes. The amount of bone marrow hemosiderin was also lower in the athletes than in a group of non-athletic men of the same age. Even if these values were clearly lower than in the controls, they were not low enough to indicate iron deficiency. The observations that sideroblast counts in bone marrow smears were normal and that both red cell indices and red cell protoporphyrin were normal strongly support the conclusion that lack of iron had not limitated erythropoiesis or the formation of an optimal red cell mass. Low serum haptoglobin values in most athletes indicated an increased intravascular hemolysis. As the hemoglobin-haptoglobin complex formed is taken up by hepatocytes, this implies that there is a shift in the red cell catabolism in these athletes from the reticuloendothelial system to the hepatocytes. This shift may explain the paradoxical findings of low serum ferritin concentrations and reduced contents of bone marrow hemosiderin. This is consistent with the observed normal erythropoiesis. It was concluded that runners "anemia" is no true anemia and not caused by iron deficiency. "Sports anemia" is thus no indication for routine iron supplementation.     

The effect of clindamycin on the intestinal flora in patients with enteric hyperoxaluria

Enteric hyperoxaluria is due to increased absorption of oxalate, especially in the colon. However, this mechanism is not fully understood. Little is also known about the composition of the intestinal flora in these patients. Eleven patients with hyperoxaluria (greater than 0.45 mmol/24 h) after jejunoileal bypass were therefore studied under surgical ward conditions for 5 days. The patients were maintained on a constant diet. During days 3, 4, and 5 clindamycin (Dalacina), 1.8 g/24 h, was given parenterally in three divided doses. All patients had hyperoxaluria, with a mean oxalate absorption of 0.94 +/- 0.09 mmol/24 h (+/- SEM). No significant disturbances in the colonic microflora were found. The degree of hyperoxaluria did not change during clindamycin administration, in spite of a significant decrease in the number of anaerobic bacteria. Our patients with enteric hyperoxaluria seem to have a normal colonic microflora. The degree of hyperoxaluria did not seem to be related to changes in the intestinal anaerobic flora.     

Polymorphonuclear (PMN) Function after Small Intestinal Shunt Operation for Morbid Obesity

The possible influence on blood polymorphonuclear (PMN) granulocyte functions of the small intestinal shunt operation for obesity was studied in 10 massively overweight patients. They were investigated prior to operation and for 9 months afterwards, when they had lost on average 32 kg body weight. Preoperatively they showed reduced PMN bactericidal capacity and increased PMN adherence compared with controls of normal weight. During the first 2–4 months postoperatively all patients displayed a gradually increasing bactericidal capacity, which then reached levels similar to the controls and remained so for the rest of the follow-up period. This enhancement was more easily assessed by a new in vitro assay in which each PMN was provided with 30–40 bacteria, than by a standard assay using 2–4 bacteria per granulocyte. PMN adherence decreased during the first postoperative months and then returned to preoperative levels. The changes in PMN functions were not statistically related either to each other or to the continuous loss of body weight. Thus, impairment of PMN killing function occurring in extremely obese patients became normalized after small bowel shunt operation, while the high adherence remained unchanged.