Preventing accidental injury to young children in the home using volunteers

Accidental injury in the home is a major cause of death andill-health among young children. Reducing home safety hazardsby the use of safety devices such as stair barriers and safetytaps has the potential to prevent home injuries. Little is knownabout levels of home safety hazards or how to encourage parentsto reduce hazards. The Safe Place Project examined parents'knowledge of home safety and the prevalence of safety hazardsin homes where there were young children. The study also evaluatedthe effectiveness of a low-cost strategy aimed at reducing homesafety hazards. The strategy used trained volunteers to providehome safety checks and tailored safety education in conjunctionwith increasing the availability of home safety devices. Onehundred and six families with young children participated inthe project. Some homes contained many hazards, with 43% ofthe sample having more than 10 home safety hazards. At follow-up,the intervention group showed a significant reduction in homehazards and a trend towards an increase in knowledge of homesafety.     

Importance of Dietary Fiber in Childhood

Dietary fiber has important health benefits in childhood, especially in promoting normal laxation. Currently, children consume amounts of dietary fiber that appear to be inadequate for optimal health promotion and disease prevention. It is prudent to recommend that children older than 2 years of age increase dietary fiber intake to an amount equal to or greater than their age + 5 g/day. According to the “age + 5” rule dietary fiber intake would increase from 8 g/day at age 3 years to 25 g/day by age 20 years. After age 20, dietary fiber levels of 25 to 35 g/day are recommended. Dietary fiber intake should be increased gradually in childhood by increasing consumption of a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and other whole-grain products. Although very high fiber intake in childhood could have adverse effects, the potential health benefits of a moderate increase in dietary fiber substantially outweigh the possible risks, especially in highly industrialized countries such as the United States. A safe range of dietary fiber intake for children may be between age + 5 and age + 10 g/day. This range is considered safe even for children and adolescents with marginal intakes of some vitamins and minerals; should provide enough dietary fiber for normal laxation; and may provide enough added dietary fiber to help prevent chronic diseases.J Am Diet Assoc. 1995; 1140-1146, 1149.     

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening: Selecting the ideal strategy

Abstract Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer killer of Americans. Recently developed and tested methods of screening and surveillance can effectively diagnose and treat the disease in most patients before symptoms develop when the chance of cure is high. It is also possible to prevent colorectal cancer by detecting and resecting premalignant adenomatous polyps. Evidence-based guidelines recommend that the average-risk population greater than age 50 be screened with annual faecal occult blood tests plus periodic flexible sigmoidoscopy. This approach is feasible, efficacious, affordable and cost-effective in a high-risk country such as the US. Widespread compliance with these recommendations could reduce the mortality from this malignancy by more than 50%.     

A COMPARISON OF GLUTATHIONE REDUCTASE AND GLUTATHIONE PEROXIDASE ACTIVITES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND HEALTHY ADULTS

A 30% increase in erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (GP) activitywas found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis when comparedwith healthy controls (p = 0.001) whereas the increase in glutathionereductase (GR) was statistically insignificant. No correlationwas found between the activities of the enzymes and the erythrocytesedimentation rate (ESR). The enzyme activities were independentof age, sex, or type of drug treatment of the patients. A possibleinterpretation of the results is presented. KEY WORDS: Glutathione peroxidase, Glutathione reductase, Rheumatoid arthritis, Disease activity, Thiol, Peroxides     

Gynopia in nursing practice: the case of urethral catheterization

• ? A pilot study of catheterized women was designed to investigate their perceptions of pain and discomfort during the procedure.
• ? The study aimed to test the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized controlled trial.
• ? Problems were encountered during the execution of the study, due to the need to conform to established principles in clinical research.
• ? Restrictions on access to patients impinged upon the opportunity to ‘cast the net wide’ in order to generate meaningful data.

     

Chronic Dietary Toxicity/Oncogenicity Studies on 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid in Rodents

Forms of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (collectively knownas 2,4-D) are herbicides used to control a wide variety of broadleafand woody plants. Doses in the 2-year chronic/oncogenicity ratstudy were 0, 5, 75, and 150 mg/kg/day. The chronic toxicityparalleled subchronic findings, and a NOEL of 5 mg/kg/day wasestablished. A slight increase in astrocytomas observed (inmales only) at 45 mg/kg/day in a previously conducted chronicrat study was not confirmed in the present study at the highdose of 150 mg/kg/day. Doses in the 2-year mouse oncogenicitystudies were 0, 5, 150, and 300 mg/kg/day for females and 0,5, 62.5, and 125 mg/kg/day for males. No oncogenic effect wasnoted in the study. In summary, the findings of these studiesindicate low chronic toxicity of 2,4-D and the lack of oncogenicresponse to 2,4-D following chronic dietary exposure of 2,4-Din the rat and mouse.     

A monoclonal antibody directed against a granule membrane glycoprotein (GMP-140/PADGEM, P-selectin, CD62P) inhibits ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation

P-selectin (also called CD62, GMP-140, PADGEM, CD62P) is a recently described member of a family of vascular adhesion receptors expressed by activated platelets and endothelial cells that are involved in leucocyte cell adhesion. The aim of this study was to characterize a new monoclonal antibody (LYP7) directed against activated human blood platelets that inhibits ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation. Immunoadsorbent affinity chromatography and immunoprecipitation studies showed that LYP7 (IgG₁) bound a surface-labelled glycoprotein (GP) which changed its apparent molecular mass (M_r) on reduction from 138 kD (situated below GPIIb) to 148 kD (above GPIIbα). LYP7 and S12, a monoclonal antibody directed against P-selectin immunoprecipitated the same band. Using ELISA assay, purified P-selectin was shown to bind LYP7 and S12 monoclonal antibodies. Binding sites of ¹²⁵I-labelled LYP7, which was greatly increased on thrombin-stimulated (2 U/ml) washed platelets (10825±2886, mean ±SD) (K_d=1.5±0.5 nm ) compared to resting platelets (2801±1278, mean ±SD) (K_d=1.5±0.6 nm ), was found to be normal on thrombin-stimulated platelets taken from a patient with grey platelet syndrome or a patient with Glanzmann thrombasthenia. LYP7 (IgG₁, F(ab′)₂ or Fab fragments) inhibited ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation of platelets in a dose-dependent fashion without affecting the binding of von Willebrand (vWf ) factor. However, agglutination of formaldehyde-fixed platelets induced by ristocetin was not affected by monoclonal antibody LYP7. In addition, the binding of thrombin-activated platelets to neutrophils was inhibited by monoclonal antibody LYP7. These results strongly suggest that P-selectin, by promoting cell–cell contact, may play an active role in platelet–platelet interactions.